This article is missing information about the peace process after 2020. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.(January 2023)
A first round of negotiations took place in Juba in mid-September.[4][5][6] In the second round in October 2019, agreements were signed on 18 October on the Two Areas track between the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (al-Hilu) (SPLM-N (al-Hilu))[7] and on the Darfur track between the government and the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).[8] The third round started in mid-December on the eastern Sudan track,[1] the Two Areas track with the SPLM-N (Agar),[1] and the Darfur track.[9]
The 4 August Draft Constitutional Declaration lists "achieving a just and comprehensive peace, ending the war by addressing the roots of the Sudanese problem" as Article 7.(1), the first listed item in its "Mandate of the Transitional Period", and gives details in Chapter 15, Articles 67 and 58 of the document.[2][3] Article 67.(b) says that a peace agreement should be completed within six months of the signing of the Draft Constitutional Declaration. Article 67.(c) requires women to participate in all levels of the peace procedure and for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 to be applied, and legal establishment of women's rights is covered in Article 67.(d). Other mechanisms for implementing the comprehensive peace process are listed in Articles 67.(e) (stopping hostilities, opening humanitarian assistance corridors, prisoner releases and exchanges), 67.(f) (amnesties for political leaders and members of armed opposition movements), and 67.(g) (transitional justice and accountability for crimes against humanity and war crimes and trials in national and international courts).[2] Article 68 lists 13 "essential issues for peace negotiations".[3]
Conflict incidents
During mid-September to mid-November 2019, 40 assaults by Sudanese security forces against civilians took place in Darfur, in which civilians were killed or wounded, in Mershing, Shangil Tobai, Gray Kalakl, Andro, Kadner, Mukjar, Gereida and Krenk. A representative of internally displace people (IDPs) described the security situation as unchanged since the power transfer from the Transitional Military Council to the civilian–military Sovereignty Council and civilian cabinet.[12]
Armed clashes between state security forces and Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (al-Nur; SLM-al-Nur) occurred. As of November2019[update], SLM (al-Nur) refused to join the Juba peace process.[12]
Geographical negotiation tracks
The peace negotiations were classified into parallel tracks on five geographical regions:[1]
Darfur: a political agreement including a ceasefire and humanitarian assistance was signed by Hemetti and the SRF on 21 October 2019;[8] a framework agreement was signed on 28 December 2019;[13] a final peace agreement was signed on 31 August 2020;[14]
the Two Areas: South Kordofan/Nuba mountains and Blue Nile state;
a political agreement was signed for the SPLM-N (al-Hilu) and by Khabbashi of the Sovereignty Council on 18 October 2019;[7]
a ceasefire and humanitarian protocol agreement was signed by SPLM-N (Agar) and Hemetti on 17 December 2019;[1] a framework agreement, including political and security agreements, was signed by Hemetti and Ahmed El Omda Badi on behalf of SPLM-N (Agar) on 24 January 2020, including legislative autonomy for the Two Areas and unification of all armed forces into a single national army;[15][16] a security agreement to integrate the SRF into the Sudanese Armed Forces was signed on 17 August 2020;[17] a final peace agreement was signed on 31 August 2020 by the SRF;[18][19]
northern Sudan: negotiations with the SRF were suspended on 22 January 2020 in relation to deciding how to respect the rights of the displaced from Wadi Halfa;[20] on 26 January, a final agreement, including dam, road and toxic waste disposal issues, was signed by Khabbashi and by Dahab Ibrahim of the Kush Movement;[21]
central Sudan: a final peace agreement was signed by Hemetti and el-Tom Hajo of the SRF on 24 December 2019;[22]
eastern Sudan: a final peace agreement that increased eastern representation in federal structures and established financial institutions was signed on 21 February 2020;[23]
Sudan researcher Eric Reeves expressed scepticism about the possibility of Hemetti being "ready to make peace", arguing that Hemetti was responsible for crimes against humanity and genocide during the wars in Darfur and South Kordofan.[28]
October 2019 signed agreements
On 18 October, two separate meetings took place in Juba between rebel and Sovereignty Council (head of state) representatives, on the Two Areas[7] and Darfur tracks.[8]
In the Two Areas track, after a three-hour negotiating session mediated by a South Sudanese mediation team, Amar Daldoum, on behalf of the SPLM-N (al-Hilu) and Shams al-Din Khabbashi, on behalf of the Sovereignty Council signed an agreement on political, security and humanitarian procedures. The agreement was cosigned by the chair of the mediation team, Tut Galwak. The SPLM-N (al-Hilu) and the Sovereignty Council planned to develop a Declaration of Principles to organise continuation of the peace process and to present their political vision.[7]
Independently on 18 October, the first Darfur track meeting between the SRF and Sovereignty Council representatives took place under South Sudanese mediation, creating a joint committee. The joint committee stated its intention to study the 11 September Juba Declaration, and propose how to move from confidence-building measures to negotiations on core issues.[7] On 21 October, el-Hadi Idris, on behalf of the SRF, and Hemetti, on behalf of the Sovereignty Council signed a political agreement (co-signed by a South Sudanese mediator) including a renewed ceasefire, the delivering of humanitarian assistance by government agencies to areas under conflict, and commitment to negotiate further.[8]
Following the 18 October meetings, Tut Galwak stated that Sudan, South Sudan and other African countries are committed "to end all forms of war" in Africa by the end of 2020.[7]
December talks
The third round of negotiations started in Juba in mid-December 2019,[9] after having been planned to start on 21 November 2019.[10] The negotiation round was delayed for several weeks because of "the commitment of some of the armed movements to workshops related to the peace process", according to South Sudanese mediator Tut Galwak.[29] The Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) agreed with the SRF to delay the creation of the Transitional Legislative Council to 31 December, giving the SRF, SPLM-N (al-Hilu) and the government time to reach an agreement prior to the creation of the Legislative Council.[29]
On 16 December, the SRF and "government representatives" discussed the eastern Sudan track. The government representatives wished to suspend talks until "civil leaders and prominent figures" from eastern Sudan were included; the SRF refused to wait, arguing that it would "[contradict] the Juba Declaration" and "hamper the negotiation tracks [which] are all intertwined".[1]
On 17 December, on the Two Areas track, Hemetti and Malik Agar, head of SPLM-N (Agar), signed an agreement establishing a "humanitarian protocol and a ceasefire". The agreement includes a ceasefire monitoring group with three representatives from both sides and a South Sudanese chair, to be located in Khartoum, with a sub-office in Kadugli and another in Ed Damazin; and the sending of a joint mission to the Two Areas to assess humanitarian needs and plan and carry out a humanitarian action plan.[1]
On 19 December, in the Darfur track, the SRF and government representatives created a committee, called a joint mechanism, for visiting Darfur with the help of the United Nations–African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in order to select "real representatives of the stakeholders". UNAMID committed itself to providing transport of the stakeholders to Juba for the negotiations. El Hadi Idris of the SRF described the creation of the mechanism as "an important breakthrough". Detailed Darfur track negotiations were expected to continue in Juba for several weeks.[9]
South Sudanese mediator Dams Dhieu Mathok stated that "participation of refugees, displaced people and civil society leaders" was being negotiated and would constitute a critical element of the Darfur peace process.[9]
In the Two Areas track, Mathok stated that the proposal was provided by the SPLM-N (al-Hilu) delegation to government representatives.[9]
On 24 December, Hemetti on behalf of the Sovereignty Council and el-Tom Hajo, deputy head of the SRF and head of the Central track negotiation team, signed a peace agreement regarding "development, farmers' issues, the El Gezira and El Managil Agricultural Scheme, land rights, in addition to a fair distribution of wealth". Hajo described the agreement as "inclusive" without "quotas or positions".[22]
Four Darfur representatives and Khabbashi signed a framework agreement on 28 December for the Darfur track, covering issues that included power sharing, wealth sharing, transitional justice and Darfur–Darfur dialogue.[13] On 31 December, the SRF suspended talks on the Darfur track in relation to fighting in that killed and wounded 708 people in el-Geneina.[30] An FFC delegation visiting the area attributed the conflict to "the deep state" and victims attributed it to "janjaweed" and "militant herders in vehicles belonging to the Rapid Support Forces".[31]
January 2020 agreements
On 21 January, negotiations on the eastern track were suspended until 30 January, because a consultative forum preparing for the negotiations was not inclusive enough of representatives from the Red Sea state, and too many supporters of al-Bashir's government were present in the forum.[32]
Progress on land, transitional justice and system of government issues was made in the Darfur track on 21 January.[32] SRF and Sovereignty Council representatives agreed on the creation of a Special Court for Darfur to conduct investigations and trials for war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out during the War in Darfur by the al-Bashir presidency and by warlords. The issue of whether or not to surrender Omar al-Bashir to the International Criminal Court was not discussed in the 21 January negotiations.[33]
Two Areas negotiations with SPLM-N (al-Hilu) had progressed by 21 January on six framework agreement points, after a two-week pause,[34] but disagreement remained on SPLM-N (al-Hilu)'s requirement of a secular state in South Kordofan and Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile self-determination.[32]
On 22 January, talks on the northern track with the SRF were suspended in relation to deciding how to respect the rights of the displaced from Wadi Halfa.[20]
On 24 January on the Two Areas track, political and security agreements,[16] constituting a framework agreement, were signed by Hemetti on behalf of the Sovereignty Council and Ahmed El Omda Badi on behalf of SPLM-N (Agar).[15] The agreements give legislative autonomy to South Kordofan and Blue Nile; propose solutions for the sharing of land and other resources; and aim to unify all militias and government soldiers into a single unified Sudanese military body.[16]
On 26 January, a "final" peace agreement for the northern track, including issues of studies for new dams, compensation for people displaced by existing dams, road construction and burial of electronic and nuclear waste, was signed by Shamseldin Kabashi of the Sovereignty Council and Dahab Ibrahim of the Kush Movement.[21]
February 2020 agreements
On 21 February 2020, a final agreement was made on the eastern track. The terms of the agreement included increased representation of eastern Sudan in the federal governmental structures; the establishment of a locally funded reconstruction fund; and the establishment of an internationally funded eastern Sudanese private bank to support political, educational, health and other administrative structures.[23]
On 25 March, Sudan's defence minister Gamal al-Din Omar died of a heart attack in Juba after peace talks with rebel groups. Peace talks after al-Din Omar's death resumed on 2 April.
While talks in the Darfur track were ongoing, SLM (Minnawi) and JEM withdrew from the SRF in mid-May 2020, while continuing their alliance with each other and giving their new alliance the same name (Sudan Revolutionary Front). As of June2020[update], the SLM (al-Nur) continued to boycott peace negotiations while waiting for the national authorities to make Darfur secure.[25]
August 2020: integration of Sudan Revolutionary Front into army
On 17 August 2020, Khalid Abdin for the government, and Ahmed el-Omda for the SPLM-N (Agar) signed a security agreement for the Two Areas that included the integration of the armed forces of the Sudan Revolutionary Front into the Sudanese Armed Forces.[17] Negotiations on political issues continued in the following days.[35]
Negotiations with SPLM-N (al-Hilu) were planned to start around 21 August, discussing a declaration of principles, a ceasefire, and humanitarian aid.[35]
31 August 2020 Juba peace agreement
On 31 August 2020, a comprehensive peace agreement was signed between the Sovereignty Council and the SRF, which includes SPLM-N (Minnawi) and JEM for the Darfur track and SPLM-N (Agar) for the Two Areas track.[18][14] Under the terms of the agreement, the factions that signed will be entitled to three seats on the sovereignty council, a total of five ministers in the transitional cabinet and a quarter of seats in the transitional legislature. At a regional level, signatories will be entitled between 30 and 40% of the seats on transitional legislatures of their home states or regions.[36][37]
3 September 2020 Addis Ababa peace agreement
An agreement was reached between the transitional government and the SPLM-North al-Hilu rebel faction on 3 September 2020 in Addis Ababa to separate religion and state and not discriminate against anyone's ethnicity in order to secure the equal treatment of all citizens of Sudan. The declaration of principles stated that 'Sudan is a multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural society. Full recognition and accommodation of these diversities must be affirmed. (...) The state shall not establish an official religion. No citizen shall be discriminated against based on their religion.'[26]Secularism had long been a demand of the SPLM-North al-Hilu, with a spokesperson saying: 'The problem is (...) to address why people became rebels? Because there are no equal citizenship rights, there is no distribution of wealth, there is no equal development in the country, there is no equality between black and Arab and Muslim and Christian.'[38]
The Juba Peace Agreement was signed between the SRF, SPLM–N led by Malik Agar and SLM led by Minni Minnawi and the Sudanese government on 3 October 2020,[39] with the absence of both al Nur and al-Hilu.[40] The deal included terms to integrate rebels into the security forces, and to grant them political representation and economic and land rights, in addition to a 10-year plan to invest $750 million to develop southern and western regions, and to guarantee the return for displaced people.[41]
On 12 November, Ahlam Nasir, on behalf of Women of Sudanese Civic and Political Groups (MANSAM), met Sovereignty Council member Mohammed al-Ta'ishi, arguing that women should be included in the peace negotiations. Nasir presented specific proposals for women's participation in the negotiations and MANSAM's priorities in the peace process.[10] According to Neville Melvin Gertze of Namibia who spoke at an October 2019 meeting of the United Nations Security Council, peace agreements that are the result of negotiations including women are 35 percent more likely to last at least 15 years than those which are the result of men-only negotiations.[43]
The Justice and Equality Movement is an opposition group in Sudan founded by Khalil Ibrahim. Gibril Ibrahim has led the group since January 2012 after the death of Khalil, his brother, in December 2011. The JEM supported the removal of President of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir and nation-wide government reform.
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army is a Sudanese rebel group active in Darfur, Sudan. It was founded as the Darfur Liberation Front by members of three indigenous ethnic groups in Darfur: the Fur, the Zaghawa, and the Masalit, among whom were the leaders Abdul Wahid al-Nur of the Fur and Minni Minnawi of the Zaghawa.
The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting against the government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing Darfur's non-Arab population. The government responded to attacks by carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the indictment of Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
The Darfur Peace Agreement may refer to one of three peace agreements that were signed by the Government of Sudan and Darfur-based rebel groups in 2006, 2011 and 2020 with the intention of ending the Darfur Conflict.
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North, or SPLM–N, is a political party and militant organisation in the Republic of Sudan, based in the states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. The group's armed forces are formally known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army–North or SPLA–N. As of 2017, its two factions, SPLM-N (Agar) and SPLM-N (al-Hilu) were engaged in fighting each other and against the government of Sudan, and as of 2023, the al-Hilu faction is fighting the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), while the leader of the Agar faction was appointed into the military-run government.
Malik Agar is a Sudanese politician and former insurgent leader who was active in the insurgency in Blue Nile state. Since 2023, he has been the deputy chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, Sudan's ruling military junta.
The Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile was an armed conflict in the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement–North (SPLM-N), a northern affiliate of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South Sudan. After some years of relative calm following the 2005 agreement which ended the second Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese government and SPLM rebels, fighting broke out again in the lead-up to South Sudan independence on 9 July 2011, starting in South Kordofan on 5 June and spreading to the neighboring Blue Nile state in September. SPLM-N, splitting from newly independent SPLM, took up arms against the inclusion of the two southern states in Sudan with no popular consultation and against the lack of democratic elections. The conflict is intertwined with the War in Darfur, since in November 2011 SPLM-N established a loose alliance with Darfuri rebels, called Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).
Abdelaziz Adam al-Hilu is a Sudanese politician and the current chairperson of the Sudan People's Liberation Army – SPLA–North.
The Sudan Revolutionary Front, or the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), is an alliance between Sudanese factions that was created in opposition to the government of President Omar al-Bashir. It was declared on 12 November 2011, following several months of support by Darfuri rebel groups for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North in the conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, generally referred to mononymously as Hemedti, Hemetti, Hemeti, or Hemitte, is a Janjaweed leader from the Rizeigat tribe in Darfur, who was the Deputy head of the Transitional Military Council (TMC) following the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état. Since 2013, Hemetti has commanded the Rapid Support Forces (RSF). He was considered by The Economist to be the most powerful person in Sudan as of early July 2019.
A series of political agreements among Sudanese political and military forces for a democratic transition in Sudan began in July 2019. Omar al-Bashir overthrew the democratically elected government of Sadiq al-Mahdi in 1989 and was himself overthrown in the 2019 Sudanese coup d'état, in which he was replaced by the Transitional Military Council (TMC) after months of sustained street protests. Following further protests and the 3 June Khartoum massacre, TMC and the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC) alliance agreed on 5 July 2019 to a 39-month transition process to return to democracy, including the creation of executive, legislative and judicial institutions and procedures.
The Transitional Sovereignty Council is the collective head of state of Sudan, formed on 20 August 2019, by the August 2019 Draft Constitutional Declaration. It was dissolved by Chairman Abdel Fattah al-Burhan in the October 2021 Sudanese coup d'état and reconstituted the following month with new membership, effectively changing it from a unity government to a military junta.
The 2019–2022 Sudanese protests were street protests in Sudan which began in mid-September 2019, during Sudan's transition to democracy, about issues which included the nomination of a new Chief Justice and Attorney General, the killing of civilians by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the toxic effects of cyanide and mercury from gold mining in Northern state and South Kordofan, opposition to a state governor in el-Gadarif and to show trials of Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) coordinators, and advocating the dismissal of previous-government officials in Red Sea, White Nile, and South Darfur. The protests follow the Sudanese Revolution's street protests and civil disobedience of the early September 2019 transfer of executive power to the country's Sovereignty Council, civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, and his cabinet of ministers. Hamdok described the 39-month transition period as defined by the aims of the revolution.
The Darfur war crimes court or Special Court for Darfur is a planned court to be created in Sudan for trying suspects of war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out during the War in Darfur.
Signed on October 3, 2020, the Juba Peace Agreement is a landmark concord between Sudan's transitional government and a handful of the country's rebel groups. Since Sudan gained its independence in 1956, the nation has been plagued by various civil wars and internal conflicts—namely the Darfur War (2003–2020). Nearly 400,000 people died in the crisis and over 2.5 million were displaced due to the fighting between rebel groups within the region, which heavily prompted the implementation of peace-building legislation after nearly two decades of bloodshed. The Juba Peace Agreement served to amend the 2019 Constitutional Charter in Sudan, which is the most recent in a long line of unsuccessful legislation put in place to equalize the power dynamic between civil government and military/armed force rule.
In July, September, and October 2022, clashes broke out between the Hausa people and Funj and Berta peoples over land disputes in the Blue Nile state in southeastern Sudan, particularly the contentious establishment of a Hausa emirate in Blue Nile State. Over the course of several attacks and massacres, hundreds of civilians were killed up until the violence ended in January 2023. These clashes led to numerous casualties, mass displacement, and the imposition of a state of emergency in parts of Blue Nile State.
A civil war between two rival factions of the military government of Sudan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) under Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) under the Janjaweed leader, Hemedti, began during Ramadan on 15 April 2023. Fighting has been concentrated around the capital city of Khartoum and the Darfur region. As of 21 January 2024, at least 13,000–15,000 people had been killed and 33,000 others were injured. As of 21 March, over 6.5 million were internally displaced and more than two million others had fled the country as refugees, and many civilians in Darfur have been reported dead as part of the 2023 Masalit massacres.
The following is a timeline of the War in Sudan in 2023.
The Battle of Kadugli is an ongoing siege in Kaduqli, South Kordofan State, Sudan, during the 2023 Sudan conflict. It involves two unaligned rebel factions, the SPLM-N and the Rapid Support Forces, that are trying to capture the city from the Sudanese Armed Forces.
The following is a timeline of the War in Sudan (2023–present) in 2024.
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