The ambiguities of self‐determination: IGAD and the secession of South Sudan

Alex De Waal

doi:10.1111/nana.12648

Abstract

AbstractThis paper examines the 1994 Declaration of Principles (DoP) for the resolution of the Sudanese civil war, adopted by the Inter‐Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD). This was the only occasion on which an African inter‐state organization included separation as an option for resolving a civil war. It was the basis for South Sudan's independence in 2011. The DoP was drafted by the Ethiopian government, and imposed on belligerent parties, both of which were, at the time, unionist. The paper identifies two concepts of self‐determination within the DoP— independence for colonial territories and the Marxist‐Leninist idea of self‐determination for national groups. The rationale for including both arose from Ethiopian leadership within IGAD. The paper also examines the diverse Sudanese debates on self‐determination, including several strands of nationalism, Islamism, and the ‘New Sudan’ of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM). There was radical disagreement among Sudanese on national identity and self‐determination, creating ambiguities that ironically facilitated the exercise in southern self‐determination in 2011. Drawing on documentation of Sudanese negotiations, the paper examines how the DoP unlocked the Sudanese debate on the issue, and how the different concepts fared up to the time of the independence of South Sudan.

Highlights

An essential step in South Sudan's road to independence was the affirmation, by neighbouring countries, of the right of self-determination for the people of southern Sudan
The Nuba and Blue Nile groups that had participated in the Kampala civil society conference began organizing a forum at which they planned to make their case for self-determination, and Garang set about a parallel conference aimed at obtaining the endorsement of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) members in the ‘two areas’ for him to act as their sole representative in negotiating a peace agreement
In October 2017, the SPLM-North held an Extraordinary Convention in which it adopted a manifesto, including Article 5.16.3, which is remarkable in its reflection of the spirit of Paragraph 3 of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) declaration of principles (DoP): As a result of the failure of the successive regimes in Khartoum to manage the diversity of Sudan, and their continuous attempts to impose the exclusive and racist Arabo-Islamic identity on the ethnoculturally diverse peoples of Sudan through the state organs, and as a result of the lack of seriousness in implementing the signed peace agreements, the SPLM-N adheres to its position for the right of self-determination for all marginalized Sudanese groups

Summary

Introduction

An essential step in South Sudan's road to independence was the affirmation, by neighbouring countries, of the right of self-determination for the people of southern Sudan. The document provided a route towards secession for southern Sudan and included another, less clearly defined, set of self-determination rights for peoples throughout the country.

Results

Conclusion