West Africa’s forgotten conflict lingers on //Focus//

Successive wars have erupted, raged and subsided in West Africa, staking claim one after the other for the attention of the international community, however a low-intensity conflict has dragged on in Senegal, arousing little interest regionally or internationally. The war in the southern Casamance area has outlasted more recent conflicts such as the Tuareg rebellions in Mali and Niger in the early 1990s, Sierra Leone’s rebel war (1991-2002), the fighting between Liberia’s armed factions (1989-1997) and Guinea-Bissau’s internal war in 1998-1999. Begun in 1982, it has pitted successive governments against the Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de Casamance (MFDC- Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance). The MFDC wants self-determination for Casamance, which lies between The Gambia, to the north, Guinea-Bissau to the south, and eastern Senegal. Figures provided by the Rencontre Africaine pour la Defense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO - a continental human rights organisation based in Dakar, Senegal) give some indication of the toll the conflict has taken on vulnerable populations in Casamance. Displacees shuttle between home and haven Armed bands in Kolda, central Casamance, strip residents of anything of value, Raddho reported - from bicycles and money to cattle and cashew nuts, an important cash crop in both southern Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. More than 8,500 displaced persons are forced to flee their villages at least once a year as a result of raids by such groups, the human rights watchdog said. In western Casamance, entire villages have been abandoned because of mop-up operations by the Senegalese army and rebel incursions, RADDHO added in a recent statement. It estimated at over 17,000 the number of IDPs in Ziguinchor - the area’s main town - Bignona, north of Ziguinchor, and Oussouye, towards the border with Guinea-Bissau. Other people have fled to neighbouring countries. Gambian authorities estimate at about 5,000 the number of Casamancais living in refugee camps in their country. Guinea-Bissau’s authorities put the number in theirs at 6,000. However, keeping statistics on displacement from Casamance is difficult, RADDHO said, because many displaced people tend to stay with relatives and are not usually included in IDP headcounts. Moreover, large numbers of people flee their homes when the level of insecurity is high and go back when calm returns to their areas. The conflict has been characterised by unsuccessful negotiations punctuated by periodic clashes that have resulted in the loss of many lives and displacement. Each side blames the other for the lack of progress towards peace. Government responsible for impasse, MFDC says “To this day we do not know of any concrete proposals by [President] Abdoulaye Wade for a resolution of the crisis,” Alexandre Djiba, the MFDC’s spokesman, told IRIN. Djiba accused other African states and the international community of remaining silent on the Casamance crisis despite the fact that negotiations have been at a standstill for some time. He charged that the Senegalese government’s strategy has been to announce negotiations every now and then so as to give international public opinion the impression that it wants to pursue a negotiated settlement. “Nothing has been done to pave the way for negotiations on the end of the war in Casamance,” Djiba charged. As a result, the military situation on the ground has hardly changed, except the army’s mop-up operations in Ziguinchor which, he said, are “aimed solely at infiltrating our ranks, contrary to the stated objective of ensuring populations’ safety.” However, Abdou Azize Ndiaye, director of international organisations in Senegal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, does not agree that there is an impasse in the negotiations. “It’s not easy to solve a conflict that has lasted more than 20 years,” he told IRIN. MFDC hardliners are stumbling block - state official He recalled that in an address on 31 December 2002, President Abdoulaye Wade stressed his determination to achieve peace in Senegal through the creation of a negotiation and follow-up committee. Wade had promised that the Casamance conflict would be resolved within three months when he took office two years ago. However, the conflict has dragged on, despite agreements between the government and MFDC leader Abbe Diamacoune in 2001. Ndiaye blames this on the MFDC’s hardline wing which operates in southern Casamance, towards the border with Guinea-Bissau. While the northern wing is open to negotiation, the hardliners have remained intransigent, rejecting any concessions, he charged. This militates against the resumption of negotiations, he said. Asked whether he thought the deployment of a buffer force would help, Ndiaye said he did not see the need for such a move since the Casamance conflict was well contained.