Something borrowed, something new

I woke up Thursday morning at 3am with a text message indicating that one faction had decided to declare all out war.  The faction is headed by a small dissident group that broke away from the Front Sud nearly a year ago and resorted to the use of arms when he found his voice had no weight among the more seasoned rebel leaders.  He is a young man, barely 24 years old.

Later that same day, the group's civil wing announces that it has fiiled charges against the former president of Senegal with the International Criminal Court for facilitating the creation of death squads in Casamance during the 1980s and 1990s.  It accuses him of crimes against humanity and genocide. 

Both actions were borrowed from a playbook used by so many other movements of their type, using violence on one end and pseudo legal action on another to provide an air of legitimacy and sophistication.  Referring the leaders of the country to the ICC has become a widespread and common practice.  Some claims may be legitimate but the ICC's temporal jurisdiction begins July 2002, so it cannot investigate any violations of international law that took place before that date - something this group probably already knows but it looks snazzy to make reference to the fact that a supranational institution will be bending to its will.  

Last Friday afternoon just as I was heading home from the office, something new emerged on the horizon.  We hear that our program is being closed indefinitely.  Turns out that the reason for the closure may have indeed started as a misunderstanding and continued as stumbling missteps at a higher level, but, in the end, it became a golden opportunity for some reprisals over the criticisms of the US toward this administration that were revealed in Wikileaks early December 2010.

The immediate solution is to shift all programming into another area - governance.  That may become permanent unless diplomatic actions can create the political space for our program to continue.  In the meantime, I find myself pondering what a mediation specialist is doing working as a program assistant for a newly branded governance project.  I have worked on good governance projects in the past, but it is unusual for expatriates to hold jobs that a national staff member can do better given their facility with language and knowledge of local government.  

Not sure when an answer will come to that question but in the meantime, I continue to tread water.

And now for something completely different

This comic strip hit home.  My dance partner, Claudia, sent  it to me last week and I laughed immediately and kept returning to it again and again.  It is really brilliant.  How many of us use a busy schedule as an excuse not to do something really important when we know that the alternative is even less desirable? Well, I cannot see how many of you are raising your hands right now, but I can definitely say that I have been there too many times..  The funny thing is that once you get out there and do the thing you have been dreading, you ask yourself, "what was the big deal?" "This is fun!" Or "This is easy!"  

The other thought that crossed my mind when I saw this was whether any of you has ever received a prescription for exercise from your doctor.  My brother Michael, a doctor who believes in making his patients responsible for their health, probably has done just that.  But I have never had a doctor who has asked about my level of activity or recommended exercise as a way to improve my health or a condition. So in that respect, in my life anyway, this clip is more fantasy than reality.  But imagine a doctor who comes at you with that kind of frankness.  Refreshing for sure. 

Got an email this week from a friend who took a chance in the name of love and is now bathing in its glow.  Did not have to look upon her beaming face to see this.  I could feel her through the email she sent.   Can't imagine what took her lover so long to make a move - no doubt a busy schedule -  but I look forward to many love stories in the coming months ( maybe years?).

Letting go and allowing my feelings to guide me has never been my strong point.  But I AM a strong believer in moving on one's first impulse.  As my mother would say, that is more concept than truth.  I received a call over a year ago to come work in Senegal.  I said yes immediately before I had even read the job proposal.  A rare opportunity presented itself.  I was flattered that the job had been tailored to me in particular, and I said yes.  

This week I am being asked to rewrite the entire project from scratch including the job descriptions for every staff member.  I liked the original format and strategy.  It is founded in theory and applicable to the reality here.  My own tendency to go with my first impulse is no doubt the reason I am uncomfortable with the idea of  scrapping what we have been building up to now.  Recent  very complicated events have spooked management and made them question the chosen path.  I agree that we must provide for more contingencies, especially those beyond our control, but I have faith in the process, slow and unremarkable though it may be.  

That is how I will spend my Sunday, working on the draft, until evening comes and I have the pleasure of connecting with Jenny in our weekly call.  Hope you will pardon the stream of consciousness that this blog entry has become.  More tangible news guaranteed this time next week.

 

Rebels open fire on military quarters

Ziguinchor, Senegal – Rebels in Senegal's southern Casamance province, who have been waging an independence campaign against the Senegalese government in Dakar since 1982, Thursday attacked a camp of the Senegalese army in Magnora, about 80 kilometres north of Ziguinchor,

According to the local press, MFDC rebels opened fire on the military quarters, injuring some of the Senegalese soldiers. This provoked a violent clash with the rebels, who were heavily armed. Following the incident, residents of the area have been holed up in their houses while planes from the Senegalese air force have been carrying reconnaissance missions in the area. Other reports speak of three soldiers killed from the rebel assault and three women injured when the reconnaissance plan dropped explosives on what it thought was a group of rebels. Similar clashes have been intensified in the last two weeks between the two camps. In one of the incidents 27 December, eight Senegalese soldiers were killed in an ambush.

On the other side of this coin, Ziguinchor saw an explosion of peace demonstrations.  About 300 women - Muslim, Catholic, and Guardians of the Sacred Forest - held an all night vigil in the center of town, each group contributing hymns, chants, and songs from their own traditions.  The following morning they marched on the governor's mansion to demand action in favor of peace.  Several hundred boy scouts marched today in four different parts of the city to bring attention to the need to participate in teh movement for peace in Casamance.

In Dakar, the nation's capital, total silence.  The press and the opposition points lots of fingers in all directions but the general population goes about its business like Casamance is far, far away.  I remember experiencing something similar when I lived in northeastern Congo.  People in Kinshasa imagined the conflict to be between ignorant tribes in some rural village. It was always interesting to see people's faces when they would fly into Ituri for a visit and find 5 story buildings, wide paved streets, and a very complex international conflict on Congolese soil.

Not sure what will happen here. But suffice it to say that with daily news of attacks against military targets, it will not be long before the tensions manage to wake the sleeping lion.

Happy Birthday Michael

Day 14 - Office is still closed.  We are waiting for an answer today and have been assured that we should be back in our offices sometime today.  It is still 10 a.m., so still hopeful.

Read the news today about the French hostages in neighboring Mali and Niger and the failed rescue attempt that again resulted in the hostages being killed.  The culprits call themselves "Al Qaeda in the Maghreb" or AQMI as it is known in its French acronym.   The group is an off-shoot of the very poorly managed conflict in Algeria that resulted in generating more and more economically and politically disenfranchised youth who turned to Islam as a vehicle for political justice. That is the very summarized version. I am no expert on Algeria's political history.  Only really started paying attention during the elections in the early 1990s when the candidates for the Islamic Salvation Front were denied the right to participate in the second round of elections, after they had done exceedingly well and stood a good chance of winning power.  The country spiraled into unrest and Islamic fundamentalism really took hold in many areas outside the capital.  The violence, oppression, and suppression lasted a decade and took its toll on Algerian society and eventually on the surrounding nations in north Africa especially. 

Two days after I arrived in Senegal, I read an article in which the President of Senegal was threatened for having helped facilitate the arrest of AQMI members. AQMI claims to be developing ties and strength in Senegal but thus far the U.S. Embassy has not issued any warnings about potential abductions or terrorist threats.  The matter has more or less been brushed aside as a situation that could not affect us here in Senegal. 

But the longer-term impact of poorly planned or short-sighted political and military solutions to conflicts is a phenomenon that the United States has been grappling with in Iraq and Afghanistan.  It is also a widespread problem in many parts of Asia, Latin America, and, yes, Africa too.  The war in the Democratic Republic of Congo is linked to the yet unresolved conflict in Rwanda.  The war in Casamance was able to gain some momentum from the wars in neighboring Guinea Bissau, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Each time you leave disgruntled groups outside of some acceptable arrangement, you leave room for greater unrest elsewhere.  Sweeping the unresolved problems under the rug amounts basically to dumping your problems into someone else's backyard to fester and develop into full blown violent conflicts of another kind altogether with no one to take ownership for them. 

This is yet another reality that I find myself grappling with as I seek a possible path forward.  I am finding it hard to swallow the prospect that I may have to accept a majority of the willing participants to some form of negotiated agreement and allow the resistant outliers to be somebody else's problem further down the line.  Not an option where I stand now.  Let's see how principled I remain as this work develops and difficult decisions have to be made. 

Today is Michael's birthday.  A very wise old soul who believes in the human spirit, the power of prayer, and the grace of God in all matters large and small.  I am proud to call him my brother.  Have a good one bro.

Happy Epiphany!!

The office closure has put the brakes on a lot of the momentum of the past month of work.  A conclusion is around the corner.  But, apparently, it will come at some price, a compromise, an agreement to hold back on some aspects of our work.  I have not been included in these discussions, so I cannot say for sure what is being debated.  But I trust in the chief of mission's ability to make the right decisions.

The free time has allowed me to slow down and smile at life's little comedies. 

Like the old man sitting in his large billowy robes chasing a gecko that managed to hop on his back. The wrinkled old man's arms turn like windmills trying to scare the small creature intent on making its way to the man's hat.  The men sitting beside him on a rickety old bench seem completely oblivious to this sudden jolt in excitement or the presence of his miniature tormentor.  Traffic opens and my taxi lurches forward. Never will find out how that episode ends.

Today my family in Los Angeles will invite family and friends to share a meal and good tidings.  They will form a large circle and pass a talking stick to offer each person a chance to talk about the highs and lows of the past year and what awaits in 2011.  The process can be emotionally energizing and draining.  Depending on the number of people, it can last hours.  It will test the patience of the little ones who keep one eye on the colorfully wrapped gifts near the fireplace.  When the circle is complete. They will exchange gifts in honor of the Biblical event when the three kings paid hommage to the baby Jesus. 

Today is Epiphany.  Celebrate it well.

Day 8 - office still closed and more developments

Here we are entering the 8th day since we were ordered to shut down operations in this town (our main office in Dakar is still running normally) and we are still holding our breath everyday for a quick resolution.  Got the call today that we should be able to return to work tomorrow.  I am hopeful but that was the fourth time we have been given that kind of assurance.

Yesterday, the program was hit by a combination "one-two punch" when we learned that we would have to justify our program's existence to avoid expected cuts in the pipeline and that our director in D.C. had decided to resign in favor of a lucrative position elsewhere.  If the administrative leadership was trying to avoid giving our organization the image of a sinking ship, then they have failed miserably.  The happy new year letter and words or encouragement from the board of directors are little comfort when, all around us, are signs that we may not be here in a few weeks to see this project through.

I sent a very long letter yesterday justifying, no, totally overselling the project.  But why not, right?  What's the point of holding anything back at this stage.  I hope that we managed to get through and that our part of the project at least is spared any cuts.  Don't think we will get any real confirmations until later in the month but a lot more hinges on the ability of our main office in DC to stay afloat.  Our project is fully funded but if our main office has to let go of the staff needed to support the project from that end, then it will be impossible to continue.

I am going to organize a dinner to boost moral and try to hide my own anxieties about out future.  We have a good, if somewhat unconventional, team.  I would be sad to see them out of work.  Don't feel sorry for me. Job opportunities in Haiti and state-side are already emerging on the horizon.  Jenny and I are looking at options as we explore new opportunities in our respective lives. I would be a fool not to start the process of looking for other prospects, while, at the same time, I feel compelled to continue to make mew commitments on the ground here to maintain momentum in the peace process. 

Suffice it to say that these are very schizophrenic times.

Happy New Year

The past few weeks have been very edifying but I am left with still many more questions than answers.  As much as the conflict here is complex, it still seems approachable, malleable, and conducive to some form of dialogue-driven solution.  However other sources of violence unrelated to the political conflict continue to remain on the periphery, as ever present threats to any successful peace negotiation.

The movement here started as a push for independance following years of complaints of physical, political and economic isolation.  This "structural violence" gave rise to outcries for justice or separation. Peaceful demonstrations increased in frequency and intensity throughout the 70s and  reached a climax in December 1982 when security forces responded to a jubilant crowd with the force of arms.  From that moment forward the movement became an armed rebellion.  Small hit and run assaults on government targets from a ragtag group of men continued throughout the 80s until a paramilitary force emerged in 1990 with the help of former soldiers who trained and led this then formidable independence movement whose rear bases were located primarily in Guinea Bissau.

With threats of war with Guinea Bissau over oil, the Senegalese government wasted no time in suing for peace. A 1991 ceasefire agreement and 1992 peace accord had great potential to bring an end to the conflict.  The Senegal government had recently decided to implement a 1974 law for decentralized government which gave local citizens greater say in the decisions of local government regarding economic and social development.  It would have been a simple matter to associate these efforts with the peace process.  Regretfully, no link was made and the peace process was little more than lip service to the demands of the rebel movement.  The rebels agreed to stop the armed assaults and give up their calls for independence in exchange for increased political and economic power and unfettered access to commercial outlets for former rebel fighters - including access to the very lucrative lumber industry which the rebels were allowed to operate without state intervention and without the requirement that they disarm.

What would seem on the surface to be an ideal arrangement became a source of great contention and led to the first split in the movement.  Two new movements emerged - the Northern Front whose leader signed the accord and the Southern Front which, under the leadership of a Catholic priest, became known as the radical wing of the movement insisting on independence as the only acceptable outcome.

Many more splits occurred - some along ideological lines, others along ethnic lines, but the most important ones over money which the government began to use as a means to seduce, disrupt, and discredit the movement's leadership.  Ideology gave way to concerns of self-preservation and contested leadership, as control over the rank and file - composed mostly of young men - began to fade.  The emergence of highway robberies, assaults on military posts, and aggravated assaults on civilians including rape became difficult to interpret as part of any particular strategy. 

Yesterday while talking with a group of youth about their new year's resolutions, one teenager commented on the recent armed robbery in a village about 5 miles from Ziguinchor.  "That was not the MFDC," he asserted.  "That was us.  We are doing this." My first thought was how was this group of young men - 12- 16 in age - pulling off such a difficult operation.  "You mean you...?" I barely got the words out of mouth when my confusion was met immediately with assurances that they were using the communal "US." Their uncles and cousins routinely rented weapons from the movement's rank and file to go hunting and, at times, to hold up unlucky travelers.   

Peace - the kind with a capital "P" - will be difficult to find in this region unless people here are willing to start talking openly about the sources of instability and insecurity in the region.  Negotiated accords will bring peace to the international donor community wary of investing too much money in development projects that will be sabotaged by renewed unrest, but it may mean little to the average villager who continues to see life's solutions and problems at the end of the barrel of an automatic rifle.

Finding the appropriate scope and mandate for this peace process is key.  I sometimes wonder if I am looking to accomplish too much with too few means at my disposal.  That is a topic for much reflection as the weekend draws to a close. 

The office continues to be closed until we get the call from the governor's office that we have the "all clear" to return.  I am hoping for good news early Monday morning and planning for a resumption of activities later that day. 

To all my friends and family, happy and prosperous new year.