Process of peace

Negotiations for peace are complicated processes Civil society plays a secondary role in it But that doesnrsquot always mean their secondary role is a marginal one Herersquos a look at some of the peace processes taking place around the world Peace is a process never a single event Negotiations for peace are always far more complicated than the public understands and the results are not always miraculous Even so the majority of modern conflicts mdash 80 per cent according to the School for the Culture of Peace in Barcelona mdash eventually end after negotiations The schoolrsquos reports show that 12 peace agreements have been signed in the world during the last 20 years but some of them would be wellworth revisingu00a0 Afghan security personnel stand alert near burnt military vehicles after a clash between Taliban and Afghan security forces in Torkham on September 2 2013 PicAFP Here we take a whistlestop tour of the ups and downs and ins and outs of peace processes from around the world Negotiations with the rebels of the Sudan Peoplersquos Liberation Movement SLM in the southern part of the country took years to complete From the start of the conflict in 1983 to the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005 and for many years afterwards unresolved frustrations stoked mistrust between the parties and constantly risked compromising the negotiations In the case of Mali the inhabitants known as the Tuaregs were refused recognition as a minority group and the government constantly reneged upon the promises it made after each uprising These factors explain in large part the 2011 riot and also the rebelsrsquo incredulity upon receiving new offers from the government Several failed peace processes jeopardised in particular by the countryrsquos elite were then used as a justification for the rebelsrsquo launching an allout armed assault In Afghanistan attempts to establish negotiations with the Taliban have been impeded not only by the assassination of the Afghan governmentrsquos negotiators but also by war crimes committed by United States troops desecrating dead bodies burning copies of the Koran and deliberating killing civilians It has created a mutually detrimental standoff in which both sides are strong enough to impose a veto on the otherrsquos objectives hampering any chance of reaching a negotiated end to the conflict In Senegal negotiations were initiated in 1999 aborted in 2000 restarted in 2001 and fell apart just a few months later even though agreements on specific aspects of the conflict had already been signed Peace was finally secured with a new pact in 2004 When therersquos no consensus Peace processes begun by one group are not always accepted by all of its members In Darfur the different factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement SLM fought among themselves for several reasons but in particular to scuttle the negotiations In the case of Chechnya the killings of the most nationalist rebel leaders during military action created a vacuum that was filled by Islamist leaders This result was a strengthened religious agenda which in turn led to fewer opportunities for peace When there are several armed groups involved itrsquos generally easier to negotiate with each one individually than with all of them at the same time Not all parties will agree to follow the same process or the same rules and as an obvious consequence the more parties involved in a conflict the more difficult it is to reach a consensus that will please everyone In fact the existence of different rebel groups is often a byproduct of the many different grievances with the central government in question Armed groups that have a predominantly nationalist leaning often have problems reaching a consensus with Islamist armed groups This tension was seen in Chechnya Palestine and Lebanon for example The same can be said about the tensions between proindependence groups and those that simply want autonomy like in the cases of the Western Sahara Kurdistan and Kashmir Signing an agreement with one party is quicker but signing with many parties is more stable and lasting To aid this the macro document that guides negotiations can establish a procedure by which new parties can join the negotiations In Guatemala three consecutive governments negotiated to end the conflict The process took several years and three different negotiating teams Initially the exploratory contact failed because of the refusal of the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity URNG to disarm The national armed forces used this refusal as a reason to oppose the whole peace process The support of the armed forces is vital to the success of any peace process Guatemalarsquos military was divided with regard to the peace process hence the long negotiating period Civil society doesnrsquot always help However discouraging it may sound civil society plays only a secondary role in peace processes History clearly demonstrates this But that doesnrsquot mean the secondary role is always a marginal one The division of society in Northern Ireland the marches against peace in Mali and the religious and ethnic social fragmentation in Burma are just a few examples of how society can contribute to prolonging conflicts On the other hand in Central America civil society has played a key role in setting each country on the path to peace In summary peace processes are not linear and they canrsquot be ordered from best to worst as though there is a right and a wrong way to achieve peace Peace takes time sometimes decades Sudan the process can often be riddled with failed attempts Mali and Senegal and though a truce may seem like the first step on the road to peace it sometimes acts to prolong the war War crimes increase distrust between parties Afghanistan breaking agreements can lead to a return to arms Mali and changes in leadership can determine both for better and worse the possibility of peace Chechnya And yet while peace processes may be unpredictable vulnerable and turbulent they remain the most effective way of achieving a lasting peace El Espectador Worldcrunch u00a0