Sami Abdelhalim Saeed (PhDBackground
The ongoing conflict in Sudan has brought to the forefront the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing the country’s historical injustices and promoting sustainable peace. The African Union’s declaration of 2025 as the “Year of Reparations” offers a timely opportunity to reexamine the legacy of colonialism and its ongoing impact on Sudan. To this end, the AU’s call for reparations provides a framework for addressing the root causes of conflict in Sudan and promoting a more just international order. By exploring the potential impact of reparations on Sudan’s peace process, this article sheds light on the complexities of transitional justice and the need for a holistic approach to addressing historical injustices.
Healing and Justice through Reparations
Since mid-April 2023, Sudan has been embroiled in a brutal civil war, arguably the most violent in the Horn of Africa since the beginning of the new millennium. The war has been raging in Sudan since it gained independence in 1956, after being occupied by the British Empire for more than half a century. Sudan does not appear to be an exceptional case in Africa; it is, like many African countries, experiencing wars and civil conflicts due to unbalanced power sharing and the struggle to seize power and wealth from those who have monopolised them for decades. The African Union declared the year 2025 as the “Year of Reparations: Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations”. This theme aims to integrate historical redress into contemporary development discussions and address the lasting impacts of historical injustices. The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated, and immediate action is needed to address the ongoing crisis.
The AU declaration of reparations acknowledges colonialism’s role in the past and present in the conditions facing the continent. The African Call for Justice for Africans and People of African Descent through Reparations was initiated out of a desire to restore the global balance between North and South, created by colonialism’s exploitation of the continent’s resources for development outside the continent. The Call, therefore, assumes that colonial powers have a moral, ethical, and principled obligation to return and participate in implementing policies related to reparations in Africa.
In this regard, the AU’s Call detailed several mechanisms for implementing reparations and justice to aid Africa’s recovery from underdevelopment and governance instability. The potential impact of this African Call on stability and sustainable peace in Sudan is significant. It could potentially end the devastating war that Sudan has been experiencing for more than two years, while the world and its institutions continue to watch the farce without taking action. The commitment to implementing the approach of reparations could begin soon by pooling the efforts of the civilised world and ending the causes and conditions that have caused armed conflicts to escalate and multiply continuously. The African Union’s decision to focus on reparations in 2025 revives discussions that began with the Abuja Proclamation and were revitalised by the Accra Proclamation and its Declaration in 2023. This potential impact should give us hope for a brighter future for Sudan.
This article does not seek to absolve the Sudanese from resolving their problems according to their national agenda, nor does it place all the blame on colonialism. Instead, it examines new partnership concepts between colonial powers and their former colonies. In any case, this article seeks to mature the content of ‘Africa’s Call for Justice for Africans’ through discussion and open up practical application opportunities. Unfortunately, the African Union’s Call still faces challenges that cannot be ignored. These challenges include the reluctance of some former colonial powers to acknowledge their historical injustices, the complex process of implementing reparations, and the need for a unified and coordinated effort from all African nations to ensure the success of this initiative.
Sudan’s Enduring Legacy: Colonial Scars and the Call for Attention:
Sudan is one of the African countries severely affected by British colonial policies (1899 to 1956), and it is one of the founders of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). As an African country, Sudan’s understanding of reparations broadly encompasses addressing historical crimes and mass atrocities committed against Sudanese, as other people of African Descent, including colonization, slavery, deprivation of the enjoyment of the natural resources of their country, and forcing them to fight in their armies to defend the goals of the colonial state and the welfare of the colonial people. These historical injustices, such as the transatlantic slave trade and colonial exploitation, continue to cast a long shadow, leading to persistent economic, social, and political disparities that continue to affect the Sudan and the whole continent today. Understanding this historical context is crucial to empathise with the current situation in Sudan and the need for reparations.
Sudan’s Path to Healing: Embracing the AU’s Call for Reparations:
The African Call for Justice for Africans was recalled after several unofficial leaks emerged that the US administration would earnestly seek to resolve the Sudanese crisis and end the war there. The question arises: If the African Union wanted to make Western aid to establish peace in Sudan pass through the African Call for Justice for Africans application, how would that be? Applying the African Call for Justice for Africans in the Sudanese peace process could potentially lead to a more comprehensive and effective resolution, addressing the immediate conflict and the underlying historical injustices and systemic inequalities.
The concept of reparations extends beyond mere financial compensation. It seeks to encompass a comprehensive restructuring of political, economic, and social frameworks, perpetuating underdevelopment and marginalisation. This should include Symbolic restitution and historical recognition, such as formal apologies and the return of cultural artefacts. The AU has supported initiatives to restate cultural artefacts, legal redress mechanisms to ensure accountability, financial and economic reparations for historically disadvantaged communities, institutional reforms to address systemic racial inequalities, public education and awareness to foster reconciliation and historical truth-telling. This comprehensive approach should address the root causes of conflict in Sudan. Furthermore, building peace in Sudan under the “African Call for Justice for Africans” application should be a pilot experience of the AU call to test its objectivity and the level of Western response on this matter of international peace and security.
A comprehensive approach to reparative justice in Sudan and other African countries paves the path towards sustainable peace, also focusing on reforming the global financial architecture to ensure equitable representation for Africa in shaping economic policies, harnessing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Sudan benefits from such economic arrangements to boost trade and industrialisation, prioritise value addition to Sudan’s mineral wealth, foster partnerships with the Sudan diaspora, and accelerate Sudanese integration through the AU Protocol on Free Movement of Persons. Therefore, Sudan has rural resources and a significant trade source within Africa and beyond. This importance extends beyond economics to political and security significance for the continent. Sudan borders eight countries, including seven African countries and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Therefore, Sudan’s peace and political stability issue is part of the security and peace for its neighbouring countries.
Sudan’s Unfinished Symphony
Sudan was among the first countries to gain independence from British colonialism in the mid-1950s. However, it faced numerous challenges related to an appropriate governance system, a resource allocation philosophy, ensuring social justice, balanced development, and managing diversity. Despite broad support from African actors, the “African Call for Justice for Africans” has faced resistance, particularly from some European actors who view it as “backwards-looking” or express concerns about legal pitfalls and potential for litigation. Of course, in the current global circumstances, and due to the ongoing wars, Western countries suffer a noticeable decline in economic growth. Therefore, voices have been raised loudly from within European governments to stop most of the support they previously provided for development in Africa. Some Western governments have only offered symbolic gestures or limited financial compensation in specific cases and minor reconstruction and development programs.
A comprehensive, long-term approach to adopting an integrated program to save Sudan will not only impact the people of Sudan. Still, it will also directly impact international peace and security. The African Union’s Call and the methodology proposed by the African Union to make the Call a success are suitable for Sudan. Indeed, the Sudanese must demand that the Call be implemented, given that Sudan was and still is a victim of the long colonial period. The AU’s approach is expected to be linked to its Transitional Justice Policy, aiming for longevity beyond 2025 and potential for conceptual innovation. The emphasis is on past injustices and present structural challenges perpetuating dependency and exploitation. Since the global financial deficit is acknowledged in the Sudan case, the term “Reparations” is seen not just as financial transfers but as a systemic transformation to create conditions for democracy, freedom, justice, dignity, autonomy, and shared prosperity for the Sudanese. This includes ensuring national sovereignty over natural resources, ending illicit financial flows, and promoting equal representation in global governance. Sudan benefits from the AU’s Call to repair fractured political relationships and prevent the recurrence of violence, fostering a more just international order.
About the author:
Dr. Saeed, a Sudanese constitutional lawyer, is the Vice President of the African Network of Constitutional Lawyers (ANCL) based in Cape Town, South Africa. He can be reached via: [email protected]
