environmental degradation as a cause of conflict in - Steiner Graphics

party had the strongest support in the Darfur region. Although party members donot necessarily have the same strong religious bonds as tariqa or khalwa followers,members of political parties still have strong ties among themselves, particularlyamong those attached to the sect. Political parties still function as a melting-potfor followers of different ethnic and parochial backgrounds.The Judiyya or MediationThe judiyya is a widespread system of managing conflict in rural Sudan. Wheneverconflicts are imminent or developing, volunteers will immediately step in and playthe role of mediators. They are normally the elderly, the wise, the impartial, whoare versed in local customs and traditions. In Darfur they are called the ajawid(Singular, ajwadi). The judiyya institution works to prevent conflicts, manage them,resolve them and sometimes transform the conflict situation.Over the course of time the judiyya acquired sanctity in Darfur. No one woulddare to refuse judiyya as a mechanism for conflict resolution or fail to honour itsrulings. To fail to be committed to judiyya ruling, one subjects one’s self to unaffordableconsequences, such as a communal boycott, in a society where communalsolidarity is indispensable. One would be labeled as kassar khawatir – one whobreaks a communal norm. The judiyya can be initiated by the ajawid voluntarily orby the parties in a conflict, who ask for mediation.In Darfur the judiyya predated the colonial era (1916-1956). But the colonialpower reformed the system when it reformed the tribal leadership, giving it thelabel of Native Administration. Native administrators have since become the mainbody of the ajawid or mediators. When violence erupts among local groups, triballeaders, whose followers are not party in the conflict, will act as the ajawid. Thesystem worked perfectly well during the colonial era. The prevailing political philosophy,with its concern for the protection of life and property, greatly helpednative administrators to be successful in ending conflicts.When conflicts are within groups or between individuals, the traditional judiyya(in which native administrators are not involved) remains the mechanism for thesettlement of disputes. The native administrators would normally sanction suchjudiyya rulings. Up to now the traditional judiyya settles most disputes betweenindividuals and groups at the grassroots level. When conflicts are larger in scale,involving more than one tribe, a government-sponsored judiyya would be arranged,in which tribal leaders who are not party to the conflict would play a dominant rolein reconciliation. (See Mohamed 2002).72