environmental degradation as a cause of conflict in - Steiner Graphics

valuable gifts with their counterparts, establishing friendship ties with one anotherand forbidding their followers from abusing others by calling them names or insultingthem by referring to their demeaning tribal origin) (interviewing Al-Bashar,July 2003).Tribal FestivalsOne of the important peacebuilding institutions that the colonial government establishedin Darfur was the tribal festivals. Such festivals were arranged periodically.Different tribal groups would take part in what was called arda – i.e. procession– whereby tribal horsemen marched in front of crowds of spectators, to demonstratethe relative sizes and well-being of their riding animals (chiefly horses), their armamentsand their preparedness for defending their communities, if need be. Thearda was meant to serve several purposes: Firstly, to deter thieves, robbers andinvaders in general. Secondly, the tribal festivals were to create occasions of publicentertainment, at a time when means of public entertainment (such as the cinema)had not yet been introduced. Thirdly, and more importantly, tribal festivals wereoccasions for tribal leaders to meet and solve inter-group conflicts (by formingjoint courts).Following the arda, horsemen would go back to their homelands and leave theirleaders to get together and solve tribal problems. They would review the implementationof old decisions and look into fresh problems. When the festival was held inNyala, the capital town of the district, the tribal leaders looked for tribesmen wholeft their homelands and came to the city and confronted problems of urban plight.Such tribesmen and women would be helped to go back home and be reintegratedin their original communities. The list would include inmates jailed in Nyala prison(Assammani, 2003).Tribal festivals were organised in Id El-Ghanam for the tribes to the west of thedistrict; in Abu Salaa, in the southern part; in Sibdu, to the east and in Nyala forthe town’s population. Tribal festivals were continued for quite some time afterindependence and then they were discontinued.In general, during the colonial era (1916-1956) institutions and practices leadingto intercommunal peace were greatly encouraged at both the central and locallevels. Locally the tribal leaders were instrumental in observing and encouragingsuch practices. In most cases the leaders set the example for their followers. Friendshipswere widespread among them, with gifts frequently being exchanged amongthem. Often time this led to intermarriages among tribal leaders. For instance,Abdul Rahman Bahr Eddeen, the sultan of the Masalit tribe, was married to thedaughter of Mahmud Musa Madibbu, the nazir of the Rizayqat tribe. The Masalitsultanate is located in the extreme western part of the Darfur region, while the74