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The Multiple Experiences of Civil War in the Guera region of Chad, 1965-1990 Bruijn, M.E. de; Dijk, J.W.M. van Citation Bruijn, M. E. de, & Dijk, J. W. M. van. (2007). The Multiple Experiences of Civil War in the Guera region of Chad, 1965-1990. Sociologus, 57(1), 61-98. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/38094 Version: Not Applicable (or Unknown) License: Leiden University Non-exclusive license Downloaded from: https://hdl.handle.net/1887/38094 Note: To cite this publication please use the final published version (if applicable). The Multiple Experiences of Civil War in the Guera Region of Chad, 1965-1990 By M i r jam de B r u i j n and Ha n van D i j k 1 I. Introduction • • The political history of Chad has received considerable attention from historians and political scientists. Debate in this literature has mostly concerned national politics and the consequences of political and military events for the distribution of power at the national level. However, with the exception of Pairault (1994), hardly any attention has been paid to the consequences of political conflicts, violence and the protracted war at the regional and local levels and the local per· spectives on the war. Recent analyses of conflict situations in, for exarrl· ple, Zimbabwe, Sudan and Mozambique have shown that wars are complex social phenomena rather than straightforward struggles in support of political ideologies (Van Walraven & Abbink 2003: 15). 2 Re· sistance movements frequently have an ambiguous relationship with the peasant population they are supposed to be fighting for. Often ex- tensive coercion is needed to win popular support (Kriger 1992, Clap·· ham 1998), and in this process, the local population suffers. This influ.. ences political relations well after resistance n1ovements manage to u1-· timately gain power. Attention for such complexities recently entered the debate on the civil war in Chad itself (Saleh Yacoub & Ngothe Gatta 2005, Garonde Djarma 2003). Trends and coalitions at the national level • • may be relevant for understanding events at the regional level, though in many cases local political dynamics of an entirely different nature play a prominent role in the conflict at the regional and local levels. In this article we present an analysis of the civil war of Chad as it manifested itself in the Guera that has always been mentioned as one of the core regions of the civil war. Events in three villages and the pro.. 1 A first draft of this paper was presented at the NVAS (Netherlands Associa- tion of Africanists) conference, 25-26 September 2003, in the panel entitled 'Conflict, violence and "reconciliation" in Africa: Local level views and efforts'. 2 An impressive number of sources can be mentioned here. See Van Walraven & Abbink (2003) for a recent overview. 62 Mirjam de Bruijn and Ran van Dijk Civil War in the Guera Region of Chad, 1965-1990 vincial capital are discussed as different case studies of the local dy the middle of the Sahelian zone with approximately 500-600 mm rain .. 2 namics of the civil war. Next to the search for local war stories this ar fall per annum. The region, with a surface area of 58,950 km , is ruled ticle also investigates the linkages between the local and national stor by a governor based in Mango and subdivided into four prefectures: ies of the civil war. This was not a simple task, because of the lack of Mango, Bitkine, Mangalme and Melfi. These have recently been sub- historical data: archival sources were hardly available. The local ar divided into sous-prefectures after an administrative reorganization. chives were in complete disarray, parts had been destroyed during the The number of inhabitants in 1993 was 306,253 and now is probably troubles. Problems were also encountered when interviewing people around 400,000. The population, collectively called Hadjerai (mountain about their experiences during this period because of the erratic char people in colloquial Arabic), consists of a number of distinct ethnic acter of human memory. Another dilemma is the comparison of data groups that each speak a different language. Each group inhabits that are available for the national level and on local level. The differ roughly one of the mountain blocks that dominate the landscape. Until ences in sources make comparison difficult. It is therefore that we recently the Hadjerai were mainly adherents of an animist cult called rather see this article as a first and tentative attempt to show that an the Margay but now the majority have converted to Islam, with a min.. elaboration of this local perspective on the civil war may form the nu ority being Christians and Animists. A minority group of Arab agro- cleus of an alternative and new interpretation of the Chadian civil war. • pastoralists can be found on the plains, and in the northern part of the region. During the dry season they are joined by Arab pastoralists who After introducing the research area, the next section of the article is spend the dry season in the area. devoted to a brief description of the major events that form the context at the national level based on our re-reading of the historical accounts The Hadjerai population mainly subsists on millet and sorghum available. Hereafter, attention will be given to how the Guera figured farming. The women cultivate peanuts, and sesame both for subsis- in relation to this national picture (as reported in the literature). Sub tence and as a cash crop. The area has been suffering from recurrent sequently, a detailed account will be given of events in the Guera at the droughts over the past decades, which cause wild oscillations in crop level of three villages, Korlongo, Baro and Bourzan, situated in the production. Soil fertility is generally low, making permanent cultiva- northeast of the Guera in the prefecture of Mango, and the regional ca tion without inputs difficult. Cropping systems differ widely, ranging pital itself. from shifting cultivation systems to more permanent cropping~ de- pending on the possibilities for fertilizing. The minority of Arab agro- pastoralists subsists on a combination of livestock keeping and cereal II. The Guera cultivation. Some of these groups have very ancient ties to the region whereas others have moved into the area following the droughts and The Guera played a significant role in the war. The first peasant re the fighting in the 1970s and 1980s. Nomadic Arab herding cattle and bellion against oppressive policies imposed by the post--independence camels exploit the bush pastures mainly during the dry season. government of Ngarta Tombalbaye and his Parti Progressiste Tchadien occurred in this region in the district of Mangalme. Many regard this Apart from cultivation, people survive on handicrafts and an increas- uprising as a key event that triggered off more general resistance ing number of men are migrating to the capital N'Djamena, Sudan and against the Tombalbaye regime. After this, political turmoil acquired • beyond to the Central African Republic, Cameroon and Nigeria to look its own dynamics. The Gw\ra was soon infiltrated by armed units of • for work to supplement their family incomes. The region is poor by all the FROLINAT (Front pou·r la Liberation National du Tchad), a na standards and has very little infrastructure (de Bruijn et al., 2004). tional resistance movement that was founded in 1966 and soon mana The history of the area is marked by violence. Before the colonial er:a ged to become a thorn in the side of the regular Chadian army. During the Hadjerai fiercely resisted slave-raiding by the empires of Ouaddai the period from 1965 to 1990, the region was the scene of protracted and Baguirmi located to the east and west of the Guera. The Margay war, with shifting balances of power between different component priests were the main source of political authority, with little political parts of resistance groups against the regime .in power, and with local centralization above the level of local communities. With colonialism, rivalries. a new form of administration was introduced. Headmen (chefs de can The landscape of the Gue:ra is dominated by mountain massives se ton) were appointed by the French, a structure modelled on neighbour- parated by plains of alluvial origin. The region is in the centre of Chad ing pre-colonial empires. This organization remained in force after in- about 400 km from the capital (see map in introduction). The area is in dependence. Only after 2000, attempts were made to decentralize terri-- 64 Mirjam de Bruijn and Han van Dijk Civil War in the Guera Region of Chad, 1965-1990 6i) torial administration by creating sous-prefectures at the level of former In response to oppression and excessive taxation, the first peasant colonial cantons. This proeess of administrative decentralization is still rebellions broke out in central and eastern Chad in September 196f•, in progress. beginning in Bitchotchi in the district of Mangalme. Moubi peasants killed members of a government delegation who came to demand un Ill. The Chadian 'Civil War': 1965-1990 paid taxes, after which severe repressive measures were taken by the Chadian army (Abbo Netcho 1997 Buijtenhuijs 1978, Azevedo 1998). During the 1960s and HI 70s, the FROLINAT-led revolt attracted at The first incidents in the Tibesti took place in the same month (Le tention, not only because of the media coverage of the a:Efaire Claustre3 , moine 1997). but also because of the heavy foreign involvement in the conflict, initi Since independence, opposition to the Chadian government was ally by France and later on by Libya and the United States. The Cha growing among Cbadian migrants and refugees in Sudan and Egypt.