(Photo provided by Leslie Clark of the Nomad Foundation)In North Africa, located in the interior of the Saharan Desert, reside a striving people known as the Tuareg. Also known as “The People of the Veil,” the Tuareg are descendants of the Berber people who have inhabited North Africa as far back as recorded history for that area goes. A highly nomadic group, the Tuareg travels mainly by camel, and are traders in livestock and agriculture. Some of the land that they inhabit has been found to be rich with Uranium, and lately, the Nigerian government has been selling huge tracts of land to foreign uranium companies without even consulting or informing the Tuareg of these sales. The Tuareg have long withstood devastating droughts, political difficulties, and rebellions, but these new government actions have made a significant blow to their community, and have threatened their way of life, and even their existence.
After years of guerilla warfare and Tuareg rebellion that started in the 1990’s and ended in 1995, the Nigerian government and the Organization of Armed Resistance (ORA) signed the 1955 peace accords. The Peace Accords promised principle equal rights; local elections in which the Tuareg people could have representatives that they could choose themselves, fairly distributed wealth and resources, education, access to jobs, and some influence in the policies of the entire country.
In the past eight months how ever, history seems to have been repeating itself. Tandja Mamadou, the elected president of Niger, has made a decision that once and for all this situation must end, and that the Tuareg and opposition must be completely annihilated. He seeks to eliminate Tuareg expression in politics and society entirely. This is due to a group of Tuareg who have dedicated themselves to alerting the population and government of the deterioration of the 1955 Peace Accords and the non-respect of the agreements that had been signed in 1995.
These government actions have caused a rise in popularity in the Justice Movement of the People of Niger (MNJ). The movement that was created to express the discontent of the Tuareg people at the beginning of last year. One of the largest problems that is affecting the Tuareg is the widespread and arbitrary sales of huge tracts of land to foreign uranium companies (mainly from China). The companies are acquiring legal rights to the Tuareg’s native ancestral land without even so much as consulting them or informing them. They are being dispossessed of these lands which their very survival and ways of life depend on. The government of Niger is refusing to negotiate with the Tuareg completely. The have labeled them as bandits, drug-traffickers, and terrorists in order to create a façade which makes them look like a selfish community that wants all of the resources and wealth for themselves, when really all they want is to achieve the right to simply exist, and to be equal partners in discussions for the countries’ future.
In question about the United State’s involvement, Issouf Ag-Maha, a political leader of the Tuareg people of Niger said, “The US government has a lot of leverage it could use, rather than engaging in military and anti-terrorist operations, to pressure the governments to negotiate and dialogue and acknowledge the existence of democratic movements and bring peace in the region.”
Leslie Clark, who is the founder and president of The Nomad Foundation (A foundation Dedicated to the preservation of cultural and artistic traditions in Africa), has been involved in helping the Tuareg since 1988. After spending a couple years travelling in Niger, she bought a cow for $200 for a nomadic friend whose family had hosted her at their camp. When she returned to visit the next year his family told her that because of that cow they were able to stay nomadic and didn’t have to move into a city and become beggars. Clark said that the best way to help the Tuareg is to build awareness. “I am lobbying all the human rights organizations I can, writing to any blogs, and international organizations interested in mediation.”
One way that readers who are concerned can get involved is to go to this link (http://www.petitiononline.com/pinnne07/petition.html) and sign the petition. Every day the Tuareg are forced deeper and deeper into oppression, but every signature in this petition counts and leads them closer to liberation. For more information, readers can also visit various websites such as; http://nomadfoundation.org
