Urgent Need for Popular and Diplomatic Action on Darfur

Urgent Need for Popular and Diplomatic Action on Darfur
Briefing ahead of the Upcoming Ministerial Meeting of the AU Peace and Security Council,
18th September, in New York
This update: 14 September 2006

Next week on the 18th of September in New York, the Peace and Security Council of the African Union will have an emergency meeting on the margin of the UN General Assembly. The PSC will decide on the future of the 7000 AU troops in the face of ongoing military escalation of the crisis in Darfur, the recent UN Security Council resolution 1706 to sent 20,00 troops and the Sudanese Government’s refusal to allow the UN mission to proceed.

It is critical that members of the public, non-governmental organizations and Parliamentarians raise their voices at this time. Key to African leadership on this issue are 15 Ministers from Algeria, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda who will be attending this Peace and Security Council meeting. It is imperative that they agree on the following:

1 - A reinforced AMIS mandate until January 2007: A sudden early departure will create a dangerous vacuum, which will be replaced by scaled up military activities by the Government of Sudan. This will almost certainly lead to severe humanitarian consequences, panic, possible forced camp closures, return of IDPs to their homes and further deterioration of security. AMIS should be maintained and its capacity and mandate reinforced until an effective deployment of UN forces. In addition, the AU must show more leadership in accepting assistance in financial accounting, command and control. This is a pre-requisite for approving your plans to scale up, which in the context of massive Government deployment becomes critical

2 - African Union’s support for UN Resolution 1706: Stronger coordinated and concerted pressure on the Government of Sudan to consent to UN transition in line with UNSC resolution 1706 passed on 31 August 2006 will allow the Government to move towards a more constructive dialogue around the command and composition of the UN peace-keeping troops and the steps needed to bring non-signatory factions into the framework of the DPA.

3 - Demilitarization and observance of the cease-fire: The government’s plan of action promotes a military scale up as the way forward. Troops are already being deployed in El Fasher and Nyala. The PSC must call for adherence to the ceasefire by all parties.

4 - International community to reaffirm their support for the AMIS up to January 2007: Previous attempts by donor countries to link funding for AMIS with acceptance by the Sudanese Government of a handover to the UN must be replaced with an unequivocal statement of financial support for AMIS until the handover in January. A pre-condition that rests in the hands of one of the warring parties, the Sudanese Government, disempowers the peace process.

Recent Background to Current Crisis
The conflict in Darfur has now lasted over 3 years. In the recent weeks, the situation has deteriorated to an alarming level with the decision of the Government’s decision to implement its own plan based on military solution. Early this week, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan “strongly condemned this escalation and urged the UNSC to take urgent actions to address a worsening situation in Darfur”.

A Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) has been signed in Abuja on 5 May 2006 between the Government and Minawi Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) one of the rebels groups. In spite of this agreement, the insecurity has gotten increasingly worse, and civilians in Darfur and Chad have borne the brunt of the violence. Today only 60% of the 3.5m in need can be accessed for assistance. In July alone, the crisis has costs of the lives of civilians, humanitarian workers and 2 Peace Keepers. We have seen 20 hijackings of humanitarian vehicles, accelerated fighting and 50,000 newly displaced. With only 7,000 troops in Darfur, the under-funded and under-equipped AMIS forces have been unable to prevent widespread abuses against civilians.

African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) at the cross-roads
The AMIS mission mandate revised in October 2004 is to: “ protect civilians encountered who are under imminent threat and in the immediate vicinity, within the limits of mission capability, it being understood that civilian protection is the government's responsibility … [and] … contribute to a secure environment for the delivery of humanitarian relief and the eventual return of IDPs and refugees to their homes” It had been formulated by the AU Peace and Security Council in the context of a consensual deployment and as a buttress to what was initially conceived of as a ceasefire monitoring force.

There is now considerable confusion over the future of AMIS forces in Darfur. The Arab League passed a resolution offering support for eventual handover to GNU, but requesting the AU be allowed to continue past September. GNU spokespeople later said AMIS should leave if the AU continues to support the UN transition or if it decides itself that it cannot cope or extend its mandate any longer. The AU Peace and Security Council held an emergency meeting last week and announced it would leave at the end of September if the GNU does not drop its opposition to the UN transition. PSC will be meeting at the ministerial level in New York on 18 September to take a decision.

Sudanese Government opposition to a strengthened UN Mission
GNU has opposed UNSC Resolution 1706 calling for 20,000 UN troops in Darfur. President Bashir said Sudan would confront and resist any “international” forces, which he describes as “colonization in disguise.” Speeches were made not only in Khartoum and Darfur but also East Sudan and Kordofan in an effort to mobilise anti-UN opinion nationwide. Vice-President Taha - often seen as more amenable to a UN deployment - made similar remarks at a public rally, comparing Sudan’s resistance to Hezbollah against Israel. The government has frequently used references to Lebanon in recent weeks. Libyan President Gadaafi also described the proposed UN force as “mercenaries” who must be fought.

On 4 September the GNU officially informed the AU to clarify its future in Darfur and respond in 7 days. They argued that AMIS has a role to implement the peace agreement and they cannot handover to the UN without GNU consent. This position will force the AU to leave prematurely. A pre-mature ejection will have dangerous security and humanitarian consequences and make it impossible for the UN to carry out it’s mandate.

Government of Sudan plans for Darfur
The Government of National Unity's plan for Darfur breaches the DPA and risks spreading conflict. The Plan could see a very heavy handed approach to forced return of displaced people, and the placement of up to 10,000 national police in camps, which could be likely to cause conflict and fear in camps given the armed forces' role in supporting attacks on civilians in camps.

The Plan adopts a completely unrealistic timetable to return Darfur to normality by December this year. It is likely that the government will institute forced return of the two million people displaced by the violence and massive military offensives in an attempt to wipe out the anti-peace agreement forces. The immediate deployment of 26 000 Sudan Armed forces and Minnawi SLA Faction troops (the only rebel group to sign the peace deal) to support the AU mission and ‘gain control of the security situation’ will violate the cease-fire agreement. A possible 7,050 national police will be put into camps and surrounding areas to secure and protect displaced persons’ camps. Although it is the responsibility of the Sudanese Government to protect civilians, this plan is not appropriate given that these Sudan Armed Forces have directly supported the attacks on civilians in Darfur. Most alarmingly, the government of National Unity will produce a plan for ‘prompt voluntary return programmes’ with returns beginning from the beginning of September. It seems likely that this means forcibly returning people and calling it voluntary return.

If this happens, it would have very obvious negative and serious consequences for the people in Darfur. For these reasons, the African Union and UN Security Council members should express concerns over this plan.

For more information on the Darfur crisis and the Day of Action for Darfur www.dayfordarfur.org