THE CONFLICT IN DARFUR Department of Foreign Affairs 10 September 2007.
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Transcript of THE CONFLICT IN DARFUR Department of Foreign Affairs 10 September 2007.
THE CONFLICT IN DARFUR
Department of Foreign Affairs
10 September 2007
BACKGROUND TO THE CONFLICT
• Outbreak of the conflict in February 2003
• Justice and Equity Movement(JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) oppose Government of Sudan (GoS)
• Cause: Economic and political marginalisation
SECURITY SITUATION
• Since outbreak of conflict it is estimated that over 200 000 have been killed, over 4.5 million IDPs and over 200 000 refugees in Chad.
.
SECURITY SITUATION (Continued)
• Nature of security situation differs in three states of Darfur:
– Western Darfur: cross-border tensions between Chad and Sudan
– Northern Darfur: conflict between Government and Darfur Peace Agreement non-signatory factions
– Southern Darfur: ethnic conflict
SECURITY SITUATION (Continued)
• Ethnic Conflict on the rise:– Between Zaghawa and Maaliyah– Recently among Arab ethnic groups, namely, Rezeiget and
Torjein for scarce resource and land as is nomadic migration season
• Conflict spreading to neighbouring Kordofan region– Attack by JEM and SLM of the Wad Banda government
base, which resulted in the death of 41 people including Sudan Security Forces
• Reason: claim base is used by GoS as the logistic and supply centre for ongoing aerial attacks on South Darfur
GEO-POLITICAL DIMENSION OF DARFUR CRISIS
• Spill-over effect to Chad and Central African Republic
• Refugees and cross-border attacks
• EU proposing to deploying troops on the border of the three countries viz. Darfur, Chad and CAR
• Above strained relations between Sudan and Chad, and thus the signing of agreements to mend relations
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
• Ethnic clashes led to further displacement of people
• Malnutrition on the rise: beyond the emergency threshold of 15% to over 17%
• Situation exacerbated by continued attacks against aid workers, car hijackings and looting of aid convoys, which has increased by 150%.
PEACE PROCESS
• Darfur Peace Agreement signed on 05 May 2006 by the GoS and SLM Minni Minawi faction
• Minni Minawi appointed Senior Assistant to the President
Challenges:
– Fragmentation of Darfur armed groups. Over 17 groups in existence.
– Several peace initiatives, Libya, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, SPLM, UN, AU recently France.
PEACE PROCESS (Continued)
• Efforts by UN and AU:– Joint AU-UN Road Map for Darfur Political Process:
• Phase I: convergence of all peace initiatives and consultations on the political process and parties’ positions
• Phase II: Pre-negotiation phase, which includes extensive consultations with the Government and Darfur armed groups
• Phase III: Negotiation phase
PEACE PROCESS (Continued)
Progress on implementation of Road Map• Phase I:
– UN and AU efforts– French initiative
• Phase II:– Arusha consultations held on 4-5 August 2007– Purpose: creating an enabling environment for the non-
signatories to meet and consult among themselves, and with other participants.
– Outcome: Adopted a common position in preparation for the forthcoming talks with the GoS
PEACE PROCESS (Continued)
– AbdelWahid Al Nur failed to attend the Arusha consultations: commands wide support of the Fur, which is the majority ethnic group in Darfur and popular among IDPs.
– Reason: demands the deployment of an international peacekeeping force
UN Secretary General visited Sudan on 4-5 September 2007, seen as an effort to tie the GoS’ commitment to ensure speedy deployment of UNAMID.
PEACE PROCESS
Post Arusha Challenges:
a. Representation of all armed groups not only Arusha participants
b. Inclusion of forces beyond armed groups
PEACE PROCESS
• Phase II:
– Chad proposed to host preparatory talks
– SPLM Leadership led by Vice President of the GOSS, Dr Riek Machr Teny to hold talks with AbdelWahid Al Nur
• Phase III:
– Venue: Libya
– Date: 27 October
PEACEKEEPING
• 28 May 2004 Addis Ababa agreement on establishment of a peacekeeping mission
• African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) first deployed in 2004.
• Challenges:– Lack of financial and logistical support (heavy reliance on donor
funding)– 7 000 not sufficient to cover the whole of Darfur– Suffered casualties
• Due to above, calls for UNMIS to reinforce AU Mission (UNSC Resolution 1590).
PEACEKEEPING (Continued)
• 15 March 2006 AU PSC Communiqué - end mandate of AMIS by 30 September 2006 and rehat AMIS
• UNSC Resolution 1679 of 16 May 2006 – tasked UNSG to submit recommendations to UNSC on rehatting
• UNSC Resolution 1706 of 31 August 2006 expanded mandate of UNMIS to support the implementation of DPA and tasked UNSG to consult with the AU and GoS on rehatting
• 28 September 2006 UNSG’ recommendations and UN Support Package to AMIS
• 16 November 2006 Addis Ababa High Level Consultative meeting detailed basic elements of UN Support Package
PEACEKEEPING (Continued)
• 30 November 2006 AU PSC endorsed the Three-phase UN Support Package
• Phase I: light support package
• Phase II: heavy support package
• Phase III: AU-UN Hybrid Force
• Resistance by GoS
PEACEKEEPING (Continued)
• Currently 5 900 of 7 000 AMIS on the ground• Mandate of AMIS expires in December 2007• On 31 July 2007, UN Security Council passed Resolution
1769 authorising the deployment of a UN-AU Hybrid Force in Sudan (UNAMID)
• 19 555 military personnel and 6 432 civilian police to be deployed
PEACEKEEPING (Continued)
• African countries that have pledged include: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mauritania, Nigeria (700 troops), Rwanda (800 troops), Senegal.
• South Africa has been requested to deploy
PEACEKEEPING (Continued)
• Other countries that have pledged include: Australia, Bangladesh, China, Denmark, France, India, Indonesia (150 civilian police), Nepal, Pakistan.
• However, AU Chairperson, Alpha Konare indicated that there is no need for troop contribution by non-African countries as there are sufficient troops within Africa to carry out the mandate of UN Security Council in Darfur
• Challenge: logistics, equipment
SANCTIONS
• UN Security Council divided on matter: UK and France have resumed the threat of sanctions, while China argues that dialogue and not threats of sanctions will help resolve Darfur conflict
• US has imposed sanctions on Sudan
• US has characterised the crisis as genocide
HUMANITARIAN LAW
• ICC issued warrants of arrests for Ahmed Haroun (former Minister of Interior and now State Minister of Humanitarian Affairs) and Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (militia leader).
• Accused of 51 counts of violation of Humanitarian Law in Darfur.
HUMANITARIAN LAW (Continued)
• Khartoum appointed Ahmed Haroura to chair committee established by NCP and SPLM to monitor the security situation in Darfur
• President Al Bashir handed over the Darfur Dossier to Dr Nafi Ali Nafi, his close assistant and Deputy Chairperson on NCP
• THANK YOU