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8468th Security Council Meeting: Sudan and South Sudan
The country-wide state of emergency in Sudan declared by its President on 22 February puts a question mark over the peace process in Darfur and plans to draw down the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission there by the middle of 2020, the Security Council heard today.
Citing solidarity with protests over economic and political conditions in Sudan, two groups — the Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minawi (SLA/MM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), both non-signatories of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur — have gone back on an agreement to resume talks with the Government, said Bintou Keita, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa.
The result is a standstill in the peace process, she said, despite relative stability throughout Darfur apart from the Jebel Marra area where sporadic clashes persist between Government forces and the Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA/AW) faction.
“The impact of the recent developments in Khartoum on the dynamics related to the peace process in Darfur is yet to be assessed,” she said, adding that the replacement of state governors in Sudan will have a bearing on the peace process and that some armed movements have stiffened their positions.
Presenting the Secretary-General’s 90-day report on the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), the Assistant Secretary-General — just back from a visit to Sudan — updated members of the 15-nation organ on the mission’s reconfiguration and troop reduction, as it aims to exit Darfur by 30 June 2020 as stipulated in Council resolution 2429 (2018) (see Press Release SC/13422).
“The entire United Nations system is committed to ensuring that we operate as one, in close coordination with the Sudanese Government,” she said, emphasizing that the mission’s exit must not create a vacuum that leads to persistent local tensions or new risk factors.
She called on the Government to keep creating conditions that favour the return of internally displaced persons and suggested that Khartoum talk with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict to establish a framework of cooperation for addressing sexual violence.
In the ensuing debate, several Council members expressed concern about the Sudan-wide state of emergency and the impact it could have on the mission’s withdrawal and on sustainable peace in Darfur.
Emphasizing that the root causes of the Darfur conflict must be addressed, the representative of the United Kingdom — the Council penholder on Sudan — said the broader situation in Sudan is worrisome. Calling for the release of imprisoned opposition leaders, activists and journalists, as well as reported human rights violations, he said that such actions, if left unaddressed, threaten to throw into question the Government’s intentions regarding peacebuilding.
In the same vein, Germany’s delegate said the peace process cannot be separated from the political dynamics, including recent demonstrations. To avoid a relapse into conflict in Darfur, the Council and international community must remain seized of the situation on the ground. The Council must also work to prevent a relapse into conflict and ensure that UNAMID gets the political and financial support that it needs, he added.
Taking a different view, the representative of the Russian Federation — recalling the role played by the President of Sudan in securing a peace agreement in the Central African Republic — said the mission’s future should be based on what is happening in Darfur and that Council members ought not to discuss Khartoum’s internal affairs. He added that easing sanctions would help ease the economic situation in Sudan and contribute to peacebuilding in Darfur.
The Dominican Republic’s delegate reminded other Council members that Darfur is “the first climate change conflict”, with drought and desertification undermining the availability of natural resources essential for survival. With rising temperatures forecast to slash grain production in the region, he urged the Council to address climate-related risks from a practical perspective.
While the international community’s efforts have resulted in a considerable improvement in the security situation in Darfur, South Africa’s representative — pointing to the Jebel Marra region — said “it is clear that we are not where we should be”. He added: “We should also guard against spoilers utilizing the current socioeconomic challenges in Sudan to further their own narrow interests.”
Speaking at the end of the meeting, Sudan’s representative said the Council was meeting today to discuss Darfur and that if it wanted to consider other matters, then it should decide to do so in line with its own provisional rules. Three decades of Council-approved sanctions have impacted thousands of vulnerable people and deprived Sudan of basic needs, he said, calling also for his country to be freed from its huge debt burden. Emphasizing that developments in Jebel Marra should not be the sole criteria for judging the situation in Darfur, he stated that the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights contains provisions regarding the declaration of a state of emergency and that Sudan would update the Secretary-General on developments.
Also speaking today were representatives of France, United States, Belgium, Indonesia, Kuwait, China, Poland, Peru, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea.
The meeting began at 10:09 a.m. and ended at 12 p.m.
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