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.

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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