SUDAN: Government urges political solution to Darfur crisis

NAIROBI, 16 Mar 2005 (IRIN) - The Sudanese government has reiterated its call for a political solution to the crisis in the western region of Darfur, adding that the recently signed peace agreement in the south had provided a framework for settling the Darfur conflict peacefully.

"In spite of exceptional and unfavourable circumstance resulting from civil unrest in southern and western Sudan, the Sudanese people have managed to lay a solid foundation for a durable and lasting peace in the entire country," Ali Yassin, Sudanese minister of justice, told the 61st session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva on Monday.

Yassin, the official Sudan News Agency reported, said a new federal system of government would provide "a real solution" to the conflict in Darfur and ensure that states had their own constitutions, their own elected state governors and their own elected legislative assemblies.

"As far as the crisis in Darfur is concerned, we believe that the African Union [AU], United Nations and other sub-regional organisations share our belief that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement provides a framework for settling the crisis in Darfur," he added.

The Sudanese government and the southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on 9 January 2005 signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Nairobi, Kenya, to end 21 years of conflict in the south and lay the basis for a democratic, inclusive and representative government in Sudan.

The agreement recognised the demands for autonomy for southern Sudan and other states in the country and provided for the protection of fundamental human rights, such as the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.

"These rights are guaranteed for all and will be entrenched in the national interim constitution that is to be drafted to replace the present national constitution," Yassin added.

He said the Sudanese government had acknowledged the need for the devolution of power, the recognition of cultural and social diversity, and the equitable distribution of national wealth as a means to achieve sustainable and balanced development for the whole country.

With regard to the humanitarian situation in Darfur, Yassin reiterated the government's full commitment to implementation of the humanitarian and ceasefire protocols signed by Khartoum in 2004 with the two Darfur rebel movements - the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A).

On 10 March, the two rebel groups fighting against the government in Darfur said they would not resume talks with Khartoum unless "war criminals" in the region are prosecuted. In a statement issued from the Eritrean capital, Asmara, they said justice was a precondition for peace in Darfur.

They also demanded the removal of African Union (AU) peace monitors from Darfur, saying they were no longer "impartial". According to the rebels, the UN, the European Union and Eritrea should conduct monitoring activities.

"The two movements view the issue of trial of the perpetrators as the foremost priority in resolving the conflict in Darfur, especially after they have been named," the rebels said. "The two [have] resolved to resume the negotiations only after the apprehension and trial of the criminals in an international court or tribunal."

Yassin said the government, had agreed to a further increase in AU monitors and protection forces, currently numbering 1,942, to strengthen cease-fire monitoring and enhance tranquillity in the camps for internally displaced persons and to facilitate the voluntary return of the displaced to their homes.

He called on the international community to strengthen the role of the AU in Darfur by providing financial, logistical and technical assistance to shoulder its responsibilities and fulfil its mandate.

"The root causes of the conflict in Darfur can be traced back to the competition between different groups of people over scarce natural and economic resources, such as water, postures, arable and residential land in a society that - is characterised by tribal and linguistic diversity, in addition to tribal ties with neighbouring countries," Yassin said.

"The remoteness of the region, the meagre resources and lack of international aid, coupled with the attacks by the rebels on police stations, had weakened the presence of law and security enforcement authorities in Darfur," he added.

"The war in the south has contributed to the spread of a culture of violence and incited some individuals and groups to believe that achieving their political objectives would be easier by taking up arms against the state," he added.

Talks between JEM and the SLM/A, and the government have taken place intermittently in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, since August. President Olusegun Obasanjo, as chairman of the AU, has personally played a leading role as a mediator.

However, the talks have made little progress and the latest round ended in stalemate in December. Diplomats said the SLM/A had appeared willing to resume talks with Khartoum, but the JEM had questioned the AU's continued role as a mediator, accusing its officials of a pro-Khartoum bias.

Recently, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sudan, Jan Pronk, visited Asmara for talks with government and Darfur rebel representatives in yet another bid to kick-start the Abuja negotiations.

Yassin also condemned attacks by armed groups on humanitarian actors in Darfur.

"Systematic attacks by rebel movements in Darfur have often resulted in suspensions of international humanitarian work," he told the commission. "This, in turn, has often prevented food and medicine from reaching hundreds of thousand of people in need."

On Tuesday, the UN Advance Mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) reported a sharp rise in armed attacks across Darfur.

"Since the second week of March, a large number of incidents have been reported on the roads outside El Geneina," Radhia Achouri, spokeswoman for UNAMIS, told IRIN.

Incidents reported include armed robbery, the harassment of aid workers, the ambushing of vehicles at gunpoint and the looting of their contents, she added.

In his Darfur report to the UN Security Council on Friday, Annan warned that greater pressure had been placed on humanitarian operations as a result of the increasing harassment of NGOs since the end of 2004.

"Commercial trucks carrying humanitarian assistance, including those marked as agency or humanitarian affiliated, continue to be attacked by armed groups on major routes, severely limiting access to populations and causing major delays in the critical, timely delivery of essential items - particularly food," Annan said.

According to relief agencies, over 2.4 million people have been affected by the Darfur conflict where JEM and SLM/A say they are fighting to end "marginalisation and discrimination of the region's inhabitants by the state". Almost 80 percent of those affected have either been internally displaced or forced to flee to neighbouring Chad.

[ENDS]