Sudan: A European-led tripartite meeting in Addis discusses arms embargo on Sudan & Article Seven, ignoring the position of both sides of the conflict

THIS report published in Arabic was kindly sent in to Sudan Watch by a Sudanese reader living and working in the UK over the past twenty years. Here is a copy in full, translated from Arabic by Google translate.

From sudanakhbar.com
By Radio Dabanga Arabic
Dated Friday, 9 February 2024

A European-led tripartite meeting in Addis Ababa discusses the arms embargo on Sudan, the imposition of Article Seven, and ignoring the position of both sides of the conflict - Sudan News

The Darfur Bar Association and the African Centre for Peace and Justice meet with a joint delegation with representatives of the European Union Mission Badis Ayaya

At the request of the Darfur Bar Association and the African Centre for Peace and Justice, a joint delegation met with representatives of the European Union Delegation in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, this morning, February 8, 2024, and the meeting was devoted to consultation on the situation in Sudan and with a focus on stopping the war and the humanitarian situation.

The Army and RSF are not qualified to discuss post-war issues

Mr. Saleh Mahmoud, Chairman of the Darfur Bar Association, described the humanitarian situation as aggravated and worrying, not only in Darfur, but in the whole of Sudan, given the number of people affected, which the most modest statistics indicate exceeds 10 million people.

In an interview with Radio Dabanga, Mr. Saleh Mahmoud pointed out that the meeting also touched on gross violations of human rights and international law and the continued commission of heinous crimes, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The meeting also touched on the future of the political process after the cessation of the war, as the Darfur Bar Association and the African Center for Peace and Justice confirmed that there is currently no government in Sudan representing all Sudanese to discuss the post-war situation, stressing that the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (Janjaweed Foundation) are not qualified to discuss the situation of Sudan and negotiate that indicates the return of the situation to what it was before the war.

Sudan arms embargo

On ways to stop the war, Mr. Saleh Mahmoud stressed that the discussion touched on the activation of all measures under Chapter VII of the Charter of the United Nations, the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and various international treaties. He pointed to the importance of taking measures related to banning the import of weapons flowing into Sudan as a priority, not dealing with the parties to the war and not for the purpose of negotiations to return them to the position of power again, given that the task of determining how and who will govern Sudan is a task for the Sudanese people.

Mr. Saleh Mahmoud stated that they explained to the representatives of the European Union Mission the possibility of delivering humanitarian aid in a shorter way through Chadian territory for the people of the Darfur region in order to avoid the difficulties facing its flow through the port of Port Sudan as well as to the rest of the affected areas in Sudan. We asked them to think together about ways to deliver aid in the presence of the old state institution that is tainted by corruption that could hinder the delivery of this aid or sell it in the markets to those affected.

Exceeding the consent of the parties to the war

Mr. Saleh Mahmoud warned that the passage of aid in areas controlled by the army or the Rapid Support Forces threatens the possibility of reaching those who deserve it. Mr. Saleh Mahmoud stressed that they called for activating international humanitarian law, especially the articles that allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected without obtaining the consent of the force controlling the ground, whether it is rapid support or armed forces, and the international community and regional institutions in delivering aid should not be subject to the will of the warring parties that do not represent the Sudanese people.

Calling for a greater role for the African Peace and Security Council

Regarding the speech addressed by the African Center for Justice and Peace to the African Peace and Security Council, Musaed Mohamed Ali, director of the center, confirmed in an interview with Radio Dabanga that the message is mainly aimed at stopping the war as a top priority. The letter called on the Peace and Security Council and the African Union to play its role and exert greater efforts to stop the war and stop hostilities in Sudan as soon as possible. In the short term, the letter called on the council to work towards a swift cessation of hostilities to allow the passage of humanitarian aid to those affected who have been displaced inside Souda.

View original: https://www.sudanakhbar.com/1483595

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Sudan: JEM leader says his forces prepare to fight RSF

Report at Sudan Tribune
Dated Monday, 5 February 2024 - here is a copy in full:

JEM leader says his forces prepare to fight RSF

Gibril Ibrahim greets his supporters after his return to Khartoum on November 15, 2020

February 5, 2024 (PORT SUDAN) –  Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim, head of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), strongly criticized the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and disclosed that his forces are preparing to wage war against them in Al-Jazirah state.

Speaking at a rally in Port Sudan, Ibrahim condemned the RSF’s attacks and accused them of pursuing a destructive agenda that threatens the entire nation. He rejected their claims of supporting democracy, characterizing them as a force intent on harming the people.

By attacking the central Sudan state “The RSF’s actions expose their true intentions,” Ibrahim declared. “Their project is not aligned with democracy or any other noble slogan.”

The JEM leader’s statement comes amid general mobilization by the army to retake several states from the paramilitary forces. The army leaders said their campaign would start by Al-Jazirah which the RSF seized in mid-December 2023.

Ibrahim, along with Minni Arko Minawi of the Sudan Liberation Movement, decided to abandon neutrality and join the army in this conflict.

He expressed his belief that the situation in Sudan is unique and has been influenced by international and regional actors. He further characterized the situation as incompatible with the nature of the Sudanese people.

“This situation is unprecedented, orchestrated by regional and global powers,” he asserted. “It represents a perversion of the true character of the Sudanese people,” he said referring to the war crimes and systematic looting practiced by the RSF elements.

Ibrahim went further, declaring the JEM’s commitment to actively opposing the RSF. “We will be at the forefront of liberating Madani,” he vowed, referring to the state capital. “The JEM is preparing for this moment,” he further unveiled.

His words align with reports of mobilization by armed movements in Darfur, including forces led by Minawi and Mustafa Tambour, who reportedly would participate in the under-preparation offensive against the RSF. (ST)

View original: https://sudantribune.com/article282018/

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‘No diplomatic end to Sudan’s war in sight' -Baldo

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: Peace meetings between Messrs Burhan and Hemeti could happen as soon as Hemeti makes his fighters leave Khartoum and move out of the residential homes and properties they've commandeered in Khartoum. It's as simple as that. Once that happens, Gen. Burhan said (many times) he will attend ceasefire and peace talks. The fact that none of it has happened proves Hemeti is not genuine in wanting peace and security for the people of Sudan. He wants Sudan and what's left of it by the time he's hauled off to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

__________________________

From Radio Dabanga
Dated Friday, 12 January 2024; 18:00 NEW YORK - here is a copy in full:

‘No diplomatic end to Sudan’s war in sight,’ warns Suliman Baldo

Map of Sudan showing areas under SAF (in red) and RSF (in yellow) control as of December 21, 2023 (Source: @ThomasVLinge via X)

As the war between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) soon enters its ninth month, there remains no tangible end in sight to the widespread suffering endured by the country and its people. That is despite a flurry of diplomatic mediation efforts, says prominent Sudanese researcher Suliman Baldo.

In his analysis ‘Sudan’s Interminable War, published by the International Centre for Dialogue Initiatives on Tuesday, conflict resolution expert Suliman Baldo* observes that while both the SAF and the RSF “initially believed they would crush the other in days”, the conflict has dragged on into “multiple localised ethnically driven clashes beyond either party’s control”.

On the ground, the RSF has succeeded in expanding its territorial control in Darfur, Kordofan, and Khartoum, while SAF remains in control of northern, central, and eastern regions, including de-facto administrative capital Port Sudan. In December, an RSF offensive “wrestled the central Gezira state from the army’s control and threatened its presence in the White Nile and Sennar states”.

The war unmasked SAF’s ineptitude, Baldo asserts, “as its senior commanders became too steeped in grand corruption practices to pay attention to the decay of SAF as a fighting force”.

Their adversary, the RSF, is “ethnically aligned, with plunder as the main motivation of its fighters”. The paramilitary force “proved incapable of providing for the population” in El Gezira after it took over the former safe haven for those who fled Khartoum and El Obeid in the early days of the war.

At the end of December, the Wad Madani Resistance Committees lamented the deterioration of security, health and humanitarian conditions in El Gezira, continued attacks by the RSF, the lack of functional hospitals, and the ongoing waves of displacement in the state.

The region is divided over Sudan. Sudanese policy analyst Kholood Khair and civil society activist Asmahan Akam wrote in Time magazine in December that “Egypt, Iran, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia support the SAF while the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a UN Security Council member, backs the RSF in seeming violation of the body’s own arms embargo on Darfur, first enacted in 2004 and just renewed (with a yes vote from the UAE) in March 2023”.

‘No tangible solution’

The SAF, with junta leader Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan at its head, conditions a ceasefire on the RSF evacuating private and residential areas. Baldo explains that this is most likely to be rejected by the latter, as it maintains a tactical advantage in doing so, especially in Khartoum where it continues to lay siege to several SAF command stations.

Whilst ongoing conflict threatens SAF’s collapse, Baldo believes, “a traffic jam of diplomatic initiatives” has yet to bring forth any sustainable nor tangible end to the conflict.

The Jeddah talks, facilitated by the US and Saudi Arabia, stalled due to belligerents’ failures to honour commitments. The United Nations (UN) “was relegated to an observer’s seat as Sudan unilaterally terminated its political mission”, whereas “offers of mediation by Russia, Turkey, and a Sudan neighbours’ initiative launched by Egypt in July failed to generate traction because the RSF declined to cooperate with any”.

By the end of 2023, the Horn of Africa Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), whose members include Djibouti, Kenya, the Sudans, Uganda, Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea, emerged as a lead mediator for a humanitarian ceasefire and civilian-led political negotiations.

IGAD convened in Djibouti in early December, for an extraordinary assembly session on the situation in Sudan, where members agreed to redouble efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution, including mediating head-to-head talks between El Burhan and RSF commander ‘Hemedti’.

“However, several challenges emerged in the final days of 2023 and early 2024 that risk derailing the IGAD’s role in these processes.”

Hours after the IGAD communiqué of the summit was released, the Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs initially denied El Burhan’s agreement to meet with Hemedti without conditions, stating that the communiqué’s content “was not based on consensus nor legally binding.”

Baldo notes that the FA Ministry is “dominated by Islamist allies of the SAF” who are most likely behind the initial rejection of the offer. El Burhan later agreed to meet with Hemedti.

Another challenge facing IGAD’s role is the official reception and hospitality received by Hemedti during his Africa tour, in which he was hosted by the heads of four IGAD member states, including chairperson Ismail Guelleh, the President of Djibouti.

“Hemedti’s reception as a visiting dignitary bestowed on him a diplomatic legitimacy that provoked the ire of the SAF, and made less likely that Burhan would agree to meet with him under the IGAD’s auspices after this slight”, the expert explained.

Last June, Sudan’s Sovereignty Council, chaired by El Burhan, declared that “Kenya is not neutral and is home to RSF rebel leaders”.

Last week, acting FA Minister Ali El Sadig announced that Sudan summoned the Kenyan ambassador to protest against the official reception of Hemedti by the Kenyan president.

* Dr Suliman Baldo is an expert in justice, human rights and conflict resolution in Africa and served as the Africa head of International Crisis group, the International Center for Transitional Justice, and has also held human rights and mediation posts in the United Nations. He has provided expert advice on human rights in Mali and Darfur and currently leads the Sudan Transparency and Policy Tracker. (Source: International Centre for Dialogue Initiatives website)

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View original: https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/no-diplomatic-end-to-sudans-war-in-sight-warns-suliman-baldo

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UN presence in Sudan ‘in a precarious situation’ -IOM

"The fierce fighting between the Sudanese army and rebel RSF forces risks reaching the UN bases in the east of the country, warns the head of IOM, the UN migration agency in the country, sharing his frustration at being unable to reach the millions of civilians in desperate need of humanitarian assistance". Read more.

From UN News
Dated Wednesday, 17 January 2024 - excerpts:

UN presence in Sudan ‘in a precarious situation’, says IOM country chief

IOM 2023 IOM teams are assessing the needs of Sudanese refugees on the Chad–Sudan border

Since the fighting began in April of last year, about half a million people have fled into neighbouring South Sudan, one of the poorest countries in the world, and thousands more are expected to follow the exodus. The UN has shared reports of horrific abuse and widespread rights violations. Loaded trucks have been unable to bring aid supplies because of fierce fighting. Drivers have been beaten and extorted for money, and aid workers have been detained and killed.

Peter Kioy, the Sudan Chief of Mission for IOM, spoke to Conor Lennon from UN News from his temporary base in the eastern city of Port Sudan about the dangerous situation facing the Sudanese people and the humanitarian workers trying to support them.

© WFP/Eulalia Berlanga South Sudanese returnees arrive at the Joda border point in Upper Nile State.

Peter Kioy: The humanitarian community has no capacity to oversee or access the areas where people are fleeing to or fleeing from, which makes it really difficult for us to ensure the international protection rights that they are entitled to. The lack of humanitarian aid makes them more vulnerable. Access remains one of the key issues for the humanitarian community in Sudan; we need more secure access for humanitarian actors. Both sides agreed to allow humanitarian access during peace talks, but they are still not delivering on that.

UN News: Do you still have people on the ground?

Peter Kioy: In some areas, we don't have people because it’s too dangerous, and the humanitarian space is shrinking. Recently, the conflict reached Al Jazirah state and White Nile state, which meant that humanitarian actors had to move out. Truck drivers do not feel secure going into some of those localities to deliver aid.

IOM Thousands of people have arrived at Metema, the border town between Sudan and Ethiopia, since fighting in Sudan erupted on 15 April 2023.

UN News: How have IOM staff been affected?

Peter Kioy: A staff member was killed at the onset of the crisis, and we had to regroup around our eastern offices in Kassala, Al Qadarif and Port Sudan.

However, we don’t know for how long. The RSF have said that they’re making their way east towards Port Sudan as well. We don’t know how quickly they will advance, so we remain in a precarious situation, where we don’t know what will happen in the next two months or even the next two weeks.

For now, the situation in Port Sudan remains relatively stable and calm, but it is a probably a false calm because we’re not sure of what is happening in and around the city.

So, we remain vigilant in case we find ourselves in a similar situation to Khartoum.

 

UN News: Can you describe the evacuation from Khartoum in April 2023

Peter Kioy: I think it’s a situation you would not want to find yourself in again. 

It was chaotic. Bullets flying all around, people unable to move and seeking shelter under the furniture in their houses, hiding in corners and hoping that no stray bullets come through the windows.

No one expected that Khartoum would bear the brunt of the fighting, and so the necessary security measures were not in place. This made it very scary, especially for those who had family.

It was a nightmare that no one would want to live through or wish on others.

I remember that we were trying to coordinate our staff to get them to the gathering sites for the evacuation. It was difficult even in the relatively calm areas because of the number of rebel and government checkpoints. We didn’t know how the soldiers would react.

UN News: What is morale like amongst the UN teams in Port Sudan?

We have stayed behind to deliver aid, and we have the capacity, but we do not have access to the people who are in need of our support, and that has become frustrating.

There are pockets of hope. We managed, for example, to bring in cross-border support from Chad into Darfur and deliver some vital humanitarian aid. But, it still remains a challenge, and we hope that with the ongoing negotiations greater access can be granted to the humanitarian community at large.

View original: https://news.un.org/en/interview/2024/01/1145602

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Agencies consider new aid route into Sudan from S. Sudan as humanitarian crisis worsens, cholera spreads

FIGHTING AND RED TAPE have hampered aid access in Sudan. Hunger and diseases including cholera are spreading. Aid agencies are looking at delivering aid to Sudan on a new route from South Sudan as they struggle to access much of the country. 

The war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left nearly half of Sudan's 49 million people requiring aid. More than 7.5 million people have fled their homes, making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally, and hunger is rising. 

Aid supplies have been looted and humanitarian workers attacked, while international agencies and NGOs have long complained about bureaucratic obstacles to get into the army-controlled hub of Port Sudan and obtain travel permits for access to other parts of the country. Read more.

From Reuters

Reporting by Aidan Lewis

Editing by Christina Fincher

Dated Monday, 15 January 2024, 5:51 PM GMT - here is a copy in full:

Agencies consider new aid route into Sudan as humanitarian crisis worsens

Jan 15 (Reuters) - Aid agencies are looking at delivering aid to Sudan on a new route from South Sudan as they struggle to access much of the country, a senior U.N. official said on Monday, nine months into a war that has caused a major humanitarian crisis.

The war between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left nearly half of Sudan's 49 million people requiring aid. More than 7.5 million people have fled their homes, making Sudan the biggest displacement crisis globally, and hunger is rising.

Aid supplies have been looted and humanitarian workers attacked, while international agencies and NGOs have long complained about bureaucratic obstacles to get into the army-controlled hub of Port Sudan and obtain travel permits for access to other parts of the country.

"There's a very, very difficult operating environment, very hard," Rick Brennan, regional emergencies director for the World Health Organization (WHO), said in a press briefing in Cairo on Monday.

Aid agencies lost access to Wad Madani, a former aid hub in the important El Gezira agricultural region southeast of Khartoum, after the RSF seized it from the army last month.

The RSF's advance into El Gezira state and fighting that erupted recently involving the army, the RSF and Sudan's third-most powerful military force, the SPLM-North, in South Kordofan, have sparked new displacement.

U.N. and other agencies have been largely restricted to operating out of Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, and delivering aid from Chad into the western region of Darfur, where there have been waves of ethnically-driven killings.

"We're also looking at establishing cross-border operations from South Sudan into the southern parts of the Kordofan states of Sudan," said Brennan.

DISEASE OUTBREAKS

Health services, already badly weakened when the war broke out in mid-April, have been further eroded.

"We have at least six major disease outbreaks, including cholera," said Brennan.

"We've also got outbreaks of measles and dengue fever, of vaccine-derived polio, of malaria and so on. And hunger levels are soaring as well because of the lack of access of food."

Diplomats and aid workers say that the army and officials aligned with it have hampered humanitarian access as both sides pursue their military campaigns. Activists say neighbourhood volunteers have been targeted.

They say the RSF does little to protect aid supplies and workers, and that its troops have been implicated in cases of looting. Read more.

Both sides have denied impeding aid.

The army and the RSF shared power with civilians after a popular uprising in 2019, staged a coup together in 2021, then came to blows over their status in a planned transition towards elections.

U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said in a statement last week that the reasons aid was not getting through were "frankly outrageous".

Customs clearances for supplies coming into the country could take up to 18 days, with further inspections under military supervision that could take even longer, he said.

Photo: A volunteer stirring food to be distributed to people in Omdurman, Sudan, September 3, 2023. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

Photo: People hold pots as volunteers distribute food in Omdurman, Sudan, September 3, 2023. REUTERS/El Tayeb Siddig/File Photo

View original: https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/agencies-consider-new-aid-route-into-sudan-humanitarian-crisis-worsens-2024-01-15/

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