South Sudan President calls for deployment of UN troops at north-south border

October 8, 2010 (JUBA) – The President of the semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) and Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) has called for deployment of United Nations Peacekeeping Forces along the contested north-south border ahead of the referendum on independence of the region on 9 January 2011.

President Salva Kiir urged the visiting high level delegation of the UN Security Council to Juba, headed by the US Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, to consider deploying troops as a buffer zone at the border separating the south from the north.

Armies from both sides have traded counter accusations of amassing troops at the border for any eventuality as the clock ticks to the vote that will determine the future of the country.

About 10,000 UN troops have already been deployed in Southern Sudan but currently scattered across many towns of the vast region.

The leadership in Southern Sudan doubts that the ruling northern National Congress Party (NCP) has the political will to allow for the timely, free, fair and transparent conduct of the plebiscite. The north-south border has not yet been demarcated.

While Southern Sudan’s leadership sees no direct connection between demarcation of the borders and the conduct of the referendum, the NCP has been sending mixed reactions with some voices ruling out the exercise without the borders being demarcated.

Kiir warned that the semi-autonomous region might conduct its own referendum should the North attempt to hinder the exercise. The Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC), charged with the responsibility to process the technical aspect of the exercise is, in accordance with the 2005 peace deal, based in the national capital, Khartoum. It’s branch office, the Southern Sudan Referendum Bureau (SSRB), was last year the NCP and SPLM agreed this would be established in Juba.

During the appointment of the commission’s chair and secretary general, and after a long time of stalemate with the NCP over the issue, the SPLM conceded to NCP both the posts of the commission’s chair as well as its Secretary General, who are based in the Commission’s headquarters in Khartoum, while it managed to take the deputy positions to the chair and another deputy to the secretary general, who are based in the branch office, the bureau, in Juba.

The deputy chief justice in the southern Sudan Judiciary, Justice Chan Reec Madut, was appointed the deputy chairman of the commission in Khartoum and head of the bureau in Juba. Stephen Abraham Gatlok, also became the deputy secretary general – based in Juba.

In February President Kiir issued a presidential decree establishing the Southern Sudan 2011 Referendum Taskforce and chaired by his deputy, Riek Machar Teny. The body is charged with the responsibility of overseeing the conduct of the referendum and preparing the ground for the conduct of the referendum, negotiating the post-referendum issues as well as preparing the Government of Southern Sudan for a post-2011 governance in the region.

The leadership has ruled out the possibility of unilateral declaration of independence (UDI), unless forced to do so as the last resort. Kiir reaffirmed that UDI was not an option but the South would conduct its own referendum using the established referendum body in the South without the north if the NCP obstructs its timely, free, fair and transparent conduct. This would be done in the presence of the international community, the UN, and may only invite the north to play the role of an observer.

The long awaited self-determination referendum in South Sudan is widely expected to result in the creation of the world’s newest state. The referendum was agreed in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed between the SPLM and the National Congress Party (NCP) governing the north.

Preparations for the plebiscite are well behind schedule. The voter registration process is scheduled to begin on 14th November and last until 4th December.

“He [Kiir] set out quite a powerful case for why the referendum had to go ahead on time and the fact that he felt [the] referendum would end up [with] a vote for separation,” Britain’s UNSC ambassador Mark Lyall Grant was quoted by Reuters, describing what Kiir had told envoys during a meeting in the southern capital Juba on Wednesday.

“He was not going to declare UDI (a unilateral declaration of independence). But if there is a delay, a politically induced delay by the NCP for the referendum, then it might be necessary for the south to hold their own referendum,” he added.

Kiir who is also Sudan’s First Vice President of Sudan has in recent days stepped up his rhetoric saying that he will personally choose secession over unity, something the NCP says is a violation of the CPA which calls on both sides to make unity an attractive option.

Senior NCP official Rabie Abdulatti told Reuters Kiir’s words were unacceptable and said Khartoum would not accept the result of an independence vote organised by the south on its own.

“Nobody would recognize it. This is against CPA. Everything about its implementation should be agreed by the two partners.”

Earlier, NCP senior officials vowed to defeat separatists within the ruling SPLM in the south and work to stop the south seceding through the law governing the exercise. However, the tendency towards separation is thought to be the overwhelming political and public opinion in the region.

The leadership in the South has also identified a number of internal threats to the conduct of the referendum, particularly the issue of the Other Armed Groups (OAGs) and recently rebelled senior army officers.

The Southern Sudan President this week issued an Executive Order, pardoning all the OAGs, including senior army officers and men who rebelled or fought against the SPLA forces before and after the April’s elections. They are pardoned from all crimes and free from any prosecution for the crimes they made and were urged to rejoin the SPLA with their ranks.

The move also came one day after the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) kicked off preparatory meetings with all the Southern Sudan political parties for the purpose of reaching a consensus on the referendum and post-referendum era.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the Vice President and the Deputy Chairperson of the SPLM, Riek Machar, chaired meetings with 17 southern political parties to discuss the way forward and prepare for next week’s conference.

Southern Sudan is due to vote early next year on whether it wants to remain united with the north under the current system or to become an independent nation.

(ST)