Sudan Call participates in peacemaking workshop by Carter Center
December 17, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s opposition umbrella Sudan Call on Saturday has participated in a training workshop on conflict resolution organized by the Carter Center in Nairobi.
On 7 December, the Carter Center, on Wednesday, said a delegation of experts would conduct unofficial meetings with the Sudanese stakeholders to explore ways to bring peace in Sudan, pointing the meetings “are not part of the official mediation that the African Union is conducting, but rather supplemental, exploratory gatherings designed to begin to identify points of common ground among all key Sudanese parties”.
On Saturday, the Carter Center organized a training workshop for the opposition umbrella Sudan Call in Nairobi with the participation of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) led by Minni Minnawi, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), National Umma Party (NUP), a splinter faction of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the Civil Society Initiative (CSI).
It is noteworthy that the rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) boycotted the workshop, saying the movement decided to stop all political contacts with the regime.
In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune Saturday, the participants said the workshop focus was on conflict analysis and resolution, pointing they learnt about peacemaking and transitional justice experiences in various countries including South Africa, Philippines, Northern Ireland, Tunisia and Yemen.
According to the statement, the participants in the workshop included Mariam al-Mahdi from the NUP, Ali Trayo from SLM-MM, Ahmed Mohamed Tugud from the JEM, Al-Tom Hago from the DUP and Babiker Mohamed al-Hassan from the CSI.
Sudanese army has been fighting SPLM-N rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since 2011 and several armed movements in Darfur since 2003.
The African Union has been seeking to end the conflicts for several years. However since last August the peace talks are deadlocked over cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access deals
CIVIL DISOPEDIENCE
Meanwhile, the participants in the Carter Center’s training workshop have expressed support for the December 19th civil disobedience calling on the Sudanese to actively engage in the general strike.
Sudanese activists have launched a wide electronic campaign to mobilize the Sudanese to engage in a second civil disobedience action on December 19th to protest recent austerity measures.
The statement described the civil disobedience as the “appropriate means to confront the regime”, stressing the need to continue the general strike until the Sudanese people achieve their objective.
The participants further called on Sudan Call leadership office to hold an urgent meeting to follow the course of events during this crucial time of struggle against the tyrannical rule.
They also praised the brave stances of all political prisoners and hostages of war and called for their immediate release.
The Sudan Call, which was established in Addis Ababa on 3 December 2014, includes the NUP, the two factions of the rebel umbrella Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), and the CSI.
Sudan Call internal groups include the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Sudanese Baath Party (SBP), Center Alliance Party (CAP), Sudanese National Party (SNP) and Sudanese National Alliance (SNA).
(ST)