UN resolution ignores political solution – Darfur SLM
Sept 15, 2006 (PARIS) — A Sudan Liberation Movement faction led by Ahmed Abdelshafi Bassey sent a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressing some reservations over the UN resolution 1706. Bassey said that the resolution ignored political solution of the conflict since the May deal is rejected by majority of Darfurians. He further said that the resolution was ignoring the poltical roots of the conflict.
Below is the text of the letter:
Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
Date: September 13, 2006
To The Right Honorable: Mr. Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General
Subject: United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 1706
Dear: Mr. Secretary General
The SLM/A has carefully studied Resolution No. 1706, from a political and legal standpoint. The SLM/A affirms its endorsement to the resolution as per my letter to your Excellency, dated August 31st, 2006. We would like, however, to communicate to your Excellency the following reservations/concerns:
1. Resolution 1706 closes the door for any new amendments need to be added to the Abuja peace agreement in order to respond to the demands of the non-signatories parties. The resolution, implicitly, forces those who didn’t sign the agreement to do so; even though the agreement had faced a country-wide resistance. The resolution, in a sense, ignores any chance of attaining a political settlement in the region. This will subsequently lead to deepening the political crisis in Sudan, and in Darfur in particular;
2. Resolution 1706 asks for the implementation of the DPA. It is the same agreement that had been rejected by the people of Darfur, as the DPA has not properly addressed their key fundamental demands. The world had witnessed the massive demonstrations which proceeded the singing of the DPA on May 5th, in IDPs, and refugee camps and in cities and towns across Sudan;
3. Enclosed in all previous resolutions (1590, 1591, 1593), the UNSC recognizes the armed movements as legitimate parties to finding a negotiated settlement to the Darfur crises. In the same resolutions, the UNSC denounces the brutal attacks perpetrated by the Janjaweed militia, and establishes that, they (the Janjaweed) have committed the most heinous crimes in the region and they should be disarmed. Regrettably, Resolution 1706 puts the armed movements in the same category as the Janjaweed, and asks for the disarmament of the armed movements in the same way. We believe that, any attempts to implement the resolution on the ground using excessive force, will complicate matters, and will lead to more human suffering in the region;
4. Resolution 1706 pays more attention to the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur, and it ignores the political roots and finding ways to establish a roadmap to resolving the Sudanese conflict in Darfur. All this will lead to re-producing the very same crises in the region in even a greater scale.
The SLM/A appeals to your Excellency, and to the honorable members of the UN Security Council to accommodate our reservations/concerns, to avoid any more disasters in Darfur and bring peace and tranquility to the region.
Sincerely,
Ahmed Abdulshafi Bassey
Chairman Designate
Sudan Liberation Movement/Army
(ST)