Major points that triggered Sudan’s anger from UNITAMS report

April 6, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – In a letter to the Security Council, the Sudanese government blamed the UN envoy for describing the aftermath of the coup as a “setback” and focusing on human rights violations.

The head of the ruling Sovereign Council Abdel Fattah al-Burhan recently publically slammed the head of the UN transition assistance mission, UNITAMS for a report covering the first three months of the coup that paused the democratic change process.

In a written response dated March 22 that Sudan requested to be circulated to the Security Council members, the Sudanese government said that the report’s methodology did not reflect a spirit of cooperation and transparency.

The report, seen by the Sudan Tribune, further blamed the UNITAMS for focusing on human rights, the rule of law and gender issues saying that the mission skipped important political and security developments in the transition process

The 7-page letter further dismissed that the military coup led to “setbacks and challenges” in the political and economic reforms including the suspension of international economic support to the country.

“The use of that first term by the report was inaccurate. The transition process is indeed facing challenges. (…) But the term “setback” implies moving backwards and giving up on the goal of a transition that leads the people to the ballot box. There has been no retreat from that goal,” reads the letter.

The Sudanese government criticised the representative of the UN Secretary-General to Sudan for using the word “coup” to describe “corrective measures”.

The use of “coup is “contrary to the truth,” reads the letter.

The letter also censured Volker Perthes for using the death toll of killed protesters from the statements issued at the end of anti-coup demonstrations by the independent medical group Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors.

Speaking about the cases of rape of females protesters by the security forces, the Sudanese government said that the UNITAMS report mentions 13 cases of rap, while the Office of the Public Prosecutor has verified only two such cases.

Concerning the economic situation in the country, the letter said the UNITAMS report just spoke about the suspension of the Family Support Programme of the World Bank but “no mention of efforts by UNITAMS to provide alternatives”.

The international financial institutions supervised the implementation of structural reforms in the Sudanese economy and established a safety net programme to support vulnerable families.

Following the coup of General al-Burhan, the international community suspended its support to Sudan until the restoration of a civilian-led transitional government.

The military-led government said the special envoy focused his efforts only on the reporting about the political transition and did nothing on three other pillars of the democratic transition in Sudan: peace implementation, protection of civilians, and mobilisation of development assistance.

The report, however, did not acknowledge the role of the military coup in the deterioration of the political and economic situation in Sudan.

The Troika envoys to Sudan on Tuesday met with Gen al-Burhan to reaffirm their “strong support” for UNITAMS and its leader who is preparing to launch a Sudanese-led dialogue process to restore democratic transition in Sudan.

(ST)