Sudan’s political groups finalize working papers ahead of workshops on sticky issues
January 17, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – The parties to the framework agreement are finalizing discussion papers on three outstanding issues of the final phase of the political process in Sudan.
The signatories of the December 5, 2022, document agreed to hold further discussions on five sticky issues before forming a civilian transitional government.
However, one month after they only held a conference on a new mechanism to carry out the dismantlement of the former Islamist regime.
The spokesman of the process Khalid Omer Youssif stated on Tuesday that they held a coordination meeting with the tripartite facilitation mechanism to discuss the preparations on the remaining four issues.
“The meeting reviewed the papers of the working groups on peace, East and transitional justice issues,” said Youssif, adding they reflect the positions of the broadest base of stakeholders and develop comprehensive treatments of these three issues.
He expected that they would endorse the working papers on the three issues on Thursday.
He added they plan to hold workshops next week and achieve the process at “the earliest possible opportunity within a few weeks”.
However, he did not say when they would discuss the security reforms.
Besides its boycott by two armed groups that rejects a review of the Juba peace agreement, the political process was slammed by some left and Arab nationalist political parties and parts of the resistance committees.
They say the framework agreement did not handle the accountability for the killing and atrocities of protesters committed before and after the revolution by the security forces.
In an interview with the UN media service, the UN Secretary-General representative in Sudan and UNITAMS head defended the framework agreement and rejected such claims.
“Accountability is being mentioned in the framework agreement, but it is true that it needs to be spelt out further,” Perthes said.
“There will be a workshop – probably one of the most important of the five workshops – on transitional justice, which of course is about accountability and how to practice it in a difficult context,” he added.
(ST)