UN praises government-declared ceasefire
November 12, 2008 (UNITED NATIONS) – The unilateral government-declared ceasefire in Darfur drew praise from the UN on Wednesday.
The UN Secretary-General lauded the measure, which was adopted by Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir at the closing session of the government-initiated Forum of the People of Sudan.
The Forum of the People of Sudan on Wednesday presented its recommendations to Bashir, who declared a ceasefire and also pledged to disarm militias known as Janjaweed.
The UN Secretary-General praised the government’s declared intention to disarm all the militias, said a spokesperson for the Secretary-General.
The United Nations – African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur, UNAMID, announced from El Fasher that it also welcomes the ceasefire.
“This ceasefire could signal the start of a new phase in the search for a just and lasting peace in Darfur,” said a UNAMID spokesman.
The UN Secretary-General stressed that the effectiveness of the ceasefire “depends upon all parties demonstrating their commitment to a cessation of hostilities, particularly since past efforts to uphold a ceasefire in Darfur were not successful,” said a spokeperson.
But Darfur rebel groups have already rejected the ceasefire.
Rebel leaders indicated that they cannot trust the government, which violated ceasefires signed on April 8, 2004 in N’djamena before the Abuja peace talks, again on May 6, 2006 in the Darfur Peace Agreement, before a peace conference in Libya in 2007 and during the Ramadan ceasefire in September 2008.
Sudan’s president is indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor on ten counts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
But Sudan is hoping to win enough support in the UN Security Council to defer an indictment, since the Security Council has the authority to suspend the investigation for a year at a time by invoking Article 16 of the Rome Statute, the treaty governing the ICC.
Such a move would require the approval of the United States, UK and France, who have veto power in the Security Council.
The government peace initiative is thus partly designed to win sympathy from US, UK and French diplomats, some of whom attended the gala events of the People’s Forum.
The initiative to solve the Darfur conflict was announced on July 13, the eve of the day that International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo sought an arrest warrant for Bashir.
(ST)