Sudan’s Bashir stops short of apology to Carter Center, EU withdraws Darfur poll observers

April 7, 2010 (WAHSINGTON) — The Sudanese President Omer Hassan Al-Bashir, in a huge shift of tone, hailed the work done by the Carter Center in his country and overruled a decision made by election officials to bar foreign observers from leaving the capital when the polls open next Sunday.

“In two days, president Carter will arrive and I will receive him and will give him and his centre permission to go to any area of Sudan and to monitor any area in Sudan,” Bashir told a rally north of Sudan.

“This man did good things for us and we never forget the man who did good things for us,” he added.

Yesterday, the US based Center has reportedly requested an apology for Sudanese president’s remarks threatening to expel them or else they will reconsider their monitoring mission.

The Dubai based Al-Arabiya TV quoting unidentified sources said that the Carter Center, a non-governmental organization founded by former U.S. president Jimmy Carter that aims to further democracy and human rights, informed Khartoum about their intention to withdraw unless they receive a “written and public” apology from president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.

However, the Carter Center’s deputy director in Juba said they did not ask for any apology from the president.

“We did not ask for an apology but we had asked for a clarification of the remarks that President al-Bashir had made and we also asked for a re-affirmation of our invitation as international observers, which we received. The rumor that that president Carter has been banned from Sudan is completely untrue as well as the other rumor that we are banned from 9 states of Sudan as international observers – that is also completely untrue” Sanne van den Bergh told the Sudan Radio Service (SRS).

The Sudanese president has twice threatened this year to mutilate and expel any foreign observers if they call for postponing elections.

“There is no chance to postpone the elections, even if one day…… any observer party requesting to delay the elections or interfere in our affairs….will not stay [another] 24 hours in the country” Bashir told a rally in Al-Jazeera state in central Sudan this weekend.

“[Our government] before expelled the British ambassador and the Canadian ambassador and special envoy of the United Nations … Whoever tries to insult us we will cut off their neck and extend his tongue to abuse us we will cut off his tongue” he added.

Last month Bashir made similar statements also apparently directed at Carter Center.

“We wanted them to see the free and fair elections, but if they interfere in our affairs, we will cut their fingers off, put them under our shoes, and throw them out,” he said.

The only long-term international observer mission in Sudan said last month that Sudan may need a slight delay in its elections to deal with logistical problems, with hundreds of thousands of names missing from the voters’ list.

Carter Center also officials issued a report saying Sudan’s April presidential and legislative elections remained “at risk on multiple fronts” and urged Sudan to lift harsh restrictions on rallies and end fighting in Darfur ahead of the ballot.

The NCP and National Election Commission (NEC) have dismissed calls for postponement insisting it will go as planned.

Sudanese activists and electoral observers on Wednesday urged the international observer missions to withdraw fully from Africa’s largest country.

“International elections observer missions should immediately pull out of Sudan,” they said in a joint statement.

The activists said the international observers could not fully cover the 10,000 voting centers and with the Carter Center being the only long-term mission, the others had missed most of the fraud during last year’s voter registration.

“These missions lend the appearance of legitimacy to what has been proven to be a deeply flawed elections process and the presumed re-election of a man who is internationally wanted for war crimes in a vote that is neither free nor fair.”

But Sudan today announced that former president Carter will arrive on Thursday in Khartoum to lead the poll observer team.

The director of the democracy program at the Carter Center David Carroll told Voice of America (VOA) that the team will be impartial in assessing the vote.

“Our purpose is two-fold. We are trying to show the international community what’s happening in Sudan (and) we are also here to render an assessment as an impartial, credible observer group, about the electoral process that has been unfolding here in Sudan,” Carroll said.

“We’ve been operating in Sudan at the invitation of the government of Sudan and of the election authorities and also under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, which provides for the access of observers…throughout the country,” he added.

Carroll disclosed that Bashir has clarified his previous pronouncement about expelling international observers.

“We were concerned about some of the remarks made in the past week made by President Bashir, but he has clarified his statements recently that we will have complete access and our observers will be able to carry out their work,” Carroll said.

EU OBSERVORS LEAVE DARFUR

Today, The European Union’s chief elections observer in Sudan Veronique De Keyser announced that her team will leave Darfur citing security concerns and also criticized Bashir over expulsion threats.

“I have decided to come back with all the team. The six observers who are…in Darfur,” De Keyser told reporters.

“It’s always sad to leave this region which is such a poor region but I really knew when I came that to observe elections here, it’s impossible in a credible way. There are many safety limitations ” she added.

“In some parts of Darfur the violence is terrible. The humanitarians cannot access this area. And if aid cannot access, we cannot access,” the EU parliamentarian said.

The spokesperson for Darfur’s joint UN/African Union UNAMID peacekeeping force acknowledged that the bulk of the IDP’s did not register because of boycott and security concerns which prevented opening registration centers some areas.

“UNAMID is assisting the NEC in transporting electoral materials to more than 30 remote locations in Darfur. In support of national efforts, UNAMID police have trained more than ten thousands (10,000) Sudanese police to ensure security during the elections” Noureddine Mezni told Sudan Tribune.

“UNAMID had earlier provided logistical support during the registration process which was conducted in November and December 2009, and some 2.4 million people in the three states of Darfur (nearly 67.5 percent of the estimated voting-age population), registered to vote” he added.

Mezni stressed that the peacekeeping force continue to implement its mandates, including for the protection of but that “the ultimate responsibility for the security of the elections rests with Sudanese authorities”.

De Keyser today expressed concern over Sudanese president remarks in recent days.

“You don’t usually treat international observers you have invited like that. … It doesn’t reflect the traditional hospitality of the Arab world,” she said.

The EU is the largest international election mission in its history with some 130 observers. They are joined by the Arab League and the African Union (AU) which has also sent its teams.

(ST)