JEM directs heavy criticism at Darfur mediators and UNAMID

April 13, 2010 (PARIS) — A senior official at the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) today slammed the Darfur mediation team and the United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur (UNAMID) over a recent tour they made at IDP camps to pick representatives of civil society to join peace negotiations in the Arab Gulf state of Qatar.

“They [UNAMID & mediators] are resorting to the same flawed methods they used last year which earned them dismay and protest from the IDP’s themselves. They should have went through the IDP representatives and we [JEM] have proposed a mechanism they could utilize when picking people there,” JEM spokesperson Ahmed Hussein said.

“We are troubled by this path because it appears to us that the aim of this is to boost the image of a specific Darfur figure and his negotiation position,” he added.

Last November, a consultative forum of Darfur civil society was held in Doha with the participation of 170 groups in a bid to associate them in the ongoing efforts to end the seven year armed conflict in western Sudan.

JEM, which is considered the largest military group fighting in Darfur, was unhappy with the choice of attendees saying that most of them are supporters of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

The conference was addressed by Dijibril Bassole, AU-UN Joint Chief mediator and the Qatari state minister for foreign affairs Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmood.

Hussein today also questioned UNAMID’s involvement in picking the IDP delegates.

“We don’t believe that this is part of UNAMID’s mandate. UNAMID would be better off focusing on their primary mission of protecting the civilians and stopping unprovoked government attacks” he said.

In a related issue the JEM official criticized the mediation team led by Bassole for adjourning the talks citing Khartoum’s preoccupation with the ongoing elections.

“We were very clear from the start. These elections mean nothing to us, we do not believe they will so any good to Sudan but will actually increase the tensions. Either way we do not recognize these sham elections or their outcome” the JEM spokesperson said.

“The government delegation continued making statements on reaching a peace agreement before the elections and the mediation did not seek to rein them from making these remarks. Now the mediation adjourned the talks simply because Khartoum wanted so. He [Bassole] did not even consult with us” Hussein added.

“This goes against the basic principles of mediation. To base negotiations on the wishes of one party without getting the consent of the other defeats the purpose of mediation” he said.

JEM and the Sudanese government signed in February a framework peace accord in Doha providing for a ceasefire in Darfur, and both sides were due to reach a final peace agreement in mid-March.

The Khartoum government also signed a framework peace deal in Doha with the Liberation and Justice Movement, another rebel group that forms an alliance of splinter factions, with a full deal expected by March 31.

But negotiations on both fronts were put to a halt due to the elections that started over the weekend and end on Friday.

(ST)