UK Peers call for action in Abyei and South Kordofan

By Toby Collins

June 14, 2011 (LONDON) – A group of members of the UK’s House of Lords (Peers) wrote a strongly worded letter to the Foreign Minister on 10 June calling for action and investigation into the Abyei and South Kordofan crises.

The security situation in the region has been deteriorating rapidly throughout June. With scant comment from the international community, a group of Peers is calling upon the UK government to put pressure on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN to act; to assess and comment on the situation; and potentially, to provide directed aid.

The northern army, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) took control of Abyei on 21 May after reports that troops associated with South Sudan attacked the UN and north Sudanese forces on 19 May.

Abyei is in the borderlands between north and South Sudan. A stipulation of the CPA was the right of the residents of Abyei to determine their statehood though a referendum supposed to be held on 9 January 2011. Key to the decision is who is eligible for the vote. The South refuses the participation of the northern Misseriya , who are nomads and the process is blocked as the two parties disagree on this vital issue.

South Kordofan has recently been appointed a new governor. Although the vote received international accreditation, there is widespread suspicion of its veracity. Since Ahmed Haroun took office tensions have been increasing. On 5 June clashes began and remain unabated.

There is serious concern of an impending humanitarian crisis. Some estimate over 100,000 people to have been displaced from Abyei and the aerial bombardment of South Kordofan continues.

LETTER TO UK FOREIGN MINISTER

In a letter they addressed to the British foreign minister, William Hague who a member of the upper house, Baroness Cox, Lord Alton of Liverpool and Lord Avebury called for the UK government to raise the Abyei / South Kordofan issue at the UN Security Council and for the ICC to investigate the events.

The Peers describe the situation in South Kordofan and Abyei as an “humanitarian catastrophe in the making, reminiscent of Darfur”. They further state that the “aerial bombardment of civilians is a crime against humanity; the ethnic cleansing could soon become genocide.”

They also called on the UK government to respond to “severe and escalating humanitarian crisis“ in Sudan and suggested that if reports that north Sudan is bombing Unity state, “offer the interim Government of Southern Sudan all appropriate support to maintain its preparations for Independence”.

The Peers have also posed the UK government a series of questions, which require written response by 22 June. Included in the questions is whether the displacement and blocking of supplies to the Ngok Dinka in Abyei constitutes a policy of ethnic cleansing and what events have to occur in a territory before they “call for an investigation into crime against humanity and before they designate such acts as aggression as ethnic cleansing; and whether current events in Southern Kordofan and Abyei meet these criteria”.

They further asked who is responsible for the conflict in Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan; if the events in Abyei and South Kordofan will affect the UK’s recognition of the Republic of South Sudan; and what action will be taken to persuade the government of Sudan to seek a negotiated future for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers in Joint Integrated Units (JIU) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile regions of Sudan.

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