The Juba Summit: A diplomatic and moral test for South Sudan

By Luka Biong Deng

March 26, 2012 — When the Republic of South Sudan celebrates its first anniversary of independence in July 2012, the world will assess to what extent the newest member of the United Nations (UN) has lived up to the values and principles enshrined in the UN Charter. As a member of the UN, the Republic of South Sudan has reaffirmed its faith in fundamental human rights and has committed itself to the pursuit of justice and respect for obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law.

The scheduled summit between our President Kiir and President Bashir of Sudan, to be held in Juba during the first week of April, has generated healthy debate in South Sudan on the diplomatic, political and moral implications of such a visit. Unlike President Bashir’s past visits to the South, the upcoming visit will be his first since South Sudan declared its independence and took on new international obligations in July 2011.

Although President Bashir’s visit may be seen as reciprocating President Kiir’s visit to Khartoum in October 2011, in fact the genesis of this summit came from Sudan’s delegation in Addis Ababa when the post-secession talks were about to collapse. Interestingly, Sudan’s delegation not only initiated this summit but also suggested the individuals who should visit Khartoum to deliver the invitation letter to President Bashir. Given that Mr. Pagan Amum, the chief negotiator of the South, has been very vocal about the outrageous behavior of Khartoum on the unfinished business of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and post-secession issues, the Sudan delegation suggested, as a gesture of goodwill, that Mr. Pagan Amum should be part of the delegation that would deliver the invitation letter to President Bashir in Khartoum.

South Sudan’s bold decision to stop oil production has caused international consternation, but it has also served as a wakeup call for both states. It has caused each to consider important austerity measures that could, if implemented, greatly improve economic governance and accountability. It has highlighted the need to diversify revenues and combat resource dependency. Unfortunately, the South is poorly prepared to manage the consequences of the crisis and without oil, Sudan’s economy faces the danger of the imminent collapse, the two states are forced to negotiate with one another. This presents a golden opportunity for resolving the unfinished business of the CPA and post-secession issues.

Although we may not know the content of the invitation letter delivered to President Bashir, I suspect that President Kiir might have reiterated the need to resolve the pending issues as a package in the next summit. On the other hand, Khartoum will be keen to approach these issues in a piecemeal fashion with a focus on resuming oil production and export through their pipelines and securing transitional financial assistance to rescue their collapsing economy. They will likely want to leave other issues such as Abyei, border demarcation, and Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile to be discussed afterwards. This piecemeal approach seems to be gaining support from the international community, particularly the African Union High-level Implementation Panel. 2

Besides the different expectations about the outcome of the summit, the issue of the venue has triggered debate of whether to hold it in Juba or outside South Sudan in light of the fact that President Bashir is indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is notoriously known as a President with a scandalous record of gross human rights abuses, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing and genocide in Southern Sudan, Darfur, Abyei, Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, Eastern Sudan and Manasiir in the far north of Sudan.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Secretary General, Mr. Pagan Amum, correctly stated that the new Republic of South Sudan is not a signatory to the Rome Statute and therefore has no legal obligations to the ICC.

However, the South Sudan came into being as a result of the great sacrifices and long struggle, of its people and others who stood with them, for justice, respect for human dignity and fundamental rights. The values upon which the SPLM built the liberation struggle are the very values upon which our new nation is founded. They are more binding than any other international legal obligations. One would have expected the SPLM, as a political party, to not associate itself with Bashir’s visit to Juba, but to leave such a visit to be handled by the Government in the light of its practical and political considerations.

Luka Biong Deng is a senior member of South Sudan’s ruling SPLM.