No peace in the South without stability in Darfur – Annan
By Joyce Mulama
NAIROBI, July 09, 2004 (IPS) — United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan says mediators in peace talks for south Sudan should turn their attention to the western region of Darfur, as any peace deal for the south will be compromised by a continued humanitarian crisis in Darfur.
“The situation in Darfur has to be addressed quickly, otherwise Sudan cannot talk in terms of a comprehensive peace,” Annan told journalists Thursday, Jul. 8, in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi – this after meeting President Mwai Kibaki. From Jun. 30 to Jul. 3, Annan undertook a fact-finding mission to Darfur to assess the situation there.
Progress on western Sudan was essential, added Annan, “even though the north and south (peace) discussions have gone on extremely well.”
Annan also briefed the UN Security Council in New York concerning his fears about Darfur in a satellite telecast from the UN complex in Nairobi. The council will shortly discuss Sudan in a motion sponsored by the United States.
Peace talks to end the 21-year civil war in south Sudan are being mediated by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, a regional grouping that comprises Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan. To date, more than two million people have died and over four million been displaced in the conflict.
Negotiations between the Islamic government in Khartoum and rebels from the Christian and animist south began in Kenya, in 2002. The discussions have yielded six accords that provide for a government of national unity, division of revenues from Sudan’s oil resources and the creation of an army that includes government and rebel soldiers.
Negotiators have also agreed that residents of south Sudan will be allowed to hold a referendum six years after the signing of a final peace accord, on whether they want to remain under Khartoum or secede.
However, events in Darfur may upset the gains made by government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army.
Khartoum is accused of backing Arab militias known as “janjaweed” (or “men on horseback”), who are terrorising the members of three black, Muslim tribes in Darfur.
In what human rights groups have described as a campaign of ethnic cleansing, the militias have allegedly torched villages, stolen cattle and raped women – prompting massive population displacement in Darfur, and a flow of refugees to neighbouring Chad.
The UN describes the humanitarian crisis in Darfur as the world’s worst. Approximately 10,000 people have been killed in the region since the conflict began in earnest last year, after two rebel groups in Darfur began attacking government installations.
The Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) did so to protest against Janjaweed raids, and government’s supposed neglect of developmental needs in Darfur.
“Displacement is taking place daily, and the resources cannot cope with the huge number of people,” Sasha Westerbeek, spokeswoman in Darfur for the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), told IPS in a telephone interview Thursday. She was speaking from the town of Nyala in southern Darfur.
“(Initially) there were 26,000 IDPs (internally displaced persons) in Kolmo camp, 14 kilometres from Nyala. The number has increased to at least 53,000 today,” she added.
“Even so, we cannot provide enough basic commodities like water (and) medicine, amongst others. We are worried because the rain that started two days ago is again making it difficult for our tracks to penetrate to the camps to offer the little we have.”
UNICEF has appealed for 35.9 million dollars to address the Darfur crisis. But, Westerbeek says only 25 percent of this amount has been raised. About a million people have been displaced in western Sudan, while 120,000 have fled to Chad.
She is however hopeful that Annan’s presence in Darfur, together with that of US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who arrived for a two-day visit in Sudan Jun. 29, will lead to increased flows of aid.
Powell has threatened unspecified UN action against the Khartoum government if it fails to halt militia activity. Although authorities have promised to bring the Darfur violence under control, they have yet to do so, according to the UN.
The conflict in Sudan also came discussion at the African Union’s (AU) annual summit, which wrapped up in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Thursday. Leaders pledged to send a 300 member armed force to Darfur to protect 60 AU observers who are monitoring a ceasefire between Khartoum, the SLM/A and the JEM.
The force may also take action to prevent further attacks against civilians.
Reports indicate that Sudanese President Omar el Bashir and his Chadian counterpart, Idriss Deby, may hold talks this Saturday, Jul. 10, about the situation in Darfur.