African Union extends UNAMID mandate, calls to resume talks on exit strategy
June 24, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) on Wednesday has extended for an additional period of 12 months the mandate of the African Union United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) and called for the resumption of talks on an exit strategy.
Khartoum, which speaks about the improvement of security conditions after defeating rebel groups, refuted the report. Further, it accused the UN officials of being manipulated by some UN members and providing erroneous data to the Security Council in order to ensure the continuation of the UNAMID and obstruct the work of the tripartite mechanism on the exit strategy.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the AUPSC said it approved the extension of the UNAMID mandate “for a further period of 12 months” in a meeting held on 22 June, and “requests the UN Security Council to do the same”.
The United Nations Security Council is expected to meet on 29 June to discuss and endorse the renewal of the hybrid operation for one year. The UNAMID mandate expires on 30 June.
The resolution of the African security body underlined that the “three strategic priorities of UNAMID remain crucial, and reiterates the critical importance of the continued presence of UNAMID in Darfur, in order to contribute to the protection of the civilian population and facilitate the search for peace, security, stability and reconciliation in the region”.
The decision praised the work done by the AU-UN-Sudan working group to develop an exit strategy emphasizing that such plan can facilitate “a gradual and phased hand-over of UNAMID’s mandated tasks” to the Sudanese government and the UN country team, without prejudice to the security and humanitarian situation in Darfur.
“Council calls for the early resumption of consultations between the AU, the UN and the Government of Sudan on the development of an exit strategy for UNAMID,” says the resolution.
ACTIVISTS CALL TO STOP EXIT PLAN
Over 80 rights groups and activists addressed an open letter to the UN Security Council calling to renew the UNAMID mandate for an additional year and stop the negotiations on the UNAMID exit strategy.
The 83 signatories of the open letter have called the world “to abandon the people of Darfur at this time of greatest need or to turn its back on them”.
They further requested to “stop any plans or negotiations for the reduction of UNAMID’s troops or accept a partial withdrawal or exit strategy”.
the activists who criticized the performance of the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur called to empower the UNAMID in order to implement its mandate and protect civilians in the region.
The UN Security Council must do more in order to enable it “to regularly and publicly report on human rights violations that are being committed by all parties to the conflict,” they said.
“This would indicate a break from the mission’s past culture of non-disclosure or under reporting of the situation on the ground as far as civilian protection is concerned. This is the best way for the mission to re-build trust with the people of Darfur,” they added.
In a report to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on 26 May, the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon said that no agreement on the exit strategy of UNAMID has been reached yet by the tripartite team, adding that the team’s meetings were suspended and are supposed to resume later this year.
Ki-moon further said that UNAMID suggested during the negotiations to withdraw gradually from West Darfur, and leave from three bases in North and South Darfur, in areas that do not currently necessitate its presence, noting that withdrawal from other areas would only be possible if a ceasefire and protection of displaced are ensured.
But the Sudanese government accused the UN peacekeeping department of retracting from an agreement reached by the tripartite team on an exit strategy.
(ST)