Sudanese Revolutionary Movement (SRF
SRF ROADMAP ON THE WAY FORWARD
September 14, 2015
SRF Roadmap on the Way Forward
a. Acknowledging the Kauda Declaration of 2011, the Restructuring Program of the State of Sudan of 2012, the New Dawn Charter of 2013, the Paris Declaration of 2014, the Sudan Call Declaration of 2014, and the Berlin Declaration of 2015;
b. Recalling all relevant resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) related to the resolution of the conflicts in Sudan, including, but not limited to, UNSC Resolutions 1593, 1769, and 2046, and AUPSC Resolutions 456, 516, and
539;
c. Recognizing that Sudan faces a critical juncture in its history, as attempted piecemeal solutions have failed to unite the country and bring a peaceful resolution to the conflicts;
d. Deeply conscious that conflicts engulf Sudan from Darfur to Southern Kordofan/Nuba Mountains to Blue Nile and other parts of Sudan, widespread and systematic human rights violations continue to take place throughout Sudan, over six million Sudanese people have been displaced from their homes, the economy has been devastated by government corruption and mismanagement, and government support for, and harboring of, terrorists has led to the isolation of the country;
e. Emphasizing the need to cease the crimes against humanity, war crimes, Genocide, and killing of civilians in the war-affected areas, to provide the necessary protection and security to civilians to stop the aerial bombardment, and to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Sudan through the immediate provision of unhindered humanitarian access and aid to war- affected populations;
f. Recalling the indiscriminate killing of peaceful demonstrators in September
2013 that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of youth, women, and children and injured hundreds of others, and emphasizing the need to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions;
g. Emphasizing that there can be no military solution to the conflicts in Sudan because the conflicts are fundamentally political in nature, and therefore only political settlements can bring lasting and sustainable peace to Sudan;
h. Remaining determined that for Sudan to achieve lasting peace and stability and to ensure all the citizens of Sudan enjoy equal status under the law, Sudanese political settlements must focus on the question of how Sudan
shall be governed, not on the question of who shall govern Sudan;
i. Expressing its commitment to engage in good faith with all Sudanese stakeholders, regional actors, and the international community to work together towards a comprehensive political settlement of the conflicts and the creation of a durable peace for all of Sudan;
j. Reaffirming its commitment to negotiate in good faith a peaceful settlement of the conflicts in Sudan that will bring real change to the governance of the country;
k. Calling upon the Government of Sudan to engage in peace negotiations and an inclusive National Constitutional Dialogue process in good faith to reach a peaceful and comprehensive political settlement to the conflicts in Sudan;
l. Resolving that a comprehensive and inclusive National Constitutional Dialogue that allows for freedom of participation and expression is the best means for achieving a comprehensive peaceful settlement for Sudan;
m. Emphasizing the need to create a conducive, enabling environment for negotiations and the National Constitutional Dialogue;
n. Declaring its readiness to stop the wars in Sudan through a Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes to create a conducive environment that will enable the commencement of peace negotiations and the National Constitutional Dialogue; and
o. Reiterating the importance of the timely commencement of an inclusive
National Constitutional Dialogue process through preparatory meetings of
all Sudanese stakeholders, under the auspices of the AUHIP in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to address all procedural aspects of the National Constitutional Dialogue.
The Sudan Revolutionary Front, seeking to advance its goal of a peaceful and comprehensive political settlement of the conflicts in Sudan, adopts the following roadmap to peace:
1) Framework for the Implementation of AUPSC Resolution 539
a) The SRF expresses its commitment to the implementation of African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) Resolution 539 and previous AUPSC Resolutions on the conflicts in Sudan, which serve as the basis for this roadmap;
b) The SRF calls upon the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to endorse
the unanimously adopted AUPSC Resolution 539;
c) The SRF further calls upon regional and international partners, particularly IGAD, South Sudan, Chad, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, the United Nations, the Troika, the European Union, France, and Germany, to work together to support and reinforce the work of the AUHIP and implement and enforce AUPSC Resolution 539; and
d) The SRF respectfully requests that Russia and China support the African Union’s efforts for positive peaceful settlement of the conflicts in Sudan, and particularly support the consensus demonstrated through AUPSC Resolution 539.
2) Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes
a) Objectives
The SRF supports the immediate conclusion of an agreement on Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes in furtherance of the following objectives:
i. To protect the civilian population from aerial bombardment and military and hostile attacks;
ii. To provide unhindered and unimpeded humanitarian access to war- affected populations; and
iii. To create a conducive environment for a peaceful negotiated political settlement and a comprehensive and inclusive National Constitutional Dialogue to end the conflicts in Sudan.
b) Principles
The principles underlying the Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian
Purposes are as follows:
i. To confirm the commitment of the Parties to respect and implement all UNSC and AUPSC Resolutions concluded for the purposes of stopping the war and ending the conflicts;
ii. To ensure unhindered humanitarian access throughout the conflict areas in Sudan;
iii. To promote the full respect for human rights and humanitarian law,
including freedom of movement for all civilians;
iv. To support efforts to create a conducive environment for the successful completion of the peace talks;
v. To serve as an initial confidence-building measure that will lead eventually to a permanent ceasefire by addressing the root causes of the conflict; and
vi. To create an enabling environment for the commencement of an inclusive National Constitutional Dialogue.
c) Entry Into Force
The Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes should enter into force, and the parties should immediately cease hostilities, starting from the signature of the Agreement.
d) Definition of Parties
There will be two parties to the Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian
Purposes.
i. The first party is the SRF, including its component groups, and the Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes will apply to all forces under its control.
ii. The second party is the Government of Sudan, and the Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes will apply to the regular forces and militias under its control, including other militarized groups under its control, such as, but not limited to, the Janjaweed, Border Guards, Rapid Support Forces, Popular Defense Forces, Central Reserve Police, and Border Intelligence.
e) Control Over Forces
The parties must ensure that all armed groups under their control comply with the agreement on Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes.
f) Geographic Scope
The Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes will apply throughout the Blue Nile, South Kordofan/Nuba Mountains, Darfur, and Kordofan.
g) Prohibited Activities
The agreement on Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes should identify specific prohibited activities that will apply upon entry into force of the agreement.
h) Humanitarian Access
The Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes should:
i. Create conditions favorable to supplying emergency relief and provide security guarantees for safe, unhindered access by humanitarian agencies to vulnerable groups; and
ii. Secure and provide free passage and unimpeded access for
humanitarian personnel in accordance with international best practices.
i) Monitoring and Verification
The Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes should establish a High Joint Committee on Humanitarian Cessation of Hostilities, comprised of the parties to the conflict, the African Union, and other UN organizations, as well as UNAMID (Darfur) and UNISFA (Two Areas) as regional monitoring bodies. This Committee will be responsible for monitoring and verifying the implementation of the agreement, including monitoring the delivery of humanitarian aid and monitoring compliance with the prohibited activities set forth in the agreement.
j) Confidence-Building Measures For Cessation of Hostilities
The following confidence building measures should be applied throughout
Sudan:
i. The Government of Sudan should immediately release political prisoners and detainees, and the two parties should immediately invite the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to organize the exchange of prisoners of war (POWs).
ii. The parties should agree to end the use of hostile media and propaganda immediately upon the signing of a negotiated Cessation of Hostilities or Humanitarian Purposes.
iii. The Government of Sudan should immediately abrogate all laws that tamper with the Interim National Constitution of 2005 and violate fundamental freedoms and human rights.
iv. The Government of Sudan should immediately lift censorship on media and allow free speech and expression and guarantee equal access to the publicly owned media to all political parties and civil society organizations.
v. The SRF should have the right to freely and legally operate as a political organization throughout Sudan immediately upon signing the agreement on Cessation of Hostilities for Humanitarian Purposes.
3) Negotiations on The Root Causes and Consequences of Conflict
The SRF is committed to resolving the root causes of the conflict and its consequences through negotiations that address the particularities of Darfur and the Two Areas, in accordance with AUPSC Resolution 539.
4) Preparatory Meeting for National Constitutional Dialogue
The SRF strongly supports conducting a preparatory meeting for the National Dialogue in Addis Ababa, in accordance with AUPSC Resolution 539, for all stakeholders to establish frameworks, modalities, and procedures for a credible, transparent, inclusive, and comprehensive national constitutional dialogue.
To further ensure the creation of an authentic, transparent, inclusive, free, and fair national constitutional dialogue, the SRF resolves that the preparatory meeting agenda should prioritize discussions for determining:
a) An agenda and topics for discussion for the National Constitutional
Dialogue;
b) Venues for the National Constitutional Dialogue; c) Participant selection guidelines and mechanisms; d) Rules of procedure and conduct;
e) Facilitators and observers;
f) Public outreach and media access;
g) Timeframe;
h) Financial and logistical support;
i) Guarantees and implementation mechanisms;
j) Organizational and governance structures for the dialogue, including the structure of coordination or conciliation committees, working groups, and internal leadership structures.
5) Confidence Building Measures
To create the conditions and space necessary to facilitate the broader peace process, the Government of Sudan and the SRF must commit to the following confidence building measures:
a) The Government of Sudan should immediately release political prisoners and detainees, and the two parties should immediately invite the ICRC to organize the exchange of POWs;
b) The Government of Sudan should immediately abrogate all laws that tamper with the Interim National Constitution of 2005 and violate fundamental freedoms and human rights;
c) The Government of Sudan should immediately lift censorship on media and
allow free speech and expression and guarantee equal access to the publicly owned media to all political parties and civil society organizations;
d) The Government of Sudan should immediately undertake to guarantee the right of political parties and movements to communicate with their constituencies in public places;
e) The Government of Sudan should lift the State of Emergency in a timely manner following the negotiation of a Cessation of Hostilities;
f) The parties should formally agree to guarantee unimpeded humanitarian access to all conflict zones and civilians affected by the conflict upon the signing of a negotiated Cessation of Hostilities;
g) The parties should agree to end the use of hostile media and propaganda immediately upon the signing of a negotiated Cessation of Hostilities;
h) The SRF should have the right to freely and legally operate as a political organization throughout Sudan immediately upon signing the agreement on Cessation of Hostilities;
i) The Government of Sudan should announce its formal commitment to the
outcomes of the National Constitutional Dialogue and the negotiations, including a Transitional National Government arrangement;
j) The parties to the preparatory meetings must commit to include all stakeholders in the National Constitutional Dialogue; and
k) The SRF, to support the creation of a conducive environment for a comprehensive peaceful settlement and the National Constitutional Dialogue, will work with other armed movements and groups to join the process of comprehensive peaceful settlement and National Constitutional Dialogue.
6) National Constitutional Dialogue
The SRF reiterates its unwavering commitment to the National Constitutional Dialogue as a means of resolving the Sudanese national problems. The SRF’s commitment is contingent on the outcome of the preparatory meeting of the
National Constitutional Dialogue, in accordance with AUPSC Resolution 539.
Malik Agar
Chairman of the Sudan Revolutionary Front
Attached documents
