AU-Communiqué of the 23 rd Meeting of the Peace and Security Council on Darfur

– Peace and Security Council
– TWENTY THIRD MEETING
– 10 JANUARY 2005
– LIBREVILLE, GABON

The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU), meeting at its 23rd meeting, at the level of Heads of State and Government, on 10 January 2005, in Libreville, Gabon, adopted the following communiqué:
[….]

ON THE SITUATION IN THE DARFUR REGION OF THE SUDAN

Council:

1. Welcomes the signing, on 9 January 2005, of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), and congratulates the Sudanese Parties for this historical Agreement. Council calls for the scrupulous implementation of this Agreement and expresses its conviction that the CPA offers a framework upon which other contentious issues in the Sudan, including the conflict in Darfur, could be resolved;

2. Stresses that a lasting solution to the conflict in Darfur can only be achieved through political and peaceful means and urges the Parties to recommit themselves to dialogue. In this regard, Council demands that the Inter-Sudanese Peace Talks be resumed in Abuja, in early February 2005, and requests the Movements to be represented thereto by their highest leaders;

3. Strongly condemns the gross and repeated violations of the Humanitarian Ceasefire Agreement of 8 April 2004 and the Abuja Protocols of 9 November 2004, Council further condemns the continued attacks against innocent civilians, as well as against humanitarian workers and expresses its deep concern at the prevailing humanitarian situation;

4. Urges all the Sudanese Parties to abide by their commitments and fully cooperate with the AU, UN and Humanitarian Organizations in order to create conditions for the commencement of the voluntary and safe return of internally displaced persons and refugees, as soon as possible, and in any case, before the beginning of the rainy season;

5. Acknowledges the fact that the Government of the Sudan had provided to the Ceasefire Commission information relating to the locations of its forces as well as a list of its prisoners and has reacted to list communicated by the Movements, by providing information on the various categories of persons it is detaining. Council also acknowledges the fact that the Movements had given to the Joint Commission the list of their members detained by the Government of the Sudan and requests the Movements to react to the list provided by the Government;

6. Demands that the Parties fully implement the decisions of the 6th Meeting of the Joint Commission held in N’djamena, Chad, on 3-4 January 2005. In this regard:

– the Government of the Sudan should immediately withdraw its forces to the positions they held before the military offensive launched on 8 December 2004 in order to create conditions conducive to the resumption of the political negotiations, disarm the Janjaweed/Armed militias and inform AMIS of the concrete steps taken in this regard. In this respect, the Council welcomes the pledge by the Government of Sudan to withdraw its forces to their pre-8 December position;

– the Movements should immediately communicate to the Chairman of the Ceasefire Commission the locations of their forces and put an end to attacks against commercial activities and government infrastructures, including police stations;

7. Asks the Ceasefire Commission to verify the implementation by the Parties of the above-mentioned commitments and to report accordingly to it for appropriate action;

8. Appeals to the international community, in particular the UN Security Council and its Members, to exert constant pressure on all the Parties so that they abide by their commitments and extend full cooperation to AU efforts;

9. Asks the AU Commission to continue and accelerate the deployment of AMIS. In this respect, Council expresses appreciation to the AU Member States which contributed troops and civilian personnel to AMIS and urges Member States contacted to provide personnel, to quickly do so to enable AMIS to effectively discharge its mandate;

10. Expresses appreciation for the efforts being deployed by African individual leaders to bring about peace and security in Darfur and encourages greater coordination of such efforts within the framework of the Abuja Talks;

11. Also expresses appreciation for the contribution and support of the UN and that the UN Security Council to AU efforts in promoting a lasting solution to the crisis in Darfur;

12. Further expresses its appreciation to AU Partners for their support to the on-going efforts of the African Union both regarding the deployment of the AMIS and the Peace Talks in Abuja.