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Sudan: Statement of the Chairperson of the AUHIP, to the UN Security Council

Sudan: Statement of the Chairperson of the AUHIP, to the UN Security Council

16 November 2010

Statement of the Chairperson of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), Thabo Mbeki, to the Security Council:

The African Union High Level Implementation Panel for Sudan would like to thank you for giving us the opportunity to address the Council for the second time this year.

As the Council is aware, three of the urgent challenges facing Sudan are:
1. the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the CPA;
2. negotiating the Post Referendum Arrangements; and,
3. achieving a just and lasting peace in Darfur.

With regard to the first of these, relating to the CPA, we would like to confirm that:
(a) the registration of voters for the South Sudan Referendum started yesterday. We are convinced that everybody concerned is determined to ensure that the entire referendum process proceeds in a manner which will contribute to the credibility of the referendum. As part of this, the political parties, including the NCP and the SPLM, have acceded to the Code of Conduct prepared by our Panel, which binds them to ensure free and fair referenda and Popular Consultations. At the same time they have committed themselves to respect the outcome of the referendum. To support the referendum process, the Panel will sustain its close contact with the South Sudan Referendum Commission, UNMIS, the NCP & the Government of Sudan, the SPLM & the Government of Southern Sudan, the UN Monitoring Panel led by H.E. Ben Mkapa, and the Political Parties Council which is responsible for the implementation of the Code of Conduct;
(b) during the week beginning Monday November 22, our Panel will facilitate negotiations involving Their Excellencies President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and 1st Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit to resolve the Abyei matter. These Principals have agreed that with the assistance of our Panel they will do everything possible to reach an agreement on this issue as a matter of urgency. In this context we would also like to take this opportunity to commend the Sudan Council of Churches for the initiative it has taken to convene an important meeting of the leaders of the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya, which will be held in about 10 days;
(c) the Ad-hoc Border Committee will begin immediately to demarcate the North-South border. Similarly the Political Committee of the NCP and the SPLM is ready to begin discussions on the five disputed areas along this border; and,

(d) the Parties remain committed to maintain peace and are therefore using the structures created by the CPA, which involve UNMIS, to address all matters relating to the task to sustain peace and security. To assist in this regard, our Panel maintains regular contact with the Parties as well as with UNMIS.

Mr President:
As you know, our Panel serves as the Facilitator of the negotiations to conclude the Post Referendum Arrangements. We launched these negotiations on the 10th of July.
As the Council knows, the negotiations include such matters as security, citizenship, oil and water resources, currency matters, assets and liabilities and international treaties and agreements.

The Parties have indeed been engaging each other on these issues. However our Panel is concerned that the discussions are not proceeding at a satisfactory pace.
We will therefore convene a special meeting with the Parties before the end of this month to agree on the ways and means by which to accelerate and better coordinate the negotiations.

In this regard we would like to inform the Council of the important meeting of the Parties, the SPLM and the NCP, which our Panel convened in Khartoum between November 7 and November 13, at the request of the Parties, and which SRSG Haile Menkerios and US Special Envoy Scott Gration and Ambassador Princeton Lyman attended as observers.

The meeting agreed to a seminal document which contains:
(a) a framework of principles which will guide the work of the Parties on all issues and inform the relations between North and South Sudan regardless of the outcome of the South Sudan referendum;
(b) decisions relating to the implementation of the outstanding CPA matters to which I have referred; and,
(c) decisions which will guide the content of the negotiations relating to the Post Referendum Arrangements.
The document, entitled the “Framework for Resolving Outstanding Issues Relating to the Implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and the Future Relations of North and South Sudan”, will be completed, signed and published once the negotiations on Abyei, which I have mentioned, have been concluded.

Mr President,
Your Excellencies:
Recent and current events in Darfur especially relating to the clashes between the Sudan Armed Forces and the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, JEM, have underlined the need urgently to bring peace to Darfur.

In this context I am certain that the Council is aware of the decisions adopted at the November 6 meeting of the Sudan Consultative Forum which was held in Addis Ababa.
I refer here specifically to the decision that our Panel and UNAMID, supported by the Government of Qatar, should, during December, and ahead of the South Sudan referendum, initiate a political process in Darfur which would lead to the convening of an inclusive Darfur-Darfur Conference, the DDC.

The DDC will base its discussions on the outcomes of the Doha negotiations, as well as other relevant documents, such as the Report of the AUPD. It will take the necessary decisions which would contribute to the earliest possible conclusion of a Darfur Global Political Agreement.

We have also agreed with the Government of Sudan that in the meantime it should take all necessary action, in cooperation with UNAMID, to improve the security situation in Darfur, to facilitate the voluntary return of the refugees and IDPs to their places of origin, and therefore begin to address issues of recovery and development, and to address the issue of justice and reconciliation.

We believe that we will see progress in all these areas in the next few months.

We are pleased to inform the Council that both President Bashir and 1st Vice President Salva Kiir Mayardit have continued to extend full cooperation to our Panel, driven by a shared determination to do everything possible and necessary to address the various Sudanese challenges.

We trust that the Council will convey a firm message of encouragement to them as they work jointly and severally over the next few months, which will be critical in determining the future of Sudan, and to that extent, Africa.

As we have done in the past, we commend both UNMIS and UNAMID for the valuable work they are doing and reiterate our appreciation of the excellent cooperation they consistently extend to our Panel.

Accordingly we trust that the Council will continue to provide them with such support as they may need.

Thank you.

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