Daily Darfur
Daily Darfur: 36 Child Soldiers Demobilized, More to Come
Published July 28, 2009 @ 06:13AM PT
First, a bit of good news:
The Darfur Child Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration program, along with UNICEF and UNAMID, facilitated the voluntary demobilization of 36 child solders serving with rebel groups in Darfur. Seventeen more are expected by the end of the week --- a small step towards the program's target of demobilizing 2000 child soldiers in the region.
Now on with the rest:
More discussion of the Uganda/Bashir debacle in African papers this morning:
Kenya's East African writes that if Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had accepted his invitation to a conference in Kampala this week, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni "would have been damned if he arrested Bashir, and damned if he didn't," as he weighed the balance of incurring the wrath of the African Union versus its legal and moral obligations as a member of the International Criminal Court.
Lucky for Museveni, after a Ugandan foreign ministry official created a bit of a hullabaloo earlier this month by announcing that Bashir might be arrested in Uganda, the world's first indicted sitting-head-of-state decided to pass on his trip.
Daily Darfur: Disenfranchised in Darfur?
Published July 27, 2009 @ 04:09AM PT
Internally displaced Darfuris may not be able to participate next year's national (and local and regional) elections, according to UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy, disenfranchising millions in a poll that will have "enormous impact" on the distribution of power in Darfur. Le Roy told the UN Security Council:
"The contested census, large-scale displacement and volatility - particularly in the area bordering Chad - create enormous risks that the people of Darfur will not be in a position to participate in the electoral process.
This would further disenfranchise millions already disempowered by conflict."
The elections, mandated by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement and serially postponed, were already shaping up to be a contentious affair.
Khartoum, expectedly, was none-too-pleased with Le Roy's remarks. A Sudanese "diplomatic sources" reportedly commented to local press that that the UN has no mandate to comment on elections. (Naturally what one would say, if one was keen to decrease the number of observers to what will inevitably be a contested poll.)
Perhaps the government of Sudan is also slightly miffed that the UN rejected its "exaggerated" budget for the elections.
Le Roy also told the Security Council that "expectations are high" for UNAMID's ability to provide protection to Darfur's IDPs once it reaches full deployment, and noted that the nature of the conflict has changed drastically from its early days, as "large-scale violence and associated civilian deaths and displacement are no longer hallmarks of the crisis."
Daily Darfur: South Africa to Review Stance on ICC
Published July 24, 2009 @ 03:35AM PT
Following a rising tide of popular dissent, the South African government is seeking legal advice over its compliance with an African Union resolution declaring non-cooperation with the ICC arrest warrants for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. Because the South African parliament ratified the treaty establishing the ICC, "for South Africa to not observe its obligations is arguably unconstitutional and against the law."
The legal experts must consider whether or not compliance with the AU resolution conflicts with the country's obligations as a signatory to the Rome Statute. According to South Africa's Business Day newspaper:
"The is move follows concerns expressed by SA's allies, particularly the US, that Pretoria is straying from former president Nelson Mandela's vision that human rights would be the light that guided SA's foreign policy.
In confirming President Barack Obama's ambassadorial nominee to SA, Donald Gips, the US Senate urged him to express Washington's reservations about SA's perceived drift from a human rights-based foreign policy and its approach to HIV/AIDS."
The reports gave no sense of the timeline for the review, but the result --- and how new South African President Jacob Zuma chooses to respond --- will be, for lack of a better word, interesting. Zuma indicated some discomfort with Bashir several months ago, but lately has been toeing the AU line. The issue is thus shaping up to be a major challenge for Zuma's foreign policy acumen, as he is potentially forced to chose between competing obligations, each with its own set of consequences.
Quickies
Mohamed Suleiman, drawing from Radio Dabanga, reports that Ali Kushayb, who is wanted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity commmited in Darfur, is once again recruiting local militia to serve as border guards. Radio Dabanga does not mention the source of this information.
Rwandan army officer Lt. Gen. Patrick Nyanvumba was selected to be UNAMIDS new force commander.
The Institute for War & Peace Reporting has an article on the divisions in Uganda over the ICC arrest warrant for Bashir.
[Photo from Reuters: Former South African President Nelson Mandela and current President Jacob Zuma (R) celebrate Mandela's 91st birthday at his home in Johannesburg July 18, 2009.]
Daily Darfur: Abyei Ruling Keeps the Peace...For Now
Published July 23, 2009 @ 04:28AM PT
The big news out of Sudan this week is not Darfur, but Abyei --- a small, oil-rich region in the border region between North and South Sudan, coveted by both, and critical to the successful implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended a protracted civil war in 2005.
Yesterday, the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague redrew Abyei's contested boundaries, which had been set shortly after the signing of the CPA but disputed by the North. Yesterday's decision seemed much of a compromise --- the "let's avoid war" decision, as Bec Hamilton calls it --- as the court maintained Abyei's boundaries to the north and south and redrew those to the east and west, dividing the coveted oil fields between territory belonging to the North and that belonging to Abyei.
Both sides seem relatively pleased with the decision. But yesterday's decision sets the stage for the main event: The real test for peace will come in 2011, when the South votes on a referendum for independence from the North. As per the CPA, residents of Abyei will vote on whether or not they want to remain with the North, or secede with the South. Hence the importance of the boundaries.
So, the big test is yet to come. A new ICG report on Sudan and the ICC notes that the North appears poised to thwart Southern secession --- the successful fulfillment of the CPA, then, will not only be a critical linchpin for peace in Sudan, but will be a major test for international diplomacy and peace-brokering more broadly.
(Peace between the North and the South are critical for Darfur-watchers, because although the conflicts are different in many ways, they also have many connections --- and if full-scale war re-ignites between the North and the South, so goes Darfur.)
Daily Darfur: African Columnists Get Feisty
Published July 22, 2009 @ 03:13AM PT
I'm becoming a big fan of Ugandan and Kenyan newspaper columnists, who've taken a strong stance against the rising tide of support for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in recent weeks. Yesterday, a piece in the Nairobi-based Daily Nation gets rights to the point:
"According to the AU, arresting al-Bashir would lead to an escalation of violence in Darfur, besides leading to the collapse of the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.
This is all crap. The world knows that even prior to his indictment, al-Bashir failed to control the violence in Darfur and has been scuttling the Comprehensive Peace Agreement."
I couldn't agree more.
In Uganda, the New Vision Daily defends a foreign ministry official for his comments last week about arresting Bashir. Making reference to a comical slip-of-the-tongue by former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien in front of Queen Elizabeth II, the columnist writes:
"Now, I know Uganda's minister for international relations Oryem Okello is a gentleman who could never swear in public, but I would forgive him, in fact, even applaud him for letting out a string of choice equivalent of ‘merde!' toward the unidentified ‘senior government official' of Sudan who wants Oryem's head. The New Vision's headline yesterday ran: ‘Sudan wants Oryem sacked'. Merde!"
For those not familiar with French curse wordes, "merde" translates to "sh*t."
Daily Darfur: He Said What...?
Published July 21, 2009 @ 03:25AM PT
Is Scott Gration becoming a spokesman for the government of Sudan? From While We Wait:
"The Special Envoy of the President of U.S.A., General Scott Gration, visited IDP camp in Kass area (West Darfur). He met with some refugees in the camp. A leader said to Radio Dabanga that the American Special Envoy asked them to return to their original villages and catch up with the rainy season to farm their lands. The refugees told the Special Envoy that the janjaweed who drove them from their villages are still there occupying their lands, the Leader told Radio Dabanga."
If this assessment of Gration's visit is true --- that he actually asked IDPs to return, rather than perhaps asking about their thoughts on the prospect of returning --- it would seem that the envoy is peddling Khartoum's will throughout Darfur.
Repatriation for most will not be a simple matter of "going home" --- violence has substantially decreased in recent years, but insecurity is still rampant. (Armed bandits, not just politically-motivated actors, account for a large portion of the problem.) Furthermore, in many cases, it is unknown what the IDPs have to return to: Many villages were destroyed and land appropriated during the peak of the violence in 2003 - 2005.
Here's to hoping that Gration's comments were misinterpreted or taken out of context. I know from my own conversations that many IDPs and refugees would return if they could --- living in a camp being the necessary-but-less-than-favorable option.
Daily Darfur: Thanks...But, No Thanks.
Published July 20, 2009 @ 03:21AM PT
Perhaps feeling slightly less bold than his massive rallies and international travel schedule would have us believe, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir decided to decline an invitation to attend a conference in Uganda.
Ugandan government officials, for their part, are likely breathing a huge sigh of relief, as Bashir's decision allows them to wiggle out of a diplomatic tight spot over a recent debacle over whether or not they would comply with the International Criminal Court arrest warrant hanging over his head.
The issue sparked a vibrant debate in Ugandan newspapers last week, which continued over the weekend, with the general consensus among the editorial boards in favor of an arrest.
Following the Uganda debacle and criticism from civil society in other countries, including Botswana and South Africa, the African Union issued a statement essentially dismissing the rising discontent. The statement claims that the recent AU resolution on non-cooperation with the ICC warrants for Bashir was arrived at by consensus, while Botswana, Chad, and others accuse it of being forced.
