U.N. ENVOY REPORTS CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS IN SUDAN, ASKED TO LEAVE,
notes Melorine Mokri
The Sudanese government violated its own peace agreement in Darfur, according to the U.N.’s top envoy in the region, Jan Pronk, who presented a report at the United Nations just days after being asked to leave the country.
“The Government is mobilizing more and more forces in the regions”, Pronk told the Security Council on Friday. “Resolutions forbidding offensive air operations are being neglected.”
Pronk claimed that the government of Sudan has continuously violated the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), an agreement that requires the disarmament of regional forces while establishing buffer zones around camps for internally displaced persons and humanitarian assistance corridors.
According to Pronk’s statement to the Security Council, the Sudanese military continues to attack rebel leaders, mobilizing more and more forces in the region. Pronk also indicated that the government has been using offensive air operations, further neglecting previously signed ceasefire agreements.
“I can come to one conclusion only”, said Pronk. “The Government, though having signed the DPA, is still seeking a military solution.”
But much of the attention during the envoy’s visit to U.N. Headquarters on Friday focused on Pronk’s position instead of his message. On Sunday, October 22, Secretary-General Kofi Annan received a letter for the Sudanese Foreign Minister indicating that Pronk’s mission is considered “terminated” by the Government of National Unity and that he had 72-hours to leave Sudan.
The letter was a response to information published on a personal weblog, published by Pronk, where the envoy frequently posted his personal observations on the situation in Sudan. In one of his recent entries, Pronk wrote that Sudan’s army had suffered defeats in Darfur and that there was low morale amongst the troops. Government officials in Sudan reacted strongly to Pronk’s remarks, prompting his immediate withdrawal from the ground.
“He was not sent there to describe the morale of the military and how defeated the army”, Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad told reporters on Thursday. “If he has any opinion on the situation in Sudan, he could have done it behind closed doors or kept it to himself, but he went public.”
Ambassador Mohamad claimed that the battles described on Pronk’s blog were “imaginary” and that he wrote about elements overheard, not witnessed first-hand. Had Pronk written about his observations in a formal U.N. report instead of on a public website, the Ambassador stated, then the Sudanese government would have had the opportunity to deny these claims formally, before their public dissemination. He further stated that Pronk’s online act was a direct violation of his U.N. mandate.
Annan appointed Pronk as the Special Representative in Sudan in June of 2004, and the Dutch native took over the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) less than one year later. The Security Council established UNMIS as a subsidiary of Resolution 1590 in March 2005. The mandate sets out to improve human rights conditions in Sudan and to provide aid to displaced persons and refugees who suffered from the region’s relentless civil war. The mandate primarily expressed that no military solution would bring an end to the conflict in Darfur.
But reports issued after the mandate’s adoption prove that military options not only continue to be explored, but frequently are in full effect. The latest U.N. report on the humanitarian situation in Darfur, released on October 19, indicated that in spite of the stabilization of overall malnutrition levels in Darfur, the “continued flow of aid is under threat because of escalating violence, which is restricting access to war and drought-affected people, exacerbating the already fragile situation.”
The report was derived from information obtained by UNICEF and the World Food Program (WFP), who made an assessment of 3.7 million people receiving aid in September, out of the total 6 million people in Darfur. While U.N. officials observed an increase in access to clean water and food security, escalating violence in the region hampered formidable humanitarian relief.
“No military force will bring peace to Darfur”, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guéhenno told reporters on Friday. “It has to be a political process, and the United Nations stands ready to engage even further in a political effort in Darfur.”
Although Jan Pronk will remain the Special Representative in Sudan until his contract expires at the end of this year, Taye Zerihoun will be the officer in charge of UNMIS . Pronk plans to organize the handover in November during a short trip to Khartoum, after which he is scheduled to return to New York for debriefings and completion of the mission.
Pronk expressed no regrets for the information published on his blog, claiming that he uses discretion and always respects confidentiality.
“My information to the Security Council or the press is always based on my experiences on the ground”, Pronk said on Friday. “And there is nobody else who has been on the ground as much, as intense and as long as I have been.”
Facing the end of his mandate in Sudan, Pronk left the Security Council with one final message on Friday.
“After all the sorrow in Sudan, in the South as well as in Darfur, the people over there, neglected and oppressed for decades, should not be forgotten in the turbulence of other world affairs. They are counting on you.”
Melorine Mokri
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
Please also see:
Jan Pronk "blog" http://www.janpronk.nl
United Nations on Sudan
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=88&Body=Sudan&Body1=
UN: New Offensives in Darfur and Chad Threaten Civilians
Security Council Must React Strongly to Expulsion of UN Envoy
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/23/darfur14431.htm
Sudan/China
Appeal by Amnesty International to the Chinese government on the occasion of the China-Africa Summit for Development and Cooperation
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR540722006
Sudan Net http://www.sudan.net/main1.shtml
Government of Sudan http://www.sudan.gov.sd/ar
notes Melorine Mokri
The Sudanese government violated its own peace agreement in Darfur, according to the U.N.’s top envoy in the region, Jan Pronk, who presented a report at the United Nations just days after being asked to leave the country.
“The Government is mobilizing more and more forces in the regions”, Pronk told the Security Council on Friday. “Resolutions forbidding offensive air operations are being neglected.”
Pronk claimed that the government of Sudan has continuously violated the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA), an agreement that requires the disarmament of regional forces while establishing buffer zones around camps for internally displaced persons and humanitarian assistance corridors.
According to Pronk’s statement to the Security Council, the Sudanese military continues to attack rebel leaders, mobilizing more and more forces in the region. Pronk also indicated that the government has been using offensive air operations, further neglecting previously signed ceasefire agreements.
“I can come to one conclusion only”, said Pronk. “The Government, though having signed the DPA, is still seeking a military solution.”
But much of the attention during the envoy’s visit to U.N. Headquarters on Friday focused on Pronk’s position instead of his message. On Sunday, October 22, Secretary-General Kofi Annan received a letter for the Sudanese Foreign Minister indicating that Pronk’s mission is considered “terminated” by the Government of National Unity and that he had 72-hours to leave Sudan.
The letter was a response to information published on a personal weblog, published by Pronk, where the envoy frequently posted his personal observations on the situation in Sudan. In one of his recent entries, Pronk wrote that Sudan’s army had suffered defeats in Darfur and that there was low morale amongst the troops. Government officials in Sudan reacted strongly to Pronk’s remarks, prompting his immediate withdrawal from the ground.
“He was not sent there to describe the morale of the military and how defeated the army”, Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad told reporters on Thursday. “If he has any opinion on the situation in Sudan, he could have done it behind closed doors or kept it to himself, but he went public.”
Ambassador Mohamad claimed that the battles described on Pronk’s blog were “imaginary” and that he wrote about elements overheard, not witnessed first-hand. Had Pronk written about his observations in a formal U.N. report instead of on a public website, the Ambassador stated, then the Sudanese government would have had the opportunity to deny these claims formally, before their public dissemination. He further stated that Pronk’s online act was a direct violation of his U.N. mandate.
Annan appointed Pronk as the Special Representative in Sudan in June of 2004, and the Dutch native took over the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) less than one year later. The Security Council established UNMIS as a subsidiary of Resolution 1590 in March 2005. The mandate sets out to improve human rights conditions in Sudan and to provide aid to displaced persons and refugees who suffered from the region’s relentless civil war. The mandate primarily expressed that no military solution would bring an end to the conflict in Darfur.
But reports issued after the mandate’s adoption prove that military options not only continue to be explored, but frequently are in full effect. The latest U.N. report on the humanitarian situation in Darfur, released on October 19, indicated that in spite of the stabilization of overall malnutrition levels in Darfur, the “continued flow of aid is under threat because of escalating violence, which is restricting access to war and drought-affected people, exacerbating the already fragile situation.”
The report was derived from information obtained by UNICEF and the World Food Program (WFP), who made an assessment of 3.7 million people receiving aid in September, out of the total 6 million people in Darfur. While U.N. officials observed an increase in access to clean water and food security, escalating violence in the region hampered formidable humanitarian relief.
“No military force will bring peace to Darfur”, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guéhenno told reporters on Friday. “It has to be a political process, and the United Nations stands ready to engage even further in a political effort in Darfur.”
Although Jan Pronk will remain the Special Representative in Sudan until his contract expires at the end of this year, Taye Zerihoun will be the officer in charge of UNMIS . Pronk plans to organize the handover in November during a short trip to Khartoum, after which he is scheduled to return to New York for debriefings and completion of the mission.
Pronk expressed no regrets for the information published on his blog, claiming that he uses discretion and always respects confidentiality.
“My information to the Security Council or the press is always based on my experiences on the ground”, Pronk said on Friday. “And there is nobody else who has been on the ground as much, as intense and as long as I have been.”
Facing the end of his mandate in Sudan, Pronk left the Security Council with one final message on Friday.
“After all the sorrow in Sudan, in the South as well as in Darfur, the people over there, neglected and oppressed for decades, should not be forgotten in the turbulence of other world affairs. They are counting on you.”
Melorine Mokri
U.N. OBSERVER & International Report
Please also see:
Jan Pronk "blog" http://www.janpronk.nl
United Nations on Sudan
http://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=88&Body=Sudan&Body1=
UN: New Offensives in Darfur and Chad Threaten Civilians
Security Council Must React Strongly to Expulsion of UN Envoy
http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2006/10/23/darfur14431.htm
Sudan/China
Appeal by Amnesty International to the Chinese government on the occasion of the China-Africa Summit for Development and Cooperation
http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGAFR540722006
Sudan Net http://www.sudan.net/main1.shtml
Government of Sudan http://www.sudan.gov.sd/ar