Darfur displaced reject ‘NCP-NCP’ dialogue

The head of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) has confirmed the receipt of an official letter from Unamid about the start of Darfur-Darfur Dialogue on the 26th of May in North Darfur’s capital of El Fasher. The Darfur displaced reject the set-up and timing of the dialogue, and question Unamid’s neutrality. After a meeting with the First Vice President Gen. Bakri Hassan Saleh, DRA head Dr Tijani Sese told reporters in Khartoum on Tuesday that Unamid in the letter requested the DRA to name one of its members to be a representative in the dialogue committee. “The DRA has taken the necessary measures.” Sese stressed that the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue will be held in accordance with the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) which had tasked Unamid, the State of Qatar, and the African Union, being neutral entities, to arrange the Dialogue. “The climate has become conducive to hold the Dialogue at grassroots level in Darfur,” he explained. ‘Twisted attempt’ However, the displaced in the camps reject the start of the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue. “Unamid is far from neutral, and the announced dialogue is premature, in the light of the recent widespread attacks on civilians, arson, murder, displacement, and aerial bombardments, carried out by government troops and militias.” “The Darfur displaced will surely stage peaceful demonstrations denouncing and refusing the Dialogue,” the coordinator of the Central Darfur camps predicted in an interview with Radio Dabanga. “The Darfur-Darfur Dialogue is a twisted attempt to create a new alternative to the DDPD, which will elapse officially by July 2014. The dialogue Unamid seeks is in reality a National Congress Party-National Congress Party dialogue.” Neutrality The Central Darfur camps coordinator instead demanded “an immediate investigation into the performance of the former heads of Unamid and the current one”, referring to Unamid documents leaked by former Unamid spokeswoman, Aicha Albasri. “These internal documents confirm that Unamid has been covering up the crimes committed by the Sudanese government, and therewith Unamid’s non-neutrality in Darfur.” Development “Claims that the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue will achieve development are unfounded,” the coordinator explained. “Development cannot be achieved in Darfur, or in other areas of Sudan, in the light of the continuing wars, bombardments, the targeting of civilians and the burning of their villages by the Rapid Support militias of the Khartoum regime.”“What we need is a comprehensive peace, respect for human rights, and freedom of expression, not dialogues or separate agreements on the cessation of war in Darfur, the Blue Nile, and South Kordofan.” File photo: New displaced at Kalma camp, South Darfur, 9 March 2014. They fled attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces on dozens of villages in the area southeast of capital Nyala. (Albert González Farran/Unamid) Related:‘Senior Sudan government representatives to take part in Darfur-Darfur dialogue’: Unamid (6 May 2014) Unamid head inaugurates courthouse, briefs community leaders in North Darfur (5 May 2014)DRA stresses importance of signatories for peace in Darfur (21 April 2014) Sudan Leaks: ‘UN Security Council was misinformed about Janjaweed’ (10 April 2014) ‘Implementation of Darfur peace agreement hampered’: DRA Minister (24 March 2014) DRA head announces 2014 development and rehabilitation budgets for Darfur (11 February 2014)More than 1,000 Darfuri displaced attend Kalma conference (1 January 2014)