Darfuris await UN Security Council delegation, voice doubts
Ahead of a visit to Sudan by the 15-member UN Security Council, Darfuris who spoke to Radio Dabanga demanded better security in the region and questioned the usefulness of the UN visit. They noted that many times the UN Security Council has passed resolutions about Darfur and then failed to enforce them. Fifteen ambassadors of the member states of the UN Security Council will visit Juba, Khartoum and El Fasher. They have already traveled from New York to Uganda. They were scheduled to meet with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, according to Ambassador Susan Rice’s spokesman Mark Kornblau. The delegation was still in the Ugandan capital this morning, a US reporter with the delegation said this morning. About 25 of the displaced persons of Abu Shouk Camp near El Fasher expect to meet the Security Council delegation on Friday. The 25 people include omdas, elders, youth and women representatives. The omda Yahia Mohamed Adam downplayed the importance of the visit in remarks broadcast today on Radio Dabanga. Other residents of the camp likewise described the Security Council’s visit as unproductive, arguing that the Council has issued many decisions about Darfur and yet these remain dead letter. The IDPs doubted that the visit would bring any change to the status of the displaced people, citing the ongoing war and daily killing of citizens in the region without any accountability. Two rebel factions welcomed the visit by the Security Council delegation while demanding that it not be just a publicity stunt but instead be a visit of deeds. Ahmed Hussein Adam, spokesman of the Justice and Equality Movement, requested that the Security Council take steps to stop the genocide, hostile actions and ongoing massacres in Darfur. The Sudan Liberation Movement of Abdel Wahid Al Nur, a faction seen as influential especially among the Fur camp populations, welcomed the visit while at the same time demanding that the Security Council enact a Chapter VII mandate for the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). He said this would allow the Mission to protect civilians and visit the areas of East Jebel Marra, which came under aerial bombardment by the government during the last two days. Villages were burnt and more than 4000 people were displaced. Ahmed Ibrahim Yusif, the movement’s spokesman, asked that the Security Council take action and work hard to bring all Darfur war criminals to trial in The Hague. The UN delegation timed their visit for this week because they expected President Bashir to be in Libya for an extraordinary summit of the Arab League. The US and UK ambassadors want to avoid a photo-op with Bashir because of his status as an indicted war criminal. As of yet, there has not been confirmation that Bashir has in fact left for Libya. The trip to Sudan is led by the UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant and US Ambassador Susan Rice. According to a UN document – published (.doc) by the website Inner City Press – one of the aims of the visit is to assess ongoing preparations for the referenda of Abyei and South Sudan, scheduled for January 2011. The visit also aims to “express the Security Council’s deep concern about the upsurge in violence in Darfur; the number of civilian casualties and victims of sexual and gender-based violence; the recruitment of children by armed groups; the illegal arms flow into Darfur; and the continued restrictions on humanitarian access….”
Ahead of a visit to Sudan by the 15-member UN Security Council, Darfuris who spoke to Radio Dabanga demanded better security in the region and questioned the usefulness of the UN visit. They noted that many times the UN Security Council has passed resolutions about Darfur and then failed to enforce them.
Fifteen ambassadors of the member states of the UN Security Council will visit Juba, Khartoum and El Fasher. They have already traveled from New York to Uganda. They were scheduled to meet with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, according to Ambassador Susan Rice’s spokesman Mark Kornblau. The delegation was still in the Ugandan capital this morning, a US reporter with the delegation said this morning.
About 25 of the displaced persons of Abu Shouk Camp near El Fasher expect to meet the Security Council delegation on Friday. The 25 people include omdas, elders, youth and women representatives. The omda Yahia Mohamed Adam downplayed the importance of the visit in remarks broadcast today on Radio Dabanga. Other residents of the camp likewise described the Security Council’s visit as unproductive, arguing that the Council has issued many decisions about Darfur and yet these remain dead letter. The IDPs doubted that the visit would bring any change to the status of the displaced people, citing the ongoing war and daily killing of citizens in the region without any accountability.
Two rebel factions welcomed the visit by the Security Council delegation while demanding that it not be just a publicity stunt but instead be a visit of deeds. Ahmed Hussein Adam, spokesman of the Justice and Equality Movement, requested that the Security Council take steps to stop the genocide, hostile actions and ongoing massacres in Darfur. The Sudan Liberation Movement of Abdel Wahid Al Nur, a faction seen as influential especially among the Fur camp populations, welcomed the visit while at the same time demanding that the Security Council enact a Chapter VII mandate for the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID). He said this would allow the Mission to protect civilians and visit the areas of East Jebel Marra, which came under aerial bombardment by the government during the last two days. Villages were burnt and more than 4000 people were displaced. Ahmed Ibrahim Yusif, the movement’s spokesman, asked that the Security Council take action and work hard to bring all Darfur war criminals to trial in The Hague.
The UN delegation timed their visit for this week because they expected President Bashir to be in Libya for an extraordinary summit of the Arab League. The US and UK ambassadors want to avoid a photo-op with Bashir because of his status as an indicted war criminal. As of yet, there has not been confirmation that Bashir has in fact left for Libya. The trip to Sudan is led by the UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant and US Ambassador Susan Rice.
According to a UN document – published (.doc) by the website Inner City Press – one of the aims of the visit is to assess ongoing preparations for the referenda of Abyei and South Sudan, scheduled for January 2011. The visit also aims to “express the Security Council’s deep concern about the upsurge in violence in Darfur; the number of civilian casualties and victims of sexual and gender-based violence; the recruitment of children by armed groups; the illegal arms flow into Darfur; and the continued restrictions on humanitarian access….”
and then