SPLM-N proposes ‘ceasefire on humanitarian grounds’

The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) is prepared to negotiate a cessation of hostilities on purely humanitarian grounds.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the SPLM-N says that Sudan deserves a new peace process that prevents the Khartoum regime from using the National Dialogue and the peace negotiations to “disguise its war crimes and human rights atrocities, and to buy time for the continuation of its dictatorial rule”.

The rebel movement emphasises the dire need for humanitarian access to the war-affected population in South Kordofan and the Blue Nile, and announced that “the SPLM-N leadership decided that, and in accordance with international humanitarian law, the rights of the civilian populations for humanitarian assistance should not be subject to any political agenda from either side.

“The SPLM-N is ready to negotiate a cessation of hostilities on purely humanitarian grounds, that should not be mixed with any political agenda.” 

“The SPLM-N is ready to negotiate a cessation of hostilities on purely humanitarian grounds, that should not be mixed with any political agenda. The political agenda is to be negotiated after fulfilling the unconditional rights of the civilian populations to humanitarian assistance, unrestricted access, and the ending of aerial bombardments of civilian populations. The SPLM-N will continue to engage the AU High-level implementation Panel (AUHIP), the East African Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the international community in pursuing its new approach, which will give maximum priority to the rights of the civilian populations to humanitarian assistance and protection.”

‘Buying time’

The rebel leaders express their regrets that the “tremendous efforts” exerted by the various stakeholders, “to achieve a peaceful comprehensive settlement through a one peace process with two tracks and that is organically linked to the National Constitutional Dialogue process” have been aborted by the Sudanese regime.

“The tireless work by the AUHIP and the international community, in particular the German government’s effort, which resulted in the Berlin Declaration [of 27 February this year], was aimed at shifting the focus towards the National Dialogue, and to ensure its success. They were disregarded by the Khartoum government, which used the goodwill of the Sudanese opposition and the regional and international communities to continue its policy of buying time for the upcoming election.”

“By now, after 26 years of genocide and dictatorship, it is clear to everyone that Khartoum has a master’s degree in buying time and that General Al Bashir used the process of the National Dialogue to elect himself for another five years [..]. He bought time by lying and making broken promises to the Sudanese people, the AUHIP, and the international community, who should, at least, have learned not to believe him any longer.”

“The SPLM-N will never accept a piecemeal solution and it will not sign a partial deal”

The SPLM-N points to the various agreements broken by the Sudanese government during the past years, and stresses that they “will never accept a piecemeal solution and it will not sign a partial deal”. The movement will remain committed to the SRF Charter and programmes, the Paris Declaration, the Sudan Appeal and its action programmes, in cooperation with the allied opposition parties.

The rebel leadership states that they will remain committed to the Berlin Declaration, in which the allied opposition forces agreed on a common standpoint for the participation in the preparatory National Dialogue meeting in Addis Ababa. This preparatory meeting is to take place “anytime before the election”, as one of their conditions for their particpation in the National Dialogue is the postponement of the scheduled election.