UNITAMS head: Commanders’ choice to resolve conflict on the battlefield is ravaging Sudan

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), Volker Perthes, has told the UN Security Council (UNSC) in New York that the commanders (referring if not by name to Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, Commander-in-Chief of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), and Lt Gen Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo, leader of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), whose clashes plunged Sudan into conflict six weeks ago, are both responsible for the escalation of the war.

Briefing the UNSC in New York on Monday, Volker Perthes noted: “The responsibility for the fighting rests with those who are waging it daily: the leadership of the two sides who have chosen to settle their unresolved conflict on the battlefield rather than at the table. It is their decision that is ravaging Sudan. And they can end it.”

Perthes pointed out: “Fighting and troop movements have continued even today despite the commitment of both sides not to pursue military advantage before the ceasefire takes effect.

“Both parties have been calling on me to condemn the respective other side’s actions. I call on both to end the fighting and to return to dialogue in the interest of Sudan and its people.”

He pointed out that the short-term ceasefire [referred to as the Jeddah Declaration] signed by both sides of the conflict, which came into force at 21:45 (Khartoum time GMT+2) last night “should allow civilians to move and humanitarian access to get to the people.”

‘The warring parties have fought their war with little regard for the laws and norms of war…’ – Volker Perthes

On the human cost of the conflict thus far, Perthes says: “More than 860 civilians have been killed, including more than 190 children, with another 3,500 civilians injured. Many are missing. Over a million have been displaced: more than 840,000 have sought shelter in safer parts of the country, while another 250,000 or so have crossed Sudanese borders.”

He continued, “I am grateful to those countries who are receiving refugees and returnees fleeing Sudan. It is vital that borders remain open to those who seek safety.”

Perthes laments: “In Khartoum, in Darfur, and elsewhere, the warring parties have fought their war with little regard for the laws and norms of war.”

‘A short-term ceasefire is not the goal; it is an instrument to go forward’ – Volker Perthes

Permanent Representative of Sudan to the United Nations, El Harith Idriss Mohamed, told the UNSC session said that the government of his country “will commit to the principles of the Jeddah Declaration with this agreement, while respecting international humanitarian law and human rights, and will provide the conditions to provide urgent assistance and access to humanitarian workers without impediments.”

Briefing reporters after the session, the UNITAMS chief explained: “A short-term ceasefire is not the goal; it is an instrument to go forward. We will need talks about a permanent cessation of hostilities, and we will need to consider and, of course, support a new political process.”

He added, “We have heard from both sides of the conflict that there is a wish for this to happen.”