Darfur signatories threaten to quit Doha treaty if salaries are not paid

Members of the Ceasefire Commission of a Doha signatory group claimed not receiving their salaries for one year and threatened to quit the peace treaty if the issue is not solved. Former rebel fighters of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) also demanded a “clear vision of the security arrangement” of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), which has reportedly not yet been implemented. Last week Minister of Health Osman Bushra of the Darfur Regional Authority (DRA) disclosed the arrangement’s implementation has been delayed because signatories are not able to discern the troops who joined the treaty before and after it was signed in 2011. Ceasefire Commission member of sector Korma, Osman Adam Khamis, told Radio Dabanga that Dr. Tijani Sese has received more than 50 letters from them asking for a solution to the security arrangement, salaries’ problems and other logistic demands. Sese is head of the LJM and Chairman of the DRA. The commission is formed by representatives of the LJM, of UNAMID and of the Sudanese government and members earn $1,125 per month, Khamis disclosed. Its purpose is to investigate the correct amount of troops who were affiliated to LJM before it joined the DDPD. In light of the on-going problems, Khamis met with the Deputy Chief of the UNAMID for operations, Mohamed Younis, and with the Mission’s Chairperson of the Ceasefire Commission Lt. Gen. Patrick Nyamvumba. He did not disclose when the meeting took place but stressed that the matters he raised have not been solved so far, despite vague assurances. “Join training camps” During the Nyala conference for displaced and refugees last week, commission members asked Sese to find a solution for their late salaries and concerning the implementation of the security arrangement. LJM head replied he is not responsible for remuneration issues and advised the group to voluntarily join military recruitment camps of the government. Sese added he is not able to implement the security arrangement according to the DDPD, Khamis said. DRA Deputy for Military Affairs Yassin Youssef reiterated Sese’s advice and added: “If you do not want to join the government’s military recruitment camps then go to Kauda”. Kauda is referred to the opposition alliance formed by four rebel groups that seek to topple the Khartoum regime, the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).  This coalition is formally known as the Kauda alliance. Amid the circumstances, members of the Ceasefire Commission decided to give Sese and UNAMID two weeks to pay their salaries and to make a decision about the Doha’s security arrangement before they quit.File photo: Representatives of the Government of Sudan (foreground) face representatives of the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) at the meeting of the Joint Commission (Albert González Farran/ UNAMID)Related: Darfur minister explains delay of Doha security arrangement execution (28 March 2013)