Sudan govt ‘terminates’ UNITAMS – UN Secretary-General appoints new envoy

The Sudanese government has issued a decision to “terminate the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) with immediate effect”. The move follows months of friction between the government and the mission. The office of the UN Secretary-General has confirmed that it received notice of the decision.

Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General confirmed on Friday “we have indeed received a letter from the government of Sudan announcing the government’s decision to terminate UNITAMS… with immediate effect”. Dujarric says “the government also communicated their commitment to engage constructively with the Security Council and with us, the [UN] Secretariat, on a new, appropriate and agreed-upon formula.”

Dujarric points out that as mentioned in her briefing to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Thursday, Assistant Secretary-General, Martha Pobee, has appointed Ian Martin to lead a strategic review of the UN mission in Sudan “to provide the Security Council with options on how to adapt the Mission’s mandate”.  The current UNITAMS mandate is due to expire on December 3.

The move follows months of friction between UN envoys and the Sudanese junta, which culminated in the resignation of UNITAMS head Volker Perthes in September. Perthes said that ongoing pressure on his person from the Sudan junta, including being declared persona non grata, had made is position untenable.

New UN Envoy

In a new statement yesterday, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Ramtane Lamamra of Algeria as his Personal Envoy for Sudan. The appointment of the career diplomat, whose brief is to continue to engage closely with all actors, including the Sudanese authorities and members of the UN Security Council (UNSC), “to clarify next steps”,

Tension

Former UNITAMS head Volker Perthes, who was interviewed by Radio Dabanga in May, had a tenuous relationship with the Sudanese military government, especially since the start of the hostilities between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April.

In June, the Sudanese Foreign Ministry communicated with the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, informing him that Volker Perthes had been declared persona non grata in Sudan. The UN said at the time that this is contrary to the obligations of States under the Charter of the United Nations.

In May, Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, Commander-in-Chief of the SAF and President of the Sovereignty Council requested UN Secretary-General António Guterres to replace Perthes.

In a four-page letter, El Burhan commends the establishment of UNITAMS in early 2021, after the UN Security Council decided to establish the mission to replace the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in June the year before.

However, the “transparent and just functioning of UNITAMS has been lost, due to the performance and personal disposition of the head of the mission and mediators from outside the mission”.

El Burhan further gives a number of examples of “the strange behaviour” of Perthes during the transitional period, in his reactions to the political developments in Sudan since his arrival in Sudan in February 2021, and concludes the letter with the request to replace the envoy.

In a short reaction to El Burhan’s letter at the time, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the Secretary-General, said at the time that Guterres was “shocked” by the request to remove his envoy in Sudan.

“The Secretary-General is proud of the work done by Volker Perthes and reaffirms his full confidence in his Special Representative,” Dujarric stated at the time.