04514
November 22, 2004

Sudan and southern rebels promise peace as Christmas gift  

by Fredrick Nzwili
Ecumenical News International

NAIROBI — After 21 years in a war that has taken as many as 2 million lives and forced the displacement of about 5 million, the Sudanese government and the leader of the rebel group in the south of the country promised Nov. 19 to sign a comprehensive peace agreement as a 2004 Christmas present.

      “We are glad that the [United Nations] Security Council has focused on the Sudanese conflict,” Pastor Benjamin Alyuon of the Sudan Church of Christ told Ecumenical News International, standing outside the UN Offices in Nairobi where he had joined Sudanese refugees in a demonstration.

      The Security Council, meeting outside New York for the first time in 14 years, unanimously adopted resolutions encouraging the two parties to reach a peace agreement in which the rebels and the government would sign a declaration by Dec. 31.

      “The core of the peace agreement in the form of the six protocols is already in place. The task that remains is to finalize the agreement on the comprehensive cease-fire modalities for implementation,” John Garang the leader of the rebel Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) told the council.

      The US representative at the United Nations, John Danforth, told the parties: “The attention is on you. The United Nations and all nations demand that you deliver on your word. That means there must be a peace agreement by Dec. 31.” He added, “It’s up to you to prove the naysayers and skeptics wrong. The violence and atrocities being perpetrated must end now. You have heard this message clearly from the Security Council — heed it.”

      The New Sudanese Indigenous NGOs network (NESI) said the Security Council resolutions formed the basis of resolving the conflict. “The final peace agreement will mean an end to the war in Sudan,” said Suzanne Jambo, the NESI co-ordinator, calling for measures against non-compliance, a report back mechanism and the space to evaluate the implementation of peace.

      On Darfur, the troubled western part of Sudan, the Security Council demanded that the government and armed groups immediately cease all violence and attacks including abductions, forceful relocation of civilians. It said they must co-operate with international humanitarian relief and monitoring efforts in Darfur and follow other UN resolutions.

      But some international relief and rights organizations criticized the Darfur declarations as too weak, demanding the government of Sudan be held accountable for ongoing human rights abuses in the troubled western part of the country.

      “We fear the government of Sudan will take this resolution as a blank check to continue its persecution of the civilian population in Darfur,” said Jemere Rone, a senior researcher with New York-based Human Rights Watch.

      Oxfam’s regional director for the Horn and East Africa, Caroline Nursey, said: “From New York to Nairobi a trail of weak resolutions on Darfur has led nowhere. We had hoped coming to Africa would have given the council a chance to turn a corner and deliver some concrete actions.”