Cuts to Darfur Peacekeeping Mission Approved
AP reported on July 13th that the UN Security Council has approved cuts in the United Nations-African Union peacekeeping force in the Darfur region in response to reduced fighting and improved security conditions. The decision comes after weeks of international outcry to maintain the peacekeeping forces all over Darfur. Under the decision, UNAMID’s troops were to be downsized from 8,735 to 4,050 by June 30th, 2019. 14 sites were to be closed, including the current headquarters, and operations would be limited to 13 sites near Jebel Marra. The force is due for total withdrawal by 2020. The 15 members of the UN security Council voted in favour of downsizing the peacekeeping mission, UNAMID, which was established in 2007 with a mandate to help protect civilians.
The war in Darfur has claimed the lives of more than 300,000 people and forced at least 2.7 million people to seek refuge inside Sudan and in neighbouring countries.
On June 22nd, 2018 a group of 38 human rights organisations and 19 activists and academics submitted a letter to the UN Security Council urging them not to downsize the peacekeeping forces, especially on the grounds of improved stability in the region and limiting the fighting to the Jebel Marra area. The letter cited a number of attacks on villages and IDP camps across Darfur in the first week of June. The letter also referred to UNAMID reports of attacks on IDP camps in May.
Human Rights Watch urged the UN Security Council in June not to downsize the mission as there was a need for continuous monitoring and reporting of human rights violations across the region. The human rights watchdog said although the aerial attacks had been suspended due to the ceasefire declaration in 2017, ground attacks on civilians by pro-government troops continued as late as June 2018.
Ahmed Hussein Adam, a research associate at SOAS Law school, University of London said to 7Dnews, “Although I am very critical of UNAMID’s performance and I think for over 10 years the mission has failed to fully implement its protection mandate but still their presence is crucial and vital to protecting the civilians. UNAMID’s existence provides protection by its physical presence. I talked to IDPs in various states of Darfur and they agreed, in spite of the shortcomings, UNAMID existence is necessary to their protection.”
UNAMID’s implementation of its mandate has been challenged by restrictions in access to sites and denial and complications of visa requests for staff. In a report submitted to the UN Security Council in April, UNAMID reported restrictions of access to sites in a number of incidents. The report mentioned 232 pending visa requests of which some have been waiting since 2016, affecting mainly the human rights department, which is understaffed by 46%.
Ahmed Hussein Adam said, “the UN Security Council should have supported UNAMID to implement its mandate fully and properly instead of cutting the mission.” He attributed the cut in the peacekeeping mission to political considerations, donor fatigue and the financial pressure that is facing 13 peacekeeping missions.
The impacts of cutting the UNAMID mission by half and the closure of 14 sites will be grave, Adam said to 7Dnews, “Downsizing UNAMID and confining its scope to Jebel Marra is a green light to militias especially Rapid Support Forces formerly known as Janjaweed to continue and upscale their attacks on civilians. There will be no witness to the human rights violations in Darfur, especially with the government decision to dismantle IDP camps in Darfur.”
Adam warned about the increased scale of attacks and the evacuation of IDP camps. He said, “the government does not want the IDP camps to exist as it is a symbol of genocide and of the crimes against humanity that led to the ICC indictment of the Sudanese president Albashir and other senior officials.”
The hostilities between rebel groups in Darfur and the government has noticeably declined in the past few years except in Jebel Marra, with the forces of SLA AW Sudan Liberation Army/ Abdel Wahid Nour. The region is in a no-peace no-war state as the main armed opposition (SLA MM Sudan Liberation Army, Minni Minawi and JEM Justice and Equality Movement) failed to reach an agreement with the Sudan government. The parties in the conflict have failed to implement the roadmap agreement proposed by the African Union mediation panel (AUHIP) and signed in 2016, over disagreements on humanitarian access and the process of cessation of hostilities. The government of Sudan insisted on using the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur of 2011 as a framework for peace negotiations while armed opposition groups say there is a need to develop a new framework. The Sudan’s Presidential Envoy for Diplomatic Contact and Negotiation for Darfur, Amin Hassan Omer, said on July 9th that the date for resuming negotiations on Darfur has not yet been revealed.