SUDAN PEOPLES’ LIBERATION MOVEMENT (SPLM -N)
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY GENERAL
Resolutions of the SPLM-N Leadership Council
Issued From the Imposing Peaks of the Nuba Mountains
· The Political and Humanitarian Situation
· The Unity of the Opposition and the Overthrow of the Regime
· The Popular Uprising – Completing of the Organizational Restructuring
· Negotiations
· The Military Situation
Following the august and settled traditions of the SPLM in holding meetings of its institutions among the people and in the liberated areas inside Sudan and overcoming the challenges imposed by war and terrain, which have never prevented us from fulfilling our responsibilities, the SPLM-N leaders including civil and local administrations, women, leadership of displaced people together with the SPLM-N Leadership Council and leaders of SPLA-N from the first and second fronts held a series of preparatory and formal meetings which continued for a whole week between 21st-28th August 2012. More than 200 of the SPLM-N and SPLA-N leaders congregated in martyr Yousif Kuwa Makki’s Memorial Hall, dedicated to one of our founding leaders in the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan. The meetings were also attended by the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and Secretary General of the SPLM-N. At the start of the proceeding, the attendees stood to observe one minute of silence to mourn the fallen martyrs who laid down their lives for peace, democracy and justice all across the Sudan.
Three papers were presented in the opening session:
· Strategy Outline Paper presented by comrade Malik Agar
· Humanitarian Situation and an Evaluation and Analysis of the Military Situation presented by comrade Abdel-Aziz Adam Elhilo
· The Political Situation, Organisational Structure, Alliances, Negotiations and the Overthrow of the Regime presented by comrade Yasir Arman
The meeting then engaged in extensive deliberations, clarifications, questions and discussions, followed by a plenary session of the Leadership Council, which received a presentation by comrade Philip Neuron on the developments of the humanitarian situation. Comrade Dr. Adam Abaker Ismael presented a report on political training and the Institute of Strategic Studies. Comrade David Kuku also presented a report on behalf of the legal drafting committee. Comrades Simon Kalu and Yasir Jafar and Ms. Gamar Abdallah presented a report on the civil administration in the liberated areas. After three days of deliberation, the all-party meeting and the leadership council meeting concluded with the passing of the following resolutions among many:
The Political Situation:
· The meeting paid tribute to the courageous popular resistance in the liberated areas against the aggression of the regime, and saluted the displaced and the refugees for their fortitude, and passed new proposals on the humanitarian situation.
· The meeting recognized and appreciated the performance of the SPLM-N leadership in the one and a half years since the disengagement, and in the one year and more since the start of the war in both the political and military fronts, which have pushed Sudanese, SPLM-N and the two areas’ concerns onto the agenda of the highest international forum (UNSC.) It has also brought the humanitarian situation, the violation of human rights, and war crimes under the spotlight of the world stage.
· The meeting also recognized the fortitude of the SPLA-N and the superior performance of its military leadership in the face of the war armory of the Sudanese state led by the war criminals of the NCP leadership.
· The meeting commended the establishment of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) and affirmed its commitment to continue developing the SRF and building a strategic alliance between forces of the marginalized in all Sudan, the democratic forces and the modern forces committed to building a new Sudan. The meeting affirmed the importance and the correctness of the slogan under which the meeting was convened, “Unity of the Opposition and the Overthrow of the Regime,” and so opened the way to building a new state. The meeting also saluted the recent protests of youths, women and students, and the move by trade unions to wrest their rights and to break free from the grip of the ruling National Congress Party. The meeting called on the SPLM-N leadership to work closely with these emerging forces to unite all opposition forces.
· The meeting lauded the steadfastness of the SPLM-N leaders and members working underground, especially the women leadership and the detainees, and it called for the continuation of the patient building of the SPLM-N in all the States and the continuation of their organizational work. The meeting also called upon the membership and the leadership of our movement to continue its involvement in the civil revolt until the ultimate overthrow of the regime.
· The meeting also saluted the members of the SPLM-N abroad and all Sudanese people in the Diaspora for their sympathy and support for the cause of our people inside Sudan and called for the continuation of this work by all creative means.
The Humanitarian Situation:
1) The meeting decided a response to the demands of the displaced whose number reached more than half a million and more than 200,000 as refugees as a consequence of the repeated objections by the regime of Khartoum to the Memorandum of Understanding with the UN, African Union and the Arab League. And now, after almost a month since the SPLM-N signed the Memorandum of Understanding and in the absence of any implementation of any of the steps that the SPLM-N agreed to be taken (as an example, the completion of the process of assessment and evaluation in two weeks and the completion of the modalities in one week); and yet none of these have been accomplished. The regime in Khartoum also refused the first Memorandum that was signed on February 18, 2012 and it continued its aerial bombardment and ground offensive against displaced civilians and their villages while still continuing to control all the humanitarian assistance operations and its refusal of the delivery of humanitarian aid from any neighboring country under the pretext of national sovereignty. In the light of all this, the meeting resolved and in response to the demands of the displaced, that there is no national sovereignty for war criminals and that the SPLM-N negotiating team will propose on September 4th at the time of the review of the Memorandum of Understanding, which is after one month since it was signed, the request of the displaced to open secure corridors for the transportation of aid across the border of the states of Ethiopia and South Sudan will be tabled as the only solution left to stop the misery of the displaced and to put to an end to the use of food as a weapon.
2) The Leadership Council resolved to officially request from AUHIP under the Chairmanship of the former South African President Thabo Mbeki to allow the addition of the following SPLM-N members to the negotiating team and to allow the SPLM-N wider access for consultations with its leaders, members and friends wherever they may be. The members are:
1. Ezdihar Gouma Saeed, member of the Leadership Council who has been under house arrest but was recently released.
2. Omar Fadul Omar, member of the previous Legislative Assembly of South Kordofan state and a leader of the SPLM-N who has been under detention for more than one year and is currently in Kober Prison.
3. Alawia Kebaida, recently released from detention
4. Abdelmonim Rahama, SPLM-N leader and a poet who was sentenced to death but recently released.
5. Khalid Abdulla Daraja, Secretary General of the SPLM-N in West Darfur and still under detention in Darfur.
6. Osman Adroub, Chairman of the SPLM-N in the Red Sea State who was recently released from detention.
7. Niemat Gamaa, Secretary General of the SPLM-N in the White Nile State released recently from detention.
8. Because the SPLM-N will demand investigation of the violations of human rights and the war crimes, the use of food as a weapon, it needs to undertake consultation with the detainees whose rights have been violated and some of them have been released, especially from the Two Areas, and as an example of these, Dr. Bushra Gamar, and Ustaza Jalilah Khamis Kuku, who is still in detention. All of those detainees who have been released or who are still in detention are victims and they have legitimate complaints against the regime in Khartoum, and the SPLM-N has no right to forgive any of these human rights violations. The independent international investigation is essential to end impunity and to prevent the repetition of these types of violations against the future generations. The investigation needs to be comprehensive and include all parties of the conflict including the SPLM-N.
3) The SPLM-N will request permission from the AUHIP to conduct a consultation with political forces and active individuals in the opposition in the Two Areas chief among them the National Consensus Forces and especially opposition parties that took part in the last election in the Two Areas. The SPLM-N will also expand its negotiating team by the inclusion of representatives from the liberated areas and the Diaspora and national and local experts whenever that is needed.
The Civil Administration:
The meeting reviewed the civil administration in the liberated areas and recognized and appreciated what has been accomplished and recommended the formation of a national body for its administration and the completion of its establishment as genuinely independent civil body.
The Organizational Structure of the SPLM-N:
The meeting resolved the formation of a committee to complete the preparation for the SPLM-N Convention and another committee to adopt the new constitution and manifesto in the next Leadership Council meeting, and a third committee for the review of the structure of the National Liberation Council.
SPLA-N:
The meeting tasked the Chief of Staff and his lieutenants to review the structure of the SPLA-N as a national liberation army and undertake all necessary steps to accomplish that, and also to complete the preparedness to defeat all the military plans of the National Congress Party in the coming summer.
The Refugees:
· The meeting followed the severity of the situation in the refugee camps to which civilians and members of the SPLM-N are exposed, and decided on a number of steps to improve their situation while complying with the United Nation’s norms.
· The meeting also followed the displaced and refugee situations in Darfur and the continuation of the violations and war crimes against them and called upon the SPLM-N leadership to effectively participate in the international and local campaigns to take a strong stand with the people of Darfur. We salute the people and students of Nyala, and Rehaid Alaberdi.
The SPLM-N Flag:
After the disengagement between the SPLM in Republic of South Sudan and the SPLM-N, the first meeting of the Interim Council of the SPLM-N that took place in Khartoum, resolved to change the flag and symbols of the organization. In implementing this decision, the Leadership Council decided on the adoption of the new flag at the top of this document. The black stripe symbolizes the people and the land of the Sudan. The first white stripe symbolizes peace that followed the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that put an end to the first war. The red stripe symbolizes the martyrs and victims of the first war. The second white stripe is for the coming lasting peace. The blue stripe symbolizes the great river Nile. The green triangle symbolizes the agricultural resources of Sudan and the potential for sustainable development in the Sudan. The red circle symbolizes the martyrs and victims of the second and continuing war. The yellow star symbolizes the guiding star that leads our struggle for the accomplishment of the New Sudan. We call upon all members of the SPLM-N inside Sudan and in the Diaspora to adopt the new flag in place of the old flag and we also encourage them to raise it high in all occasions such as at demonstrations.
Decisions for the formation of committees that have been decided by the Leadership Council will be issued soon.
Yasir Arman
Secretary General, SPLM-N
Nuba Mountains
August 28, 2012