Sudan, AU initiate moves to restore ties
Port Sudan, Sudan (PANA) - The African Union seems to be moving to assert its expected role in finding a settlement to the Sudanese crisis, coinciding with the government's moves to restore its position within the African institutions, though on its own terms.
The AU has for almost a year kept a low profile in most of the stages of efforts to find a solution to the conflict leaving the ground for the EU, the Arab League and the Quarte , comprising the UN, the UK, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with a shy AU participation.
Now, the AU is seen as showning interest to regain its role as it reiterates the need of finding an immediate solution for the crisis.
Following a meeting this week, the African Union Peace and Security Council has underlined the need for the two warring sides – the Sudanese Armed Fores and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) – to abide by an agreement they reached last year. It stressed that the RSF should pull out of Fashir, capital of north Darfur, and stop targeting civilians there as demanded by the UN Security Council.
In a communiqué it issued on Monday, the African Union Peace and Security Council, reaffirmed the AU solidarity and “unwavering commitment to continue supporting the Government and people of Sudan” in their aspirations to restore lasting peace, security and stability, and prosperity in their country for the benefit of, not only the people of Sudan, but all neighbouring countries, the entire Horn of Africa region and the wider African Continent".
The communiqué also said the AU reaffirms its commitment to respect the sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Sudan.
Sudan's membership, in line with the African Union charter, has been frozen, following a coup d’état against a civilian government. This is despite the government arguing that the military has been part and parcel of the ousted hybrid government and that freezing its membership after the cabinet resigned was not in line with the AU Charter and specifications of a coup.
Recently Sudan began a shuttle diplomacy to restore its full membership. It also said early this week it would not go back to the East African development bloc, IGAD, unless it receives a clear apology from the leadership there that equating the government with the RSF was ill-advised.
An envoy from President Ismail Omar Guelleh of Djibouti, with a letter to the Sudanese leadership on its membership, received a strong nay from the government, which said IGAD has to clearly distance itself from the previous stance of supporting the RSF, before Khartoum reconsiders going back.
The communiqué said the AU strongly condemns the violence in Sudan, including the widespread and systemic sexual and gender-based violence such as the use of rape as a weapon of war, as well as the perpetration of violations against children, the looting of humanitarian supplies, the destruction of civilian infrastructure including hospitals and schools, and the occupation of civilian buildings and houses and the forced displacement of their owners.
This long list is what the government of Sudan, now operating fromPort Sudan, accuses the RSF of committing in Sudan in general and Darfur in particular.
The communique said the AU “strongly condemns the violent clashes and unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in Darfur and demands that the Rapid Support Forces urgently lift the siege on the city of EL Fashir and ensure safe and unhindered humanitarian access to the populations in Sudan suffering from acute food insecurity”.
Sudan also said it was not going to Geneva or any other venues for peace talks unless it was sure the agreement reached in Saudi Arabia in May this year, known as the Jeddah Declaration, is fully implemented. The declaration stipulates that the RSF evict all private homes, civilian dwellings and public institutions it occupied since the start of the fighting in April 2023.
The AU urged the warring parties “to implement the agreements reached in the Jeddah Declaration of 11 May 2023, relating to humanitarian access and protection of civilians and withdrawal from civilian homes and buildings”.
The AU, the communiqué underlined, reiterates that there is no viable and sustainable military solution to the conflict. It also reiterated the demand for the warring parties to prioritise the supreme interests of Sudan and its people, and to immediately and unconditionally cease all hostilities, establish a permanent ceasefire, return to negotiations and pursue a political settlement to the crisis in order to end the suffering of the Sudanese people.
It further called for practical step including the reopening of the AU Liaison Office to Sudan, in Port Sudan, with minimum staffing, taking into consideration the prevailing security situation, to inter alia, allow AU’s engagements with the stakeholders in Sudan at all levels, as well as to provide technical support to Sudan, including through the use of the AU Peace Fund and its Crisis Reserve Facility and requests that any attendant budgetary implications, if any, should be addressed through re-allocation.
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