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AU panel, Sudan list steps to end Darfur crisis

MEASURES needed to attain peace in Sudan's troubled Darfur region were outlined and examined as the African Union's (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) meeting got underway yesterday in Abuja.

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua presided over the meeting in his capacity as host chairperson of the PSC.

Former South African President Thabo Mbeki presented the AU high-level panel on Darfur (AUPD) report which stated categorically that reliance on criminal justice as the backbone of bringing the long sought after normalcy to Darfur would turn out to be insufficient in the days ahead.

But Sudan cautiously welcomed the proposals from the panel of African leaders to end the conflict in Darfur but said the question of a special court to try those charged with atrocities needed further discussion.

Besides the compelling matter of Darfur, the Abuja PSC was also called to take vital decisions on Guinea and Niger, two West African countries that are currently enmeshed in political turmoil. The meeting is under the watch of Mr. Jean Ping, the chairperson of the AU Commission. Invited guests were yesterday graciously given seven minutes to make their statements of intent known to the council.

In another peace-related development, the United Nations (UN) has asked Nigeria to be ready to continue to shoulder the responsibilities of helping to secure Liberia at the expiration of the mandate of the current peacekeeping force in war-ravaged Liberia.

Also yesterday, Nigeria and Gabon - the two African countries recently elected into the UN Security Council (UNSC) as non-permanent members - took a joint stand to work for peace and security, economic cooperation and development while collectively striving to take "the centre stage" at the global body.

The joint position of Nigeria and Gabon on the UNSC yesterday noted that the already identified issues to be tackled in tandem will be so dealt with in "a mutually beneficial manner". A statement read in this regard said Presidents Yar'Adua and Ali Bongo Ondimba would work together on all African issues."

Sudan, represented by its vice president, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, pledged to support the recommendations of the AUPD because "without this, no peace agreement can be sustainable over time."

Taha represented President Omar Al-Bashir whose attendance was for weeks subjected to intense controversies owing to the noose of a warrant of arrest hung on his neck by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Taha also said his country wants "a very thorough diagnosis and accurate understanding of the problems of Darfur. We understand the vision of the report in asking for general elections in Sudan and Darfur. We hope that there will be peace and justice in Sudan in the end even as the efforts of the AU and the government of Nigeria in bringing about a solution is appreciated."

Presenting the 124-paged report, Mbeki observed that the criminal justice processes "will be a significant, though not sufficient, pillar in the justice and reconciliation framework for Darfur."

The report indeed spelt out that "currently, the criminal justice response to Darfur is ineffective and confusing and has also failed to obtain the confidence of the people of Darfur. It will therefore require changes to be introduced within the Sudanese legal system to provide effective accountability for the different levels of criminal participation. Alongside the formal system of national and hybrid courts, traditional justice mechanisms should be applied to deal with appropriate crimes and perpetrators at the community levels before the closed door sessions began."

Criminality by both state and non-state actors in Darfur have in the main accounted for the breakdown of the peace process leading to waves of attacks and raids on camps of international donors and aid agencies while the UN/AU hybrid force and mission in Sudan (UNAMIS) has had its settlements decimated. While this went on, the Government of Sudan (GoS) was constantly upbraided for its alleged support given to the Janjaweed Arab militias.

Mbeki noted that in order to facilitate the establishment of a hybrid court, the GoS "should take immediate steps to introduce legislation to allow legally qualified non-nationals to serve in the judiciary of Sudan"

He went on: " The International Criminal Court is a court of last resort, which complements the national judicial systems. It is also a court of limited capacity. This means that even when deploying its full resources, it can only deal with a few individuals out of any situation of which it is seized. It follows that where widespread crimes have been committed, the overwhelming majority of potential criminal cases must be dealt with by the national system.

"This is simply a reflection of the functional limitations of the ICC. It is important that all stakeholders should realize this and therefore focus on the vital importance of strengthening national legal systems..."

In its presentation, China, invited to the summit as a permanent member of the UNSC, said it saw the Darfur crisis as "a very important issue". Its ambassador, Xu Jianguo, noted that China believes that the Darfur issue is not only a Sudanese affair but also an African issue.

China has often been accused by the West of aiding the GoS to perpetrate acts of genocide in Darfur by helping the Khartoum regime to procure arms and maintain infrastructure.

But Xu Jianguo said yesterday that the AUPD report was comprehensive and practical.

His words: "We believe the report will be constructive to address the Darfur issue. We hope that the AU will keep in touch with the Sudanese government on specifics, respect their opinions and find best solutions."

After two closed-door sessions, the PSC would take critical decisions on the peace process, justice, reconciliation and healing, social and economic justice, supporting the peace process and ensuring the necessary follow up while expecting the AU chairperson to submit quarterly reports on the implementation of the AUPD recommendations and of the present decisions.

The report recommends the setting up of a special court, including foreign judges, to try those charged with atrocities in Darfur, where the UN says hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by fighting. "We go along with the deep vision contained in the report about elections being held all over Sudan, especially Darfur," Taha told the African leaders.

"Recommendations that need further dialogue include the establishment of a new justice mechanism. That needs closer scrutiny if it is in line with the constitution."

He said such hybrid tribunals would "set a precedent" for other problems in Africa and stressed that there needed to be further dialogue on whether there were better alternatives for Darfur.

"It is my hope that our work will advance enduring peace, accountability and reconciliation in Sudan," Yar'Adua said.

Kenya's Mwai Kibaki said Nairobi also wanted to discuss the peace process in South Sudan, which ended a two-decade civil war with the north in 2005, but where relations remain tense before national elections next year and a referendum on southern independence in 2011.

"A successful conclusion to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (in South Sudan) would help bolster chances of a new peace deal and development pact for the Darfur region," the Kenyan presidency said in a statement.

Mostly non-Arab rebels revolted in 2003 accusing Khartoum of neglecting Darfur. A counter-insurgency campaign drove more than two million from their homes. The UN says 300,000 people died, but Khartoum rejects that figure.

Fierce fighting in the early days of the conflict has declined, replaced in many areas by a free-for-all involving bandits, rebel splinter groups and rival tribes.

"All the turbulence could spill over not only to its immediate neighbours but to the entire continent," said Jean Ping.

The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), the most powerful rebel group in Darfur, on Tuesday rejected the report by Mbeki's panel and said serious crimes committed in the region should be tried by the ICC in The Hague.

The AU report did not go into the question of Bashir's arrest warrant, saying only that the ICC investigations should be discussed during peace talks on Darfur.

"Justice is a stable, unshakeable principle which government cherishes and is promoting. President Al-Bashir reiterates his strong commitment that nobody should escape from justice," Taha said.

Since the issuance of the arrest warrant, Al-Bashir has visited seven states (Eritrea, Egypt, Libya, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe), none of which is a party to ICC treaty.

Amnesty International and some Nigerian groups such as the National Association of Seadogs (NAS) and the Neo-Black Movement (NBM) of Africa, Lagos Zone headed by Mr. Norbert Ivare, had urged the Federal Government to arrest Al-Bashir and hand him over to the ICC if he came to Nigeria for the PSC meeting.

The mandate of the UN peacekeeping operations, christened United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) is set to expire by March 13, 2011.

The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General to UNMIL, Ellen Margarette Loej, said in a meeting with Minister of Defence, Maj.-Gen. Godwin Abbe (rtd), that the request for Nigeria to continue be part of the network for the guarantee of security in Liberia is because of the nation's "enviable" track record in peace-keeping operations.

Nigeria has 1,600 troops in Liberia, including two battalions of the Nigerian Army and some police units.

Loej said that with Nigeria's membership of the UNSC as a non-permanent member effective January 1, next year, a lot more roles are expected of it.

Abbe told the visiting UN envoy that "Nigeria is committed to making sure that peace is restored in any troubled area of the continent. And the contribution of Nigeria to global and regional peace-keeping is part of our duty as a responsible member of the international community. And we will not fail in this commitment

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