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Refugees International Urges UN Security Council: "Don't Let Peace Slip Away in Southern Sudan"

Sudan 2004: Nuba Mountains
11/17/2004

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Megan Fowler, 202-828-0110 x214

Refugees International Urges UN Security Council:
"Don’t Let Peace Slip Away in Southern Sudan"

Washington, DC – Refugees International (RI) called on the UN Security Council today to rescue the peace talks between the government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLA) at the Security Council meeting in Nairobi on November 18 and 19. One of the goals of that meeting is to underscore the importance to both parties of bringing the talks to a successful conclusion, but the crisis in Darfur has reduced the Sudanese government’s incentive to reach an agreement with the South. RI is calling on the Security Council to take all possible steps to discourage the government of Sudan and the SPLA from renewing the conflict in the hopes that peace in this region of the country will set a precedent for peace in neighboring Darfur.

"The primary objective of the Security Council at its Nairobi meeting should be to ensure that the Government of Sudan and SPLA do not return to war,” said Larry Thompson, Senior Advocate of Refugees International, who recently returned from a mission to Kenya and Sudan. “To that end, the successful conclusion of a peace agreement should be encouraged with all the vigor the Security Council can muster. Don’t let peace slip away in southern Sudan."

The civil war between the government of Sudan in Khartoum and the southern rebels, led by the SPLA, has been one of the most destructive and longest-lived conflicts of recent times. Twenty-one years of civil war has left two million dead and four million displaced. Since October 2002, conflict has ceased in most areas of the south and the two parties have since begun negotiations to reach a permanent peace agreement. Although they came close to an agreement in May, officials are now pessimistic that the talks will succeed.

"The UN Security Council meeting in Nairobi may be the last chance to rescue a peace process that has begun to bog down," Thompson said. "It would be a human tragedy of major proportions if the ploughshares of peace were turned back into the weapons of war in southern Sudan. Peace in the largest country in Africa is worthy of the Security Council’s highest priority."

International attention has shifted from southern Sudan to Darfur in western Sudan where the government’s repression of rebel movements has been called genocide by President Bush. Now, the Sudanese government appears to be reinforcing its military and those of its southern allies inciting speculation that the government is not negotiating in good faith, but instead is preparing to resume the war. On the other side, John Garang, the SPLA leader, may have contracted the Arafat Syndrome – an inability to make a decision in favor of peace and compromise after a lifetime of war.

"The draft peace agreement offers the possibility of future independence for the South and wealth sharing of Sudan’s oil production," said Thompson. "It is a good deal for both sides and they shouldn’t let mutual suspicion stand in their way. The Security Council should pledge to support the implementation of an agreement."

Refugees International is calling on the Security Council to adopt a carrot and stick approach that spells out both the benefits of peace and the severe consequences of resuming the war in the south. For example, the government of Sudan could be promised economic development aid, UN peacekeepers to monitor the agreement, and enhanced international standing – if it also stops the human right abuses in Darfur. The consequences of failure to achieve peace should include economic and political sanctions on the government of Sudan and its oil industry. Benefits for the SPLA include the possibility of future independence for southern Sudan and shared oil revenues, while the consequences of failure would result in a loss of oil revenues and no guarantee of a referendum on future independence.

During Thompson’s mission to Sudan, he saw that the two years of de facto peace have benefited the region. Hundreds of thousands of refugees and displaced persons have returned to their former homes. In Rumbek, the SPLA capital, women had walked weeks down dangerous roads to get home after two decades of exile in Khartoum. Young men --- formerly child soldiers who had been demobilized --- were now struggling to learn to read and write in the hope of a better future.

"Ending the 21-year conflict in southern Sudan will not only restore dignity and prosperity to generations of Sudanese in the south, it will establish a foundation for peace in neighboring Darfur," concluded Thompson. "If, despite all efforts, the negotiations fail the Security Council should take all possible steps to discourage the government and the SPLA from renewing the conflict."

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