12/30/2004

While fighting in Sudan’s western region of Darfur continues, the government of Sudan and opposition groups in the south are edging toward the end of a long civil war.  A three-year ceasefire in the Nuba Mountain region has been policed by a monitoring mission that could be a model for sustaining ceasefires elsewhere in Sudan.

RI recently visited the Nuba Mountains of central Sudan where the Joint Monitoring Mission/Joint Military Commission (JMM/JMC), have successfully monitored the ceasefire for almost three years.  The Nuba region was torn apart by civil war between 1986 and 2001, but a ceasefire between the government and the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), was reached through the mediation of the United States and Switzerland on January 19, 2002.   Administration of the Nuba Mountains was divided between the government and the SPLM/A. 

The Nuba region covers an area of 80,000 square kilometers, about the same as South Carolina, and has a population of about 1.3 million.  The population is increasing rapidly as more than 100,000 refugees and displaced persons have returned home in the last two years. 

During a November meeting of the United Nations Security Council in Nairobi, the Sudanese government and the SPLM/A pledged to sign a peace agreement by December 31, 2004, to end their 21-year old civil war in a large area that includes the Nuba region.  UN Special Envoy, Jan Pronk, announced Nov. 21 that the UN will deploy about 7,000 troops shortly after the peace agreement is signed to monitor compliance with the agreement. 

U.S. officials believe that formal signing --- often promised but not yet achieved --- of the north-south accord will help lead to peace in Darfur.  Whether this happens remains to be seen. Pronk recently charged that fighting has intensified in Darfur because the Security Council Resolution out of Nairobi didn’t put enough pressure on the combatants. 

But Pronk’s announcement that UN troops will police a formal peace agreement in the south was encouraging. It is often difficult to maintain peace once a ceasefire or agreement has been achieved to end a civil war.  Suspicions among the former warring parties are high; some groups and individuals usually oppose the ceasefire and wish to sabotage the peace and re-ignite the conflict; and the resources available for post conflict reconciliation and reconstruction are typically deficient in quality, quantity or both.  But the generally successful Nuba ceasefire shows the role monitors can play.

As part of the ceasefire agreement, the JMC began work on March 20, 2002 under the political direction of the Friends of the Nuba Mountains, 12 European and North American countries who fund the JMC and provide its international personnel.  At present, the JMC has an international staff of 39 and a budget of approximately $18 million per year.  Most of the international staff are civilians, assigned to JMC by member states of the Friends of the Nuba Mountains, but among them are many ex-military or retired military officers. 

The JMC carries out its monitoring responsibilities with mixed teams, consisting of representatives of the SPLM/A, the government and international members.  Operating in a permissive environment with the support of both parties to the ceasefire, the monitoring teams are unarmed.  The teams conduct joint patrols, investigate complaints, inspect humanitarian aid, facilitate conflict resolution and cross-ceasefire line meetings and enable the free movement of civilians and goods. 

The Nuba Mountains ceasefire has been a success. Violations of the ceasefire have been relatively minor and have been declining in numbers.  

The Joint Military Commission might serve as a model for monitoring and peacekeeping missions in other parts of Sudan and in permissive areas and regions around the globe.  The advantages of the concept include: 

• Low cost.  The JMC requires far fewer costly international personnel than an international peacekeeping force.
• Flexibility.  As opposed to the usual peacekeeping mission mandated by the UN Security Council, the JMC gets its direction from the Friends of the Nuba Mountains, comprised of diplomats in Khartoum, and therefore more knowledgeable and closer to the action than a UN body would be. 
• Cooperation. Both the SPLM/A and the government of Sudan are required by the ceasefire agreement to participate in the JMC, bolstering collaboration and confidence building.     
• Unarmed.  Both parties to the ceasefire guarantee the safety of the JMC international monitors and thus the JMC does its work unarmed.  This facilitates its work as a mediator and conciliator.
• Expertise. The international personnel assigned to JMC are usually well trained military officers and civilian personnel with experience in peacekeeping and monitoring.    
  

The JMC plans to hand over its responsibilities to the United Nations as soon as a peace agreement is reached, but it may be a more effective, cheaper structure than a large peacekeeping force in an area where a ceasefire has largely held for three years. Sticking with the JMC in the south might free more peacekeeping resources for the more violent war in Darfur. 

Refugees International, therefore, recommends that the UN and the international community in preparing for its peacekeeping and monitoring responsibilities in Sudan consider the feasibility of adopting the JMC as a model for peacekeeping in permissive environments.

RI Senior Advocate Larry Thompson recently surveyed the work of the JMC in Sudan.