Sudan, Dafur and the UN

The UN and Human Rights Un Nations’ Preamble to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small

R2p – Responsibility to Protect Recognizing the failure to adequately respond to the most heinous crimes known to humankind, world leaders made a historic commitment to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity at the United Nations (UN) 2005 World Summit. This commitment, entitled the Responsibility to Protect, stipulates that:

R2p – Responsibility to Protect 1. The State carries the primary responsibility for the protection of populations from genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. 2. The international community has a responsibility to assist States in fulfilling this responsibility.

3. The international community should use appropriate diplomatic, humanitarian and other peaceful means to protect populations from these crimes. If a State fails to protect its populations or is in fact the perpetrator of crimes, the international community must be prepared to take stronger measures, including the collective use of force through the UN Security Council.

R2P – A challenge to sovereignty R2P and the notion that the international community must intervene if a state is either allowing mass atrocities to occur, or is committing them is a challenge to traditional notions of sovereignty.

R2P R2P imposes two obligations—the first upon each state individually, the second on the international community of states collectively. With the embrace of the responsibility to protect, a long and unresolved debate over whether to act became, instead, a discussion about how and when to act.

Background Sudan has experienced many problems due to its mixture of ethnicities and religions. Two civil wars were fought in the 20th century between the Arab Muslim north and African Christian/Animist south

First Civil War 1955 to 1972 Second Civil War 1983 - 2005

Darfur – Sudan’s new conflict Fighting broke out in the arid and impoverished Darfur region early in 2003 after a rebel group began attacking government targets, accusing Khartoum of oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs.

Darfur, which means land of the Fur, has faced many years of tension over land and grazing rights between the mostly nomadic Arabs, and farmers from the Fur, Massaleet and Zaghawa communities. The main rebel groups fighting on the behalf of these communities are the SLA – Sudan Liberation Army (SLA), the Justice and Equality Movement(JEM) and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM).

The government side On the other side are the Janjaweed – a Sudanese militia group – who are mostly Arab-African in origin The Sudanese military also fight against the tribes of the Fur region.

Janjaweed The Sudanese government denies any links to the Janjaweed, gunmen on horseback accused of trying to "cleanse" black Africans from large swathes of territory. But the Sudanese government have supported the Janjaweed with money and arms. Refugees from Darfur say that following air raids by government aircraft, the Janjaweed ride into villages on horses and camels, slaughtering men, raping women and stealing whatever they can find.

What survivors say Survivors told the BBC stories of Janjaweed violence. One woman, called Hawa, said: "Five of them surrounded me. I couldn't move, I was paralysed. They raped me, one after the other." A villager Hikma, claimed the Janjaweed hurled racist insults as they carried out their attacks. She said: "They were saying 'the blacks are slaves, the blacks are stupid. Catch them alive, catch them alive, take them away with you, tie them up'."

Another woman, called Kalima, spoke of the brutality used in the attacks. She said: "My son was clinging to my dress. An Arab looking man, in a uniform with military insignia, stopped his car next to me. He grabbed my son from me and threw him into a fire."

UN estimates that 450 000 have died and 2 UN estimates that 450 000 have died and 2.5 have been forced to flee their homes. Worst humanitarian crisis on the planet. Much of the UN’s early response centred on whether the killings in Darfur constituted genocide The 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines the act as a calculated effort to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group in whole or in part. The convention calls on signatories, including the US, to prevent and punish genocide.

Genocide or not? Almost 400 non-Arab villages in Darfur have either been burnt down or attacked, indicating a systematic and organised attempt to kill non-Arabs. America has called the killings in Darfur genocide because of their ethnic nature. Other UN members not so sure.

A commission of inquiry appointed by the UN found in early 2005 that the Sudanese Government had not pursued a policy of genocide, but that its forces and the Janjaweed had “conducted indiscriminate attacks, including killing of civilians, torture, enforced disappearances, destruction of villages, rape and other forms of sexual violence, pillaging and forced displacement.”

Tom Cargill, Africa expert at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, said he believed the debate over whether genocide took place in Darfur had "distracted from taking measures to actually stop the fighting”. Ralph Gonsalves ( PM of St Vincent and the Grenadines) told the General Assembly that the debate and the actions of the UN in recent years “have caused the world to wonder about the relative worth of a Sudanese or Rwandan life, versus an Israeli, Chinese, American or European life.”

The International Response The UN stated in 2005 all states have a responsibility to protect people from genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. If states fail to do this, the UN has an obligation to intervene.

How has the UN intervened? UN debated and investigated whether genocide was occurring in Darfur. The UN and the Security Council condemned the actions of the Sudanese government. No major power was willing to send its own forces to try to put an end to it. UN relied on diplomacy to get the Sudanese government to stop the killings.

In July 2004 UN Security Council had passed a resolution condemning Sudan and giving the government a month to rein in the militias. In November 2004, the Security Council met in Kenya, to discuss Sudan. The session won a pledge from Khartoum and the southern rebels to finalize a peace agreement by the end of the year. On Darfur, however, the Security Council managed only to pass another limp resolution voicing "serious concern."

Sanctions were debated but failed to be imposed. China, buys about 80% of Sudan's oil and sells it weapons, has also played a key role in helping Sudan avoid UN sanctions. China threatened to use its veto power on sanctions against Sudan. This continued until China faced international condemnation at the 2008 Olympics.

Key term – Public opinion Refers to sentiments held by the people. Can be an important factor in influencing the domestic and foreign policy decisions of governments. For example after international condemnation threatened to tarnish China’s 2008 Olympics, which were becoming known as the Genocide Olympics, China urged Sudan to allow UN peacekeepers into the country.

A senior Chinese official, Zhai Jun, traveled to Sudan to push the Sudanese government to accept a United Nations peacekeeping force. Mr. Zhai even went all the way to Darfur and toured three refugee camps, a rare event for a high-ranking official from China, which has extensive business and oil ties to Sudan and generally avoids telling other countries how to conduct their internal affairs. So what gives? Credit goes to Hollywood — Mia Farrow and Steven Spielberg in particular. Just when it seemed safe to buy a plane ticket to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games, nongovernmental organizations and other groups appear to have scored a surprising success in an effort to link the Olympics, which the Chinese government holds very dear, to the killings in Darfur, which, until recently, Beijing had not seemed too concerned about. Ms. Farrow, a good-will ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund, has played a crucial role, starting a campaign last month to label the Games in Beijing the “Genocide Olympics” and calling on corporate sponsors and even Mr. Spielberg, who is an artistic adviser to China for the Games, to publicly exhort China to do something about Darfur. In a March 28 op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal, she warned Mr. Spielberg that he could “go down in history as the Leni Riefenstahl of the Beijing Games,” a reference to a German filmmaker who made Nazi propaganda films. Four days later, Mr. Spielberg sent a letter to President Hu Jintao of China, condemning the killings in Darfur and asking the Chinese government to use its influence in the region “to bring an end to the human suffering there,” according to Mr. Spielberg’s spokesman, Marvin Levy. China soon dispatched Mr. Zhai to Darfur, a turnaround that served as a classic study of how a pressure campaign, aimed to strike Beijing in a vulnerable spot at a vulnerable time, could accomplish what years of diplomacy could not.

UN Peacekeeping In 2006 Sudan rejected a UN resolution calling for a peacekeeping force to be deployed on the grounds it would compromise sovereignty.

Majzoub al-Khalifa, a presidential adviser responsible for Darfur said“Our stand is very clear, that the Sudanese government has not been consulted and it is not appropriate to pass a resolution before they seek the permission of Sudan." Khartoum has refused to discuss the issue with the security council, accusing it of trying to manufacture a western invasion of Sudan.

Peacekeeping – African Union forces in 2006 In 2006 Sudan was eventually pressured into allowing in peacekeeping forces, first from the African Union (AU).

Peacekeeping However, the peacekeepers were weak and the African Union force ineffective. Wider international force was not properly deployed. The AU troops were not authorised to use force to enforce peacekeeping. Difficult to enforce peace when a peace treaty was not signed – there is no peace to enforce.

Peacekeeping – African Union forces in 2006 The African MID was not properly funded or resourced - The AU troops were so poorly funded they had to paint their own helmets blue. 7,000 troops in an area larger than France.

“The African Union force is being set up to fail “The African Union force is being set up to fail. It simply cannot be expected to fulfill its mandate without proper support. The current scenario is a recipe for disaster. Donor governments must now put their hands in their pockets and fully fund the African Union force,” said Jeremy Hobbs, Executive Director of Oxfam International.

UNAMID – United Nations African Mission in Darfur In July 2007 after years of talk, the UN authorizes a peacekeeping force of nearly 20,000 international troops, specialized military observers and police to augment the nearly 7,000 African Union troops in Darfur. France and Britain led and organized the new force, under the command of both the UN and the AU.

The ICC 2008 July - The International Criminal Court's top prosecutor calls for the arrest of President Bashir for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur; the appeal is the first ever request to the ICC for the arrest of a sitting head of state. Sudan rejects the indictment.

The ICC The ICC also indicted (but has not managed to have arrested) two Sudanese officials for war crimes - Ahmad Harun, currently the minister for humanitarian affairs, and Ali Kushayb, leader of the pro-government Janjaweed militia. Sudan has not moved to arrest the two men, who are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But the genocide continued.. Despite the late increase of UN troops as peacekeepers, the in Darfur remained grave and the killing of innocent civilians continued. AID workers – both UN humanitarian relief workers and NGO (non government organisations) such as the Red Cross and the Red Crescent have been attacked.

2008 November - President Bashir announced an immediate ceasefire in Darfur, but the region's two main rebel groups reject the move, saying they will fight on until the government agrees to share power and wealth in the region.

2009 January - Sudanese Islamist leader Hassan al-Turabi is arrested after saying President Bashir should hand himself in to The Hague to face war crimes charges for the Darfur war.

Doha Peace Agreement In July 2011 the Khartoum government signed the Doha Peace Agreement with the the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM). The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) did not sign.

Doha Peace Agreement The Doha Peace Agreement aimed to - establish a compensation fund for victims of the Darfur conflict, allow the President of Sudan to appoint a Vice-President from Darfur and establish a new Darfur Regional Authority to oversee the region until a referendum can determine its permanent status within the Republic of Sudan.

Reasons for the failure of the UN to stop the killing in Darfur.

1 – Structure of the Security Council and veto rights 2 – Failure of internationalism Lack of will power Lack of funding 3 – Sudanese government 4 – China’s rise as a power

Structure of the UN Security Council Security Council member China threatened to veto sanctions against Sudan, and acted out of its own national interest. Veto rights allow Security Council members to jeopardise UN responses to critical situations in which humanitarian needs are paramount.

Failure of Internationalism – The Lack of Will International community, in spite of all its loud commitments and posturing, is still far from being really committed to bring the violence to a standstill. In many ways, the failure of international community in Darfur today is comparable to the failure of the same international community including the United Nations in Rwanda in the mid nineties.

Internationalism Refers to a variety of doctrines and ideologies which aim to transcend (cross) state centred politics. It focuses instead on universal interests it is usually associated with idealism in international thought and is presented as an alternative to nationalist or realist thinking.

Failure of Internationalism – The Lack of Will In Kofi Annan’s farewell speech in 2006 he said, “To judge by what is happening in Darfur, our performance has not improved much since the disasters of Bosnia and Rwanda. Sixty years after the liberation of the Nazi death camps, and 30 years after the Cambodian killing fields, the promise of ‘never again’ is ringing hollow”.

Failure of Internationalism – The Lack of Will The internationalist movement in the 20th century has shown that states usually tend to intervene in military conflicts when it corresponds to their national interests. The US has been the one nation that has proclaimed the war in Darfur to be genocide.

What are the USA’s interests in the Darfur conflict? US oil company Chevron made the first oil discovery in Sudan in 1979. Over the next few years, along with Shell, Chevron spent millions of dollars in extensive seismic testing and well drilling.

In 1983 Chevron and Sudanese government agree to jointly build an oil pipeline, linking Sudanese oil fields to Port Sudan on the Red Sea. However Chevron suspend their activities in Sudan after one of their facilities was attacked and three workers were killed during a civil war in the area. Although not active in Sudan in the 80s and 90s, Chevron view Sudanese oil fields as “theirs” and keep their findings secret about the extent of the Sudanese oil reserves.

China steps in and begins to develop the Sudanese oil fields. In 1999 the pipeline to Port Sudan is built with Chinese help. Since then the Chinese oil companies have made significant oil discoveries in Sudan, thus raising their known amount of reserves.

Many wonder why the Bush administration prioritized the crisis in Darfur – which has claimed the lives of 300,000 people – over the neighbouring Republic of Congo, where 5.4 million people have been killed since 1998. Is this to create support for NATO intervention in Darfur? Congo is the deadliest conflict since WWII, yet it is ignored in the western media.

Failure of Internationalism – The Lack of Funding Failure of the UN to fully fund and provide resources to fulfil its own mandates. Troops still lack essential equipment, including badly needed helicopters. Some have even bought their own paint to turn their green helmets United Nations blue.

Question and answer interview in TIME magazine, 12/10/99

TIME Question - Do you think the U. N TIME Question - Do you think the U.N. should be given authority to intervene militarily in situations like Darfur? Kofi Annan – ‘I'm not sure the member states are ready to give the U.N. a standing army. For two years, U.N. operations in Darfur have been asking for 18 helicopters. Member countries say] they don't have them. No one can pretend that the world cannot produce 18 helicopters. It's a question of will. And I don't think you will see a U.N. Army’.

Failure of Internationalism – The Lack of Funding In 2004 In his first speech as prime minister before the United Nations General Assembly, Paul Martin of Canada criticized the world's slow reaction to the violence in Sudan, saying the UN has been bogged down with the legal definition of "genocide."

Failure of Internationalism – The Lack of Funding The failure of the UN is encapsulated in this very example with Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin.

The worsening situation in Darfur in 2004, for Martin, provided just such an opportunity for Canada to apply a new form of leadership and export its values internationally. Martin endorsed the UN's “responsibility to protect” (R2P) agenda in 2004, and argued that the international community should not be deterred by an “outmoded” concept of state sovereignty. 6 In his view, the Sudanese government lost their right to state sovereignty when they failed to protect their own people. The massacre of over 50,000 people at the hands of the Janjaweed militants in 2003 demanded that the international community should “do whatever is required” to prevent “another Rwanda” genocide. 7 Martin went as far as to guarantee that his government would secure a “lead” role in the effort to “mobilize the international community…to stop the ethnic cleansing and massive abuse of human rights in the Darfur region of Sudan. In reality, Martin's response to the Darfur genocide was nothing more than “conservative, limited, and symbolic.” 10 When the UN asked for troop commitments for the Darfur mission from its member states in August 2004, Martin responded that Canada would not be contributing any troops but would instead commit only “$250,000 in flak jackets, helmets, and other gear” to the mission. 11 Source - http://www.lurj.org/article.php/vol4n1/darfur.xml Lethbridge Undergraduate Research Journal

The Sudanese Government The Sudanese Government is an active perpetrator of this genocide. The international community as well as the United Nations have a commitment to respect the sovereignty of national governments, and so with all their intentions and resources, the international community can not afford to convert their peace-keeping mission into a war against the Sudanese government.

The Sudanese Government The success of any attempt to stop violence in Darfur will continue to depend upon the co-operation and support provided by the government of that country. The Sudanese government refuse to admit they are responsible for the atrociies in Darfur.

The Sudanese Government In 2006 Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed, stated. "We don't think there is any humanitarian crisis in Darfur," he said.

China’s Rise as Power Changing balance of power that confronts the world today. China's rise as an economic heavy weight and oil guzzler has prepared the necessary background for harmonization of interests of a China looking out for exclusive fuel related rights in oil rich countries and a Sudan that is boycotted and threatened by the a large section of the world.

China’s Rise as a Power As a result, China with its veto powers in UN Security Council has became the largest oil importer from Sudan, and its use of that veto ensures that Sudan, now befriended by an emerging global economic superpower , may not need to bother too much about the rest of the global community.

China’s Rise as a Power China not only provided an alternative to Western oil companies; It also provided an alternative source of funding to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank’s loans.

China’s Rise as a Power China has given Sudan loans with easy terms and encouraged the construction of infrastructure, schools and hospitals. China also supplies the Sudanese government with arms. 2003 – 2006 $550 million worth of arms sales to Sudan.

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They Poured Fire on Us from the Shky