04 November 2004
Darfur Sinking into Anarchy, U.N. Envoy Warns
Security Council wants peace agreement by November 19
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- Warning that Darfur could sink into a "state of anarchy," the U.N. special envoy for Sudan said November 4 that the upcoming Security Council meeting in Nairobi must be "an event to influence conditions on the ground."
U.N. special representative Jan Pronk told the Security Council "Darfur may easily enter a state of anarchy, a total collapse of law and order. The conflict is changing in character...the spirit is out of the bottle and cannot be pushed back."
"Nobody is fully in control. I call that anarchy," Pronk said at a press conference at the council meeting. "Let's face it, there is a war. The Jingaweit claim they have the whole area under control (and) Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) commanders have Khartoum in their eyes."
The government does not control its own forces fully nor can it count on the obedience of the Jingaweit militia; the lines between the military, paramilitary and police are being blurred, Pronk said.
Within the rebel movements there is a leadership crisis and splits in the groups, he said, and political leaders are increasingly unable to control their forces on the ground.
Warning that Darfur may soon be "ruled by warlords," Pronk said that rebel commanders "provoke their adversaries by stealing, hijacking and killing, some seem to have begun acting for their own private gain. They now control so much territory that they either take responsibility for the needs of the people therein and become political leaders, or they may turn to preying on the civilians in the areas they control by force."
Fighting is breaking out in more and more places and parties are provoking one another, Pronk reported. If this negative trend in not reversed "it is a recipe for disaster," he warned.
The Security Council needs to send a message to the SLA and other rebel groups "that their rebel status does not exonerate them from a moral obligation towards their people," the U.N. envoy said. "On the contrary, as political leaders, they are as responsible for civilian protection as much as the Government of Sudan."
Pronk proposed a three-pronged approach: getting the large African Union (AU) force into the region quickly to act as a buffer between groups; speeding up all of the peace negotiations; and holding all political leaders -- the official ones as well as the self-elected ones -- accountable for ongoing violations.
While the 5,000-member AU force is being deployed, Pronk said that deployment needs to be quickened so that the forces can get to insecure areas that may get out of control and explode.
"It is the duty of the international community," the U.N. envoy said, "to consider further action if the actions taken so far prove to be insufficient."
U.S. Ambassador John Danforth, president of the Security Council for the month of November, issued a press statement expressing the council's "deep concern at the deteriorating situation in Sudan and especially in Darfur. The members of the council join the secretary general in condemning in the strongest possible terms the forced relocation of internally displaced persons."
The council also reiterates its call to the Government of Sudan to stop the forcible relocation of civilians, return those who were moved, and allow aid workers immediate access to all camps, Danforth said.
On November 19 and 20 the Security Council will hold a two-day meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, where peace talks have been taking place to resolve the long-running civil war in southern Sudan. Darfur will also be on the council's agenda. The council will discuss the issues with representatives of the African Union, which has a ceasefire-monitoring mission in Darfur; the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which supervises the southern Sudan peace talks; the Government of Sudan; and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.
Danforth said that the council is pressing for the North-South peace agreement -- which would also have a positive impact on the people of Darfur -- to be finalized by the time of the meeting.
In addition, the ambassador said, the council is working on a resolution that would be adopted in Nairobi that spells out "the continuing engagement of the international community in Sudan, assuming that there is a peace agreement."
"We want to suggest two things," Danforth said. "First of all, nothing good is going come to the various groups -- both the government and the SPLM -- if there is delay. We're therefore engaged in the so-called 'stick' aspect. But we also want to present the concept of the 'carrot,' namely that the international community will be there for the future of Sudan assuming that there is peace."
"It is very important for both the government of Sudan and the SPLM to realize that when they're negotiating in Kenya with respect to the North-South process, they either are going to establish or fail to establish a broad framework for the governing of the whole country, which would provide stability for the whole country," the ambassador said.
Negotiations "are going on way to long," Danforth said. "It is said that there is one remaining issue. I, for one, don't understand why that remaining issue can't be wrapped up in short order."
"We would expect both parties to come to an agreement very quickly for the sake of the overall stability of the entire country, including Darfur," he said.
There is plenty of blame to go around" on both sides, the U.S. ambassador also said. "There is plenty of room for improvement and the improvement has to come from all sides."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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