Remarks on the Peace Agreement in Sudan
Remarks on the Five Year Anniversary of The Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan
SECRETARY CLINTON:Good
morning. Five years ago this week, the longest running war
in Africa came to a close. The signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in
Sudan ended a stubborn and violent civil conflict
between North and South and offered fresh hope of real peace
for the Sudanese people. This historic achievement was
shepherded and encouraged by the international community,
but it could not have happened without the leadership and
political will of the parties in Sudan.
Since 2005, the
ceasefire has, for the most part, held. Northern troops have
pulled out of the South and a new government of national
unity was formed in Khartoum. A regional government of
Southern Sudan was created in Juba. Oil wealth has been
shared with the South. The parties have made progress on
some of the disputed border areas of Abyei and have passed
legislation to prepare for elections and the 2011 referenda
on self-determination.
Now, these are positive steps, but
they are not enough to secure lasting peace. Threats to
progress are real, reform of key institutions has been
sporadic, and true democratic transformation – envisioned
in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement – remains elusive.
Violence in the South is rising and tensions continue in
border areas. So today, the parties in Sudan have a choice.
They can revert back to a dark era of conflict or they can
move forward together toward a lasting peace.
In April,
Sudan will hold its first national elections in 24 years.
Less than a year after that, the people of Southern Sudan
and Abyei will determine whether to remain part of Sudan or
form an independent country. These elections are important
milestones in Sudan’s evolution, and the parties should be
commended for overcoming major hurdles to get to this phase.
But now they must work to ensure that the elections and
referenda take place on time, with their outcomes
respected.
The parties in the international community
have barely begun to grapple with the potential outcomes of
this historic upcoming vote, so we must work diligently
together over the next year to prepare Sudan and the region
for all potential scenarios.
I’m very pleased to be
releasing a joint statement with Foreign Minister Store and
Foreign Secretary Miliband from Norway and the UK pledging
the commitment of our respective governments to helping
bring peace to Sudan. Among areas of concern will be the
impact of the election decision on Darfur, where human
suffering continues on a mass scale and a six-year-old
conflict remains unresolved.
Let me reiterate what I
have said before, that the conflict in Darfur and the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement must be seen in tandem. The
United States continues to push the Government of Sudan and
the Darfur rebels to facilitate the work of aid agencies in
the region and to allow full access for UNAMID. We continue
to encourage mediation in all parties to find a solution to
choose to participate for the Darfuris in the elections,
preventing their further marginalization. We are concerned
by the potential increase in violence if the status quo
remains.
In the months ahead, strong leadership will be
even more essential, especially in light of setbacks that
have already occurred during this pre-election process, so
there’s serious work to be done by everyone.
In
Southern Sudan, no matter the outcome of the referendum,
Southern Sudan must increase its institutional capacity and
prepare to govern responsibly, whether as a semiautonomous
region within Sudan or a newly independent nation.
I
have been tracking the increasing interethnic and tribal
violence in the South over the course of 2009, and I share
the concerns raised in recent reports that highlight the
death of more than 2,500 people and displacement of more
than 350,000. These stark figures illustrate the need for
the Government of South Sudan to improve governance and
security in the South with the assistance of international
partners, including the United States.
The National
Congress Party and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement
must be willing to make the compromises and commitments
necessary to build mutual confidence and achieve stability
and lasting peace. Specifically, the National Congress Party
must recognize that, as the dominant political party, it
bears greater responsibility in ensuring the full and
successful implementation of the CPA.
The NCP, therefore,
must use its executive order to suspend elements of the
national security and public order laws that are
incompatible with free and fair elections. There must be no
efforts to restrict freedom of speech and assembly. And
there must be no prohibitions on peaceful protests. There
must be sincere efforts to appoint members of the two
referenda commissions and determine criteria for voter
eligibility. And both parties must begin immediately on
negotiations on the critical issues surrounding the
parties’ relationships and use of shared wealth and
resources after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement expires in
July of next year.
The parties of Sudan cannot afford to
delay and there can be no backtracking on agreements already
reached. The risks are too serious: Renewed conflict between
North and South would prolong human suffering and threaten
stability and peace throughout the greater
region.
Because Sudan is at a critical juncture after
almost a half century of conflict, we hold all parties
accountable if progress is impeded. The lives and futures of
40 million people are at stake. The United States is
committed to helping the Sudanese parties and most
particularly the Sudanese people to achieve a real and
lasting peace that is long overdue. We will continue to
provide leadership and mobilize international coordination
in support of peace in Sudan.
I’d like now to ask our
Special Envoy Scott Gration, who has been working tirelessly
over the last year, to come forward, make a few comments,
and answer any of your questions, and I will be seeing all
of you later for a press avail.
MR. GRATION: Thank
you very much. I’d like to start by just giving you a
brief overview of what has happened in the last year and
then tell you a little bit about the future and then take
your questions.
This last year has had some highs.
We’ve seen progress on Abiye when the ruling was handed
down from the Court of Arbitration at The Hague. That was
rather successful. We’ve seen the relationship between
Chad and Sudan improve, and that, we believe, will help the
security in Darfur. We’ve seen the registration for
elections be pulled off, really in many ways better than
what we expected; 79 percent of the eligible voters
registered. That was almost 16 million people out of the 20
million eligible voters.
There are, however, things that
need to be fixed. We’re very concerned about the situation
in Darfur. The security situation continues to be bad.
People continue to live in situations that are dire. They
are fearful of their lives in some areas, and certainly
they’re fearful of being harassed and some folks with
sexual-based violence. We have got to make a bigger
difference in the security there.
We’re also very
concerned about the security in the South. You’ve all seen
the numbers. The trend is up, and we’re very concerned
that the security issues, the tribal fighting, the
inter-community conflicts that are taking place, could be
factors that make it more difficult to implement the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement and, if the South chooses to
secede, will make it more difficult to birth that
nation.
At this point, I’d like to take your questions
on any topic.
QUESTION: Andy Quinn from Reuters. I have a question. When the policy review was announced late last year, some analysts and activists criticized it as too much carrot and not enough stick. And the Secretary talked about setbacks that have happened since that review was unveiled, which may indicate that this idea of engaging Khartoum more isn’t really bringing the results. So my question to you is: What is the current state of discussions about what happens to the Khartoum government and the NCP if they don’t deliver on these areas of progress that the Secretary outlined – public security, the election law, all of these things? And what are you saying to them will happen if they don’t make the progress that you’re demanding?
MR. GRATION: What we’ve seen is that
there have been some progress in terms of passing the laws.
As you know, the referendum law for Southern Sudan was
passed, as was the referendum law for Abiye. The Popular
Consultations Law, the National Security Act, and the Trade
Union Law and a variety of other laws were passed by the end
of the national assembly period that ended at the end of
last year. So there have been some progress.
And what
we’re taking a look now is taking a look at those areas
where there’s been progress and taking a look at those
areas where there hasn’t been progress, where we need to
have more push and more pressure. And right now, we’re
getting ready for a review at the deputies committee level
that will be happening at the end of this month, and at that
point the deputies will consider the facts on the ground and
they will take a look at these based on benchmarks and ideas
that we’ve put forth in the classified working papers, and
then we’ll proceed.
QUESTION: Is there some secret annex about – there’s all this debate about – I mean, are there pressures ready, at the ready, to employ? And also, you know, you said they passed these laws, but at the end of the year there was – the congress – the parliament changed some of the wording of this. I mean, are you really satisfied?
MR. GRATION: Yeah, let me
just (inaudible) tell you about the working papers. There
are working papers that were developed in the course as we
were preparing the Sudan strategy that we laid out for you
in October. Those working papers are NSC working papers, but
they do outline a system of pressures and incentives that
can be used to push or pull the situation in Sudan to get
those things accomplished that the international community
believes should be accomplished.
In terms of those laws,
you’re correct that the national assembly made some
modifications to the laws. The – specifically, the
Southern referendum law. That law was reintroduced into the
national assembly and it was passed without amendment and it
was passed in the way that President Bashir and Vice
President Kiir had agreed on the 13th of December. So all
those annexes and changes and amendments were not part of
the final bill that was approved by the national
assembly.
So what I’m trying to tell you is that both
the SPLM and the NCP agreed with the wording on the 13th of
December, and that wording is the wording that was passed at
the end.
QUESTION: Sir, your own plans for travel to Sudan?
MR. GRATION: Yes, I will be going to
Kenya and Uganda beginning on the 26th and then I’ll end
up at the Africa Union summit at the beginning of February.
I do plan to go back into Sudan in the middle of February.
The reason for the delay is there’s a couple things that
we’re working through, and just because I’m not there
doesn't mean we’re not coordinating. We work via email,
video teleconference and teleconference on the phone lines
almost on a daily basis.
Right now we’re in contact
with President Mbeki and we’re seeing how the Africa Union
and his new role with the high-level panel and his
involvement in the CPA implementation and in Darfur. We’re
also taking a look at what Mr. Gambari will be doing.
We’re also supporting what is happening in Doha as civil
society and the rebels will come together around the 21st of
this month for continued negotiations.
So there’s a lot
of issues that we’re working hard, but it makes sense for
me to go back in February. Again, as I pointed out, my focus
will be on security in Darfur because I believe that if we
can fix the security, the lawlessness, the banditry, the
carjackings, the hijackings, if we can get that kind of
thing taken care of, the rest of issues that have to do with
humanitarian access, eventual voluntary return, and the
other issues that are looming out there can be taken care
of. But they cannot be taken care of with the current
situation that we have, where local rule of law is not
sufficient and where local criminal elements rule the
day.
And in the South, we’ll continue to work on issues
like conflict mitigation, working between the tribes to make
sure that they have adequate security forces and that we can
stop the crises before they turn into
violence.
QUESTION: Are you planning to meet with President Bashir (inaudible)?
MR. GRATION: No, I have no plans to meet with President Bashir, nor have I met him in the past.
QUESTION: Do you feel that the conditions currently exist on the ground today for elections to be free and fair?
MR. GRATION: I believe that
we are working hard on processes that will allow credible
elections to be had in April. The one thing that you must
remember is that these are the first elections that have
been held since 1986, so we have a gap of almost 24 years
since we’ve had this kind of transformation that we’re
seeing right now.
We believe that the elections are
important for several reasons. One is, is that it allows all
the parties of Sudan to participate in the process. They
will each have an opportunity to put their candidates up
against the legislative seats, and if they want to they can
put up candidates against the governmental seats at the
state level and at the national level. So this gives an
opportunity for all parties to play, not just the SPLM and
the NCP.
Number two, it is a process that we’re seeing
has a lot of momentum. We didn’t expect that almost 79 –
four out of five people would go out and register to vote.
This is huge, and we’re excited about that opportunity,
and we would like those elections to take place in a way
that the people’s will can be made known and that they can
learn how to participate in the government process.
The
other thing that’s important for us is that – the timing
of the election. We would like those elections to take place
in April because the rains start right after that. And we
believe that if they are delayed, the rains will be a
problem. In some areas the rains, as you know, will keep
people from being able to get to the polling places.
The
other thing is that we start registration for the referendum
in Abyei and in the South in July, and it would be good if
we cold separate those two events. We believe that the
election gives us an opportunity to practice those elements
that will be so important in the referendum. If we can get
it right on how to do voter education, get the laws passed,
get the commissions up and running and funded, to get the
processes out just in terms of the logistics and admin of
printing ballots, making sure that the system has security
so people can come and go freely, to make sure it’s
transparent, and to make sure that those results are passed
out in a way that everybody recognizes that this is
credible. That is so critical, not only to the election but
to the referenda that will be taking place in January of
2011.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR. GRATION: Thank you very much.
ENDS