DARFUR: "A CERTAIN KIND OF CHAOS"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 002762 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF A/S FRAZER AND AF S/E NATSIOS NSC FOR PITTMAN AND SHORTLEY E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/28/2016 TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PINR MOPS AU EAID PREF SOCI KPKO, SU, CD, UN SUBJECT: DARFUR: "A CERTAIN KIND OF CHAOS" Classified By: P/E Chief E. Whitaker, Reason: Sections 1.4(b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: In a series of meetings with tribal leaders, humanitarian workers, and United Nations staff during a recent visit to North and West Darfur, CDA Hume heard accounts of the disintegration of the territory's society, the rise in the Sudanese government's harassment and restriction of non-governmental organizations (NGOs),and the deterioration of the security situation. In contrast to these bleak assessments, regional Sudanese officials claimed an improvement in stability and the success of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA). End summary. -------------- BLEAK ASSESSMENT FROM THE FRONTLINE -------------- ¶2. (C) During CDA Hume's November 25-27 trip to Kutum, North Darfur, and El Geneina, West Darfur, a diverse group of tribal leaders, humanitarian workers, and UN officials detailed the disintegration of the region's social fabric, the unwillingness of the Sudanese government to address the security situation and alleviate the suffering of internally displaced persons (IDPs),and the tightening restrictions on NGO activity. In addition to the rise in inter-tribal violence, Arab leaders have lost control over many of their young men who, when armed, have turned to banditry--not only against other tribes and humanitarian workers but against their own leadership. In the face of the Sudanese government's unwillingness to prevent chaos, the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS) appears incapable of stemming the violence. According to one sheikh (tribal leader) in Kutum, AMIS ceases its patrols each day between 1600 and 1700 hours. Another of Kutum's tribal chiefs described a recent instance when an armed man approached an AMIS check-point and demanded AMIS weapons, which the troops promptly turned over. A third sheikh said that rather than intervening to stop the rape of a young woman outside one of the nearby camps, AMIS forces took a photograph. Tribal leaders in El Geneina gave similar accounts and lamented their loss in status and influence as a result of the crisis. They attributed the rise in banditry to economic deprivation and recommended that vocational training programs be established to provide the young men with skills. (Note: El Geneina's economy continues to be based on the sale of goats to Khartoum and of camels to Cairo. End note.) ¶3. (C) In the North, the main actors continue to be the rebel movements and Arab militias. The AMIS sector commander in Kutum reported an increase in the number of armed rebels within the IDP camps. He described one instance when several rebels crowded among a group of women entering a camp and then sprung out to attack AMIS forces. In the West, Chadian rebels and Arab militias are the main players. The UN Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) personnel in El Geneina claimed that 5,000 Chadian rebels--75-percent of whom are Sudanese--are operating out of West Darfur and are controlled by the National Security and Intelligence Service (NISS). A UNDSS representative said that the Sudanese government had empowered Janjaweed leader Shukutala Ahmed Shukutala to clear the northern corridor of West Darfur of African tribes and that the district commissioner of Beida had recently issued orders to all 45 omdas (village leaders) to contribute 400 volunteers to a military effort to overthrow the Chadian government. UNDSS noted the recent reintegration of Arab militias into the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the issuance of military identification numbers, entitling the new troops to a salary. The UN Mission in Sudan's (UNMIS) representative said that only "one percent" of the DPA had been implemented in West Darfur, due to high rejectionist sentiment within the population. She added that support for SLM leader Abdel Wahid al-Nur remained strong, particularly within the IDP camps. -------------- DETERIORATING HUMANITARIAN ACCESS -------------- ¶4. (C) The deterioration of law and order has left humanitarian workers vulnerable, and humanitarian aid in and around Kutum and El Geneina is limited by security, governmental, and logistical constraints. A representative of the World Food Program (WFP) in Kutum said that some populations had not been accessible to the international community for six months due to insecurity and that carjackings and violence were increasing in the town itself. Six NGOs working in Kutum were unanimous in asserting that the Sudanese government was not providing security within the KHARTOUM 00002762 002 OF 002 city, particularly at night, and that residents could not travel more than three kilometers outside the town. On November 24, a vehicle owned by the NGO Terre des Hommes was hijacked in the center of El Geneina during the day--the fourth vehicle ambush in the area in the last month. The police in El Geneina lack the capacity to pursue the assailants either because they have no fuel for their vehicles or the vehicles break down. According to the director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (UNOCHA) in El Geneina, most of the senior police have abandoned their posts, leaving a handful of junior officers, with a single gun, at the stations. There are only three prosecutors for all of West Darfur. ¶5. (C) On November 25, the staff of the NGO Tear Fund were pulled back to El Geneina from Beida due to cross-border violence and a rise in Chadian rebel activity. The UN and the NGO community also instituted a 1600 hours curfew in the town. A Save the Children-Spain employee in El Geneina called on the international community and the NGOs to develop an evacuation plan. "I don't care if I'm the last to leave," she said, "but we need a strategy. This is becoming a Mogadishu issue." ¶6. (C) NGO staff in Kutum said that the Sudanese military and intelligence services often demanded information from the NGOs about IDPs. According to NGO workers in El Geneina, the Sudanese government's labor office has ceased to issue work permits, limiting their ability to hire staff. Many government-issued travel permits, required for visits to Darfur, are set to expire on January 31, 2006, and the NGOs worry they will not be renewed. The Sudanese government has denied several other travel permits for NGO staff. The UN relies on a single helicopter to deliver aid in West Darfur, where 90 percent of the roads are considered "no-go" by UNDSS. A second helicopter is waiting in El Fasher, but the Sudanese government has demanded that it first leave the country and then be re-imported before it can be deployed to the West. One member of the UN country team in El Geneina indicated that they had lost the majority of their outreach capacity in the last two months. "This is basically the end of the road, unless something changes," he said. ¶7. (C) The UN presented a letter to the governor of West Darfur, Jaffar Abdel Hakam, on November 26 threatening to withdraw if the government did not do more to stabilize the security situation, which was "crippling" humanitarian activity. "We thought maybe the threat to leave would make a difference," said one UN official. Instead, Abdel Hakam blamed the UN and the NGOs for the loss of their vehicles and accused them of "handing them over to bandits." -------------- FIDDLING WHILE DARFUR BURNS -------------- ¶8. (C) In meetings with CDA Hume, Sudanese government officials in both North and West Darfur emphasized the improvement in security and success of the DPA. The Kutum Commissioner noted the need for sustainable development but said that the security situation was getting better each day. Abdel Hakam, the governor of West Darfur, said there were security problems in only one district of West Darfur, which he blamed on the National Redemption Front (NRF). He also lauded West Darfur for being "pre-eminent" in terms of camp administration and said that humanitarian aid was operating unhindered in the region. Admitting what he called "a certain kind of chaos," Abdel Hakam nonetheless asserted that the DPA was popular and that thousands had celebrated the announcement of Abdulgassem Imam's recent accession to the agreement. HUME