WEST DARFUR: SECURITY, HUMANITARIAN RELIEF, AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000757

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/SPG
DEPARTMENT PASS USAID

E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/26/2016
TAGS: PGOV PHUM EAID KPKO AU UN SU
SUBJECT: WEST DARFUR: SECURITY, HUMANITARIAN RELIEF, AND
AMIS

REF: A. KHARTOUM 722


B. KHARTOUM 67 AND PREVIOUS

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES A.I. ANDREW STEINFELD; REASON: 1.4(B)
AND (D)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Charge Steinfeld traveled to El Geneina,
capital of West Darfur, on March 20-21 to assess the local
security and humanitarian situation. Several NGOs have
scaled down operations in the state after a recent surge in
banditry and armed robbery. Though much of the violence is
directed at foreign aid workers, it also continues to affect
the local population, especially women. AMIS and UN
assessments of the violence differ sharply, however, with
AMIS describing the situation as "relatively calm." But
while both AMIS and the UN agree AMIS needs better logistics
and communications, some aid workers argue AMIS also needs
something more -- motivation. END SUMMARY.

No Improvement on Security; NGOs Curtailing Operations
-------------- --------------


2. (C) Humanitarian relief operations in West Darfur have
been sharply curtailed in the last six months following a
surge in banditry and armed robbery, though conditions may
have stabilized recently, UN and NGO representatives told
Charge Steinfeld during a visit to El Geneina on March 20-21.
There has been little or no access to the northern half of
the state, including Sirba, Saleia, Kulbus, and Kerenek
districts, since late 2005, though helicopter flights have
been maintained to Kerenek, and limited helicopter flights
resumed in early March to Sirba, Saleia, and Kulbus. The UN
Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) still considers the
entire area "Phase IV," or suspension of non-essential
operations. Conditions in the southern half of West Darfur
are slightly better, with "Phase III" operations in El
Geneina, Mornei, Habillah, and Khor Banga (Foroburnga)
districts, though armed robberies remain common. However,
UNDSS recently moved to Phase IV operations in the area
southwest of El Geneina along the Chadian border, including
Masteri and Beida Districts; there have been no helicopter
flights to the area since early February.


3. (C) Several international NGOs have withdrawn from West
Darfur as result of these conditions, according to UN OCHA's
West Darfur Area Coordinator, Andy Pendleton.
Warchild/Canada and International Medical Corps (IMC)
suspended all programming in the state after the UN moved to
Phase IV in December 2005, though IMC has recently sent a few
medical teams back into the area. Triangle Generation
Humanitaire (TGF) closed its operations after a series of
armed robberies on its facilities in El Geneina; ADRA USA
stopped its activities after bandits attacked one of its
convoys on the El Geneina-Zalingei road and abducted its
staff. A Save the Children/U.S. vehicle was attacked near El
Geneina on March 17, but the driver managed to outrun the
attackers, and the group's local director currently has no
plans to leave. In all, said Pendleton, there have been 72
armed attacks on UN or NGO activities in West Darfur since
mid-October 2005. "It,s just a matter of time before
someone is killed," Pendleton said.

IDPs/GBV: AMIS Reports Progress, but Others Disagree
-------------- --------------


4. (C) Though attacks on aid workers have increased in the
past six months, violence against the local population has
declined, officials at African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS)
Sector 3 HQ (El Geneina) told the Charge. According to AMIS,
the security situation has been "relatively calm," with some
"harassment" of locals by Arabs, along with "cattle rustling"
along the border, and isolated cases of rape -- only six in
the entire month of February. (AMIS could not say how many
cases of rape had occurred in January, or in previous
months.)


5. (C) OCHA's Pendleton, however, sharply disputed this
figure, and questioned AMIS' assessment of the overall
security situation: "They told you that?" he asked
incredulously. Though Pendleton admitted that gender-based
violence (GBV) was "no where near" 2003-4 levels, it was
still high. "We hit a plateau sometime around late October
2005, and things have yet to really come down." NGO staff
agreed, telling the Charge that there had been "no decrease
at all" in rape cases since October, and "no real
improvement" despite official government pledges to
investigate and prosecute offenders. "It,s all part of the
general deterioration of things in West Darfur," one aid
worker noted.

KHARTOUM 00000757 002 OF 002




6. (C) AMIS Sector 3 HQ currently organizes firewood patrols
at Arda Mata IDP camp near El Geneina, and two others in the
area. However, AMIS officials say IDPs do not always want
AMIS protection. "We've had several meetings with them to
try to set up times for patrols. The first time we ran a
patrol, no women showed up. Now we do it only when they
request it in advance -- usually one or two times a week,"
AMIS CIVPOL commander told the Charge. Moreover, according
to AMIS, they do not have enough personnel to offer firewood
patrols at every camp, or even every week. "We can only send
out two each day, including ceasefire investigation patrols,
NGO escort patrols, route clearance patrols, and generally
confidence building patrols. Firewood patrols are extra."

AMIS Falls Short on Logistics, Motivation
--------------


7. (C) But AMIS officials are quick to admit that manpower is
not their only shortfall. "We have many logistical and
communications problems -- not enough vehicles, no base
stations, and unreliable satellite and cell phone networks,"
the Deputy Sector Commander told the Charge. In fact, AMIS'
logistical and organizational shortcomings became painfully
obvious while escorting the Charge on a short trip from the
AMIS Sector 3 HQ to UN offices in El Geneina: one vehicle
had a flat tire, another had not been refueled in advance,
the radio in the Charge,s vehicle malfunctioned, and not all
the drivers knew the route.


8. (C) According to NGO staff in El Geneina, AMIS' real
problem is not logistics, but motivation. "They could do
more with the mandate they have," the CARE representative
told the Charge. "They need to actively seek to protect
civilians, not just follow up on incidents that happened
weeks ago." Though all NGO staff acknowledged that AMIS had
made a difference in West Darfur, they noted that its
effectiveness seemed to vary from sector to sector, depending
on the sector commander and nationality of the troops. As
AMIS, Sector 3 Commander -- a Nigerian -- told the Charge
quite plainly, "I'm not here to go out and fight anyone."

Comment: AMIS' Role in West Darfur
--------------


9. (C) West Darfur remains dangerous for both aid workers and
the local population alike, though conditions at this point
do not seem to be getting worse. But while attacks on NGO
staff have been well documented over the past six months, no
one really knows how many IDPs have been raped, beaten, or
killed. More disturbing still is the wide gap between UN and
NGO assessments on one side, and AMIS and Government
assessments on the other (Ref A). Though AMIS clearly
remains an important force for stability in West Darfur, for
now at least, its effectiveness remains limited.
"Re-hatting" AMIS is a separate issue. Most NGO and UN
personnel said they would welcome more robust international
presence. However, given the Government's (NCP) negative
attitude towards the deployment of UN peace enforcers, one
UNHCR official wondered aloud what repercussions for
international aid workers might follow if UN troops were
deployed against the Government's wishes.
STEINFELD