UN EXPERT GROUP ON DARFUR

UNCLAS GENEVA 001170 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR IO/RHS, DRL/MLGA, L/HRR, AF/SPG E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM UNHRC SU SUBJECT: UN EXPERT GROUP ON DARFUR ¶1. (U) Summary: MissionOffs met May 3 with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to discuss follow-up to A/HRC/4/L.7, the March Human Rights Council consensus Darfur resolution. The group created by that resolution, the UN Expert Group on Darfur, met in Geneva April 24-27 with the Sudanese PermRep, HRC President de Alba, Germany as EU President, and Romania as incoming HRC President. Sudanese government participation in the meetings was characterized by OHCHR as "constructive." A follow-up meeting with a high-level Sudanese government delegation from Khartoum, composed of senior officials from the relevant government ministries as identified by the Sudanese government, is scheduled for May 23-25 to discuss implementation of the various UN resolutions on Darfur. The experts group has no plans to visit Sudan. End Summary. ¶2. (U) PolCouns and Senior Human Rights Officer met May 3 with Christina Saunders, OHCHR staffer for Sima Samar, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan. The UN Expert Group on Darfur, composed of the Special Rapporteur (SR) on Sudan; Philip Alston, the SR on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Hina Jilani, the Special Representative of the Secretary General (SRSG) on human rights defenders; Walter Kalin, SRSG on IDPs; Manfred Nowak, SR on Torture; and Yakin Erturk, SR on violence against women, met April 24-27. Radhika Coomarswamy, the SRSG for children and armed conflict, is also a member of the group, but was unable to attend the April meetings. According to Saunders, the group started its work by reviewing all previous recommendations on Darfur, some 400 pages of documentation. Adhering to the terms of the HRC resolution that created it, the experts also sought to identify "needs" of the Sudanese government in living up to its human rights obligations. The Expert Group identified those recommendations it considered most urgent, which could be implemented in the short- (three months) and medium-term (one year),as well as assistance that could be offered to the Sudanese government in implementing the recommendations. This list was provided to the Government of Sudan May 2. The Sudanese government intends to respond in writing, according to Saunders. The recommendations themselves and Sudanese government response will not be made public until they are presented in the group's report to the June session of the HRC. ¶3. (U) As part of their April meetings, the Expert Group also met with African Union representatives and the African regional group, and held a telecon with the Sudanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs and the African Commission on Human and People's Rights in Banjul. SR on Sudan Samar had hoped to travel to Banjul to meet with the African Commission, but was unable to identify a mutually agreeable time. Saunders reported, however, that the African Commission was willing to work with the group and welcomed the Human Rights Council's interest in working with it. The UN experts also spoke with the African Commission's SR on IDPs, who promised to convey the experts' interests to the upcoming May 16 African Commission meeting in Accra, where Darfur will be on the agenda. Saunders told MissionOffs that the African Commission had visited Darfur in 2004, but had yet to release its report on the visit because of a lack of response from the Sudanese government. Saunders also mentioned that the Special Rapporteur on IDPs, Walter Kalin, would be travelling to Addis Ababa the week of May 7 to meet with Abdul Mohammed, the Chairman of the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation (DDDC). TICHENOR