GUIDANCE FOR 22 APRIL 2008 UN SECURITY COUNCIL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STATE 041993 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KPKO PREL PGOV UNSC SU SUBJECT: GUIDANCE FOR 22 APRIL 2008 UN SECURITY COUNCIL CONSULTATIONS ON UNAMID ¶1. PURPOSE: This is an action request. The Department asks that USUN draw upon the following points for the United Nations Security Council briefing and consultations on the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur on 22 April 2008. --We welcome Secretary-General Ban's April 14 report. Rapid and effective deployment of UNAMID is a fundamental element of the international community's strategy for peace in Darfur, and we share the Secretary-General's extreme disappointment with the lack of progress on all fronts. With that in mind, I would like to make four main points: -------------- ¶1. SECURITY SITUATION -------------- -- We continue to be gravely concerned by the security situation, which was extremely volatile during the reporting period from January to March. During this time we saw reprisal attacks by the government of Sudan in response to rebel activity in Western Sudan that included indiscriminate bombing of villages and use of the janjaweed as proxy fighters. Cross-border activity between Sudan and Chad only added to the violence and insecurity that has had tragic repercussions for the civilian population. Clearly, this well-known cycle of violence and the lawlessness that it engenders must stop. The GOS must fulfill its commitments to disarm the janjaweed and provide professional police that can offer some baseline security. Sudan and Chad must cease all unauthorized cross-border activity. More security is critical to reducing the frequent incidence of sexual and gender-based violence against internally displaced persons and the disruptive rebel violence. This banditry has severely hampered humanitarian aid delivery, forcing the World Food Program to cut food rations in half next month. -- We welcome the significant increase in UNAMID's patrols throughout Darfur and appreciate the expanded confidence-building patrols by both the military and police. Such a presence in the internally displaced persons (IDP) camps is critical to achieving the core of UNAMID's mandate: protection of civilians. We appreciate the UNAMID Police Commissioner's emphasis on 24/7 patrols in IDP camps. UNAMID should do even more to demonstrate its robust commitment to protect civilians in Darfur and to challenge any party, rebel, Government, or Arab militia that obstructs that objective. And given the rapes and other crimes against women and children that have occurred, we particularly welcome UNAMID programs and participation in efforts to address these issues. --An immediate cessation of hostilities by all parties remains the highest priority. Sudan must fulfill its commitments and disarm the janjaweed. Also among the highest priorities, all parties must also comply with the 28 March 2007 humanitarian communiqu,. In addition, we emphasize we are closely watching the situation between northern and southern Sudan, as a reversion to conflict would gravely harm prospects for progress in Darfur and risk catastrophic consequences for the rest of Sudan. We are particularly concerned by violence in the oil-rich Abyei area, where several hundred people have died in recent clashes. The GOS must not fuel the violence by arming the Misseriya. All parties must abide by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including the findings of the Abyei Boundaries Commission. -------------- ¶2. UNAMID DEPLOYMENT -------------- --We are deeply and increasingly disappointed by the slow deployment of UNAMID. Our Special Envoy Richard Williamson continues to work with the Friends of UNAMID to engage proactively with every major part of the process required for UNAMID deployment, including the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations and troop-contributing countries. We strongly urge all Security Council members to support the goal of an additional 3,600 troops for UNAMID by June and two-thirds of the full force by the end of the year. -We continue to seek missing assets that UNAMID desperately needs: helicopters, transport units, multi-role logistics unit, multi-role engineering unit, and aerial reconnaissance aircraft. We urge member states to help fill these gaps. STATE 00041993 002 OF 002 --The GOS must fully cooperate and end its obstructions to UNAMID's deployment. This means ending its on-going use of violence in Darfur, accepting the UN-AU list of TCCs, allowing night flights without time limits, providing access to land and water for UNAMID camps, and granting timely visas and customs clearances. The GOS must ensure that attacks such as the 7 January 2008 unprovoked attack on a UNAMID convoy never happen again. -------------- ¶3. POLITICAL PROCESS -------------- -Although the primary obstacle to peace in Darfur is the will of the parties, the United Nations and member states must do more to push for rapid deployment of UNAMID, which would improve security on the ground and create a better space within which the United Nations-African Union-led political process can advance. Slow movement by the UN and some of its TCCs must be replaced by a sense of urgency, and real action that will lead to long promised deployments. The UN has ample funds to more robustly prepare for, and support, its TCCs deployment and it should use every authority at its disposal to meet these goals. --To advance this process for Darfur, we urge the immediate appointment of a Joint UN-AU Chief Mediator to be based in Sudan to lead the political process on a full-time basis. --We welcome the 13 March 2008 Dakar Accord and urge the GOS and the government of Chad (GOC) to respect it. The GOS's attempt in February to overthrow the Chadian government by supporting Chadian rebels was utterly unacceptable as is Chadian support for Sudanese rebels. Both the GOS and GOC must end support of rebel attacks across their border. The GOS and GOC must instead protect civilians and cooperate with deployment of peacekeeping operations to provide robust protection. -------------- ¶4. Sanctions -------------- - We urge all member states to support and implement fully the existing UN arms embargo for Darfur and sanctions imposed against designated Sudanese individuals. Further UN measures must remain on the table to make facts on the ground match our rhetoric. RICE