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:

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1. SECURITY SITUATION
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-- 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.

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2. UNAMID DEPLOYMENT
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--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.

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3. POLITICAL PROCESS
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-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.

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4. Sanctions
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- 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