UN SECRETARIAT ON DARFUR: VERY BAD, GETTING WORSE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000634 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PHUM KPKO UNSC SU SUBJECT: UN SECRETARIAT ON DARFUR: VERY BAD, GETTING WORSE REF: USUN 617 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. U/SYG Guehenno told the Security Council on July 16 that the security situation in Darfur is dire. He described widespread and generalized violence, disregard of the Darfur Peace Agreement, 200,000 additional civilians displaced this year, fragmentation and proliferation of rebel groups, and a non-existent peace process. He said UNAMID deployment stood at 40 percent of authorized strength, but insisted the UN goal of 80 percent deployment in calendar year 2008 might still be achieved if troop contributions and logistics fell quickly into place. He said the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor's request for an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Bashir could provoke reactions on the ground and could change drastically the UN's modus vivendi with the Government of Sudan. Member states generally echoed Guehenno's pessimism. Several mentioned the ICC proceedings against Bashir with South Africa, Russia, China, and Libya highly critical of their timing and Belgium, Costa Rica, Croatia and Italy praising the court. The Council approved a UK-drafted PRST condemning the 8 July attack against UNAMID peacekeepers. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) United Nations Under Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) Jean-Marie briefed the Security Council in closed consultations on July 16 on developments in Darfur since April. Guehenno reported widespread baseline violence punctuated by dramatic spikes in violence including a late April/early May bombing campaign by Sudanese armed forces, a May 10-11 Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) assault on GOS forces, a July 13 cross-border JEM assault, inter-tribal fighting that has displaced 800 families near Nyala. He said 205,000 civilians had been displaced since January 1, nine humanitarian workers have been killed, and 170 international vehicles have been hijacked. He said the Darfur Peace Agreement is being routinely ignored by signatories and actively undermined by non-signatory groups. He said rebel groups continue to fragment with the URF rebel group most recently splintered into three factions, adding further to the general security chaos. He was equally downbeat about the political process but noted that Burkina Faso Foreign Minister and new UN/AU joint Djibil Bassole takes up his difficult assignment on July 18. ¶3. (SBU) Guehenno reported that the main body of 170 Chinese engineers will soon deploy along with an advance party of Egyptian engineers and an advance party of Ethiopian infantry. He put the total UNAMID deployment at 11,584 personnel, 40 percent of its authorized strength. He insisted that the Secretary-General's goal of 80 percent deployment in calendar year 2008 remains achievable but allowed that reaching that goal would require arriving troops to attain an improved level of self-sufficiency, improvements in the road between Port Sudan and Darfur, and improved contractor performance. (NOTE. DPKO staff later more expressly fingered the American company PA&E as seriously underperforming. END NOTE.) ¶4. (SBU) Guehenno matter-of-factly noted two Darfur developments postdating the SYG's July 7 report -- the July 8 attack on a UNAMID military and police convoy (reftel) and the July 14 request by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor for an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Bashir. He thought the ICC proceedings could produce reactions on the ground and could even force a new UN modus vivendi with the Government of Sudan that could ultimately compel the Security Council "to make tough decisions." ¶5. (SBU) Member states were subdued and brief in reaction to Guehenno's briefing with most echoing his pessimism. Several commented on the ICC proceedings. South Africa cited the African Union's statement of July 11 that "the search for justice should be pursued in a way that does not impede or jeopardize efforts aimed at promoting lasting peace." Libya also noted the AU statement and expressly called on the Council to "halt this (ICC) initiative before it undermines the peace effort." China said that rebels, rather than the Government of Sudan, were the chief threat to UNAMID's successful deployment, and emphasized the threat that the ICC action could damage UN-GOS cooperation while emboldening rebels. Russia did not directly mention the AU statement but emphasized that the indictments posed a risk to stability in the region and urged the Council to think of ways it could send a stabilizing message. In contrast, Belgium, Costa Rica, Croatia and Italy specifically praised the ICC for its work and called on the Council to respect the independence of the ICC and the application filed by the office of the prosecutor. USUN NEW Y 00000634 002 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) Council members approved a UK-drafted Presidential Statement condemning the July 8 attack on UNAMID peacekeepers in the strongest possible terms and calling on the Government of Sudan to do its utmost to ensure that the attack's perpetrators were brought to justice. Khalilzad