MFA AND UN BRIEF DONORS ON NGO EXPULSIONS

UNCLAS SECTION 1 OF 03 KHARTOUM 000308 DEPT FOR AF A A/S CARTER, AF/SPG, AF/C, AF/E NSC FOR MGAVIN AND CHUDSON ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU SUBJECT: MFA AND UN BRIEF DONORS ON NGO EXPULSIONS REFS: A) KHARTOUM 306 B) KHARTOUM 299 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: On March 5 MFA U/S Mutriff Siddiq briefed diplomatic Chiefs of Mission on the expulsions of NGOs, claiming that the organizations had exceeded their mandates and therefore had been asked to leave Sudan. Siddiq acknowledged that "we are also concerned about gaps left by these organizations" and promised "we do not want the organizations to leave in disarray and we want them to have a decent departure." Siddiq said that for the moment all diplomatic missions would be protected but "if any mission exceeds its mission it will be dealt with." Donor Chiefs of Mission including CDA Fernandez protested loudly against the expulsions, noting that many of the organizations have been in Sudan for decades and that there are no other organizations prepared to take their place, including the UN. CDA also noted that these expulsions will negatively affect CPA implementation, especially programs in the Three Areas. Siddiq later informed the UN that the expelled NGOs would be given until Monday (five days instead of the 24 hours originally announced) to prepare for departure. Later at a separate briefing, UN humanitarian coordinator Ammeerah Haq informed Chiefs of Mission that the vital question is not "how we can fill the gaps but rather if we can fill the gaps." The UN reported that in terms of feeding programs 1.1 million people in Darfur will be affected by the NGO expulsions, for health programs 1.5 million people will be affected, and for water and sanitation 1.8 million will be affected. The UN called on donors to continue with diplomatic efforts to try and reverse the expulsions or at least mitigate the effects. End summary. MFA BRIEFING -------------- ¶2. (SBU) In a briefing to diplomatic Chiefs of Mission on March 5, MFA U/S Mutriff Siddiq began by explaining why the GOS views the ICC indictment of President Bashir as unlawful. Siddiq noted that Sudan is not a member of the ICC and further stated that Sudan has legal institutions capable of receiving information about alleged crimes and pursuing them in its own courts. He said the Government of Sudan views the ICC case as "purely political" and that the actions of ICC prosecutor Ocampo demonstrate that he is a political activist. He noted that the African Union, the Arab League, and many other non-aligned states have requested that the Security Council defer the indictment, but instead the international community has chosen a path of further escalation with Sudan. Siddiq called for reform of the UNSC because it has become "unfair, unbalanced, and undemocratic. Siddiq said the result of the indictment is that the JEM rebel group is preparing for further attacks into Sudan from Chad and Siddiq claimed that Chadian President Deby had deployed his forces along the border and instructed his troops and JEM to strike inside Sudan. "We are expecting hostilities at any time," said Siddiq. ¶3. (SBU) Siddiq said the GOS leadership had determined to respect all obligations in the CPA, DPA, and ESPA and would implement these agreements in letter and in spirit. He said Sudan would respect all foreign presence and would protect and cooperate with all foreign missions and with the UN, but warned that these missions should respect their mandate and threatened that if they exceed their mandate "they will be dealt with." ¶4. (SBU) With regard to the expulsion of the NGOs, Siddiq said the government had received information that these organizations had exceeded their mandate, and therefore they had been asked to leave Sudan. He said the concerned authorities are working hard to ensure that no gaps are left by these organizations. Siddiq promised that the organizations would be allowed time to ensure that they do not leave in disarray and further added that "we want them to have a decent departure." Following strong protests by several Chiefs of Mission, Siddiq said that the GOS is also concerned about the loss of services to the people in Darfur and elsewhere. Without providing any details as to how the government could make such assurances, Siddiq promised that no one would go without food, water, or healthcare. (Note: In response to earlier requests by SRSG Qazi and UN Humanitarian Coordinator Ameerah Haq to allow the NGOs more time to organizes their affairs, Siddiq sent Qazi and Haq a message several hours later (during the UN briefing to COMs) that the NGOs had been given until Monday to leave Sudan - an extension of four days. End note.) ¶5. (SBU) CDA Fernandez and several other donor COMs protested strongly against the government's decision to expel the NGOs. CDA said the U.S. is deeply concerned about the expulsions and noted that humanitarian assistance is a major element of U.S. policy in KHARTOUM 00000308 002 OF 003 Sudan. He noted the disastrous effect that these expulsions will have on humanitarian delivery in Darfur, the East, and the Three Areas, and pointed out that some of these organizations have been operating in Sudan for decades. The effect of the expulsions will be felt by innocent people, and the withdrawals from the Three Areas will hurt CPA implementation. Italy is its capacity as EU President, the UK, Canada, and several other countries also made similar statements of protest. UN Humanitarian Coordinator Ameerah Haq made a lengthy intervention, pointing out that these NGOs are the main implementing partners that were supposed to have carried out the UN work plan approved in Geneva. She noted that 1.1 million people will be affected by the withdrawal of NGOs hat handle food distributions at IDP camps. She urged that additional time and space is needed for the NGOs to handle a withdrawal in an orderly manner, and said that the primary concern of all parties should be that this move puts people in jeopardy. She noted that IDPs may soon begin to move from one camp to another with disastrous effects if the IDPs perceive that some camps are able to continue with services while others are not. ¶6. (SBU) MFA Protocol Chief Ali Yusuf replied to these interventions with an emotional response, demanding to know why the diplomatic community is worried only about people in Darfur, and not the 40 million people in Sudan who are affected by ICC Prosecutor Ocampo's action. "You continue to ignore our expressions of concern about the effect of the ICC on the peace process," complained Yusuf. Siddiq responded to the donor concerns by promising that the government would sit down with the UN to ensure that thre are no gaps. Siddiq pointed out that there have been gaps before, sometimes due to food shortages worldwide, sometimes due to banditry in Darfur, but that the government had always done its best in working with the WFP and UNAMID and others to ensure that no one would go hungry. Siddiq closed by saying "we are not extremists, but you should take the emotional comments of Yusuf seriously, because we are really angered." Siddiq closed with a prayer from the Koran stating that "justice is life" and no one is condoning impunity is Sudan. UN BRIEFING -------------- ¶7. (SBU) UN SRSG Qazi and Humanitarian Coordinator Haq, accompanied by the heads of WFP, WHO, UNICEF, UNHCR, and the Joint Logistics Center (JLC) provided a briefing for the diplomatic corps on the effect of the expulsions. Haq stated that the NGOs that remain can't just take over for the departing NGOs, nor does the UN have the capacity to take over their functions. Qazi said the vital question is not "how we can fill the gaps but rather if we can fill the gaps." Haq noted that some of the services are irreplaceable - for example in the case of MSF which provides remote health care services in rural areas of Darfur near Muhajaria and Sheira where there are no other services available for hundreds of kilometers. She also noted that an additional NGO had its registration revoked - local NGO "SUDO" that implements many projects in Darfur including water and sanitation, among others. WFP stated that 1.1 million people will be affected by the departure of the NGOs in terms of feeding programs; WHO stated that 1.5 million people will be affected in terms of health programs; UNICEF stated that 1.8 million people will be affected in terms of water and sanitation programs. UNHCR said the expulsions would make it impossible to monitor refugee programs in West Darfur. JLC said that due to the expulsions, fifty percent of the beneficiaries in Darfur will not have access to non-food items such as materials for building shelters. OCHA reported that national organizations such as the Sudanese Red Crescent do not have the capacity to take over these projects. UN advisor Jason Matus described the dramatic impact that the expulsions will have on the Three Areas and CPA implementation. Matus noted that programs such as the USAID/OTI/PADCO program on conflict prevention and mitigation are unique and have no replacement at this time. Matus also noted that the large recovery and "Bridge" programs carried out by Save, PADCO, and Mercy Corps in the Three Areas. ¶8. (SBU) Comment: It is clear that there will be tremendous gaps in humanitarian delivery due to the expulsions of the 13 NGOs. The GOS apparently views the extension of the departure deadline to Monday as a concession, but appears to be taking a very hard line on the expulsions. Having embraced them publicly, it will be hard for President Bashir to step back from this decision, though there is some hope that the departures could be quietly delayed in order to slightly mitigate program disruptions. First Vice President Salva Kiir (SPLM) met with President Bashir about this and other ICC issues the evening of March 5 (septel) and we understand that Kiir intended to push for flexibility on the NGO issue, as well as to KHARTOUM 00000308 003 OF 003 push for them to be able to remain in the Three Areas, but there is no indication that he got any traction on these requests. Additional interventions from the UN, from diplomatic missions, and from capitals may have some effect in delaying the departure of the NGOs, but overall it appears increasingly unlikely that the decision to expel the NGOs will be reversed. The regime and Bashir's closest advisors are convinced that the NGOs that operate in Darfur are agents of the West and are determined to demonstrate that they are in charge in Darfur, as well as express their extreme outrage over the ICC decision by expelling western organizations, regardless of the humanitarian cost - which by all indications could be dramatic. The embassy remains in constant contact with NGOs (with a general meeting planned with them for March 7),as well as with the UN and the GOS (CDA pressed FM Alor on March 6 again) but so far the NCP is maintaining its hard line. End comment. FERNANDEZ