UNAMID CONVENES ROUNDTABLE FORUM ON DPA IMPLEMENTATION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KHARTOUM 000968 NSC FOR MGAVIN, LETIM DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN ADDIS ABABA ALSO FOR USAU SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PREL MOPS AU UNSC CH SU SUBJECT: UNAMID CONVENES ROUNDTABLE FORUM ON DPA IMPLEMENTATION ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: On August 19 UNAMID convened a roundtable meeting on implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) in El Fasher. Though billed as a discussion of DPA implementation and challenges, the meeting served primarily as a forum for representatives of SLA/Minni Minnawi (MM) to air their grievances on the lack of DPA implementation. They chastised the GOS, international community and UNAMID in equal measure for perceived indifference and lack of commitment to the DPA. UNAMID Joint Special Representative (JSR) Rodolphe Adada later proposed a mechanism be set up under the auspices of UNAMID to monitor DPA implementation modeled after the Assessment and Evaluation Commission (AEC) established by the CPA. The move was welcomed by SLM/MM; representatives of the GOS and the international community largely refrained from comment. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Senior Assistant to the President Minni Minnawi led a large SLM/MM delegation to the August 19 meeting, while the GOS was represented by Dr. Omar Adam Rahama of the Presidency. (NOTE: Minnawi openly questioned why the GOS official ostensibly charged with the Darfur portfolio, Dr. Ghazi Salaheddin, was in fact on his way to Juba for SE Gration's Trilateral Talks instead of UNAMID's DPA roundtable meeting. END NOTE.) Also in attendance were representatives from the various obscure factions who signed Declaration of Commitment (DOC) to the DPA, including SLM/Free Will, JEM/Peace Wing, SLM/Peace Wing, SLM/Mother, and the Popular Force for Rights and Democracy (PFRD). Representatives from the international community included Ambassadors from the African Union (AU),League of Arab States, and Nigeria; Egypt's Special Envoy to Sudan; and poloffs from the EU, Netherlands, UK and USG. The JMST was represented by Deputy Joint Chief Mediator Azouz Ennifar, and the meeting was chaired by UNAMID JSR Rodolphe Adada. ¶3. (SBU) The meeting got off to an inauspicious start when SLA/MM's Head of DPA Implementation, Mohamed El Tijani, expressed his dissatisfactimn with the agenda. When gently rebuked by JSR Adada, he retorted that SLA/MM had been trying to get UNAMID to host such a meeting for two years without success, and that it deserved a chance to be heard. Several hours of haranguing followed as members of SLA/MM and the DOC parties successively berated the GOS for its lack of sincerity, UNAMID for its lack of purpose, and the international community for its lack of commitment to the DPA. ¶4. (SBU) A largely unstructured discussion followed in which a central point was the need for the DPA to be incorporated into Sudan's Interim Constitution. SLA/MM representatives complained that this had yet to take place despite the issuance of a Presidential Decree on the matter; GOS Representative Dr. Rahama retorted that the issue had in fact been transferred to the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC),where it was currently being reviewed. He added that questions remain whether the DPA in its entirety conforms to the Interim Constitution, or whether some provisions would have to be excluded or modified. SLA/MM Member of Parliament Ali Traio disputed this notion, arguing that it was a simple question of political will and noting that the CPA had not faced such difficulties. ¶5. (SBU) Deputy Joint Chief Mediator Azouz Ennifar later provided an update on the current peace process in attempt to lead a discussion on the role of DPA signatories in this process going forward. SLM/MM representatives responded largely with disdain for the current peace process, and insisted that the DPA be formally declared the basis for any new peace agreement. While agreeing that the DPA was an important document, both Ennifar and Adada steadfastly refused to link it with ongoing peace process. ¶6. (SBU) In attempt to bring the meeting to closure, Adada stated that while progress has been achieved on DPA implementation, numerous challenges remain. He noted that while the day's meeting had been useful, a more formal mechanism was needed to address DPA implementation. He therefore proposed a mechanism modeled after the Assessment and Evaluation Committee (AEC) established by the CPA, comprised of three representatives from the GOS; two from SLA-MM; one each from the DOC signatories; international partners of the DPA; and UNAMID. He proposed that the mechanism would be chaired by one of the international partners. (NOTE: Representatives from the EU, Netherlands, UK and USG refrained from comment. END NOTE.) ¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: While the DPA is by and large a good document, its lack of inclusiveness has proved to be its fatal flaw. With SLM/MM politically and militarily weaker than ever before, the GOS has very little incentive to implement the DPA at this point; it further needs save its political capital to expend at negotiations in Doha. The utility of an AEC style mechanism to monitor DPA implementation is thus highly questionable, though the role of SLM/MM in the peace process going forward and the status of the DPA in that context are important issues that need to be addressed. END COMMENT. KHARTOUM 00000968 002 OF 002 WHITEHEAD