MBEKI TO BRIEF SECURITY COUNCIL ON AUPD REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 001095 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO SU AF SUBJECT: MBEKI TO BRIEF SECURITY COUNCIL ON AUPD REPORT ¶1. This is an action request. See paragraph 8. ¶2. Summary: The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) mandated an AU High-Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD) which is chaired by former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, to examine issues of accountability, combating impunity, peace and reconciliation in Darfur. The Panel completed its work in early October and presented its report to the PSC in Abuja on October 29. The PSC endorsed the report and all its recommendations in its 207th meeting communiqu. In a November 3 letter to the Secretary-General, AU Commissioner Jean Ping requested that AUPD Chair Mbeki and PSC Commissioner Lamamra brief the Security Council on the AUPD report. This briefing has been scheduled for December 21. In an informal meeting with French and UK experts, the UK indicated it might pursue a Presidential Statement on the Report, but would carefully weigh the U.S. position in making a determination. France is opposed to having a written product result from the briefing. USUN requests the Department to provide guidance regarding the U.S. position on this report prior to the briefing. End Summary. Summary of Key Issues -------------- ¶3. The AUPD characterizes the conflict in Darfur as "the Sudanese crisis in Darfur" in order to signal a deliberate shift from considering Darfur in isolation to comprehensively addressing Sudan's problems. Mbeki specifically discusses the need to accommodate Darfuri demands for political power, including a Vice-Presidency in the national government and a substantial quota of seats in the National Assembly. The report acknowledges that political power under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the north-south conflict is divided only between the parties to the CPA. ¶4. The AUPD recommends establishing a Hybrid Court composed of both Sudanese and international judges. This Hybrid Court would apply national laws and be integrated into the Sudanese legal system. Judges on the Court would be appointed by the AU, in consultation with the Government of Sudan (GoS),and the GoS would coordinate and oversee investigations. The report states that establishing a Hybrid Court could "tilt the discussion within the Security Council in favor of deferring ICC action under Article 16 of the Rome Statute." ¶5. The AUPD is critical of Joint Chief Mediator (JCM) Bassole and urges him to spell out his strategy and factor upcoming elections and the CPA timetable into this strategy. The report states that a definitive peace agreement for Darfur must be concluded before the 2010 elections. Mbeki recommends establishing a Joint Mechanism to oversee the work of the Mediation and to evaluate its performance. ¶6. The AUPD makes specific recommendations for UNAMID, including that UNAMID should assume responsibility for coordinating humanitarian efforts in Darfur. The AUPD also recommends that the AU provide oversight of the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including the exercise of self-determination in Southern Sudan. Currently, the United Nations Mission in Darfur -- which is not/not a hybrid mission -- has the lead responsibility for CPA implementation. The AUPD suggests establishing a special unit within the PSC to support this increased engagement with Sudan. Initial P3 Feedback -------------- ¶7. France requested to meet with the U.S. and UK after receiving instructions from Paris to try to consolidate a P3 position in advance of the Mbeki briefing. Both France and the UK indicated that they could be broadly supportive of the report, but any detailed discussion would quickly raise problematic issues. France said that discussion of Article 16 deferral should not be reopened and expressed concern with Mbeki establishing a parallel mediation track to that of JCM Bassole. France did not believe that UNAMID was the appropriate vehicle for coordination of humanitarian assistance since the UN country team does this for all of Sudan, and does it well. The UK indicated that London would be in favor of a broad Presidential Statement expressing support for the AUPD report. France said that it would prefer not to have a PRST and would hesitate to state anything that would imply Security Council endorsement of the report in its entirety. The UK also expressed concern with giving the AU a role in overseeing CPA implementation, noting that UNMIS, unlike UNAMID, is not a hybrid mission. Action Request -------------- USUN NEW Y 00001095 002 OF 002 ¶8. USUN requests that the Department provide guidance on the USG position on the following issues to prepare for the December 21 briefing from Mbeki and Lamamra and to facilitate developing a consolidated P3 position. We will need guidance on the following issues: -- Establishment of a Hybrid Court. -- Establishment of a mechanism that would allow the AU to provide oversight and management of the Joint UN/AU Mediation. -- Expanding UNAMID's mandate so that UNAMID could be tasked with coordinating humanitarian assistance in Darfur. -- Giving the AU a role in overseeing implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including the exercise of self-determination in Southern Sudan. RICE