SUDAN SANCTIONS COMMITTEE CONSIDERS EXPERT PANEL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000212 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL UNSC ETTC SU PGOV SUBJECT: SUDAN SANCTIONS COMMITTEE CONSIDERS EXPERT PANEL SETBACKS ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The Sudan Sanctions Committee reviewed recent setbacks confronting the Sudan Panel of Experts (POE) that have resulted in the Panel being unable to travel to Sudan. According to the POE, Sudan remains unwilling to grant appropriate visas to all POE members and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) decided in February to deny the POE country clearance due to security concerns about an International Criminal Court (ICC) indictment of the Sudanese president. A DPKO official pledged to the Committee that DPKO would review its decision on country clearance within a few days of an ICC indictment; U.S. and French representatives urged DPKO to offer all possible support to the POE. Regarding the Committee's long-standing requests for meetings with the Perm Reps of Sudan and Chad, the chair reported that the Sudanese Perm Rep prefers to meet only with the chair in a bilateral format, whereas the Chadian Perm Rep is willing to meet with the Committee. END SUMMARY. POE SHARES SETBACKS WITH COMMITTEE -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On March 3, the UN Security Council's Sudan Sanctions Committee ("1591 Committee") reviewed a letter to the Committee from the Sudan Panel of Experts (POE) about setbacks that the Panel has recently faced. (NOTE: The five-person POE assists the Sudan Sanctions Committee in monitoring the sanctions imposed in UNSCR 1591 -- the asset freeze, travel ban and Darfur arms embargo -- and violations of international humanitarian law. In October 2008, the Council renewed the POE's mandate for twelve months. END NOTE.) Austrian Perm Rep Thomas Mayr-Harting, chair of the Committee, noted that Sudan continues to deny without explanation a visa to the POE's arms expert. He said that the POE also reported that in mid-February UNAMID and UNMIS management decided that due to "anticipated security conditions" (e.g., a probable indictment from the International Criminal Court of the Sudanese President), neither UNAMID nor UNMIS could support the POE or any other "non-essential mission" in the field. Consequently, the POE has not been able to start its monitoring tasks in Sudan and would have "very limited or no access" to Sudan for at least the first half of its mandate. ¶3. (SBU) At the request of the chair, DPKO Margaret Carey, deputy director of the DPKO Africa division, provided the �A;Committee a fuller explanation of DPKO's position. She explained that while UNAMID had determined it could not provide on-the-ground support to the POE in light of the security situation, the relevant decision-makers would review the situation "within a few days" after a March 4 ICC decision. Carey claimed that this decision would be based on whether UNAMID has the capacity to support the POE's work and not "whether the Panel's work is essential or non-essential." ¶4. (SBU) The U.S. representative thanked the chair for having reached out to the Sudanese Perm Rep about the visa problem and suggested that the Committee consider expressing these concerns in writing. The U.S. representative regretted that the POE believed it had received inadequate support from DPKO and field missions. He observed that this complaint reflects a broader problem of misunderstanding within the UN system of the role of UN sanctions expert panels and their mandates. This problem, he added, is not limited to Sudan but also includes uneven UN Secretariat support to other sanctions regimes. He urged the chair to continue dialogue with DPKO about how to strike a balance between the safety of UN personnel and the need to support the POE's essential mission, as well as to increase understanding and awareness within the UN system of the role of these panels. ¶5. (SBU) The French representative also encouraged DPKO to provide support where possible and reminded the Committee that France had insisted that the mandates for UNAMID and MINURCAT include the responsibility to monitor sanctions / arms embargo violations. The chair said he would continue to discuss the visa issue with the Sudanese Perm Rep and asked that countries also make this point with Sudan bilaterally. SUDAN REBUFFS, CHAD ACCEPTS COMMITTEE INVITATION -------------- --- ¶6. (SBU) The chair explained that he had raised again with USUN NEW Y 00000212 002 OF 002 the Perm Reps of Chad and Sudan the Committee's long-standing invitation for these officials to meet with the Committee. The Sudan Per Rep, he reported, "strongly preferred" meeting bilaterally with the chair instead of attending a meeting of the Committee. The chair said that the Sudanese Perm Rep also requested to have questions in writing prior to any such exchange. According to the chair, the Chad Perm Rep was willing to meet in person with the Committee, but wanted to wait to schedule this meeting until after the POE meets with Chadian officials in N'Djamena in the coming weeks. ¶7. (SBU) The Libyan representative said he agreed with the general approach, but believed the Committee should not take any measures that would undermine stability in Sudan around the time of the ICC decision. The U.S. and UK representatives noted that the Committee still hoped that the Sudan Perm Rep would meet in person with the Committee at some point in the future. The chair said he intended to consult with the Committee about developing written questions for his bilateral meeting with the Sudan Perm Rep. Rice