The Article 34 of the United Nations Charter of the Security Council states “it may investigate any dispute or any situation which might lead to international friction or give rise to a dispute, in order to determine whether the continuance of the dispute or situation is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security”. The disputes or situation above mentioned comprises of conflicts that could involve human rights violations. To uphold peace and security, the United Nations Security Council has the ability to intervene in any situations that involves human rights violations as per the jurisdiction and guidelines of the charter.
Sudan faced enormous turmoil and difficult political situations even before it got independence from Egypt and Britain in 1956. A land with enormous resources, Sudan, particularly the South has numerous oil fields. The North of Sudan was well known for its fertile lands and for a period of time it was known as “bread basket of Africa”. But due to poor environmental conditions and improper facilities for irrigation specifically for the oil industry, along with many years of draught has made the land complete degradable. In the North lies the city of Khartoum, a capital with many political dignitaries and oil refineries. Talking about the South, it has benefitted very less, if compared with the North, most profits landed up in Khartoum. The hunger for Power, along with severe economic hardships and famine, divided the North and South and led to civil war in the country.
During the 2003 election, Sudan witnessed a major political and civil unrest. The fighting took place in the southern part of Darfur region between the Government forces and the extremist group Janjaweed militia. Till date almost 200,000 people have been killed including the civilian casualties while more than 2 million people had to flee in neighbouring countries like Chad and Central African Republic. Violence in the country is widepsreading. Gun fire and clashes between the government forces and rebels can still be seen in some part of the cities mostly occurring due to murders of civilians or rape of women by army or rebel groups.
Leaving aside the clashes, North and South Sudan has also been in dispute over many territorial regions, such as the Abyei region. Till date it is one of longest standing civil war that lasted for around 20 years, leaving about 2 million casualties and 4 million homeless. In an effort to end the civil war a peace treaty was signed in Nairobi on January 9th, 2005. However the peace treaty couldn’t end the conflict and fighting’s resumed on the South throughout the 2009-2010. Surprisingly during the 2011 referendum, people in South Sudan voted for an independence from Sudan.
In a desperate attempt to resolve the conflict, African Union (AU), along with United Nations (UN) and few other actors signed Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) in Darfur on May 5th, 2006. The treaty was signed to increase coordinate efforts between the government organizations, international relief organization and NGO’s to resolve the conflict. After signing of the peace agreement the United Nations department of Peace Operations launched a three phase plan for joint peace keeping operations in Darfur. The decision was taken after a joint session of UN and AU officials in Nairobi. They agreed to deploy a joint force involving AU and UN peace keeping troops and established UNAMID (United Nations – African Union Mission in Darfur) as the key organization for monitoring peace in Darfur.
Current Situations
UNMID was then later authorized to provide support to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the then Government of Sudan/National Congress Party of Northern Sudan and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Southern Sudan. UNAMID was expected to continue its operations till November 2011, but the AU insisted to extend the operation deadline till March 2015.
In 2004, UNMID officials submitted a report stating the importance of international relief personals in the Darfur region. The government of Sudan agreed to allow United Nations Peace Monitors to Darfur as an attachment to the UNMID peace keeping operations in Darfur. They provide regular updates on events such as human rights violations, unauthorised rules or engagement by military personnel, civilian casualties and indiscriminate shootings by rebel soldiers, torture, killing and sudden disappearances of civilians, destruction of villages, rape and sexual crimes against civilians and unnecessary deployment of forces. Human rights council of the United Nations also deployed a special envoy in the Darfur region to monitor the region. The council also formed a special Humanitarian group which worked closely with the government and AU and ensured implementation of regulations and policies of Human Rights in the region. The council sent a report to the Office of High Commissioner for Human rights (OCHA) whish stated several aerial attacks on villages during the 2007 civil war.
Warrants were issued by International Criminal Court (ICC) against the former Minister of State for the Interior for Government of Sudan on the charges of crimes against humanity, followed by Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, along with the Commander of Janjaweed on the accounts of manslaughter.
Previous Security Council Resolutions in Darfur
1. Resolution 1556 – The resolution was passed on 30th July, 2004. The Security Council enforced prohibition on arms embargo on all the non-governmental entities including Janjaweed
2. Resolution 1590 – This resolutions was passed in 2005.As per the resolution, a UN body, United Nations African Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) was established
3. Resolution 1591 – This resolution was passed in 2005. Strict sanctioning was imposed on all arms, ammunitions embargo along with additional measures. Two rebel leaders, one a former Sudanese air force chief, and the leader of a pro-government militia were charged guilty of killing civilians. They were sentenced to Life Imprisonment
4. Resolution 1593 – This resolution was passed in 2005. The United Nations Security Council officials were summoned to submit reports on the civilian casualties to the International Criminal Court (ICC)
5. Resolution 1706 – This resolution was passed in 2006. A new mandate was given to UNMIS along with additional troops and Combat Patrol Vehicles (CPV)
6. Resolution 1755 – This resolution was established in 2007.The declaration of UNMIS was made.
7. Resolution 1769 – This resolution was passed in 2007. UNAMID was formed.
Recent Developments
In spite of creating a separate declaration and work procedures, situation in Sudan remains intense, especially in and near Darfur. Clashes between the government forces and rebels are still ongoing. A recent UNHCR report states that Army Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW) massacred around 20 soldiers of Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) on 24th November 2014 in an attempt to seize the Golo town of western Jebel Marra area of Darfur. A spokesperson of SLA-AW in a statement said that they are in control over the towns of Golo and Rockero. The Sudanese government refused to comment on this incident.
In the month of January 2013, fighting took place between the communities of Abbala and Beni Hussein in Northern Darfur which led to almost 100 deaths and over 70,000 were displaced internally (IDPs). The fighting took place over the control of a gold mine.
Possible Options of Action
Resolving the problem is a priority, hence all available resources should be utilised properly. POE should be renewed and sanctions on the regimes should be stricter. Introduction of few elements such as:
- More interaction between the Sudanese people and the United Nations Peace Keeping officials should take place; Ensure that arms and ammunitions supplies do not enter Darfur
- There are numerous rebel leaders whose names are not on the sanctions list, ensure that rebel leaders are put on sanctions;
- No external help or support will be successful without the will of the Government of Sudan. Hence United Nations and other agencies should demand more support from the Government.
There are other options such as more embargo sanctions on the whole nation and to immediate arrest the ones responsible for heinous crimes against humanity without the permission of International Criminal Court (ICC) in Darfur with reference to the 1591 list sanctions.
