U.N. moving toward ending peacekeeping
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to move toward ending the joint U.N.African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s vast western Darfur region and replacing it with a civilian mission focusing on the country’s democratic transition.
But the council did not set a date for the end of the mission, known as UNAMID, in the two related resolutions that were approved in writing Wednesday night under new rules initiated because of the COVID19 pandemic and formally adopted at a Security Council meeting Thursday morning.
The resolution, adopted by a vote of 150 extends the current 6,500strong mission for six months until Dec. 31, 2020. It says the council will decide by then on “the responsible drawdown and exit of UNAMID,” taking into account a special report from U.N. SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres and the chair of the African Union Commission.
That report, which is due by Oct. 31, should assess the situation on the ground and include the impact of Sudan’s peace process on the security situation in Darfur and the capacity of the Sudanese government to protect civilians, which is UNAMID’s primary mandate, the resolution says.
The other resolution, also adopted by a 150 vote, establishes a new political mission, the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan to be known as UNITAMS, for an initial period of one year. It has a mandate to assist the country in its political transition toward democratic governance and in protecting and promoting human rights and sustainable peace.
The Security Council asked Guterres to swiftly establish
UNITAMS, with a view to reaching its full operational capacity as soon as possible so it can start delivering on its mandates no later than Jan. 1, 2021.
The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the Arabdominated Sudanese government of discrimination. The government in Khartoum was accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes and unleashing them on civilian populations, a charge it denies.
In recent years, as the result of a successful government military campaign, the rebellion has been reduced to a rebel Sudan Liberation Army faction headed by Abdul Wahid Elnur in Jebel Marra.
In July 2018, the Security Council voted to dramatically cut the UNAMID force in response to reduced fighting and improved security conditions. The target then was to end the mission on June 30, 2020.
The Darfur conflict took place under the threedecade autocratic rule of former president Omar elBashir, during which Sudan was convulsed by a bloody civil war and rebellions, not only in Darfur but in
Blue Nile and South Kordofan states. AlBashir’s rule ended in April 2019 when the military ousted him after mass street protests by a prodemocracy movement which began in late 2018.
A powersharing agreement signed in August 2019 between the military and protesters created a joint civilianmilitary ruling “sovereign council,” but the civilians are struggling to assert authority in the face of the military’s power.