PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL’S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE IN SUDAN

PRESS CONFERENCE BY SECRETARY-GENERAL’S SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE IN SUDAN

The Comprehensive Peace Agreement between Sudan’s North and South was on track, albeit somewhat delayed, Jan Pronk, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for that country said at a Headquarters press conference today.

He said he had told the Security Council in closed consultations that the delays were due mainly to the tragic death of First Vice-President John Garang, who was killed in a helicopter accident last month, but there was no reversal or backtracking.

Highlighting challenges and risks, he said that not all institutions mentioned in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) had been established.  The Joint Military Committee between the North, the South and the United Nations worked very well, but the Political Committee and the Assessment and Evaluation Committee had not yet been created.  However, that was expected to happen soon, as the country’s new Government of National Unity had been formed only yesterday.

He said that other challenges included the activities of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group operating in the South, which hampered United Nations operations involving demining and the opening of roads.  Also, the binding report of the Abyei Boundaries Commission was being contested by a nomadic Arab tribe.  Abyei had been designated as a “special status area”, but boundaries had yet to be established.

Another challenge was the issuance of decrees and laws based on the new interim national Constitution, he said.  While the old laws on freedom of the press had been relaxed and censorship had disappeared, a new decree on the registration of national voluntary groups had been issued, which was not in the spirit of the Constitution as the authorities could now prevent registration.  A final challenge was the ethnic violence in Khartoum resulting from Mr. Garang’s death.  The Government had to address tensions in Khartoum carefully, as repeated violence would cause major problems.

Turning to the situation in Darfur, Mr. Pronk said he was pleased with the resumption of talks and expected the formalization of negotiations next Monday.  But violence on the part of both parties was increasing.  The United Nations had no observers on the ground and had to rely on information from others, which made the situation even more difficult.  However, Salim Ahmed Salim, the African Union’s Special Envoy for Peace Talks, had been able to keep the parties at the negotiating table in Abuja, Nigeria.  After six rounds of talks, a meeting of the Special Committee on the Ceasefire would be convened.

He said he had requested the Security Council to extend the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) by six months until 26 March 2006, and asked for the speeding up of deployment as only 2,500 members of the mandated 10,000-strong force were in place.  He had further requested a strong Council statement on Darfur, demanding the conclusion, by 31 December, of a comprehensive peace agreement, much like the demand last year that had led to the CPA between the North and the South.  Planning should then start for the expansion of the African Union peacekeeping force in Darfur in order to ensure the security of returning displaced persons.

Mr. Pronk said he had asked Member States for more funds to carry out humanitarian activities, as only 50 per cent of the amount required for the 2005 work plan was currently covered.  Another request had been for a plan to address the security threat posed by the LRA as a military solution was not possible.  The international community had further been asked to exert pressure on the authorities in Khartoum to implement policies for the benefit of the poor in the Sudanese capital.

Asked if the risks and challenges would contribute to the fragility of the CPA and the Government, the Special Representative answered that the Government of National Unity had been formed only yesterday and its stability could be challenged by the situation in Abyei as it would have to make a decision.  The ethnic tensions in Khartoum might also be a cause of instability.

In response to a question as to how the Council could apply pressure, he said that the Council, the most powerful organ of the United Nations, and its individual members, could apply pressure, if they wished, by, among other things, withholding political and financial support.  Member States outside the Council could also apply pressure.

There were many reports of outside support for the LRA and its leader, Joseph Kony, but they could not be proven, he said in answer to another question.  There had been rumours that the Ugandan rebels had previously received support from the Sudanese Government and that factions of the military continued to support them even after the signing of the CPA.  In addition, there had been unconfirmed reports of planes flying in weapons by night.  The LRA’s activities could only be stopped by a show of complete unity between the North and the South, for example, through joint integrated military units.

Asked about frustration in the Sudan’s Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) because it had not been given the Ministry of Energy and Mining and responsibility for the oil ministry, he said the SPLM had been assigned the post of State Minister in that department and that there was also an oil council, so that the Minister was not the sole decision-maker.  It was understood that the arrangement was temporary and that a gentleman’s agreement had been reached yesterday on a shift in power after two years.  Agreement had also been reached on the sharing of oil revenues.

Addressing questions about Mr. Garang’s death, and his own “nightmare scenario” in that regard, the Special Representative said that despite the many rumours, all the experts had stated that there was no reason to assume that his death had resulted from anything but an accident.  His nightmare scenario was that the report to be issued following the investigation would not be believed.  It was very important that a completely transparent and conclusive report be published soon.

Asked whether the situation in Darfur was the result of a United Nations system failure, Mr. Pronk said there was increased insecurity because of looting and crime, as well as Chadian rebel activity.  Fighting in Darfur had started in 2003, but the situation had not been placed on the Security Council agenda until 2004.  By the time the mission had been granted a mandate, full-fledged chaos already reigned.  However, the situation now was still better than it had been before the intervention.

Blaming the international community for not acting on time, he said the outcome of last week’s World Summit was not enough to prevent another situation like Darfur.  There should have been an intervention at the beginning of the mass slaughter, whether one called it genocide or not.  The lesson learned from earlier situations -- that early intervention and information worked best -- had not been applied.

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For information media • not an official record