Statement by First Deputy Permanent Representative Dmitry Polyanskiy at the UN Security Council Meeting on Darfur
Distinguished Mr. President,
We would like to thank Assistant Secretary-General Bintou Keita for the detailed briefing on the situation in Darfur and personal impressions of the recent trip to Sudan.
We share our colleagues’ assessments of the state of affairs in Darfur and take notice of general stability of the situation in the region. We deem it positive, that there have been no massive armed clashes and almost no inter-communal conflicts for a long time by now. It is encouraging, that the package of measures on community arms collection implemented by the government is generally successful.
The government of Sudan does a lot in order to normalize life in Darfur. We commend the constructive role of Khartoum in resolving region-wide concerns, including their contribution to promoting South Sudan’s peace process. We cannot fail to mention the effective efforts of Sudan and personally President Omar al-Bashir on the Central African track in the framework of African peace initiative that led to the adoption of Central African Agreement.
I cannot but pay attention to the fact that some of our Western colleagues, regrettably, used this meeting on the situation in Darfur in order to express criticism to the leadership of Sudan on the issues that have nothing to do with today’s agenda. We believe this approach is unacceptable. The UNAMID prospects should be estimated only through the prism of the situation in Darfur. We will not be supportive of any attempts to drag other inter-Sudanese issues to this. As for Darfur itself, we find it reassuring that against the positive dynamics in the region, the UNAMID continuously decreases its contingent according to UNSC resolution 2429. We share the view that in order to avoid recurrence of conflict, the vacuum of power in the region should be prevented and the capacity of state institutions in Darfur should increase. We consider this to be the goal of the “transitional concept” of UNAMID operation that is part of the endorsed resolution. This concept aims to support the Sudanese during the initial peacebuilding stage of Darfur settlement.
We call upon the donors to stick to the commitments they made at the Conferences held in Cairo in March 2010 and in Doha in April 2013. We believe that this, as well as easing of unilateral sanctions against Sudan would facilitate normalization of social and economic situation in the country, and promote peacebuilding and security in Darfur.
We appreciate that almost every provision of 2011 Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) has been implemented.
We regret to see that the irreconcilable armed opposition, even though it has lost its presence “on the ground”, does not abandon efforts to shatter the situation and incite a new round of violence in the region.
It has long been recognized that Darfur Peace Process has been faltering because of unconstructive negotiating position of the Sudan Liberation Army under Abdel Wahid el-Nur. It is unfortunate that the Secretariat resorts to equidistant urges while not recognizing this. We are convinced that “flirting” with the irreconcilables will only damage the peace process.
We believe the external sponsors of Sudanese opposition should also not encourage such meetings of the irreconcilables in their capitals, but should drive them towards demands that would be more realistic.
We have taken notice of the prenegotiation framework with DDPD non-signatory movements that was Hendorsed on December 6 under the mediation of the African Union. It is a pity that it did not last long.
We view this as another concession to the radical opposition made by the government. We count on significant reciprocal steps.
Should Abdel Wahid el-Nur fail to become part of the negotiations, we stand ready to consider adopting the UNSC sanctions against him.
We proceed from the assumption that the creation of certain preconditions in Darfur will make it possible to head towards the termination of UNAMID by the end of 2020 as enshrined in resolution 2429.
Thank you.
