S/PV.5176 Security Council

In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council’s prior consultations, I shall take it that the Security Council agrees to extend an invitation under rule 39 of its provisional rules of procedure to Mr. Hédi Annabi, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. It is so decided. I invite Mr. Annabi to take a seat at the Council table. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Members of the Council have before them document S/2005/305, which contains the monthly report of the Secretary-General on Darfur, and document S/2005/285, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on United Nations assistance to the African Union Mission in the Sudan. At this meeting, the Security Council will hear a briefing by Mr. Hédi Annabi, Assistant Secretary- General for Peacekeeping Operations. I now give him the floor. Mr. Annabi: Thank you, Madam President, for the opportunity to brief the Council today. Members of the Council will recall that last week, Mr. Jean-Marie Guéhenno gave them a briefing on matters relating to the United Nations peace support operation in the Sudan: the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS). Today, I will therefore focus on two related reports of the Secretary-General concerning Darfur: one on the situation in that region during the month of April (S/2005/305) and a second on options with respect to how the United Nations can reinforce the efforts to foster peace in Darfur through appropriate assistance to the African Union Mission in the Sudan (S/2005/285). The two reports are complementary. The April report on Darfur — which is the eighth such monthly report on the subject by the Secretary-General — makes clear that instability, violence and civilian suffering in that troubled region continue and that a lasting solution can be found only through serious political engagement by the parties, within the Abuja process. The April report on Darfur also confirms that stability in the region will require, in the short term, a considerable strengthening of the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS). This issue is addressed in the second report being considered by the Council today, which describes steps being taken by the African Union (AU) to strengthen AMIS, and proposes assistance which the United Nations could provide in that regard. As Council members will have seen from the April Darfur report, organized violence in the region continued throughout last month. Attacks on civilians, rape, kidnapping and banditry actually increased from the previous month. While there was no evidence of direct involvement by regular Government forces last month, there were widespread reports of abuse by militias. This militia activity was generally small scale, with the one exception of an attack on 7 April on the village of Khor Abeche in Southern Darfur. More than 10,000 civilians — in fact, the entire population of the village — were displaced during that brazen assault, and a substantial number of their homes were burned and looted. Investigations into the attack by the local administration continue, and those responsible should, of course, be held accountable. In that regard, the African Union and the United Nations have identified the commander of the militia forces that struck the village and will pass his name and the name of his collaborators to the panel of experts to be established pursuant to Security Council resolution 1591 (2005). During the reporting period, the two rebel movements, the Sudanese Liberation Army and the Justice and Equality Movement, also attacked militias and police. In what has become a disturbing trend, they also seized at gunpoint a number of vehicles being operated commercially and vehicles belonging to humanitarian organizations. Humanitarian vehicles also came under fire during April, and in one case a humanitarian worker was gravely injured. Staff from humanitarian organizations were also subjected to increased harassment by local authorities, particularly in Darfur. This is a worrying trend in the light of the role played by the humanitarian community in sustaining the 2.45 million conflict-affected civilians in Darfur. The adoption of Security Council resolutions 1591 (2005) and 1593 (2005), on 29 and 31 March respectively, also had an impact during the reporting period. In addition to protests in Khartoum, the two resolutions resulted in increased tensions in the Darfur region among those who perceive themselves to be implicated by the Council’s action. We believe that the Government of the Sudan must give its unequivocal support to both resolutions so as to minimize any risk of hostile action by those individuals and their followers against the United Nations in the Sudan. While violence in Darfur continued throughout April, regrettably there was no tangible progress in Abuja. The most recent round of talks was held, as the Council will recall, in December 2004; and while the African Union is working towards reconvening the Abuja talks next week, it is not yet clear whether the parties are committed to meaningful negotiations. This is a matter of very serious concern. Clearly, lasting peace in Darfur will come only through a negotiated settlement. The parties must dedicate themselves to making the Abuja process work, and the international community should continue to make it clear that it is the negotiating process which will lead to peace. In view of the difficulties faced in the negotiating process, the actions of the African Union Mission in the Sudan are all the more critical. During the reporting period, the total uniformed strength of the African Union Mission was 2,409 troops and 244 police. While there is a consensus that AMIS is having a very positive impact where it is able to deploy, the African Union Peace and Security Council, in its 28 April decision, decided to expand AMIS, more than doubling its size to the level of 6,171 military personnel and 1,560 civilian police. The Peace and Security Council also called for the strengthened Mission to be in place by the end of September 2005. The African Union Commission has already taken steps to implement the decision of the Peace and Security Council, including preliminary contact with potential troop contributors. Initial indications are that additional troops will be identified and made available for AMIS. We are awaiting the results of a troop contributors’ meeting that the African Union is expected to convene in the coming days. It was expected to have been held on 11 May, but it seems to have been slightly delayed. Notwithstanding those activities, the strengthening of AMIS will be a considerable challenge which will require the concerted support of all the African Union’s partners. In that regard, Council members have before them the 3 May report of the Secretary-General (S/2005/285) on options for how the United Nations Mission in the Sudan can reinforce efforts to foster peace in Darfur through appropriate assistance to AMIS. The proposals in the Secretary-General’s report are based on the findings and recommendations of an AU-led mission to Darfur, which, as the Council knows, was undertaken last March. That mission, which included the participation of the United Nations, the European Union and the United States, assessed the security situation in Darfur and the current deployment of AMIS, and made proposals for enhancing peace support efforts in the region. The AU-led mission concluded that insecurity in Darfur remains unacceptable. It also concluded that, where AMIS was deployed, it was doing an outstanding job under difficult circumstances. On that basis, it was recommended that AMIS should be strengthened, initially in two phases, with a possible follow-on mission that could be decided on in or around September 2005. The decision taken by the African Union Peace and Security Council on 28 April addresses the first two phases of the proposed expansion. The AU-led mission also recommended that logistical support for the expansion would be best accomplished by building on existing systems in which individual donors or contractors provide support to AMIS. After a slow start, that system is now working well; to change it at this stage would disrupt operations, rather than enhance them. The report before the Council proposes areas where the United Nations could provide some of the support that the African Union will require from its major partners. Those proposals focus on technical assistance and training support in a number of key areas, including, first, assisting the African Union to develop a detailed operational plan for the expansion of AMIS; secondly, providing technical advice in the areas of logistics, planning and management; thirdly, providing support for pre-deployment training of African Union military and civilian personnel; fourthly, providing support in developing detailed selection criteria for police personnel for phase II; and, fifthly, supporting the convening of troop contributors’ meetings, as well as a pledging conference for logistical support. The Secretary-General has been in close and regular contact with the African Union Commission, and in particular with its Chairperson, President Konaré, on support required by the African Union, and, most recently, the Secretary-General asked his Special Adviser, Mr. Lakdhar Brahimi, to go to Addis Ababa to meet with Chairperson Konaré to discuss in detail ways in which the United Nations could assist the African Union in its efforts to expand AMIS. I am pleased to report that the African Union Commission has accepted the modalities for United Nations assistance described in the report before the Council. United Nations personnel are currently, even as we speak, working with staff from AMIS and AU headquarters to develop a detailed concept of operations for the expanded African Union Mission. Such a concept of operations will form the basis of a detailed request for resources which the African Union intends to present at a 26 May partners’ meeting, which we expect will include the participation of Canada, the European Union, NATO, the United Kingdom, the United States and the United Nations — each of which sent representatives to Addis Ababa last week to discuss with the African Union the implications of the decision to expand AMIS. The African Union has the unequivocal support of the United Nations as it continues its peacekeeping role in Darfur, and all possible steps should be taken to ensure that AMIS receives the donor support required to expand expeditiously and effectively. At the same time — and this cannot be overemphasized — we should not lose sight of the fact that a lasting solution to the Darfur crisis will come only through a negotiated settlement and that every effort should be made to bring the parties together for the next round of talks in Abuja.

I thank Mr. Annabi for his comprehensive briefing. In accordance with the understanding reached in the Council’s prior consultations, I should now like to invite Council members to informal consultations to continue our discussion on the subject.