S/PV.8458 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of the Sudan to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2019/114, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by the United States of America. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2019/34, which contains a letter dated 10 January 2019 from the Panel of Experts on the Sudan established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005) addressed to the President of the Security Council. The Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

The draft resolution received 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2455 (2019). I now give the floor to the representative of the Sudan.

I should like to begin by thanking you, Mr. President, for giving me this opportunity to address the Security Council. I congratulate you once again on your assumption of the presidency of the Council this month and congratulate the new members that have joined the Council this year. Allow me also to thank the delegation of the United States for having coordinated Council resolution 2455 (2019), just adopted by consensus, and also to express appreciation for the positive attitude of Council members. We also thank all members of the Council for the time that they have afforded me and the expert members of my delegation in connection with an exchange of views on the paragraphs of the resolution. After the Council adopted resolution 1591 (2005) 14 years ago, we witnessed periods of calm and periods of escalation until 2011, when the parties put an end to the conflict through a peaceful settlement negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations, the African Union and the League of Arab States. Since then, as stated in all reports of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and the Panel of Experts, Darfur has throughout the years witnessed steady and continued improvement. The Council’s deliberations have confirmed this improvement, which has brought Darfur from the peacekeeping stage to a phase of stability, development and peacebuilding. We are very pleased with this result. I do not think, therefore, that anyone could deny that resolutions 1556 (2004) and 1591 (2005), adopted 15 and 14 years ago, respectively, are now outdated and do not reflect the realities on the ground. Nor do they reflect the situation today or the fact that the reasons for the imposition of sanctions 15 years ago are no longer valid. In fact, the situation has shifted completely, requiring the Council to expeditiously revisit the issue of the sanctions regime. The security gains achieved on the ground have given rise to security and stability in the states of Darfur, which is allowing for a continued reduction in the number of UNAMID troops of up to nearly 75 per cent. Peacekeeping activities are now limited to the Jebel Marra area. In addition, the Government and the security forces of the Sudan are active in combating transnational organized crime, human trafficking and illegal migration, as well as the illicit arms trade and arms trafficking, along with many other regional tasks that support security and stability in the world as a whole, not just in the Sudan. The Council must therefore undertake immediate measures to lift the arms embargo so as to allow the armed forces of the Sudan to carry out their responsibilities completely and effectively. We hope that in the coming period practical measures will be taken in this regard. The Government of the Sudan is continuing to extend its authority in conflict-affected areas. The Government, through its various agencies, has launched a weapons-collection campaign under the supervision of the Vice-President. The campaign has largely been successful and has created an environment that is conducive to peace and stability. The Government is also making efforts to strengthen the presence of police and judicial institutions in all areas of Darfur so as to address the repercussions of the conflict. There has been constructive and successful cooperation between the Government of the Sudan and the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict aimed at putting in place practical measures allowing the Government to ensure that the Sudan is removed from the list of violating States. The Government of the Sudan has also sought to promote cooperation with the Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, and we arranged for a visit by the Special Representative that was the first of its kind. However, subsequent reports were not in keeping with reality, as they relied primarily on past events. This has given rise to frustration on the part of the Sudanese authorities, an issue that we hope to be able to address and overcome in the coming period. I should like to focus here on three extremely important points. First, eradicating sexual violence in conflict is an issue on which the international community is in agreement; there can be no tolerance therefor. This primarily means that the United Nations must be committed, through the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, to abiding by the established facts and professional ethics, which prohibit the use of unreliable and incorrect information promoted by those who carry arms and who refuse to abide by the understandings reached by the international community and to join the peace process unconditionally and without delay. Neither we nor the Council can accept a recycling of the events that took place eight years ago, on which the Council adopted specific resolutions at the time. Secondly, eradicating and combating sexual violence is one single issue that cannot be fragmented. The United Nations must decisively determine the responsibility of any particular person for any specific crime, without exception, including the date on which the crime was committed. Any allegation that is not substantiated according to the due process of law is one whose aim is to achieve goals that are unrelated to fighting violence in conflicts. Thirdly, the United Nations, in this case through the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, and within the framework of the aforementioned principles, must allow the relevant Sudanese authorities enough time to investigate any violations committed by the parties in Darfur — not as set out, for example, in the most recent memo dated 5 February, which we received today, 7 February, giving seven days only, two of which have already passed since we received the memo. This is a strange situation. The work of the United Nations is based on cooperation between the Organization and the States concerned. No one could deny that is impossible for cooperation to take place in such an arbitrary manner. In conclusion, my country’s delegation welcomes the Panel of Experts, and we would emphasize that we are ready to cooperate with the Panel and to fully facilitate its work. Previous years have confirmed the serious commitment of the Government of the Sudan to full cooperation with the Panel of Experts and to the creation of an environment conducive to the fulfilment of its mandate. That would allow it to collect information from reliable sources on the ground through repeated visits by its members to the Sudan. The Sudan hopes that in return the Panel of Experts will be committed to its mandate and rely on credible sources while ignoring information from hostile sources. Its reports should accurately reflect the situation on the ground in Darfur and support the completion of the peace process in Darfur. Based on the relationship between the Panel and the Sudanese authorities, we are certain that this cooperation will continue.