|
Source: United States Congress (Washington, DC) The following is a letter from United States Senators U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Sam Brownback (R-KS), John Kerry (D-MA) and others to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice regarding the urgent need to provide additional protection for civilians in southern Sudan and to ensure the United Nations is prepared to protect the Sudanese in the run-up to and after the South’s referendum on self-determination. Ambassador Susan Rice Permanent U.S. Representative to the United Nations U.S. Mission to the United Nations 140 East 45th Street New York, NY 10017 Dear Madam Ambassador: We write to express our grave concern about the increasing level of interethnic and tribal violence throughout southern Sudan. According to United Nations reporting, some 2,500 people were killed and an additional 350,000 people displaced as a result of this violence in 2009. Attacks by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) are another destabilizing force, particularly in Western Equatorial State.
Insecurity in Sudan is expected to increase in the coming months, as the interim period established by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) comes to an end, with national elections scheduled for this April and the Southern referendum on unity or secession in January 2011. This rising violence and the pressures of the calendar make the role of the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) even more critical, and we urge you to help frame discussions at the United Nations Security Council in the coming weeks and months to ensure the mission has a forward-leaning approach to civilian protection. As you know, the Government of South Sudan (GOSS) continues to face many challenges and has limited capacity to provide security in many parts of its territory. The international community needs to drastically ramp up efforts to encourage and help the GOSS to improve its governing capacity and expand its presence to remote areas. At the same time, we need to be realistic that this cannot happen overnight, and so, in the run-up to the referendum, the United Nations Mission in Sudan and its nearly 10,000 personnel need to play a much more proactive role in protecting civilians. UNMIS was designed in 2005 when the situation in southern Sudan was very different than it is now. Still, the original UNMIS mandate includes “the protection of civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.” Moreover, in its current authorization, Resolution 1891 (2009), the Security Council requested that UNMIS make full use of its mandate and capabilities to provide security to the civilian population, including with regard to the activities of armed groups such as the LRA. In the face of increasing violence, aggressively pursuing this element of the mandate is critical. We understand there may already be some discussion of adjusting UNMIS’s mandate when it is renewed by the Security Council this April to further prioritize civilian protection. Such an adjustment would certainly be welcome, but we are concerned that waiting that long will only allow the security situation in southern Sudan to deteriorate further. The upcoming UN Security Council meeting on January 26th presents an opportunity to discuss UNMIS’s mandate and recommend tangible steps the mission could undertake to help stem the rising levels of violence. In the past in Sudan, preventive deployments, in the form of temporary operating bases, and long-range patrols have played a positive role. The reinstatement of temporary operating bases or other creative field presence, the regular carrying out of long-range patrols, the re-organization of assets to high-risk areas, and appropriate protection training for peacekeepers should all be considered as well. We urge you to continue in the run-up to the January 26th meeting to ensure the Security Council sends a clear signal that civilian protection must be a priority for UNMIS, and that the mission can, and must, do more with its current means and mandate. Furthermore, as part of UNMIS’ mandate renewal process, we urge you to push for the UN Secretariat to begin contingency planning for UNMIS’ role following the end of the CPA’s interim period. The United Nations must be prepared not only to help keep the peace and protect civilians in southern Sudan in the run-up to the referendum, but also after it, regardless of the outcome. Preventing the outbreak of renewed civil war and large-scale violence throughout Sudan is important not only in terms of saving lives, but also strategically in terms of resolving the continuing crisis in Darfur and fostering greater regional stability. We know you appreciate these stakes, and we look forward to working with you in this critical year for Sudan. Sincerely, Senator Russell D. Feingold Senator Sam Brownback Senator John F. Kerry Senator Mark Begich Senator Barbara Boxer Senator Benjamin L. Cardin Senator Susan M. Collins Senator Bob Corker Senator Byron L. Dorgan Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand Senator Johnny Isakson Senator Robert Menendez Copyright © 2010 United States Congress. All rights reserved. |
