EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement
(CPA) formally ended war between the Khartoum
government and the insurgent Sudan People's Liberation
Movement/Army (SPLM/A), Africa's longest civil
conflict. Yet as SPLM Chairman John Garang was sworn
in as 1st Vice-President on 9 July, implementation lags
badly. The main obstacles are the old regime's lack of
will to embrace genuine power sharing and elections, and
ultimately allow a southern self-determination referendum
after the six-year interim period and lack of capacity in
the South to establish and empower basic structures of
governance. To keep the accords on track, the international
community must focus on broadening participation and
transparency, particularly handling of oil revenues,
promote SPLM dialogue with the government-allied
militias and quickly deploy the UN peace support mission,
whose monitoring operations will be key to breaking the
links between Khartoum and those southern proxies.
The peace deal poses a real threat to many groups
associated with the National Congress Party (NCP)
regime, which signed the CPA under some duress both
to deflect international pressure over Darfur and to
strengthen its domestic power base by securing a
partnership with the SPLM. Most members recognise
the free and fair elections required in 2009 would likely
remove them from power. Many also fear the selfdetermination
referendum will produce an independent
South, thus costing Khartoum much of its oil and other
mineral wealth. There are signs the NCP seeks to undercut
implementation through its use of the militias (the South
Sudan Defence Forces, SSDF), bribery, and through the
tactics of divide and rule. It actively encourages hostility
between southern groups, with the hope that intra-south
fighting will prove sufficiently destabilising that the
referendum can be postponed indefinitely without its
being blamed. These tactics will likely intensify if
pressure over Darfur diminishes.
If the SPLM is to do its part in preventing an eventual
breakdown of the CPA and return to war, it must make
fundamental shifts in the way it operates. It has struggled,
however, in its transition from a rebel movement to a
political party, indeed to the point that its lack of
inclusiveness and transparent decision-making has
mirrored in some ways its long-time foe's approach to
governance. It is far behind its timetable for converting
its guerrillas into a new army and has made little progress
in creating institutional structures of governance and
changing overly centralised methods of taking decisions,
weaknesses that have been compounded by lack of money.
There is growing frustration as early expectations of the
peace have not been met.
The SPLM leadership must begin to democratise its
movement and empower the nascent civil institutions of
the new Government of Southern Sudan. The South-
South Dialogue with southern political opposition groups
launched in Nairobi in April was a positive step, but the
late June negotiations with the SSDF fell short of an
agreement. The recently concluded National Constitutional
Review Commission failed to bring in most of the main
northern opposition parties -- they boycotted it as rigged
in favour of the NCP and the SPLM -- as well as the
armed groups from the east and west.
Recent deals signed by the SPLM to develop oil
concessions in the South violate the CPA, have generated
considerable criticism both from the government and
within the SPLM itself, and should be scrapped. Given
that Khartoum's approach to oil has long been even more
problematic, it is urgent to create the National Petroleum
Commission called for in the CPA's Wealth Sharing
Agreement so it can review all contracts signed in the past
year. The CPA has no mechanism, however, for rapidly
resolving disputes that have arisen over North-South
boundaries in the oil areas and that promise at least to delay
disbursement of oil revenue the Government of Southern
Sudan vitally needs to meet its CPA commitments.
International actors, including the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (IGAD), the U.S. and the
UK, should work with the parties to immediately form a
commission to delimit those boundaries.
RECOMMENDATIONS
ON THE DELAYS IN IMPLEMENTATION
To the Government of Sudan and the SPLM:
1 |
Request the IGAD Secretariat to work with the
Joint National Transition Team as a focal point
for implementation of the peace accords.
|
ON THE OTHER ARMED GROUPS IN THE
SOUTH
To the Government of Sudan:
2 |
End all support to South Sudan Defence Forces
(SSDF) members who have not been integrated
into the Sudan Armed Forces and stop directing
misinformation to the SSDF regarding the peace
accords.
|
3 |
Allow SSDF members to participate in the
dialogue process with the SPLM.
|
To the Sudan People's Liberation Movement
/Army (SPLM/A):
4 |
Seek internal agreement on the structures of the
new SPLA army and speed up its reorganisation,
in order to facilitate a transparent, participatory
dialogue with the SSDF without pre-conditions.
|
To the UN, U.S., UK, Norway, Italy, Other
Donor Countries and IGAD Member States:
5 |
Press the government to cease all efforts to
recruit and arm new factions in the South and
immediately stop inciting clashes there.
|
6 |
Give more technical expertise to assist the SPLA
transition from a guerrilla force to a professional
army.
|
7 |
Advance stability in the South by pushing for a
reopened SPLM-SSDF dialogue, providing
technical expertise and high-level diplomatic
support to the efforts of the Moi African Institute
to facilitate a swift agreement, and working with
churches, women's organisations and other civil
society groups to begin an SPLM-SSDF
reconciliation process.
|
8 |
Establish a mechanism to hold all parties
accountable for the actions of former SSDF
officers integrated into their respective forces.
|
To the UN Mission in Sudan:
9 |
Deploy rapidly throughout the South to monitor
and interdict supply lines and especially arms
shipments from government garrisons to nonintegrated
SSDF.
|
10 |
Ensure that the peacekeeping force in the South
has sufficient rapid response capacity to protect
civilians and respond to outbreaks of violence,
particularly offensive actions by rogue militias.
|
TO ADDRESS SPLM CONSTRAINTS
To the SPLM:
11 |
Broaden internal participation in decision-making
processes and empower institutions of governance
in order to help build the Government of Southern
Sudan.
|
12 |
Prioritise a 2nd SPLM National Convention as the
body to endorse the process of transition to
government and support internal democratisation.
|
13 |
Address transparency and accountability in the new
Government of Southern Sudan by establishing an
anti-corruption commission and formalising in the
constitution for southern Sudan an auditor general
position, a code of conduct for officials, and a
requirement for ministers to declare assets, as
in the Interim National Constitution.
|
TO ADDRESS PROBLEMS IN THE OIL
SECTOR
To the SPLM:
14 |
Deregister the deal granting White Nile Ltd. an
oil concession in Block Ba, sign no new deals
until the National Petroleum Commission is
established, and clarify the legal status of Nile
Petroleum Corp. with respect to the Government
of Southern Sudan.
|
To the Government of Sudan:
15 |
Cease new activities in the oil sector -- including
contracts and operations -- until the National
Petroleum Commission is established.
|
To the Government of Sudan and the SPLM:
16 |
Establish the National Petroleum Commission
quickly and use it to review contracts signed since
conclusion of the Wealth Sharing Agreement and
otherwise provide transparency and civilian
oversight of the sector.
|
To the SPLM, the Government of Sudan, the
UN Mission, the IGAD Secretariat, and Other
Capable Parties:
17 |
Establish a border commission, similar to the
Abyei Boundary Commission, to determine the
North-South borders in the oil producing areas..
|
To the U.S., UK, Norway, Italy, Other Donor
Countries and IGAD Member States:
18 |
Urge the SPLM to cancel the deal granting an
oil concession to White Nile Ltd.
|
ON THE NEED FOR BROADER POLITICAL
PARTICIPATION
To the Government of Sudan and the SPLM:
19 |
Take steps either to empower the inclusive
Constitutional Review Process called for in the
Machakos Protocol to function as a genuine
national dialogue or re-constitute the National
Constitutional Review Commission after the
2009 elections, with each party represented as
determined by election results and provisions in
place to protect key terms of the peace accords.
|
20 |
Include women in all positions, including as
ministers and members of commissions and as
administrators and employees in the civil service
of the government of Sudan and the Government
of Southern Sudan.
|
| |
Nairobi/Brussels, 25 July 2005
|
I. INTRODUCTION
Implementation of the 9 January 2005 Comprehensive
Peace Agreement (CPA) to end the war between the
Khartoum government and the Sudan People's Liberation
Movement/Army (SPLM/SPLA) has been slow and
uneven. The conflict in Darfur may torpedo the accord if
the international community does not act more assertively
to end it1 but even without Darfur, the North-South peace
is in trouble.
Like most negotiated agreements, the CPA included
something for everyone but left all parties short of their
full goals. There is growing frustration in the South over
the lack of visible implementation, little enthusiasm in
the North due to Darfur and potential for renewed conflict
in the East. The SPLM has begun to take its place in
Khartoum, and there has been an initial meeting in Nairobi
of many of the opposed groupings in the South (the
South-South Dialogue).2 However, the South Sudan
Defence Forces (SSDF) did not attend the initial April
session, and direct follow-up talks between that important
Khartoum ally and the SPLA have not gone well. The
process for drafting and adopting the Interim National
Constitution included few opposition parties, leaving the
peace accords with a dangerously narrow base.3 Though
SPLM Chairman John Garang was sworn in as Sudan's
1st Vice-President on 9 July 2005, it is expected to take
at least one month before the Government of National
Unity (GNU) will be formed, and eight to ten weeks
before the regional Government of Southern Sudan can be legally established, which in turn will allow oil revenue
to flow south.4
Many delays in the first half-year have been prolonged
because there is no clear mechanism to hold the parties
to agreed timetables. The government-SPLM Joint
National Transition Team, created for development issues,
has expanded its mandate to include CPA implementation
coordination but with only partial success. The
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
Secretariat -- the focal point during the CPA negotiations
-- is involved in implementation on an ad hoc basis but
lacks a mandate. Other bodies created by the CPA which
could be relevant are not yet operational.5 The parties
need to give the IGAD Secretariat a mandate to work
with the Joint National Transition Team on monitoring
CPA implementation, and the international community
more broadly needs to hold the parties to the CPA
timetable, balancing support with pressure.
II. THE TERMS OF AGREEMENT
The CPA was the culmination of two and a half years of
intense negotiations between the government and the
SPLM facilitated by IGAD. It is premised on a
fundamental compromise: a self-determination referendum
for the South after a six-year interim period in exchange
for the continuation of Islamic (Sharia) law in the North.6
The deal was predicated on extensive sharing of power,
wealth and security arrangements and established an
asymmetrical federal system, with the Government of
Southern Sudan existing as a buffer between the central
government and southern states but no parallel regional
government in the North.
The power sharing arrangements provided for fixed
representation in national institutions, including
parliament, among the formerly warring parties,7 who
also agreed to conduct elections at all levels of
government by the end of the fourth year of the interim
period.8 A number of other institutions, commissions
and committees were also created, including a new
Upper House in Khartoum -- the Council of States --
with two representatives from each of the 25 states.
The detailed Wealth Sharing Agreement provided for a
new national currency, created parallel central banks for
North and South, and set specific revenue sharing formulas
for the South and the disputed areas of Southern Kordofan
state, Blue Nile state, and Abyei (the so-called Three
Areas). The Government of Southern Sudan and the
central government are to split all oil and other revenue
derived from the South evenly.
Various protocols cover security arrangements and the
status and treatment of the government-aligned armed
groups in the South gathered under the SSDF umbrella.
The parties agreed to establish joint integrated units with
equal numbers from the SPLA and the Sudan Armed
Forces.9 The SPLA and Sudan Armed Forces are to
maintain their troops in the South and North respectively.
The agreement provides in effect for elimination of the
SSDF, since no armed groups other than the SPLA or the
Sudan Armed Forces are permitted. However, the SSDF
is given the opportunity to qualify for integration into the
security structures or civil institutions of either party.10
The Final Ceasefire Agreement spelled out a clear
timetable for SSDF demobilisation.11
Although the CPA is detailed and comprehensive, it
reflects the direct interests of only the SPLA and the
Khartoum government. The exclusion of the many
groups on the periphery threatens the long-term viability
of the agreement. The National Congress Party (the
Khartoum government's ruling party) and the SPLM --
long-time sworn enemies -- have become strange
bedfellows who must work together on implementation
at the expense of former allies left on the outside.
The CPA, if implemented, will challenge vested interests.
Free and fair elections, if held in four years, would likely
cost the National Congress Party its power. The southern
self-determination referendum, if held in six years, would
likely lead to secession. The first prospect explains why
northern opposition groups like the Umma Party and
those in the umbrella National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) who gain little politically in the short term
are willing to go along with the CPA but the second
prospect explains why many northerners have reservations.
SPLM calculations are less clear. Most southern members
consider the self-determination referendum the end goal, so are generally supportive of a partnership with the
National Congress Party as a means to get there. Other
members, including those from Southern Kordofan and
Blue Nile, would prefer to pursue broader political
alliances in the North in order to change the system of
government and ultimately end the rule of the National
Congress Party.12 In the first test -- the process of
adopting the interim national constitution -- the SPLM
leadership leaned toward cooperation with Khartoum.
III. THE QUEST FOR POLITICAL
INCLUSIVITY
Shortly after the CPA was signed, a technical team from
the SPLM and the National Congress Party drafted an
interim national constitution, based on the peace accords
and the 1998 government constitution. This document
was to be submitted to a National Constitutional Review
Commission, whose 60 members were to be allocated
pursuant to the CPA's formula for national power sharing
-- 52 per cent for the National Congress Party, 28 per cent
for the SPLM, 14 per cent for other northern political
forces, and 6 per cent for other southern political forces --
and then ratified by the two parties. Decisions in the
Commission were to be taken by consensus if possible,
otherwise by a two-thirds majority, which meant the two
former enemies could push through any part of their
common draft if they stayed together.
The Commission opened on 30 April 2005, more than
two months late, due to the unhappiness of the main
opposition groups, which argued that the constitution
should be national in its creation as well as name, so
other political parties should have a fairer say in the
deliberations. The government and SPLM did make an
effort to accommodate. As they did not want to re-open
the CPA's terms, they expanded the Commission in
effect to 180 members by providing two alternates for
each delegate. They also first gave ten of their voting
seats (four SPLM seats, six National Congress Party
seats) to the opposition, and then a further nine specifically
to the NDA. The second concession helped bring an
NDA delegation to Khartoum as the Commission neared
the end of its work. A number of its amendments were
incorporated at the eleventh hour, allowing President
Bashir to proclaim when he received the draft document
on 26 June that it reflected the widest national consensus
since independence.13
In fact, however, most northern opposition groups
boycotted the process and remain outside that consensus.
The agreement the government and the NDA signed in
Cairo on 18 June with great fanfare in the presence of the
Sudanese and Egyptian presidents and other dignitaries
and that led the NDA to give its last-minute support to
the interim constitution deferred for further negotiations
the two most hotly disputed issues. The government
insists on keeping at 14 per cent the basic allocation for
the northern political opposition in the power sharing
arrangements during the interim period (the NDA wants 33 per cent) and refuses to give NDA forces in northeastern
Sudan the same preferential treatment as the SPLA's
forces. Garang tried to mediate a compromise but in the
end elected not to break with his new partners in
Khartoum.14
The NDA's negotiations with the government, the peculiar
"suspended" agreement, and the last moment participation
in the Commission have been controversial within the
organisation. The Darfur rebels and east Sudan insurgents
distanced themselves. The latter reignited the eastern
front days after the Cairo ceremony by attacking several
government garrisons in the region and abducting
government troops.15 The second largest NDA Party, the
Sudan Communist Party, vehemently denounced the Cairo
accord and said it would not join the new government
even if the NDA did.16 The discomfited NDA leadership
instructed exiled cadres to return to Sudan and join the
political process but the chairman and other top figures
declared they would not return until the two pending
issues were settled. More broadly, the NDA continues to
stress the need to restructure the army, civil service,
judiciary and security services along national, nonpartisan
principles.
How little national consensus there actually is behind the
new constitution and the CPA's political dispensation was
underlined by formation in June 2005 of a second
national opposition alliance. It consists of more than 20
parties inside Sudan and is headed by the Umma Party
and the Popular Congress Party of Dr Hassan el-Turabi,
the one-time ideas man of the National Congress Party
who has been jailed by his former colleagues for much of the past few years.17 The new alliance calls for a national
conference to discuss and endorse the peace accords but
its program is broadly consistent with the NDA's. Both
regard the interim constitution process as rigged in favour
of the SPLM and National Congress Party, the latest
unfair development in a peace process which props up the
government at the expense of real democracy and the
people of the North.
The opposition groups are reluctantly prepared to put up
with the situation for the time being in the hope that free
and fair elections will eventually give them a chance to
demonstrate their true strength. But the comment of a
leading Umma Party member is representative of the
sense of discrimination:
|
We were supporting the talks for the good of
the country, even though it wasn't fair but we
assumed that we'd get a say in the formation of
the national committees and commissions. How
can we participate in commissions like the National
Constitutional Review Commission when they
[the National Congress Party and SPLM] have
drafted the text, they have a mechanical majority,
and they ratify it through their own partisan
parliaments. We are nothing more than a rubberstamp
opposition.18
|
The Khartoum government has been clever in using the
SPLM and its spokesperson, Yassir Arman, as the bearer
of bad news to the northern opposition during the interim
constitutional process.19 The SPLM, which needs to get
CPA implementation moving faster, not least so that the
Government of Southern Sudan can begin to receive oil
revenue, has been at a tactical disadvantage and sees itself
with little choice but to favour its old enemy and new
partner over its allies in the NDA. The resulting political
victories have strengthened the government's ties with the
SPLM while weakening the SPLM-NDA alliance and
damaging SPLM credibility in the North.
In the immediate future the government can be expected
to try to neutralise the SPLM further by offering its
officials multiple incentives. "The government has been
preparing for the SPLM's arrival in Khartoum for over a
year", said a member of the ruling National Congress Party. "They have new cars and houses set aside to offer.
Each strong SPLM figure will be assigned a deputy
from the government security services to watch over
them".20 Members of the first SPLM delegation to reach
the capital in early April 2005 joked that they would be
"subsidised" upon arrival. This is what was done with
many southern politicians during the peaceful interlude
of 1972-1983 that was ushered in by the Addis Ababa
Agreement and what has been done to weaken other
opposition groups since the present government came to
power in 1989.
As long as it can maintain the upper hand, the National
Congress Party is likely to seek a joint electoral list with
the SPLM in 2009 since this may well be its best chance
to retain power over the longer term if the CPA is kept on
track. However, it will also continue with efforts -- like
the Cairo agreement with the NDA -- to woo the northern
opposition back into its camp. The finalisation of the
interim constitution, which coincided with the sixteenth
anniversary, on 30 June 2005, of its acquisition of power,
was used by President Beshir to lift the state of
emergency throughout the country, with the exception of
Darfur and Eastern Sudan, and to free political prisoners
including Turabi and members of his Popular Congress
Party, which was authorised to resume operations.
Nevertheless, as the interim constitution was signed into
law by Beshir and Garang on 9 July, it was clear that the
new political order had much less acceptance than was
good for either member of the new partnership or for the
country. Consideration needs to be given to the two
options available for truly nationalising the interim
constitution and thereby creating a broader national
basis for CPA implementation. The first is to empower
the "inclusive Constitutional Review Process" which is
to take place during the six-year interim period.21 The
second is to reopen the National Constitutional Review
Commission after national elections, with each party
represented to the degree it showed political strength at
the ballot box.
There are problems with both. The agreement on
implementation modalities defined the Constitutional
Review Process in a minimalist manner as dealing with
such informational matters as public rallies, seminars and media programs rather than a true national dialogue.
Reopening of the Commission would have to wait four
years, and safeguards would need to be established to
protect the core agreements in the peace accords. Yet,
something must change. The government and SPLM
cannot continue to call themselves and the implementation
process inclusive and democratic if they are not willing to
accommodate opposition parties, significant representation
of women, or meaningful consultations with civil society
groups.
IV. THE SOUTH SUDAN DEFENCE
FORCES (SSDF)
The National Congress Party's political will to implement
the CPA is ultimately questionable because, as noted,
full implementation would pose at least two major risks:
the loss of power through free elections and the loss of
the South, with its considerable oil and other mineral
and agricultural wealth, through the self-determination
referendum. It wishes to be seen as cooperative, not least
to keep international pressure on it over the Darfur situation
at bay, but has considerable incentive to undercut the
agreement over time.22
In the longer term, the National Congress Party may try to
build on the widespread sentiment within northern elites,
seemingly across the political spectrum, that the peace
accords gave too much to the South and that secession --
seen as the likely outcome -- would be undesirable. By
building a coalition of northern political forces around
this goal, the National Congress Party could well find
willing partners to shore up its domestic support and to
share blame should CPA implementation stall. However,
the government-aligned SSDF remains the primary vehicle
through which the National Congress Party could work to
undermine implementation. It might be able to keep its
fingerprints fairly well hidden while using these militia
forces to produce the kind of South-South fighting that
would make the region ungovernable and unfit to hold a
self-determination referendum.
The SSDF is largely a creation of Khartoum's
longstanding "divide and conquer" approach to waging
war, which has sought to maximise tribal and other
parochial splits among the southern population. In many
ways, the SSDF is the odd man out in the peace accords,
which recognised the SPLA as the sole armed force in
the South. Its fighters will be a threat to the CPA until
they are fully demobilised and reintegrated.
A. MOTIVATIONS
Although often used by Khartoum as its proxy forces in
the South, the SSDF has a more complex history and set
of interests. Theoretically an organisation under a single
command structure, it is in reality more of an umbrella
organisation that links disparate armed groups under
a largely symbolic overall leadership. In part, SSDF
decentralisation has been encouraged by the government's
military intelligence branch to ensure the movement
does not evolve into a political threat in the South.
The most fundamental of its divisions is between the
"militias" -- the local forces essentially developed by the
government -- and the "liberation movements", which
are groups that allied with the government via the 1997
Khartoum Peace Agreement but have genuinely strong
southern sympathies and suspicions of the North. The
Juba Conference of April 2001 wove the two strands
only loosely together as the SSDF under the leadership
of Paulino Matiep.23 In general, the militias are viewed
as more closely aligned to the government, more
susceptible to manipulation by military intelligence, and
less accepting of Matiep's leadership.
There is also a political division between those closer to
the government and those who appear to support broader
goals such as southern self-determination. The fault line
(as well as Matiep's weakness) could be seen in the Shilluk
Kingdom in the spring of 2004. The dirty work of burning
villages and displacing thousands of villagers was largely
carried out by Gabriel Tang Ginye and Thomas Mabior,
without the sanction of the SSDF leadership,24 Matiep,
Gordon Kuang, and Benson Kuany, who made clear their
disgust. Others SSDF figures called for the expulsion of
those responsible, whom they accused, in language similar
to the SPLM's, of being mere government agents.25
In theory, the SSDF has a political wing -- the United
Democratic Salvation Front -- established under the 1997
Khartoum Peace Agreement by Dr Riek Machar but with
Machar's defection in 2001,26 its remnants have no control
over military operations. Moreover, after Machar left, the
government insisted that the Chairman of the South Sudan
Coordinating Council, the body created to administer
areas under its control in the South, come from the ruling
National Congress Party.27 While members of the United
Democratic Salvation Front served on the Coordinating
Council, and two are ministers in the national government,
the tiny party has almost no influence over the SSDF.28
The same goes for a break-away faction, the United
Democratic Front, headed by Peter Sule.
The former Chairman of the Coordinating Council, Dr
Riek Gai, long endeavoured to appoint SSDF leaders to
positions in his Council as a means to bring them under
control but with little success. He is widely viewed by
politically active southerners as opposed to the IGAD
peace process and is accused of attempting to undermine
the April South-South Dialogue in an effort to undercut
John Garang's political support.29
Paulino Matiep's South Sudan Unity Movement (SSUM),
the South Sudan Independence Movement (SSIM), and
Peter Gadet's Wangkai contingent (now dissolved), all
from Western Upper Nile, have been the major criminal
elements in the SSDF, blatantly carrying out informal
taxation, forced conscription, and confiscation of property,
kidnapping wives for commanders, and conducting
extortion rackets in both Western Upper Nile and on the
streets of Khartoum. Their actions have been largely
ignored by the security services and, more surprisingly,
by the international community.30 No peace process will
be complete until such abuses end.31
Many SSDF leaders feel humiliated and cheated by John
Garang, whose commitment to southern self-determination they doubt.32 Although the 1997 Khartoum Peace
Agreement was to some extent just a device to bring
Riek Machar into the government, the forces loyal to
him fought the SPLA not on behalf of the national
government but under the banner of southern selfdetermination,
which still has far more resonance for
most southerners than Garang's vision of a "New Sudan".
The SSDF is searching for suitable political representation
in the new era on which Sudan is embarked. It has mostly
rebuffed the bridge-building efforts of the South Sudan
Democratic Forum, a group of southern politicians
based in London and largely opposed to the SPLM.
Recently there has been talk of rebuilding the alliance
with the United Democratic Salvation Front despite its
obvious disarray.33 The wild card is Riek Machar, now a
deputy to Garang. SSDF members from his Nuer tribe
still admire him and say they would follow him should
he gain the leadership of the SPLM or form another
organisation.34 Even Paulino Matiep has said Riek
Machar represents the democratic wing of the SPLM
and that he would accept him as his leader.35
The SSDF, like other southern opposition groups, took
heart from the recent power struggle in the SPLM between
Garang and his top deputy and military commander, Salva
Kiir, which many saw as vindicating their charge that
Garang has become dictatorial and opening possibilities
for alliances with disaffected groups within his movement.
Indeed, the manner in which that struggle was resolved
indicated that many in the SPLM are more sympathetic
to intra-south reconciliation, including with the SSDF,
than Garang.36
SSDF leaders acknowledge that the 1997 Khartoum
Peace Agreement is dead, although they continue to seek
recognition that it was the precursor to the present peace
accords. They have concluded that the main difference
between 1997 and 2005 is that the CPA gained
international recognition but they profess not to understand
why their deal with the government was perceived as a
sell-out for the South, while the CPA is generally held to
be the harbinger of freedom for the region. They resent
the claim that their alliance with the government makes
them agents of the jellaba (Arab Northerners) while the
various agreements the SPLM has signed with northern
political parties are justified as advancing southern interests. SSDF dignity is also affronted by the term
"government militia" the SPLM applies to them.37
The Nuer, Dinka and Equatorian tribes are the three main
pillars of the South, whose relationships have always
determined the success or failure of governments in the
region.38 Nuer in the SSDF think in terms of a potential
alliance with the Equatorians, but almost never with the
Dinka.39 They believe they have good prospects for such
a partnership because the Equatorians suffered at the hands
of the Dinkas during the 1972-1983 period of southern
autonomy, and the Dinka perceive that the Equatorians
undermined them at the time by supporting a re-division
of the South.40 However, while such an alliance is by no
means impossible, its political weakness means that as
presently structured the SSDF cannot be the vehicle for
realising Nuer aspirations. The better options would
appear to be either arrangements with SPLM factions or
a strengthened relationship with opposition political
parties based in Khartoum. A third, but much less
promising option, is continued military resistance.
B. RELATIONS WITH THE GOVERNMENT
While the SSDF was an effective government ally
during the long civil war, it has little genuine loyalty to
Khartoum. Its soldiers largely consider that they have
been manipulated, abhor the North, and favour
separation of the South.41 Since most now recognise that
the government failed to abide by the 1997 Khartoum
Peace Agreement, and it has been overtaken by the
CPA, they remain in the government camp largely due
to material incentives, their hostility toward John
Garang and a desire for recognition.
Bribery has long been the government's most effective
means for acquiring southern allies. The SSDF offered a
military force capable of challenging the SPLA and
protecting government assets, particularly the oil fields,
when the national army was increasingly reluctant to
fight. The SSDF was also relatively cheap: most of its
fighters received no pay and only limited training and
weapons. Use of the SSDF deepened divisions in the South and weakened the appeal of the SPLM. To the
extent that SSDF soldiers were dying in the conflict
rather than northerners from the regular army, the
government incurred fewer political costs from the war
among its natural constituencies. With peace, however,
the price of buying SSDF loyalty will certainly increase.
The SSDF-government alliance is best seen as a pragmatic
exchange of services. If the National Congress Party
wants to maintain it and not violate the CPA, it must take
SSDF leaders and fighters into the national army. But this
will be difficult. Through the beginning of April 2005, the
government had brought in more than 420 as majors and
above.42 More are expected but no numbers are given,
and because most SSDF officers are poorly educated,
considerable effort will be needed to bring them up to
acceptable standards if the effort is to go beyond
tokenism.43 At least one government official did not deny
the possibility that SSDF officers might be dismissed as
rapidly as they were integrated.44
The ultimate worth of these officers to Khartoum,
politically as well as militarily, is that they control troops
on the ground but for this to have lasting value, the rank
and file will have to be integrated as well. Until that
happens, however, there are bound to be confusing and
bloody incidents of the sort that can be used by the
government at least to maintain a degree of instability in
the South. A recent example was the 15 February 2005
attack on Akobo by non-integrated SSDF from the South
Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), led by Cdr. Timothy
Taban Juuc, who had earlier become a Brigadier in the
regular army. The government denied any involvement
and claimed to be working with SPLM Cdr. Taban Deng
Gai to contain the situation.45 This was categorically
denied by Taban, who accused the government of being
behind the attack.46 The international community remained
largely silent about a seemingly clear ceasefire violation.47
In Northern Upper Nile following the signing of the
CPA, as many as 200 SSDF soldiers from the militias of
Deng Guer and Thon Mum defected to the local SPLA.
In response, government-backed militias attacked their
families, burning up to 30 villages and displacing some
4,000 civilians to SPLA areas.48 Khartoum also ordered
the militias in Melut and Renk to raise an additional 400
men each to compensate for the defections.49 The
international indifference to these attacks and the laxity
shown in dealing with violations by ex-SSDF personnel
who have been integrated into the army needs to be
reversed. The international community must do a better
job of holding the government responsible for the
actions of SSDF officers who have been taken into the
army and pushing it to cut ties with non-integrated
soldiers, as required by the peace accords.
The SSDF presents the government with a number of
real problems, however. Its expectations are high that
many will be taken into the government's share of the
Joint/Integrated Units in the South called for by the
CPA. A failure to meet these expectations would
cause disappointment and anger.50 Under the CPA,
however, the government's entire armed presence in
the South is restricted to its 12,000 army troops in
those Joint/Integrated Units. If it opts not to use SSDF
personnel, it will have to re-deploy any it integrates to
the North. The ex-SSDF would not like this and could
well rebel, desert and go home, or defect to the SPLA.
Likewise, the government would have good reason to
fear the consequences should it use ex-SSDF to make
up a large part of its share of the Joint/Integrated Units.
It worries that they might reach agreement with their
southern SPLA counterparts and even press for a
unilateral declaration of southern independence. It has
attempted to limit SSDF-SPLA interaction for this
reason for years.
Another major problem with using SSDF in the Joint/
Integrated Units -- which are intended as the model core
for a future national army should the South choose unity --
is lack of professionalism. Most have had neither training
nor a basic education and are unfamiliar with sophisticated
military technologies. Crisis Group recently learned that the government promised at least 1,500 positions within
the Joint/Integrated Units to SSDF Equatorian elements,
include the Murle and SPLM/Bor group.51 However,
when it submitted the names of its soldiers for those
units, reportedly fewer than 150 spots were set aside for
each of these groups, leading to considerable anger and
disappointment.52
Lastly, there is the problem of how to integrate back into
society SSDF personnel who are not taken into the
Khartoum forces, and who will do it. The troops of SSDF
leaders like Paulino Matiep, Gordon Kong, Ismael Konyi,
and others are wedded to their particular territories. They
argue that as southerners they have as much right to be
there as the SPLA, and no one can remove them, but the
CPA requires that they be demobilised because only the
SPLA and the government can maintain armed elements
in the South. Riek Gai is among those who have expressed
concern about this issue, but SSDF officials have shown
few signs of accommodation, in part because they were
kept out of the decision-making process that produced
the CPA.53
There is good reason to conclude that the government and
military intelligence have not decided how to deal with
the SSDF. Nevertheless, there is ample evidence that they
are not yet ready to renounce irrevocably the opportunity
to use them for subversive military purposes. In addition
to the attacks mentioned above, there have been steady
reports that the army has expanded its positions in the
South and rearmed allied militia, including those that
have not been integrated into the regular army. The SPLA
alleges that in Southern Blue Nile the government
recently distributed 3,000 weapons to the Fellata to fight
against it.54 A recent report released by the Civilian
Protection Monitoring Team found that the government
systematically armed and incited Lou Nuer against other
communities in Northern Upper Nile from March through
June 2005.55 Since signing the CPA, the government has
established at least nine new fortified garrisons along the
Sobat River, and it re-supplied its southern allies with
weapons via barges along that waterway in March and April.56 An airplane full of new weapons and ammunition
made an unscheduled emergency landing in Yambio on 15
July. Although it is not yet clear for whom the weapons
were intended, SPLA elements in the region suspect
government involvement.57
C. RELATIONS WITH THE SPLM
Although the SSDF leadership is politically immature, it
appreciates that the people in its communities support the
CPA as a mechanism to achieve southern independence.
Despite misgivings about Garang's leadership, he is
credited with achieving a peace agreement and a means
to end the generally hated relationship with the North.
As a result, SSDF leaders cannot appear to oppose the
CPA or they risk being seen solely as government tools.
During the civil war, hatred of Garang and the SPLA,
animosity toward the Dinka and heavy handed coercion
was sufficient to keep civilians in line and justify the
never popular alliance with Khartoum. But in peacetime,
these mechanisms are rapidly losing their effectiveness.
SSDF leaders have long sought a dialogue with the
SPLM: for reconciliation, to escape pariah status and to
gain recognition of their role in the struggle for southern
rights. They believe the SPLM does not want to take in
many of their predominately Nuer commanders because
that would change the ethnic balance of the movement
and advance the fortunes of Riek Macher, Garang's
principal challenger for leadership. However, the SSDF
leaders have never properly appreciated that although
southerners want reconciliation (particularly those from
Upper Nile who suffered the most from the SPLA-SSDF
conflict), the SPLM has largely been able to ignore the
pressure because it enjoys strong international support.
A string of individual SSDF commanders have returned
to the SPLM since the 2002 Machakos Protocol, most in
expectation that they would be fairly integrated into its
institutions.58 All have been disappointed with the speed
of integration and their new positions.59 This has had a
chilling effect on others considering an SPLA option.
While individual SSDF members have no doubt defected
subsequently, just as SPLA members have gone in the
other direction, the 18 January 2005 agreement with
elements of the South Sudan Liberation Army has been the lone significant recent return.60 By contrast, hundreds
of senior SSDF commanders have agreed to be integrated
into the regular army. Nothing could speak more forcefully
to their deep animosity toward Garang. More positively,
the SSDF leadership has unanimously endorsed the
CPA, an endorsement that was renewed before the April
South-South Dialogue in Nairobi61 and again after its
unsuccessful 30 June-3 July talks with the SPLM.62
The SSDF has set conditions for joining the SPLA. In a
position paper prepared for the South-South Dialogue and
echoed in interviews with Crisis Group, it called for
continued existence of the organisation in the South,
based on its legal foundation in the 1997 Khartoum Peace
Agreement. It also called for the SSDF to be equally
represented in the Joint/Integrated Units in the South,
obtaining 4,000 slots from the government and SPLA
allotments alike so that all three parties would have 8,000
troops. Its third condition was for the independent
southern army that is to exist outside the Joint/Integrated
Units to be renamed from "SPLA" to something like the
"Southern Sudan Armed Force" or "Territorial Army"
and to include non-integrated SSDF troops. Finally, it
sought inclusion in the police, prison, and other southern
security services foreseen by the CPA.63
The parties finally met face to face on 30 June, under
the auspices of the Moi African Institute. Despite high
expectations, the talks were difficult. "We underestimated
the deep-seated grievances that these parties held against
each other", explained an observer. "There was no social
interaction…no camaraderie".64 A twenty-person council
of "Wise Men" was established, and at the urging of ex-
President Moi, Garang and Matiep held direct talks.
Disagreements remained on two key points: the name and
composition of the southern army, and the level of SSDF representation in the Joint/Integrated Units. Nevertheless
there was agreement on the principle of integration of
forces, an immediate cessation of hostilities, and joint
endorsement of the CPA.65 Failure to resolve all issues at
the first meeting was not unexpected. "We were not
defeated militarily by the SPLA, so how can we submit
entirely to their will?", a senior SSDF commander asked.66
Most importantly, the parties agreed to continue their
discussions inside Sudan.
D. POLICY ALTERNATIVES
The SPLM wants to stick literally with the provision that
there can be no third armed group in the South but the
SSDF needs guarantees about the security of its forces,
positions in the SPLA army and the like, much as the
SPLM needed guarantees from the government and the
international community during negotiation of the CPA.
The best solution would be for members of the SSDF to
be integrated into the SPLA, or demobilised, as per the
CPA.67 However, this should happen peacefully and
voluntarily. Forcible disarmament of any group that
refuses to abide by the CPA, whether by a Sudanese
army or the UN mission, should be kept as an absolute
last option, to be activated only after everything else has
failed. The SSDF is a large and viable force, and many
of its grievances are justifiable, given that it was kept out
of the CPA negotiation.
The SPLM needs to reach an internal consensus about the
nature of its armed forces in the South. Debate continues,
for example, over the reorganisation, size and purpose of
the SPLA, as well as about doctrine. Very little has been
achieved on this in the first six months of the CPA, in part
because of Garang's continued distrust of his deputy and
military Chief of Staff, Salva Kiir.68 This will be an
ongoing process, but a basic understanding would help facilitate discussions with the SSDF. "Until the SPLM
knows how big the SPLA pie is, they won't be able to
share a slice", commented a regional military analyst.69
At the same time, the international community must
become much more engaged in pushing dialogue with the
SSDF forward. The recent talks were observed by the
cream of the Kenyan civil service, including Generals
Sumbeiywo and Opende and Ambassador Bethuel
Kiplagat, but only four other outsiders.70 While the Moi
Africa Institute remains an acceptable forum, particularly
as it allows for the continued involvement of Sumbeiywo,
future discussions require much greater support, in the
form of military experts and high-level diplomats,
including from the U.S. and UK.
The dialogue will continue to be largely technical, over
details related to integration, but there is also need for
some form of parallel reconciliation process in view of
the long-standing mutual hatred. Additionally, until the
SPLM can get oil revenue to pay for its military, it will be
unable to implement any agreement or offer meaningful
incentives to SSDF soldiers considering joining the SPLA.
The SSDF demand for a set number of positions within
the SPLA's share of the Joint/Integrated Units should be
resolvable. The peace deal states that the SSDF ceases to
exist as a separate organisation, even within the SPLA
or the army, but this is largely semantics. Insistence on a
guaranteed number is reasonable given the mutual mistrust.
The SPLA would prefer to create a joint committee to
determine numbers, timeframe and ranks for integration,
as it has done with other movements that have rejoined
it. In this scenario, any SSDF troops assigned to the
Joint/Integrated Units would be chosen as individuals
within the SPLA, rather than as a separate component.
At the June-July talks, the SSDF asked for half the
SPLA's 12,000 positions, while the SPLA reportedly
offered 1,000.71 The SPLM has won the political battle
for the South via the IGAD negotiations but should not
deny its old foe some dignity. Garang should offer
something substantial so integration into the SPLA does
not seem synonymous with defeat. "The SPLM needs to
be the generous victor", noted a Western diplomat.72
The SPLA is less likely to accept the demand that it be
transformed into a formal "southern army", instead of
its current partisan format. On its face the demand is
reasonable since for all intents and purposes, that is what
it will be.73 But, the SPLA remains tied to allies in
Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile (where it will maintain
a presence in the Joint/Integrated Units), and in eastern
Sudan until it withdraws. With the increasingly southern
focus of the SPLM already straining bonds with the
northern allies, the SPLA military command is one of
the few that still holds the movement together, and it
guarantees implementation of the agreement in these two
areas. For these reasons, the SPLA cannot be expected to
change its name. The SPLM should, therefore, work all
the harder to accommodate the other SSDF requirements,
including considering non-conventional solutions such as
agreeing to maintain local or tribal militias in their areas
of origin. If agreement over the name of the army remains
a stumbling block, ex-SSDF troops could possibly be
dual-labelled (SPLA/SSDF) for an agreed period, after
which the issue could be revisited.
E. THE INTERNATIONAL ROLE
The international community can do a number of things
to neutralise the dangerous spoiler potential of the SSDF
and facilitate the chances for meaningful southern
reconciliation. These include:
� |
helping the SPLA's transition from a guerrilla
movement to a professional army;
|
� |
putting pressure on the government to stop
recruiting and arming new factions in the South
and to cease inciting clashes there;
|
� |
encouraging both SSDF and SPLM to continue
their dialogue on integration without pre-conditions
and insisting that Khartoum not block any SSDF
from participating;
|
� |
supporting a long-term solution by helping to
establish a reconciliation process that includes
churches, women's organisations and other civil
society groups;
|
� |
pressuring the government to stick to the timetable
for withdrawal of its troops from the South;
|
� |
holding the parties accountable for actions by
any SSDF members who are integrated into their
armed forces; and
|
� |
deploying the UN peace monitoring force in
the South as soon as possible, with the aim of
monitoring, and ideally severing, lines of supply
between government forces and non-integrated
SSDF, and ensuring it has the capability to respond
rapidly to outbreaks of violence.
|
V. SPLM DIFFICULTIES
The SPLM faces steep challenges in its efforts to transform
from a rebel movement to a government, political party
and professional army. The ethnic politics of the South
are fragile and can be manipulated by Khartoum and
self-interested southern politicians alike. However, the
peace deal is a good one for it, and the SPLM, realises it
must be the force driving implementation, since the
National Congress Party cannot be counted upon to do
so. This makes delays related to its limited capacity and
internal difficulties all the more unfortunate.
The self-determination referendum is the end-goal for
many in the SPLM as well as the vast majority of
southerners. However, it will have to walk a careful path
during the interim period. The SPLM anticipates
maintaining a working partnership with the National
Congress Party, based on joint implementation of the
CPA, at least until elections in 2009.74 Although it
has resisted calls to date, this partnership may be made
even more robust as elections near, and the SPLM weighs
the various alliances on offer. At the same time, it is allied
with parts of the northern opposition within the NDA. An
electoral coalition of the "marginalised" embracing groups
from Darfur, Eastern Sudan, and Kordofan against the
centre might seem the more natural progression given
its stance for 21 years but could well push the National
Congress Party into scuttling the peace agreement. Debate
is on-going between the "secessionists" who largely
support partnership with the National Congress Party as
the safest road to the referendum, and those who support
the "New Sudan" idea and are committed to a fundamental
change in Khartoum and removing the National Congress
Party from power. Most if not all senior SPLM leaders
expect their unnatural partner to attempt to undermine the
agreement but do not want to challenge it too early or too
often for fear of stimulating this.
The complexity of the SPLM position was clearly
demonstrated following passage of UN Security Council
Resolution 1593. The NDA and other opposition groups
called for a weakened government, whose senior
leadership was at risk of indictment for war crimes, to step
down and permit a new, more broad-based government
to take power. The National Congress Party expected
SPLM support. The actual SPLM reaction fell somewhere
in the middle. An 11 April press release during the Oslo
donors conference expressed solidarity with all Sudan's
marginalised people and pledged support for justice in Darfur and Eastern Sudan but also acknowledged the
partnership with the National Congress Party for CPA
implementation. Rather than taking a position in favour
or against Resolution 1593, the SPLM called on the
Security Council and the government to find a way past
the impasse.75
Given these competing pressures, the SPLM is likely to
be moderate in government. In addition to juggling old
and new alliances, it must act carefully on the referendum
issue. Rhetoric favouring preservation of Sudan as a
unified state by Garang and other leaders sparks a backlash
among southern secessionists, including within the
SPLM.76 At the same time, the movement's representatives
in Khartoum must sell the idea to the National Congress
Party and other northern parties that a unity vote is
possible, if only the central government acts more
responsibly.
The SPLM must also do more to keep its constituencies
in the Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile satisfied.
The agreement on these areas failed to meet a number of
core demands, particularly in the former. In addition, the
SPLM's gradual shift of focus toward the South with
establishment of the Government of Southern Sudan
risks alienating its northern members and undermining
its broad national appeal. There is an ever present threat
that war could resume in either of these areas if people
feel they are not directly benefiting from peace.
Implementation of the Abyei agreement is yet another
area requiring close attention. Indeed, the late April visit
by the Abyei Boundary Commission77 was a wake-up
call for the SPLM, as government-mobilised Misseriya
tribesmen physically intimidated the international experts
and SPLM delegates and limited their ability to travel
freely. Security improved enough for the Commission to travel to Western Kordofan only after a call from Garang
to Vice-President Taha.78 Unfortunately, the government
and SPLM still appear to view Abyei as a zero sum game,
with the forum simply shifted from the IGAD CPA talks,
where it was a hotly contested issue, to boundary
delineation.79 Political leaders from the Ngok Dinka and
the Misseriya have warned Crisis Group that war will
break out if the Commission does not decide their way.80
The report of the Boundary Commission was presented to
the presidency on 10 July 2005 and reportedly defined
the traditional Ngok Dinka area as reaching far north of
the Bahr al-Arab (River Kiir), into current Misseriya
territory.81 Fighting followed between the SPLA and
government-aligned southern militia based in Abyei
town but it is not yet known if this was linked to the
report.82 Misseriya leaders and local government bodies
also vehemently rejected the Commission's findings.83
De-escalation is needed, as well as guarantees that the
rights of both peoples will be protected irrespective of
the outcome of the Abyei referendum.
There are two ways to stabilise the situation. First, leaders
from the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya should sit together
and attempt to find a mutually acceptable solution.
Secondly, the government and the SPLM should begin
informal talks in preparation for the Abyei referendum,
which is to be concurrent with the South's selfdetermination
referendum. The parties should examine
potential solutions, such as giving the local Ngok Dinka
and Misseriya duel citizenship should Abyei join an
independent South and guarantees for Misseriya grazing
rights so that the Commission decision and, ultimately,
the referendum, do not become winner-take-all matters.
The SPLM is dealing from a position of strength with
the southern political and armed opposition, based on
the peace agreement's reaffirmation that it is the political and military leader in the region, but the South-South
Dialogue offered it an important opportunity to hold
formal face-to-face discussions, in some cases for the
first time. After multiple delays, the talks finally opened
in Nairobi on 18 April 2005, under the watchful eye of
the former Kenyan president.84 The meeting was broadly
inclusive, although participation was heavily weighted
toward political opposition and civil society groups. Even
the senior SSDF military leaders who had been expected
failed to show up, due to administrative confusion between
the Moi Institute and the government and efforts from
within the National Congress Party and the Southern
Sudan Coordinating Council to block the delegation
from attending.85 Although a delegation from Khartoum
did eventually appear, Clement Wani was its only senior
SSDF representative, and he reportedly paid his own fare.
The parties came to the table with wildly different
expectations. Garang insisted that the CPA's terms on
political representation for the opposition and on the
SSDF were sacrosanct and pleaded with the SSDF to
integrate its troops into the SPLA rather than the Khartoum
army, "There's no reason for the other armed groups
to join [the] Sudan Armed Forces, other than through
misinformation. Your rightful place is in the South, with
the SPLA/M".86 Despite the differing expectations, the
meeting helped form the basis for future reconciliation
efforts and agreed two key points: endorsement of the
CPA and that the SPLA should be the de facto army for
the South, rather than a strictly partisan force. The
attendees also agreed on specific resolutions, such as a
formula for inclusiveness in the drafting committee for
the southern constitution, and formed a follow-up
committee to meet bi-monthly under the auspices of the
Moi Institute and the IGAD Secretariat to report on the
implementation of these resolutions.87
A. INTERNAL OBSTACLES AND CENTRALISED
DECISION-MAKING
The SPLM has strong political will to implement the CPA
but it lacks resources and institutional capacity to react
quickly to the multiple demands it faces. Many members
admit they greatly underestimated the work and difficulty
involved.88 Efforts thus far have focused on establishing
the Government of Southern Sudan, reorganising the
movement into a political party and developing the
SPLA into a professional army for the South. The SPLM
has struggled to fill personnel appointments in a timely
fashion and to give its decision-making process and
operations transparency. It must overcome a legacy of
centralised decision-making that stems from more than
two decades as a military movement and build institutions
that can function free of John Garang's direct influence.
This is testing both internal cohesion and the capacity to
implement the CPA.
The peace negotiations were conducted by a select group
around Garang, creating resentment among those excluded.
In late November 2004 an open rift emerged between
Garang and his top deputy, Commander Salva Kiir.
Although much of the background is disputed, it is
confirmed that Salva was reacting, at least in part, to
rumours that he had been replaced as First Deputy
Chairman by Garang ally Nhial Deng Nhial and that he
was unhappy with lack of consultation by Garang and
other senior leaders.89 He reportedly surrounded himself
with loyal troops and refused to leave his compound
in Yei to meet with Garang. The situation was partially
defused by visits to Yei from senior SPLM figures, and
an emergency conference of the top military and civilian
leadership was held in Rumbek the following month,
which became a forum for grievances to be voiced
generally. Salva's complaints about decision-making
during the peace talks and overall lack of consultations
were widely shared, and cadres also criticised Garang
for establishing "friendly" power structures, while
purposely circumventing the institutions created by the
SPLM's sole national convention in 1994, and delaying
a South-South Dialogue with other southern opposition
groups.90 Nevertheless most participants backed Garang's leadership and urged Salva not to endanger the peace
negotiations, then mere weeks from completion.91
The Rumbek meeting established committees focusing
on: reorganisation of the SPLA along the terms set out
in the CPA, led by Salva; governance issues in SPLM
areas, led by Second Deputy Chairman Dr Riek Machar;
and transformation of the SPLM into a political movement,
led by Third Deputy Chairman James Wani Igga. These
met from January 2005 through March, although only the
first completed its work, and reorganisation of the SPLA,
as noted, nevertheless remains far behind schedule.
Rumbek and the subsequent committees went some way
toward rebuilding trust and confidence in the leadership
but the core issues of Garang's centralised decision-making
and lack of delegation to institutions of governance remain.
Senior SPLM officials complain that the recommendations
of the committees are at Garang's mercy.92 A number of
examples highlight the difficult road ahead.
Following ratification of the CPA by the SPLM's
National Liberation Council, Garang unilaterally
dissolved the body on 3 February. Without consultation
he also announced a South-South Dialogue and a date
for a second SPLM National Convention. These steps
shocked most SPLM members, particularly dissolution
of the National Liberation Council, which the CPA
required to sit at least one more time to ratify the interim
national constitution. Realising his mistake, Garang said
that the institution had simply been recessed, and it not
only met again in July to ratify the new constitution
but is likely to remain in some form as the movement's
parliamentary body. The point of contention in all these
decisions was not substance but how they were made.
Tensions were further inflamed in late March 2005, when
Garang handpicked delegations to receive diplomatic and
governance training in South Africa and to represent the
SPLM in Khartoum. The former, 85 strong and including
the most senior leaders, was divided into 24 sectors, most
apparently along the lines of anticipated government
ministries.93 Because delegates were assigned to specific
sectors, it appeared that cadres were being assigned to
their future positions in the governments of Southern
Sudan and of national unity. Many of the assignments were surprising. The shift of Salva Kiir -- the head of the
military since the rebellion began in 1983 -- to the SPLM
transformation sector and of Riek Machar from democratic
governance to transport and communications in particular
were interpreted by some as a violation of the Rumbek
resolutions.94 The ethnic make up of the delegation caused
unhappiness among many southerners, especially that 22
delegates were from Bor, Garang's home area.95 All this
produced an uproar among the delegates themselves,
who decided they would not accept these appointments as
permanent job placements.96 Garang gave an assurance
they were being sent for general training in a wide range
of sectors, with no permanence to the assignments.
The Khartoum delegation was less contentious, although
it also had a high proportion from Bor.97 The most glaring
absence was the lack of delegates from the Aweil area in
northern Bahr el-Ghazal, a Dinka stronghold that has
regularly backed Salva, including in the November-
December 2004 showdown with Garang.98 Cdr. Paul
Malong, the deputy zonal commander for Bahr el-Ghazal
and a native of Malual Kon (in northern Bahr el-Ghazal),
had been included in the delegation to South Africa but
had been shifted from the military to the wildlife sector,
which was widely seen as a demotion. He reportedly
refused to accept the transfer.99 "There was a clear
pattern of punishing those who supported Salva in
the November-December split, via the distribution of
positions", a senior SPLM official said.100 This appears
to have been confirmed by his recent replacement as
military Chief of Staff by Garang's ally, Oyai Deng Ajak,
formerly the zonal commander for Eastern Equatoria.101
More telling is the lack of progress the SPLM and SPLA
have made over the six months since the signing of the
CPA. Little has been accomplished in Rumbek in terms
of building the new administration, while rumours fly
about positions, and few members of the movement are
willing to take an initiative for fear of reprisal by Garang.102
B. MONEY PROBLEMS
The delivery of oil revenues has been delayed pending
legal creation of the Government of Southern Sudan,
and may be further delayed due to the border dispute.103
Donor funds for the Government of Southern Sudan in
the Capacity Building Trust Fund (CBTF) are mostly
earmarked for training and do not give the SPLM the
financial flexibility it badly needs at the moment. Money
from the pledges at the April Oslo donors conference
will not arrive for several months, whether via the
Multi-Donor Trust Fund for the South or bilaterally.104
In the meantime, the SPLM cannot pay for its cadres
dispersed throughout the South and the wider region or
for the reorganisation or salaries of the SPLA. The
CBTF could be used to pay civil but not military
salaries, and the SPLM dares not pay one without the
other. With both oil revenue and donor funding stuck in
the pipeline, CPA implementation has moved slowly.105
SPLA delays in assembling troops and appointing
participants in the Joint/Integrated Units (officers, noncommissioned
officers and soldiers should have been
identified by 8 April) stem not only from the cash flow
problem but also shortages of food and logistical constraints. The SPLA has yet to assemble most of
its troops for assessment and reorganisation. The SPLM
has just begun to buy food for the eventual assembly of
troops thanks to the oil revenue advance granted by the
government in late May, although food had only been
distributed to three locations.106 The 1,500 SPLA soldiers
sent to participate in the Joint/Integrated Units in Khartoum
came from eastern Sudan. This shortfall stems in part from
expectations, fed by U.S. representatives during the final
months of the IGAD negotiations, that Washington would
help pay for the bulk of the movement's militaryrelated
costs in the South.107 Although the recent U.S.
commitment of $20 million for military training, doctrine
and equipment will help fill the gap, it is far less than the
SPLM expected and had been promised.108 The SPLA
needs more technical expertise from donors to turn itself
into a professional standing army.
As a result of these delays in reorganisation and pay,
morale is poor among many troops.109 Yet there are
continuing reports of systematic, large-scale SPLA
recruitment in the South and of southerners in Khartoum.
There are two possible explanations for this. The first is
that it wants to make the most of donor aid to the military
sector by expanding the numbers of those eligible for help
through the formal UN-led disarmament, demobilisation
and rehabilitation (DDR) process.110 The second is that
it actually needs the new troops, in part because it would
otherwise have few left over after filling its positions in
the Joint/Integrated Units and in part because many of
its rank and file may have deserted and gone home after
the peace accords were signed.111
Urgent action is also needed by the SPLM to shore up
its financial structures and restore its fading credibility.
Many members acknowledge corruption will be one of
the biggest problems in the South and call for help in
developing mechanisms for financial oversight and
accountability. "Corruption is the biggest danger to the
South", worried a senior SPLM official. "If we pay
ourselves instead of paying down and giving rights and
payback to the people of the South, we're doomed".112
The oil agreements fiasco discussed below as well as the
unilateral -- and highly unprofessional -- release of the
new SPLM currency in April 2005 have hurt the SPLM
with potential investors. It should move quickly against
the onset of corruption in the Government of Southern
Sudan by: establishing an anti-corruption commission;
formalising the position of auditor general and including
a code of conduct for officials in the southern constitution;
and inserting in the southern constitution a requirement
for ministers to declare their assets like that in the Interim
National Constitution.
More generally, the SPLM must democratise as a
movement by providing significant representation for
women,113 ethnic minorities and other marginalised
groups if it is to avoid an internal explosion and become
a successful political party. Centralised decision-making
mechanisms, made worse by the lack of resources, are
producing anger and frustration over failure to meet
peacetime expectations and a dangerous and unsustainable
situation within the movement. The SPLM would be wise
to begin genuine democratisation sooner rather than later,
within both its own ranks and the Government of Southern
Sudan if it wishes to survive the interim period intact.
VI. THE OIL FIASCO
Early disagreements in the oil sector are symptomatic of
CPA implementation obstacles and pose an immediate
challenge to the viability of the peace process. Full
implementation of the Wealth Sharing Agreement is
crucial, in particular management of the oil sector and
transfer of southern oil revenues by the central government
to the Government of Southern Sudan. Negotiations over
this money were difficult, and oil remains an emotional
issue for many southerners. Extended delays by Khartoum
in disbursing revenue could lead to calls within the SPLM
for a return to war. The Government of Southern Sudan
will rely heavily on the money to pay many of its initial
costs, especially those related to the military, as donors
are unlikely to provide substantial support to this sector.
The disagreement over boundaries in the oil areas is a
potential deal-breaker, as the Government of Southern
Sudan is only entitled to revenue from what is produced
in the South. Moreover, a number of ill-advised deals
signed by senior SPLM officials in the months leading
up to the CPA that granted oil concessions in the South
violate the peace agreement and are being challenged by
the Khartoum government. Although several of these
deals have already collapsed, a concession to White Nile
Ltd. in Block Ba is moving forward even though it is
also being challenged within the SPLM.
A. BORDER CONFUSION
Delineation of the border in the oil-producing areas was
not addressed during the CPA negotiations. The agreement
on oil revenue states that 50 per cent of net oil revenue
from "oil producing wells in southern Sudan" is to be
allocated to the Government of Southern Sudan as of the
signing of the CPA.114 Although the North-South borders
are defined under the peace accords as those at the time
of independence on 1 January 1956, these are contested,
and Khartoum governments have several times attempted
to alter them to place oil within the North.115 The parties did agree to establish a border commission to determine
the line as of 1956.116 However, this commission is only
to be appointed by the presidency once the interim period
has begun and the new Government of National Unity is
a fact. This is likely to be too slow, and there is no other
mechanism in the CPA for dealing with this high stakes
issue. The National Petroleum Commission that is to
review existing oil contracts could potentially play a part
but it has not yet been formed.117
Crisis Group has obtained a copy of a 14 June 2004
government document, signed by Minister of Federal
Affairs Nafie Ali Nafie, informing the Governor of
Unity state that the Heglig region did not belong to
Unity state (South) as indicated in a map annexed to the
state's annual performance report to the Council of
Ministers, but rather to Western Kordofan state (North),
as shown on a map drawn by the National Geodesy
Corporation.118 The Heglig oil field is one of the
country's largest, at the centre of the oil industry in the
region. Southern Sudanese canvassed by Crisis Group
unanimously assumed that Heglig was part of the South,
just as northern Sudanese unanimously assumed it was
part of the North. The region is listed in the Final
Ceasefire Agreement as an assembly point for SPLA
troops in the Western Upper Nile region of Upper Nile,
presumably indicating that both parties agree that at least
some part of Heglig is in the South.119
Such disagreements have the potential to delay
disbursement of oil revenues indefinitely, which would
undermine the SPLM's ability to implement the peace
accords as well as heighten mutual distrust. The parties, in conjunction with international experts acting on behalf of
IGAD and the UN, should set up a boundary commission
as soon as possible to resolve the border issue, as well as
more technical issues such as the formula for defining
the geographic placement of an oil well (i.e. site of
subterranean resources vs. site of pumping station).
B. NEW DEALS
own fiefdom, with little transparency or accountability.
The SPLM appear to be following in Khartoum's footsteps.
The Wealth Sharing Agreement stated that existing
contracts would remain valid but could be reviewed for
environmental or ecological deficiencies. It allowed the
aforementioned SPLM technical team to review existing
contracts but made no mention of a similar body from
the government side to review SPLM contracts because
at the time there were no SPLM contracts, and it was
understood there could not be without violating at least
the spirit of the Wealth Sharing Agreement. The parties
agreed that new oil contracts, post-CPA, would be decided
consensually by the National Petroleum Commission,
which is to be a joint government-SPLM body.120 Once
formed, it will be responsible for the sector, including
the negotiation and approval of all new oil exploration
and development contracts.121
Following rumours of an oil deal signed with the
Government of Southern Sudan and until trading was
suspended pending clarification, the stock of White Nile
Ltd. rose dramatically on the London Stock Exchange
from its launch price of 10 pence on 10 February 2005 to
137 pence five days later.122 Trading resumed on 23 May
following the release of a White Nile circular on 19 May,
only to be suspended a second time for several days.123
Khartoum reacted with understandable anger to the deal,
as the White Nile concession infringed on a concession area leased by the government to a consortium which has
held the rights since 1980.124
In 1980, Total gained the 118,000 square kilometre
concession, the country's largest, for Block 5 (also known
as Block B) in southern Sudan. It froze operations in 1985
due to the civil war, which qualified as "force majeur",
excusing it from the timetable for oil development in the
contract,125 but maintained ownership and concession
rights, visited Sudan yearly and paid annual fees to the
government to keep its license valid.126 The concession is
now owned by a consortium that includes TotalFinaElf
(32.5 per cent), Marathon Petroleum Sudan127 (32.5 per
cent), Kufpec Sudan (25 per cent), and the state-owned
Sudapet (10 per cent).128 In late December 2004, just
weeks before the peace accords, TotalFinaElf signed
a renewed production sharing agreement with the
government, making clear that its return was conditional
on peace and an improved security situation.129
A few SPLM officials had been quietly negotiating with
investors to develop the southern oil sector prior to the
conclusion of the CPA.130 "We have been trying to get
in touch with Total for a long time", explained a senior
SPLM official. "They ignored us throughout the '90s and
have been paying annual fees to Khartoum. Some of us
became angry with them".131 "The White Nile agreement
is a violation of the peace deal", a senior SPLM official
admitted, "but it was also a signal to Khartoum. Since the signing of the Wealth Sharing Agreement, the
government began to sell off nearly all the remaining
concessions in the country, which went against the
spirit.…We needed to show that we can play that game
too".132
The SPLM team broke Block B into three sub-concessions
-- all within the TotalFinaElf concession -- and signed
deals for Blocks Ba (White Nile), Bb (Planitis, an
American company) and Bc (Supiri Energy Corp., a
Canadian company), or at least the last two, on 23
December 2004, days after the consortium had
renewed its agreement.133 However, the Planitis and
Supiri deals required large cash payments to the SPLM
up front, reportedly $5 million and $10 million (followed
by an additional $5 million) respectively.134 Neither
company was able to make the payments, causing their
arrangements to fall through.135 The SPLM negotiators
created Nile Petroleum Corp. to serve as the state
petroleum company for the Government of Southern
Sudan and as a partner with the external investors in
each concession area. The SPLM hoped to build the
in-house capacity of Nile Petroleum Corp. so that it
could eventually to handle the oil demands of southern
Sudan by itself.136
The White Nile deal went forward, with the company and
the SPLM arguing it had been signed in August 2004,
thus predating the contract renewal by the TotalFinaElf
consortium.137 However, the consortium's concession had been maintained consistently and would appear to be the
"existing" agreement for Block B and protected under the
terms of the peace accords. The White Nile deal is
challenged on two further levels. The first is the legality
of a rebel movement signing an oil agreement as the
Government of Southern Sudan prior to conclusion of the
CPA and establishment of that entity. On this point, the
SPLM argues that it has long controlled the territory in
Block B, provided services to its population, and,
therefore, enjoyed de facto sovereignty there.138
The second challenge comes from inside the SPLM,
where the establishment of Nile Petroleum as the state
petroleum company for the Government of Southern
Sudan is questioned. By internal regulation, to be
considered a legal SPLM entity a parastatal body must
be registered under the New Sudan Public Corporation
Act of 2003.139 However, when approached in December
2004 to help register Nile Petroleum Ltd., SPLM Attorney
General and head of Legal Affairs Michael Makuei
reportedly refused.140 Makuei reportedly blocked earlier
efforts to negotiate oil deals as well, fearing that any
done ahead of the peace agreement would be illegal.141
As a result, the three agreements were negotiated
without SPLM lawyers. The only "registration" for Nile
Petroleum Corp. discovered by Crisis Group is an 18
February 2005 memo signed by SPLM Second Deputy
Chairman Dr Riek Machar, nearly six weeks after the
CPA.142 The apparent result is that Nile Petroleum Corp.,
which holds a 50 per cent stake in White Nile Ltd. and
could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, is neither
technically a legal entity of the SPLM nor included within
the still emerging structures of the Government of Southern
Sudan. Opportunities for corruption within the SPLM
are ripe.
It is difficult to tell if the White Nile fiasco is a case of
nascent corruption among a few or a symptom of
inefficiency and lack of governance structures. It is
likely a mix of each that at least demonstrates how the
SPLM's lack of transparency can potentially ruin the
CPA. Garang reportedly announced in Rumbek on 3
February 2005 a decision to de-register any concessions
the SPLM had granted and to sign nothing new but there
has been no change in the movement's position since then.143 Combined with the late April release of the New
Sudan Pound, with disregard for sound monetary policy
and ongoing discussions over the currency with the
government in Khartoum, the SPLM has damaged the
South's image as a promising investment market.144
Garang and the SPLM Leadership Council should
immediately de-register the White Nile concession, as it
poses a serious challenge to the sustainability of the
peace accords. Recent reports of a new deal signed by
the SPLM in block Bb (5b), formerly held by Lundin
Oil, must also be scrutinised.145 Friends of the SPLM,
such as the U.S. and Norway, should also press the
movement to cancel the White Nile deal and to fix the
rotten culture that threatens to take root in the economic
dealings of the Government of Southern Sudan. More
broadly, the government and SPLM should use the
National Petroleum Commission, as soon as it is set
up, to review all agreements signed since the Wealth
Sharing Agreement was finalised in January 2004.146
VII. CONCLUSION
If implemented, the CPA can lead to Sudan's peaceful and
fundamental transformation, resolving the root causes
behind the 21-year civil war with the SPLM and providing
the basis to resolve the ongoing conflict in Darfur and
festering conflicts in the east and centre of the country.
Yet, this is by no means guaranteed. The most troubling
obstacle that has emerged is lack of political will on the
side of the government and its ruling National Congress
Party, which realise fundamental change would necessarily
come at the expense of their special interests. As they
need the peace accords and partnership with the SPLM
in the short-term, principally to deflect international
pressure over Darfur, the challenge for the former
insurgents, all Sudanese democratic forces and the
international community is to do everything possible to
bring the CPA's provisions to life as quickly as possible,
making them harder to undo with each passing day.
SPLM implementation, however, has been slowed to a
snail's pace by overly centralised decision-making, lack of
some capacities and cash flow problems. While Garang's
arrival in Khartoum signals the beginning of a new
political era, it is uncertain whether the SPLM will be
effective as a national party or will be bogged down in
southern politics. What to do about the government-allied
militias in the South (the SSDF) poses an immediate and
critical challenge to its plans in that region. By reaching
an agreement with those militias, it can neutralise a
potential spoiler and unite the South for the six-year interim
period preceding the self-determination referendum the
CPA promises. Accommodating the SSDF, however,
would mean sharing considerable power, at least on the
military side, with many former enemies and might force
the SPLM to open political space in the South faster than
it would like.
The international community must be aware of the
likelihood that the National Congress Party will seek
to undermine implementation in the coming months
and years. It will need to help in preventing use of the
SSDF as subversive proxies, in building the capacities
of the SPLM and the new Government of Southern
Sudan and in holding all sides accountable to their
commitments and timelines under the CPA.
Even if implementation moves forward, Sudan is likely
to remain unstable for the foreseeable future given the
problems in Darfur and elsewhere that have no easy
answers. Six months on from signature of the CPA, its
people have taken a small but important step towards
turning the country around but the road ahead is far from
certain.
| |
Nairobi/Brussels, 25 July 2005
|
APPENDIX A
MAP OF SUDAN
APPENDIX B
CPA TIMELINE
9 January 2005: |
Signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Nairobi; beginning of the six month preinterim
period.
|
30 April 2005: |
Formation of the National Constitutional Review Commission.
|
18 June 2005: |
Agreement signed between the Government of Sudan and the National Democratic Alliance
(NDA).
|
26 June 2005: |
The National Constitutional Review Commission concludes work on the new interim national
constitution and sends it to the parliamentary bodies of the government and the SPLM for
ratification.
|
9 July 2005: |
SPLM Chairman Dr John Garang sworn in as 1st Vice-President, launching the new institution of
the presidency; Interim National Constitution signed by Garang and President Omer el-Bashir;
pre-interim period ends, six-year interim period begins.
|
18 July 2005: |
The Southern Sudan Constitution drafting committee is formed.
|
19 July 2005: |
Garang dissolves existing administrative structures in the South and appoints caretaker
administrators in the ten southern states to unify the SPLM and government administrations
in the South ahead of the formation of the Government of Southern Sudan.
|
9 August 2005: |
The Government of National Unity is expected to be formed.
|
9 September 2005: |
The Government of Southern Sudan is expected to be formed.
|
9 July 2009: |
The deadline for holding local, state, national and presidential elections, according to the CPA.
|
9 July 2011: |
The end of the interim period, and the holding of the southern self-determination referendum.
|
APPENDIX C
GLOSSARY
CPA |
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the culmination of two and a half years of negotiations between
the SPLM and the Government of Sudan, under the auspices of IGAD. The CPA, which was signed on
9 January 2005, includes the Machakos Protocol of July 2002, the Security Arrangements Agreement
of September 2003, the Wealth Sharing Agreement of January 2004, the Power Sharing Agreement,
Abyei Agreement, and Southern Kordofan/Southern Blue Nile Agreements of May 2004, and the
Implementation Modalities Agreement of December 2004.
|
CPMT |
The Civilian Protection Monitoring Team, created through a March 2002 agreement between the
Government of Sudan and the SPLM, brokered by then-US Special Envoy John Danforth. It became
operational in September 2002, investigating allegations of attacks against civilians by either party. It is
due to cease operations in October 2005.
|
IGAD |
Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the regional body for the Horn of Africa, comprising
Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti and Somalia. It chaired the peace talks between
the Government of Sudan and the SPLA beginning in 1994.
|
NDA |
National Democratic Alliance, the umbrella body of Sudanese opposition parties movements, based in
Asmara. Its members include the SPLA, the SLA, and most northern opposition groups. JEM is not a
member. Although the NDA signed a partial agreement with the Government of Sudan on 18 June
2005, many members have rejected the agreement.
|
SSDF |
The South Sudan Defence Forces, formed as the umbrella organisation for the southern groups which
signed the 1997 Khartoum Peace Agreement with the government. In 2001, it was expanded to cover
all government-aligned southern armed groups.
|
UNMIS |
The United Nations Mission in Sudan, formally approved by the UN Security Council on 24 March
2005 in Resolution 1590. It includes a 10,000-strong military component, up to 715 civilian police,
and a sizeable civilian component. Its primary task is to support and monitor implementation of the
CPA.
|
APPENDIX D
ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP
The International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) is an
independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation,
with over 110 staff members on five continents, working
through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy
to prevent and resolve deadly conflict.
Crisis Group's approach is grounded in field research.
Teams of political analysts are located within or close by
countries at risk of outbreak, escalation or recurrence of
violent conflict. Based on information and assessments
from the field, it produces analytical reports containing
practical recommendations targeted at key international
decision-takers. Crisis Group also publishes CrisisWatch,
a twelve-page monthly bulletin, providing a succinct
regular update on the state of play in all the most significant
situations of conflict or potential conflict around the world.
Crisis Group's reports and briefing papers are distributed
widely by email and printed copy to officials in
foreign ministries and international organisations and
made available simultaneously on the website,
www.crisisgroup.org. Crisis Group works closely with
governments and those who influence them, including
the media, to highlight its crisis analyses and to generate
support for its policy prescriptions.
The Crisis Group Board -- which includes prominent
figures from the fields of politics, diplomacy, business
and the media -- is directly involved in helping to bring
the reports and recommendations to the attention of senior
policy-makers around the world. Crisis Group is chaired
by Lord Patten of Barnes, former European Commissioner
for External Relations. President and Chief Executive
since January 2000 is former Australian Foreign Minister
Gareth Evans.
Crisis Group's international headquarters are in Brussels,
with advocacy offices in Washington DC (where it is
based as a legal entity), New York, London and Moscow.
The organisation currently operates sixteen field offices
(in Amman, Belgrade, Bishkek, Dakar, Dushanbe,
Islamabad, Jakarta, Kabul, Nairobi, Port-au-Prince,
Pretoria, Pristina, Quito, Seoul, Skopje and Tbilisi), with
analysts working in over 50 crisis-affected countries and
territories across four continents. In Africa, this includes
Angola, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea, Liberia, Rwanda,
the Sahel region, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda
and Zimbabwe; in Asia, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Kashmir,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar/Burma, Nepal, North
Korea, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan;
in Europe, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova,
Montenegro and Serbia; in the Middle East, the whole
region from North Africa to Iran; and in Latin America,
Colombia, the Andean region and Haiti.
Crisis Group raises funds from governments, charitable
foundations, companies and individual donors. The
following governmental departments and agencies
currently provide funding: Agence Intergouvernementale
de la francophonie, Australian Agency for International
Development, Austrian Federal Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Canadian
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade,
Canadian International Development Agency, Canadian
International Development Research Centre, Czech
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dutch Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, French
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, German Foreign Office, Irish
Department of Foreign Affairs, Japanese International
Cooperation Agency, Principality of Liechtenstein Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, New Zealand Agency for International
Development, Republic of China (Taiwan) Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Swedish
Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Swiss Federal Department of
Foreign Affairs, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office,
United Kingdom Department for International
Development, U.S. Agency for International Development.
Foundation and private sector donors include Atlantic
Philanthropies, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford
Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William
& Flora Hewlett Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation
Inc., Hunt Alternatives Fund, John D. & Catherine T.
MacArthur Foundation, John Merck Fund, Charles
Stewart Mott Foundation, Open Society Institute, David
and Lucile Packard Foundation, Ploughshares Fund,
Sigrid Rausing Trust, Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Sarlo
Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund,
United States Institute of Peace and Fundação Oriente.
APPENDIX E
CRISIS GROUP REPORTS AND BRIEFINGS ON AFRICA SINCE 2002
CENTRAL AFRICA
Storm Clouds over Sun City: The Urgent Need to Recast the
Congolese Peace Process, Africa Report N°44, 14 May 2002
(also available in French)
Burundi: After Six Months of Transition: Continuing the War
or Winning the Peace, Africa Report N°46, 24 May 2002
(also available in French)
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: The
Countdown, Africa Report N°50, 1 August 2002 (only available
in French)
The Burundi Rebellion and the Ceasefire Negotiations, Africa
Briefing Nº9, 6 August 2002
Rwanda at the End of the Transition: A Necessary Political
Liberalisation, Africa Report N°53, 13 November 2002 (also
available in French)
The Kivus: The Forgotten Crucible of the Congo Conflict,
Africa Report N°56, 24 January 2003
A Framework for Responsible Aid to Burundi, Africa Report
N°57, 21 February 2003
Rwandan Hutu Rebels in the Congo: a New Approach to
Disarmament and Reintegration, Africa Report N°63, 23
May 2003 (also available in French)
Congo Crisis: Military Intervention in Ituri, Africa Report N°64,
13 June 2003
The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda: Time for
Pragmatism, Africa Report N°69, 26 September 2003 (only
available in French)
Refugees and Displaced Persons in Burundi – Defusing the
Land Time-Bomb, Africa Report N°70, 7 October 2003 (only
available in French)
Refugees and Internally Displaced in Burundi: The Urgent
Need for a Consensus on Their Repatriation and Reintegration,
Africa Briefing Nº17, 2 December 2003 (only available in French)
Northern Uganda: Understanding and Solving the Conflict,
Africa Report N°77, 14 April 2004
HIV/AIDS as a Security Issue in Africa: Lessons from Uganda,
Issues Report N°3, 16 April 2004
End of Transition in Burundi: The Home Stretch, Africa
Report Nº81, 5 July 2004 (also available in French)
Pulling Back from the Brink in the Congo, Africa Briefing
Nº18, 7 July 2004 (also available in French)
Maintaining Momentum in the Congo: The Ituri Problem,
Africa Report N°84, 26 August 2004
Elections in Burundi: The Peace Wager, Africa Briefing
Nº20, 9 December 2004 (also available in French)
Back to the Brink in the Congo, Africa Briefing Nº21, 17
December 2004
Peace in Northern Uganda: Decisive Weeks Ahead, Africa
Briefing N°22, 21 February 2005
The Congo's Peace is Failing: Crisis in the Kivus, Africa Report
N°91, 30 March 2005
Shock Therapy for Northern Uganda's Peace Process, Africa
Briefing N°23, 11 April 2005
The Congo: Solving the FDLR Problem Once and for All,
Africa Briefing N°25, 12 May 2005
Building a Comprehensive Peace Strategy for Northern
Uganda, Africa Briefing Nº27, 23 June 2005
HORN OF AFRICA
God, Oil & Country: Changing the Logic of War in Sudan,
Africa Report N°39, 28 January 2002
Capturing the Moment: Sudan’s Peace Process in the
Balance, Africa Report N°42, 3 April 2002
Somalia: Countering Terrorism in a Failed State, Africa
Report N°45, 23 May 2002
Dialogue or Destruction? Organising for Peace as the War in
Sudan Escalates, Africa Report N°48, 27 June 2002
Sudan’s Best Chance for Peace: How Not to Lose It, Africa
Report N°51, 17 September 2002
Ending Starvation as a Weapon of War in Sudan, Africa
Report N°54, 14 November 2002
Salvaging Somalia’s Chance for Peace, Africa Briefing Nº11,
9 December 2002
Power and Wealth Sharing: Make or Break Time in Sudan’s
Peace Process, Africa Report N°55, 18 December 2002
Sudan’s Oilfields Burn Again: Brinkmanship Endangers The
Peace Process, Africa Briefing Nº13, 10 February 2003
Negotiating a Blueprint for Peace in Somalia, Africa Report
N°59, 6 March 2003
Sudan’s Other Wars, Africa Briefing Nº14, 25 June 2003
Sudan Endgame Africa Report N°65, 7 July 2003
Somaliland: Democratisation and Its Discontents, Africa
Report N°66, 28 July 2003
Ethiopia and Eritrea: War or Peace?, Africa Report N°68, 24
September 2003
Sudan: Towards an Incomplete Peace, Africa Report N°73,
11 December 2003
Darfur Rising: Sudan's New Crisis, Africa Report N°76, 25
March 2004 (also available in Arabic)
Biting the Somali Bullet, Africa Report N°79, 4 May 2004
Sudan: Now or Never in Darfur, Africa Report N°80, 23 May
2004 (also available in Arabic)
Darfur Deadline: A New International Action Plan, Africa
Report N°83, 23 August 2004 (also available in Arabic and in
French)
Sudan's Dual Crises: Refocusing on IGAD, Africa Briefing
Nº19, 5 October 2004
Somalia: Continuation of War by Other Means?, Africa Report
N°88, 21 December 2004
Darfur: The Failure to Protect, Africa Report N°89, 8 March
2005
A New Sudan Action Plan, Africa Briefing N°24, 26 April
2005
Do Americans Care About Darfur?, Africa Briefing N°26, 1
June 2005
The AU's Mission in Darfur: Bridging the Gaps, Africa
Briefing Nº28, 6 July 2005
Counter-Terrorism in Somalia: Losing Hearts and Minds?,
Africa Report Nº95, 11 July 2005
SOUTHERN AFRICA
Zimbabwe’s Election: The Stakes for Southern Africa, Africa
Briefing Nº8, 11 January 2002
All Bark and No Bite: The International Response to
Zimbabwe’s Crisis, Africa Report N°40, 25 January 2002
Zimbabwe at the Crossroads: Transition or Conflict? Africa
Report N°41, 22 March 2002
Zimbabwe: What Next? Africa Report N° 47, 14 June 2002
Zimbabwe: The Politics of National Liberation and
International Division, Africa Report N°52, 17 October 2002
Dealing with Savimbi’s Ghost: The Security and Humanitarian
Challenges in Angola, Africa Report N°58, 26 February 2003
Zimbabwe: Danger and Opportunity, Africa Report N°60, 10
March 2003
Angola’s Choice: Reform Or Regress, Africa Report N°61, 7
April 2003
Decision Time in Zimbabwe, Africa Briefing Nº15, 8 July
2003
Zimbabwe: In Search of a New Strategy, Africa Report N°78,
19 April 2004
Blood and Soil: Land, Politics and Conflict Prevention in
Zimbabwe and South Africa, Africa Report Nº85, 17 September
2004
Zimbabwe: Another Election Chance, Africa Report N°86, 30
November 2004
Post-Election Zimbabwe: What Next?, Africa Report N°93, 7
June 2005
WEST AFRICA
Liberia: The Key to Ending Regional Instability, Africa Report
N°43, 24 April 2002
Sierra Leone after Elections: Politics as Usual? Africa Report
N°49, 12 July 2002
Liberia: Unravelling, Africa Briefing Nº10, 19 August 2002
Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission: A
Fresh Start?, Africa Briefing Nº12, 20 December 2002
Tackling Liberia: The Eye of the Regional Storm, Africa
Report N°62, 30 April 2003
The Special Court for Sierra Leone: Promises and Pitfalls of
a “New Model”, Africa Briefing Nº16, 4 August 2003
Sierra Leone: The State of Security and Governance, Africa
Report N°67, 2 September 2003
Liberia: Security Challenges, Africa Report N°71, 3 November
2003
Côte d’Ivoire: “The War Is Not Yet Over”, Africa Report
N°72, 28 November 2003
Guinée: Incertitudes autour d’une fin de règne, Africa Report
N°74, 19 December 2003
(only available in French)
Rebuilding Liberia: Prospects and Perils, Africa Report N°75,
30 January 2004
Côte d'Ivoire: No Peace in Sight, Africa Report N°82, 12 July
2004
(also available in French)
Liberia and Sierra Leone: Rebuilding Failed States, Africa
Report N°87, 8 December 2004
Côte d'Ivoire: Le pire est peut-être à venir, Africa Report
N°90, 24 March 2005 (currently only available in French)
Islamist Terrorism in the Sahel: Fact or Fiction?, Africa
Report N°92, 31 March 2005
Stopping Guinea's Slide, Africa Report N°94, 13 June 2005
(also available in French)
Swaziland: The Clock is Ticking, Africa Briefing Nº29, 14
July 2005.
OTHER REPORTS AND BRIEFINGS
For Crisis Group reports and briefing papers on:
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Latin America and Caribbean
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Middle East and North Africa
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please visit our website www.crisisgroup.org
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APPENDIX F
CRISIS GROUP BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chair
Lord Patten of Barnes
Former European Commissioner for External Relations, UK
President & CEO
Gareth Evans
Former Foreign Minister of Australia
Executive Committee
Morton Abramowitz
Former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and Ambassador to Turkey
Emma Bonino
Member of European Parliament; former European Commissioner
Cheryl Carolus
Former South African High Commissioner to the UK; former Secretary General of the ANC
Maria Livanos Cattaui*
Former Secretary-General, International Chamber of Commerce
Yoichi Funabashi
Chief Diplomatic Correspondent & Columnist, The Asahi Shimbun,
Japan
William Shawcross
Journalist and author, UK
Stephen Solarz*
Former U.S. Congressman
George Soros
Chairman, Open Society Institute
William O. Taylor
Chairman Emeritus, The Boston Globe, U.S.
*Vice-Chair
Adnan Abu-Odeh
Former Political Adviser to King Abdullah II and to King Hussein; former Jordan Permanent Representative to UN
Kenneth Adelman
Former U.S. Ambassador and Director of the Arms Control and
Disarmament Agency
Ersin Arioglu
Member of Parliament, Turkey; Chairman Emeritus, Yapi Merkezi
Group
Diego Arria
Former Ambassador of Venezuela to the UN
Zbigniew Brzezinski
Former U.S. National Security Advisor to the President
Victor Chu
Chairman, First Eastern Investment Group, Hong Kong
Wesley Clark
Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
Pat Cox
Former President of European Parliament
Ruth Dreifuss
Former President, Switzerland
Uffe Ellemann-Jensen
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Denmark
Mark Eyskens
Former Prime Minister of Belgium
Leslie H. Gelb
President Emeritus of Council on Foreign Relations, U.S.
Bronislaw Geremek
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Poland
I.K. Gujral
Former Prime Minister of India
Carla Hills
Former U.S. Secretary of Housing; former U.S. Trade Representative
Lena Hjelm-Wallén
Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Sweden
J
ames C.F. Huang
Deputy Secretary General to the President, Taiwan
Swanee Hunt
Chair of Inclusive Security: Women Waging Peace; former U.S. Ambassador to Austria
Asma Jahangir
UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions; former Chair Human Rights Commission of Pakistan
Shiv Vikram Khemka
Founder and Executive Director (Russia) of SUN Group, India
James V. Kimsey
Founder and Chairman Emeritus of America Online, Inc. (AOL)
Bethuel Kiplagat
Former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenya
Wim Kok
Former Prime Minister, Netherlands
Trifun Kostovski
Member of Parliament, Macedonia; founder of Kometal Trade Gmbh
Elliott F. Kulick
Chairman, Pegasus International, U.S.
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman
Novelist and journalist, U.S.
Todung Mulya Lubis
Human rights lawyer and author, Indonesia
Ayo Obe
Chair of Steering Committee of World Movement for Democracy, Nigeria
Christine Ockrent
Journalist and author, France
Friedbert Pflüger
Foreign Policy Spokesman of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group in the German Bundestag
Victor M. Pinchuk
Member of Parliament, Ukraine; founder of Interpipe Scientific and Industrial Production Group
Surin Pitsuwan
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thailand
Itamar Rabinovich
President of Tel Aviv University; former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. and Chief Negotiator with Syria
Fidel V. Ramos
Former President of the Philippines
Lord Robertson of Port Ellen
Former Secretary General of NATO; former Defence Secretary, UK
Mohamed Sahnoun
Special Adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General on Africa
Ghassan Salamé
Former Minister Lebanon, Professor of International Relations, Paris
Salim A. Salim
Former Prime Minister of Tanzania; former Secretary General of the Organisation of African Unity
Douglas Schoen
Founding Partner of Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, U.S.
Pär Stenbäck
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Finland
Thorvald Stoltenberg
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway
Grigory Yavlinsky
Chairman of Yabloko Party and its Duma faction, Russia
Uta Zapf
Chairperson of the German Bundestag Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-proliferation
Ernesto Zedillo
Former President of Mexico; Director, Yale Center for the Study of Globalization
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD
Crisis Group's International Advisory Board comprises major individual and corporate donors who contribute their advice and experience to Crisis Group on a regular basis.
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Sarlo Foundation of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund
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Tilleke & Gibbins International LTD
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Equinox Management Partners
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SENIOR ADVISERS
Crisis Group's Senior Advisers are former Board Members (not presently holding executive office) who maintain an association with Crisis Group, and whose advice and support are called on from time to time.
| 1 |
See Crisis Group Africa Briefing N°28, The AU's Mission
in Darfur: Bridging the Gaps, 6 July 2005.
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| 2 |
Following signature of the peace agreement, the SPLM and
SPLA exist as formally separate entities for the first time. This
paper uses both terms, depending on whether the military or
political entity is meant.
|
| 3 |
The 18 June 2005 agreement between the government and
the umbrella opposition grouping, the National Democratic
Alliance (NDA), is a positive development, although, as
discussed below, the most difficult issues remain outstanding,
and not all NDA members accept the agreement. The NDA
participated in the Constitutional Review Commission at the
last minute, thereby giving that process a greater though far
from satisfactory degree of inclusiveness.
|
| 4 |
The southern constitution must be drafted and adopted before
the Government of Southern Sudan can be legally established.
The technical drafting committee began its work on 18 July
2005 and is expected to continue through August.
|
| 5 |
For example, neither the Assessment and Evaluation
Commission nor the Ceasefire Political Commission have
been formed. The UN Peace Support Mission could also play
an oversight role, but it is not yet fully functional. Its
deployment is roughly two months behind schedule. As of 13
July, only 1,200 of its troops were in Sudan, well short of the
4,000 troops scheduled to have arrived by that date. Crisis
Group interview, 13 July 2005.
|
| 6 |
For analysis of the IGAD peace process, see Crisis Group
Africa Report N°51, Sudan's Best Chance for Peace: How Not
to Lose It, 17 September 2002; Crisis Group Africa Report
N°55, Power and Wealth Sharing: Make or Break in Sudan's
Peace Process, 18 December 2002; Crisis Group Africa
Briefing N°14, Sudan's Other Wars, 23 June 2003; Crisis Group
Africa Report N°65, Sudan Endgame, 7 July 2003; Crisis
Group Africa Report N°73, Toward an Incomplete Peace, 11
December 2003, and Crisis Group Africa Briefing N°19,
Sudan's Dual Crisis: Refocusing on IGAD, 5 October 2004.
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| 7 |
Seats were accorded as follows: 52 per cent for the ruling
National Congress Party; 28 per cent for the SPLM, 14 per
cent for other northern forces; and 6 per cent for other
southern forces at the national level. The SPLM was granted
70 per cent of positions in the southern states and the
Government of Southern Sudan. The National Congress Party
was granted 70 per cent of positions in the northern states.
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| 8 |
The Protocol on Power Sharing actually called for local, state
and national (parliamentary) elections to be held by the end of
the third year of the interim period but the parties agreed to
shift all elections to the fourth year in the final agreement on
implementation modalities, signed on 31 December 2004.
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| 9 |
9 There are to be 24,000 joint integrated forces in the South,
6,000 in both Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states, and
3,000 in Khartoum.
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| 10 |
Article 7a and 7b, "Agreement on Security Arrangements
During the Interim Period", 25 September 2003.
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| 11 |
The parties agreed to set up a Collaborative Committee to
deal with the other armed groups, with three representatives
each from the government and SPLM, and one UN observer.
It is to determine the size and strength of each of the other
armed groups and by the six-month mark ascertain the choices
for integration of each group. By the end of the first year, the
other armed groups are to be fully integrated into either the
SPLA or Sudan Armed Forces. The Committee met for the
first time in early April and agreed to hold a second meeting in
Malakal, and potentially a third in Juba. This process appears
to have been overtaken, however, by the SPLA-SSDF
dialogue in Nairobi from 30 June-3 July at which the parties
agreed to meet again inside Sudan (see below).
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| 12 |
The agreements for Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile
states did not grant self-determination referenda.
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| 13 |
See "In response to the Cairo accord between the GOS and
the opposition NDA: Sudanese parties ask: 'where is the
agreement?'", in Arabic, al-Sharq al-Awsat, 20 June 2005.
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| 14 |
Immediately after the staged signing, Garang joined the two
heads of delegations, Vice-President Taha and al-Mirghani of
the NDA, in intense negotiations that again failed to resolve
the two sticking points. They broke off with a promise to
resume at a later date. The Parties did agree on a number of
broad principles related to the democratic transition and
elections, decentralisation, voluntary unity of the country, and
issues related to national reconciliation and compensation. The
agreement also stipulated it would take effect only after the
two disputed issues were resolved, although the NDA justified
its subsequent acceptance that the agreement could take effect
immediately as a gesture of loyalty to the SPLA (a leading
member of the umbrella organisation) as it prepared to enter a
governing partnership with the National Congress Party.
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| 15 |
The government retaliated by launching air raids on civilian
targets, according to the rebels. Khartoum also lodged a
complaint at the UN Security Council against Eritrea, which it
believes is behind the rebels.
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| 16 |
"Nugud insists on Marxism; troops build-up on border
with Eritrea; in Khartoum, al-Mahdi indicates confrontation
against the bilateralism of al-Bashir/Garang", in Arabic, al-
Hayat, 29 June 2005.
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| 17 |
"Sudan's opposition parties form national alliance", Reuters, 2 June 2005.
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| 18 |
Crisis Group interview, 13 May 2005.
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| 19 |
A particularly damaging moment was in early May 2005
when he announced that a party which did not participate in the
Commission and accept the resulting document would be barred
from subsequent elections. The SPLM and the National
Congress Party had agreed among themselves in their technical
drafting group that a party that runs in the elections should
pledge to uphold both the CPA and the interim constitution.
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| 20 |
Crisis Group interview, 14 May 2005. As explained by a
leading northern opposition figure, "over the past year the
government has been setting the web for the entrapment of the
SPLM. This government believes everyone has a price". Crisis
Group interview, 13 May 2005.
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| 21 |
Article 3.1.4, Machakos Protocol, 20 July 2002. The
Machakos Protocol was one of the major steps leading to
eventual conclusion of the CPA and is an integral part of
the comprehensive settlement.
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| 22 |
Passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1593 caused a
panic within the National Congress Party in part because it
referred the Darfur situation to the International Criminal Court
for prosecution of individuals, including government and party
officials responsible for atrocities there. Members of the ruling
elite realise that staying in power, no matter the other costs, is a
promising strategy for avoiding trial in The Hague. Crisis Group
interviews, March and April 2005. Thus, the Darfur situation
also operates as an incentive for at least part of that ruling elite
to undermine the CPA lest its implementation eventually leaves
them out of power and more vulnerable to prosecution.
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| 23 |
Crisis Group interviews, January-March 2005.
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| 24 |
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| 25 |
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| 26 |
Machar reconciled with Garang and is now 2nd Vice-
President of the SPLM, see below.
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| 27 |
The South Sudan Coordinating Council was created in the
1997 Khartoum Peace Agreement to serve as the coordinating
body for the administration of the southern territory under the
control of the government. According to the agreement, it originally was envisioned as the Government of Southern
Sudan, with powers similar to those granted to the South under
the CPA. However, the Council and the Khartoum Peace
Agreement which created it, were undermined by Khartoum
and soon became little more than government shells. The Council
was dissolved by the SPLM following Garang's appointment as
1st Vice-President on 9 July. The SPLM is now focusing on
merging its administrative institutions in the South with that
earlier administration, ahead of the formation of the new
Government of Southern Sudan.
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| 28 |
The two are Maquatch Teng, State Minister for Federal
Affairs, and Joseph Malwal, Civil Aviation Minister.
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| 29 |
Crisis Group interviews, January-May 2005.
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| 30 |
The Civilian Protection Monitoring Team (CPMT) did
investigate several cases, including a murder by Gadet's forces
of a civilian and extortion by Paulino's forces, but because the
Nuer community in Khartoum is fearful, few members are
willing to talk to investigators. The CPMT was created in
March 2002 as part of a government/SPLA agreement not to
attack civilians or civilian facilities negotiated by the then-U.S.
Special Envoy, ex-Senator John Danforth, Available at
http://www.cpmtsudan.org/.
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| 31 |
For more on this, see Crisis Group Africa Briefing N°13,
Sudan's Oilfields Burn Again: Brinksmanship Endangers the
Peace Process, 10 February 2003, and Crisis Group Briefing,
Sudan's Dual Crisis, op. cit.
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| 32 |
Crisis Group interviews, January-March 2005.
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| 33 |
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| 34 |
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| 35 |
Crisis Group interview, 25 February 2005.
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| 36 |
Crisis Group interviews, January-March 2005 and see
Section V. A. below.
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| 37 |
The SPLM agreed at the 2002 Entebbe Conference to use the
neutral term "armed group" for the SSDF but the commitment
was not kept.
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| 38 |
For more on this, see Crisis Group Africa Report N°39,
God, Oil and Country: Changing the Logic of War in Sudan,
28 January 2002.
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| 39 |
Crisis Group interviews, January-March 2005.
|
| 40 |
The Khartoum government has always been quick to promote
Nuer-Dinka hostility and a Nuer-Equatorian alliance, which is
why it has required that the South Sudan Coordinating Council
always be led by a Nuer, with the vice-president from Equatoria.
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| 41 |
Crisis Group interviews, January-March 2005.
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| 42 |
While acknowledging the promotions, a senior SSDF official
explained that SSDF officers were not being integrated into the
regular army but were remaining part of a separate southern
force. Crisis Group interview, 15 May 2005.
|
| 43 |
Estimates vary widely about the actual size of the SSDF.
Based on interviews with the SSDF, SPLA and international
observers, Crisis Group estimates the strength of its combined
forces to be at least 12,000. Crisis Group interviews, January-
July 2005.
|
| 44 |
Crisis Group interview, February 2005.
|
| 45 |
"Sudanese Armed Forces say not involved in Upper Nile
incidents", Sudan News Agency (SUNA), 19 February 2005.
|
| 46 |
Crisis Group interview, 7 March 2005.
|
| 47 |
"The Process of South-South Dialogue is Launched", SPLM
press release, 4 March 2005. Cdr. Salva Kiir also accused the
government of complicity in the attack during a BBC radio
interview in late February. The status of Akobo has been
contested since the SPLA captured it in November 2002, shortly after the signing of the cessation of hostilities agreement. Control
has shifted repeatedly since then. The latest attack comes
roughly a month after the SSLA leadership signed a declaration
to merge with the SPLA. The force led by Taban started from
Malakal, allegedly with government logistical support, and
launched an unsuccessful attack on Wandi before briefly taking
Akobo. Crisis Group interviews, February-April 2005.
|
| 48 |
48 Crisis Group interviews in Northern Upper Nile, April
2005.
|
| 49 |
|
| 50 |
Crisis Group interviews, February-March 2005.
|
| 51 |
Crisis Group interview, 22 April 2005.
|
| 52 |
Fewer than 150 positions each in the government's Joint/
Integrated Units were given to the Mundari forces of Clement
Wani, the remnants of the Equatorian Defence Forces (EDF),
the Murle forces of Ismail Konyi, and the SPLM/Bor group --
an SPLM splinter faction which signed the1997 Khartoum
Peace Agreement. Crisis Group interviews, 15 May 2005, 17
July 2005.
|
| 53 |
Crisis Group interview, 26 February 2005.
|
| 54 |
Crisis Group interview, 1 May 2005.
|
| 55 |
CPMT Report No. 95, 29 June 2005. Available at
http://www.cpmtsudan.org.
|
| 56 |
Crisis Group interviews, April 2005.
|
| 57 |
Crisis Group interview, 17 July 2005.
|
| 58 |
Beginning with Dr. Lam Akol's SPLM/United in November
2003, Commanders Tito Biel and James Lieh Diuh in January
2004, and the Equatorian Defence Forces (EDF) in February
2004.
|
| 59 |
Crisis Group interviews, 2003-2005.
|
| 60 |
The SSLA are a predominantly Nuer group based in Eastern
Upper Nile, led by Dr. Michael Wal Duany. Several hundred
rank and file soldiers from the militias of Thon Mum and Deng
Guer have also returned to the SPLA in Central Upper Nile.
There is a rumour of an agreement between the SPLA/M and
the Mundari forces of Clement Wani. Garang's appointment of
Wani as the caretaker supervisor of Bahr al-Jebel state until the
formation of the Government of Southern Sudan strongly
supports this. "Garang appoints southern state administrators,
advisors", Sudan News Agency (SUNA), 19 July 2005.
|
| 61 |
Although most SSDF delegates were barred from attending
the April session by the government, the political opposition in
attendance firmly endorsed the CPA.
|
| 62 |
Crisis Group interviews, July 2005.
|
| 63 |
"South-South Dialogue: For Peace, Reconciliation and
Unity among Southern Sudanese", signed by Major General
Paulino Matiep Nhial, Chief of Staff of the South Sudan
Defence Forces (SSDF) , 18 April 2005. Received by Crisis
Group 25 April 2005.
|
| 64 |
Crisis Group interview, 8 July 2005.
|
| 65 |
"Statement on Reconciliation talks between the SSDF and
SPLA/SPLM in Kenya", signed by Brig. Gathoth Gatkuoth.
Received by Crisis Group 8 July 2005.
|
| 66 |
Crisis Group interview, May 2005.
|
| 67 |
Integration of the SSDF into the northern army could cause
considerable dilemmas in the future, particularly following the
re-deployment of the bulk of the army's troops to the North by
the end of the two and a half year period envisaged in the
agreement and should the southern referendum result in a vote
for independence.
|
| 68 |
On 19 July 2005 Salva was appointed interim Vice-President
for the South, and Garang ally Oyai Deng Ajak was promoted
to replace him as military Chief of Staff. This is expected to
pave the way for more rapid progress on SPLA reorganisation.
Ironically, one senior SPLM commander suggested that the lack
of progress until now on reorganisation could facilitate integration
of SSDF forces, as the whole army is soon to be shaken-up. Crisis
Group interviews, 17 July 2005.
|
| 69 |
Crisis Group interview, 4 May 2005.
|
| 70 |
They represented the Dutch and Norwegian governments,
the UN and the EU. Other observers attended the opening
ceremony.
|
| 71 |
Crisis Group interview, 17 July 2005. The 1,000 offer was
reportedly made without Garang's consent.
|
| 72 |
Crisis Group interview, 29 April 2005. An SPLM delegate
to the Dialogue suggested that an acceptable compromise
could be to offer the SSDF 30 per cent of the positions in the
Joint/Integrated Units and the SPLA, as per the terms of the
Power Sharing arrangements in the South. However, this issue remains hotly contested issue within the SPLM. Crisis
Group interview, 17 July 2005.
|
| 73 |
Also, the SPLA agreed at the April 2005 South-South
Dialogue that it would not allow itself to be used for political
purposes by any party.
|
| 74 |
"We will have a partnership with National Congress for
six years, and that is a good thing", opening speech of John
Garang at the South-South Dialogue, organised by the Moi
Africa Institute in Mbagathi, 19 April 2005.
|
| 75 |
"SPLM Position on UNSC 1593 and Situation in Darfur",
SPLM Press Release, 11 April 2005.
|
| 76 |
Focus groups conducted by the U.S.-based National
Democratic Institute (NDI) throughout southern Sudan found
that southerners overwhelmingly supported secession and
were in many cases hostile to the possibility of unity with the
North. "On the threshold of Peace: Perspectives from South
Sudan", National Democratic Institute, 20 December 2004.
Available at http://www.ndi.org.
|
| 77 |
The Agreement on Abyei established a special Local
Executive Council, under the presidency, to govern during the
interim period. Although Abyei was defined as "the territory
of the nine Ngok Dinka Chieftans transferred to Kordofan in
1905", there is disagreement between the government and
SPLM over the precise definition of this area. A commission
made up of international experts was created to determine
these historical boundaries. Abyei will hold a referendum to
choose between joining the South or remaining in the North at
the same time as the southern self-determination referendum.
|
| 78 |
Crisis Group interview, 28 April 2005.
|
| 79 |
For analysis of the Abyei question, see Crisis Group
Briefing, Sudan's Other Wars, op. cit; Crisis Group Report,
Sudan Endgame, op. cit; and Crisis Group Report , Toward
an Incomplete Peace, op cit.
|
| 80 |
"War will definitely follow if the Ngok land is given to the
Misseriya, and it will be very bloody", said a leading Ngok
Dinka within the SPLM. Crisis Group interview, 17 May
2005. "If Abyei goes to the South, and we require a visa for
our own land, it will happen over our dead bodies", explained
a prominent Misseriya politician. Crisis Group interview, 19
May 2005.
|
| 81 |
Crisis Group interviews, 15-17 July 2005.
|
| 82 |
|
| 83 |
See for instance, "The Abyei Legislative Council: The
Commission's ruling is based on lies, partisanship, and
dishonesty", in Arabic, accessed on 21 July 05, at
http://www.sudaneseonline.com/anews2005/jul20-84549. shtml.
|
| 84 |
Garang called for such a dialogue on 3 February 2005, to be
chaired by the Moi African Institute. A steering committee
met twice in Nairobi in March and agreed on the agenda and
participation.
|
| 85 |
Crisis Group interviews, April-May 2005.
|
| 86 |
On the choice of SSDF integration in the SPLA or the
Sudan Armed Forces, Garang said: "You will have equal
right, as will all other groups. There's no reason for the other
armed groups to join [the] Sudan Armed Forces, other than
through misinformation. Your rightful place is in the South,
with the SPLA/M". Opening speech of John Garang at the
South-South Dialogue, op. cit.
|
| 87 |
See, "The Covenant of the People of Southern Sudan", 21
April 2005, and "Resolutions of the South-South Dialogue
Conference", 21 April 2005.
|
| 88 |
Crisis Group interviews with SPLM officials, January-
April 2005.
|
| 89 |
Various camps within the SPLM gave their own explanations
of the dispute. For example, circles close to Garang suggested
Salva had attempted to overthrow Garang with the support of
Khartoum and dissident southerner politicians like Bona
Malwal. Those opposed to Garang pointed to the widely shared
grievances voiced in Rumbek as indication that Garang had
lost support within the movement. Crisis Group interviews,
November 2004-March 2005.
|
| 90 |
One example cited was Garang's unilateral creation of the Leadership Council, a sixteen-member body to make decisions
on behalf of the movement instead of the National Liberation
Council, the SPLM parliament which had not sat since 1999.
|
| 91 |
Crisis Group interviews, December 2004.
|
| 92 |
Crisis Group interviews in Rumbek, March 2005.
|
| 93 |
While most of the sectors corresponded directly with
future Government of Southern Sudan ministries, trainees
were also assigned to several broader sectors such as "SPLM
Transformation" and "Democratic Governance, Institutions
and Local Government Policy". Crisis Group interview, 1 April
2005.
|
| 94 |
Crisis Group interviews, April 2005.
|
| 95 |
The delegation included 22 representatives from Bor,
twelve from the rest of Upper Nile, twenty from Equatoria, 24
from Bahr el-Ghazal, three from Abyei, three from the Nuba
Mountains, and one from Southern Blue Nile. Crisis Group
interview, 1 April 2005.
|
| 96 |
Crisis Group interviews with SPLM delegates to South
Africa, April 2005.
|
| 97 |
The delegation of 107 included twelve representatives from
Bor. Crisis Group interview, 1 April 2005.
|
| 98 |
Other southern communities also complained of inadequate
representation, fearing that the composition of the delegations
to Khartoum and South Africa presaged that of the future
Government of Southern Sudan. See for example, "Azande
Unhappy about Continued Marginalisation in SPLM/A",
Worldwide Zande Community Network press statement, 1
April 2005, available at http://www.sudantribune.com/article.
php3?id_article=8827&var_recherche=azande.
|
| 99 |
Crisis Group interviews, April 2005.
|
| 100 |
Crisis Group interview, 11 April 2005.
|
| 101 |
101 "Those senior officers who supported Salva in November
and December are being purged from the military", a senior
SPLA commander said. Crisis Group interview, 17 July 2005.
|
| 102 |
Crisis Group interviews, Rumbek, March and July 2005.
|
| 103 |
At a mid-May 2005 meeting of the Joint National
Transition Team, the government agreed to advance the
SPLM $60 million from its future oil revenues, ahead of the
formation of the Government of Southern Sudan. While some
of this money has been used to purchase food for the SPLA
soldiers, most of it remains locked in a bank in Nairobi, and
has not yet alleviated the SPLM's financial needs, as evidenced
by the movement's inability to pay for its own leadership to fly
to Khartoum for the 9 July swearing-in ceremony. Crisis Group
interviews, May-July 2005.
|
| 104 |
A tracking mechanism is being established for the
pledges made at Oslo. The World Bank is administering the
Multi-Donor Trust Funds (MDTFs) and tracking donor
pledges to them. Official figures on the dispersal of funds via
the MDTFs will be available in August 2005. The UN is also
tracking the donor progress towards fulfilling commitments,
and a report that includes MTDF and bilateral funding
information is forthcoming. Correspondence with the UN
and World Bank, July 2005.
|
| 105 |
"Every discussion we have on implementation comes back
to our lack of resources. It is a major problem, until we get
the oil money". Crisis Group interview with senior SPLM
official, 22 April 2005.
|
| 106 |
Food had been distributed to forces in Rumbek, New Kush
and Nimule as of this writing. Crisis Group interview, 17 July
2005.
|
| 107 |
107 U.S. government representatives at the negotiations
promised the SPLM that Washington would provide substantial
support to the SPLA over the interim period, either as a onetime
payment or over the six years. Crisis Group interviews,
November 2004-January 2005.
|
| 108 |
Carol Giacomo, "U.S. looking to help southern Sudan's
ex-rebels", Reuters, 15 April 2005. Crisis Group interviews,
December 2004-January 2005.
|
| 109 |
Crisis Group interview with a senior SPLA commander,
17 July 2005.
|
| 110 |
Garang has told the World Bank and the UN that there
are 370,000 SPLA soldiers to be included in the formal DDR
process, roughly seven to ten times the average estimate of
international military observers. Crisis Group interviews,
February-May 2005.
|
| 111 |
The desertions stem from the minimal progress that has
been made toward either reorganising the SPLA or paying
soldiers' salaries. Crisis Group interview with a regional
military analyst, 4 May 2005.
|
| 112 |
Crisis Group interview with a senior SPLM official in south
Sudan, 19 January 2005.
|
| 113 |
The constitution of the SPLM guarantees women 25 per
cent participation in all structures of governance. The former
constitution of the government of Sudan reserved 25 per cent
of National Assembly seats for women.
|
| 114 |
A set payment is first to be made to the Oil Revenue
Stabilisation Account, and 2 per cent of oil revenue is to be
paid to the oil producing state before the remainder is
divided between the central government and the Government
of Southern Sudan. Article 5.6, "Framework Agreement on
Wealth Sharing During the Pre-Interim and Interim Period
between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's
Liberation Movement/Army", 7 January 2004.
|
| 115 |
115 Following discovery of oil in 1979, the government of
President Jaafar al-Nimeiri proposed changing the boundaries
to shift Bentiu from Upper Nile to Southern Kordofan. It
withdrew the proposal in response to southern outrage but continued to tamper with the southern oil areas, for example,
shifting a proposed refinery from Bentiu to Kosti (in the North),
replacing the southern troops in Bentiu with northerners, and
pocketing proceeds from licenses belonging to the southern
regional government under the 1972 Addis Ababa Agreement.
In 1993, the current government redrew the border to locate
resources in the North, including the Pan-Thau area of Bentiu
from Upper Nile to Southern Kordofan. Ann Mosely Lesch,
The Sudan: Contested National Identities, (Bloomington, 1998),
pp. 48, 127.
|
| 116 |
Article 46, "The Implementation Modalities of the Protocol
on Power Sharing, dated 26th May 2004", 31 December 2004.
|
| 117 |
The National Petroleum Commission is to be appointed by
the presidency two weeks after the adoption of the Interim
National Constitution. The SPLM Technical Team to review
existing oil contracts, which could help by raising these issues
with the government, should have been formed 30 days after
the CPA was signed but is also not yet in existence.
|
| 118 |
"Letter from the Minister of the Federal Government
Chambers to the Governor of Unity State, Subject: position
of Heglig on the map", in Arabic, dated 14 June 2004.
|
| 119 |
"Agreement on Permanent Ceasefire and Security
Arrangements Implementation Modalities during the Pre-
Interim and the Interim Periods", 31 December 2004, Annex 1.
|
| 120 |
The National Petroleum Commission will be co-chaired
by the President of the Republic and the President of the
Government of Southern Sudan, have four permanent
representatives from the central government and four permanent
representatives from the Government of Southern Sudan, and
as many as three non-permanent representatives from the oil
producing state/region in question.
|
| 121 |
"Framework Agreement on Wealth Sharing During the
Pre-Interim and Interim Period between the Government of
Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army", 7
January 2004, Article 3.4.4.
|
| 122 |
"UK oil explorer White Nile strikes deal in Sudan", Reuters,
16 February 2005.
|
| 123 |
123 James Boxell, "London stock market halts White Nile trade
again", Financial Times, 28 May 2005.
|
| 124 |
Numerous government officials have challenged the legality
of the White Nile deal as "an open and direct violation of the
peace agreement of 9 January". "Khartoum accuses southern
rebels of violating peace accord with oil deal", Agence France-
Presse, 16 March 2005. See also, "Sudanese official:
Southerners signing of oil drilling deals 'unacceptable'", Sudan
News Agency (SUNA), 25 February 2005; and "Sudan oil
minister: No Central Government deal with White Nile Ltd",
Dow Jones, 21 February 2005.
|
| 125 |
"Sudan, Oil and Human Rights", Human Rights Watch,
25 November 2003, p. 489. Total merged with PetroFina in
1999 and Elf-Acquitane in 2000 to become TotalFinaElf.
|
| 126 |
|
| 127 |
IMarathon Petroleum is the only American petroleum
company with legal assets in Sudan. The economic sanctions
imposed on Sudan by President Clinton's Executive Order
13067 in 1997 prohibited any business or trade between U.S.
companies and Sudan, with the exception of gum arabic. The
other consortium partners have paid Marathon's annual dues
since 1997 to avoid the sanctions. Marathon received a special
exemption from the U.S. government to sign the renewed
Production Sharing Agreement in December 2004. Crisis
Group interviews, April-June 2005.
|
| 128 |
"Total updates Sudan contract, but will return only if
peace holds", Agence France-Presse, 21 December 2004.
|
| 129 |
Ibid. Crisis Group interview, 17 June 2005.
|
| 130 |
Crisis Group interviews, February-March 2005.
|
| 131 |
Crisis Group interview, 22 February 2005.
|
| 132 |
Crisis Group interview, 12 May 2005.
|
| 133 |
Crisis Group interviews, February-April 2005.
|
| 134 |
|
| 135 |
|
| 136 |
Crisis Group interview, 12 March 2004.
|
| 137 |
Crisis Group interviews, February-March 2005. On 24
February 2005, SPLM Spokesman Samson Kwaje told Dow
Jones that the White Nile deal had been signed in August 2004.
"S Sudan: White Nile's oil deal for contested block valid", Dow
Jones, 24 February 2005. White Nile spokesman Hugo de Salis
presented this as the basis for the company's case in a 9 March
interview with Agence France-Presse: "There are conflicting
deals but the fields are out of the sphere of influence of
the government, and White Nile signed its deal before
Total….Total had an agreement in the early '80s, but when
President Omar el-Bashir made his coup in 1989, he cancelled
all existing deals". "Oil causes first crack in Sudan peace deal
but stability not endangered", Agence France-Presse, 9 March
2005. A circular released by White Nile on 19 May 2005, a
copy of which has been obtained by Crisis Group, explained
that the SPLM (acting as the Government of Southern Sudan,
which has yet to be formed) granted concession rights to its
own Nile Petroleum Company on 12 August 2004. The same
circular also appeared to clarify that, contrary to its previous
claim, the earliest agreement concluded with White Nile was
on 17 February 2005, more than five weeks after the signing
of the CPA.
|
| 138 |
Crisis Group interviews with SPLM officials, March 2005.
|
| 139 |
The New Sudan Public Corporation Act, 2003, Article 7,
available at http://www.gurtong.net.
|
| 140 |
Crisis Group interviews with senior SPLM officials,
February-April 2005.
|
| 141 |
Crisis Group interviews, February-March 2005.
|
| 142 |
The memo, titled "To Whom it May Concern", is printed
on the letterhead of the "SPLM Secretariat of Finance and
Economic Planning South Sudan", rather than, as might have
been expected, that of the "Secretariat of Legal Affairs".
|
| 143 |
Crisis Group interviews, February-March 2005.
|
| 144 |
The New Sudan Pound has been described as "Mickey
Mouse" money by one observer. Many bills have the same
serial numbers and many denominations inconsistent colouring,
facilitating counterfeiting. Nile Commercial Bank, a non-SPLM
private bank, was responsible for collecting the roughly $40
million in floating currency throughout southern Sudan. It was
also challenged by the government and has been labeled a
violation of the CPA by Finance Minister Zubeir Ahmed
Hassan. The new currency was eventually recalled by the SPLM,
following its mass rejection by southerners, the international
community, and the Khartoum government. Crisis Group
interviews, May-July 2005. See also: "SPLM Flexible on
currency question: Minister", Sudan Vision, 31 May 2005,
available at http://www.sudanvisiondaily.com/modules.php?
name=News&file=article&sid=6987.
|
| 145 |
Crisis Group interview, 17 July 2005.
|
| 146 |
The Wealth Sharing Agreement, one of a number of
preliminary agreements reached during the long peace
process, preceded the CPA by a year.
|