Unfulfilled Promises
January 10, 2008
UN Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Jean-Marie Guehenno said the beleaguered UN peacekeeping force, known as UNAMID, in the troubled western Sudanese region of Darfur will be ineffective until mid-2008.
During a report to UN Security Council members on Wednesday, Jan 9, Guehenno painted a grim picture of the political and logistical hurdles facing the African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission that took over in Darfur this month.
The mission, the latest international effort to stem widespread violence in western Sudan, was supposed to have 26,000 peacekeepers but currently stands at just 9,000 soldiers and police officers.
"We do not yet have guaranteed agreements from the (Sudanese) government on basic technical issues," Guehenno told the council. "The mission itself will not have the personnel or assets in place to implement its mandate for many months, even in the best-case scenario."
"Grim consequences"
Guehenno, a former French ambassador and career diplomat, said there had been "a grave deterioration of the security situation" in Darfur since his last briefing to the Security Council a month ago and warned of "grim consequences" for Sudan if conditions didn't improve.
He also told reporters that Darfur poses "the greatest risk for the United Nations" in a decade.
Guehenno said the UN was currently negotiating with Russia and Ukraine to provide troops even as he pointed out that western nations had failed to deliver promised troops, helicopters and military equipment.
The peacekeeping mission is also far behind schedule because of Sudanese resistance to the international force, with Khartoum insisting it must be predominantly African.
This week, Sudanese soldiers fired on a UN convoy carrying Russian personnel to western Darfur. The Sudanese driver of the vehicle was injured in the shooting.
Sweden, Norway drop obligations
In a further setback to the wobbly mission, Sweden and Norway said on Wednesday they had dropped plans to send about 400 troops because of Sudan's objections.
The troops were supposed to held build infrastructure in Darfur where more than 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes since ethnic African groups took up arms in 2003 over accusations that the Arab-dominated Sudanese government discriminated against them.
The foreign ministers of the two Scandinavian nations said in a joint statement that Sudan must bear "full responsibility" for their decision.
"Sudan hinders Norway and Sweden from participating in this very necessary operation," the statement said.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir had said in November that he would not allow some European nations to take part in the force. He singled out Scandinavian countries, where the media had reproduced caricatures of Prophet Muhammad.
"Anyone who spoke blasphemously about the Prophet will not set a foot on Sudanese soil," he said.
"We're waiting for you"
The failure of western nations to live up to their promises has led to frustration in Darfur which has seen widespread violence among rebel groups, Arab militias allied with the government in Khartoum and government troops.
Last week, German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung quoted a Darfur human rights lawyer, Salih Mahmoud Osman, urging western countries including Germany to move faster to shore up the peacekeeping force.
In July last year, the UN Security Council set up a yearly budget of $1.28 billion for UNAMID after Russia and China dropped their objections to the force.
"We are frustrated. We're waiting for you," Osman, who recently received the European Parliament's annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought told the paper. "The people urgently need protection. The atrocities are unimaginable."
Most of the UNAMID troops are currently from South Africa, Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Gambia, Senegal, Bangladesh and China.
Last week, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon strongly criticized western countries for failing to provide badly-needed helicopters and technical equipment.
"There's a threatening gap here," Ban Ki Moon said.
Kerstin Müller, foreign affairs spokeswoman for Germany's opposition Green Party urged Berlin to act upon its promises to Darfur. Germany has said it will send up to 200 soldiers and 10 police officers to the region.