Summary
The present report has been prepared pursuant to the provisions of Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), and is presented to the Council as the second country report on the situation of children and armed conflict in the Sudan. It covers the period from 16 July 2006 to 30 June 2007 and follows my first report (S/2006/662) and the subsequent conclusions and recommendations of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (S/AC.51/2007/5, annex).
The report stresses that the level of grave violations against children in the Sudan remains high, including their recruitment and use by armed forces and groups and rape and sexual violence, especially in Darfur. With over 30 armed groups operating in Sudanese territory, and with the regular shifts in alliances and splintering of those groups, it is a considerable challenge to present a definitive account of parties and violations. The task has been compounded by continued access restrictions and a prevalence of attacks against humanitarian personnel and assets. However, better and more systematic monitoring and reporting is beginning to yield more reliable and timely information on violations and perpetrators.
The report highlights the ongoing dialogue with parties to the conflict in relation to the preparation of action plans to address violations and outlines the programmatic responses that are being undertaken by the United Nations and non-governmental organization partners. The report acknowledges significant initiatives undertaken by the national authorities, including legislative reform for the protection of children. However, much more needs to be done by the national authorities to ensure the practical implementation of commitments.
I. Introduction
1. The present report has been prepared in accordance with Security Council resolution 1612 (2005), covering the period from 16 July 2006 to 30 June 2007, and follows my first report on the situation of children in the Sudan (S/2006/662) and the subsequent conclusions and recommendations of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict (S/AC.51/2007/5, annex). The report identifies parties to the conflict who recruit and use children and who commit other violations of children's rights in all theatres of armed conflict throughout the Sudan. The report also outlines the ongoing dialogue with parties to the conflict in relation to action plans to address violations and highlights programmatic responses for the protection of children.
II. Political and military developments in the Sudan
A. Political developments
2. During the reporting period, Southern Sudan and the three areas (Abyei, Blue Nile State and Southern Kordofan/Nuba Mountains) continued to witness some progress in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of January 2005. Significant progress was made by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in releasing children recruited or used during the conflict, but there is still a need for engagement with other armed groups affiliated with the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and for monitoring the SAF and Popular Defence Forces (PDF) to ensure compliance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and other international obligations.
3. In Darfur, the establishment of a peacekeeping operation has been the subject of ongoing discussions following the adoption of Security Council resolution 1706 (2006), which called for the replacement of African Union peacekeepers in Darfur with United Nations forces. The political dialogue made little progress until June 2007 when the Government of the Sudan accepted the joint African Union-United Nations proposals on a hybrid operation in Darfur. Resolution 1769 (2007) establishes the hybrid peacekeeping mission and, inter alia, requests that the protection of children be addressed in the implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement, asks for continued monitoring and reporting of grave violations against children, and requests a dialogue with parties to the conflict in relation to action plans to protect children.
4. Meanwhile, there has been no significant progress in the implementation of the Darfur Peace Agreement of May 2006 beyond the establishment of the Transitional Darfur Regional Authority. Limited efforts have been made through that institution to specifically engage parties to address the issues related to children and implement the relevant articles. Efforts to open up the political space to Darfur Peace Agreement non-signatories were overshadowed by intensified military operations, numerous violations of the ceasefire arrangements, frictions within armed groups and the fragmentation of those groups. However, towards the end of the reporting period there were positive signs of attempted engagement between signatories and non-signatories in order to reopen the discussions. Given the multiplicity of armed actors in Darfur, clearly identifying perpetrators of violations of children's rights is a major challenge. Darfur was also the topic of the special session of the Human Rights Council, after which an action plan was developed to address the human rights situation in Darfur. The plan includes provisions related to children and armed conflict.
5. The Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement was signed on 14 October 2006 in Asmara between the Eastern Front armed group and the Government of National Unity, after 12 years of armed conflict. The peace agreement has a few provisions for children but is mostly focused on the coverage of essential security arrangements and power-relationship provisions. Nevertheless, it does contain references to education, health, release of children, return and reintegration, and those references have been successfully used as entry points for a dialogue on children by humanitarian actors on the ground. Progress in implementation of the Agreement has been slow, and access for humanitarian actors in the East has also been difficult. Nonetheless, Government authorities and leaders of the different ethnic groups have emphasized the importance of the Agreement as an entry point for enhanced programming in Eastern Sudan, especially for children. The three eastern States, Gedaref, Kassala and Red Sea, are among the most underdeveloped regions in the North. The East has received inadequate attention, as international humanitarian and development funding for the area has been extremely limited and interventions have been mostly confined to small-scale, short-term emergency projects.
6. The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) from Northern Uganda has been active in Southern Sudan since 1994. The Government of Southern Sudan invited LRA and the Government of Uganda to peace talks that began on 14 July 2006, and a cessation of hostilities agreement was signed on 26 August 2006. While LRA soldiers began assembling at agreed areas in mid-September 2006, the agreement has not yet been implemented. An addendum to the agreement signed on 1 November 2006 extended the deadline for LRA forces to gather in the designated assembly areas. Towards the end of 2006, however, LRA refused to accept the continued mediation of peace talks by the Government of Southern Sudan. On 14 April 2007, LRA renewed its cessation of hostilities agreement with the Government of Uganda, and peace talks restarted in Juba, the Sudan, on 26 April 2007 with the participation of the Special Envoy, President Joaquim Alberto Chissano of Mozambique.
B. Military developments
7. Two and a half years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the implementation of the Agreement's security provisions remains behind schedule. The delay in the redeployment of troops is a matter of serious concern and has led to tensions between parties in some areas of Southern Sudan. The Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army has yet to redeploy its forces from Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. Furthermore, the Sudanese Armed Forces still have significant forces in Southern Sudan, particularly in Malakal (Upper Nile State) and in the oil-rich Bentiu area (Unity State) even though, according to the Agreement, the deadline for their withdrawal was 9 July 2007. In April 2007, the Pibor Defence Forces formally aligned themselves with the SPLA and moved to Juba. However, the formation of the Joint Integrated Units (JIUs) incorporating the allied armed groups has been slow. The participation of JIU officers in the fighting between SAF and SPLA in November 2006 in Malakal was a clear indication that the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement are still facing challenges regarding the effective alignment of other armed groups and the integration of JIUs. Some positive developments were observed in February 2007 when the parties adopted a common military doctrine and code of conduct to guide the work of JIU forces.
8. All parties to the conflict in Darfur have engaged in military operations since the previous report of the Secretary-General (S/2006/662) in August 2006. In episodes of violence during the reporting period, tens of thousands of people were displaced, and hundreds of civilians, including children, were killed. Attacks on humanitarian staff and vehicle hijackings have reached unprecedented levels in Darfur, including attacks on peacekeepers of the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS), resulting in seven deaths. The Government of the Sudan conducted aerial bombardment of the positions of non-signatory forces and civilian targets, in spite of its commitment in the Abuja Security Protocol of November 2004 to end hostile military flights in the region. Other factors aggravating the situation include the increased military presence of the Government of the Sudan in Darfur; activities of militias allied to the Government, known as Janjaweed; and clashes between armed groups in favour of, or opposed to, the Darfur Peace Agreement, which has led to the killing and maiming of children as well as to new displacements. The Government of the Sudan's 24 June 2006 plan to disarm the so-called Janjaweed has not been implemented. In addition, tribal conflicts and the presence of Chadian armed groups launching attacks against the Chadian Government forces from Darfur have contributed to the generalized insecurity in that region.
9. The Sudan and Chad agreed at a meeting in the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in February 2007 to begin implementing the agreement signed by the two parties in Tripoli on 8 February 2006 by setting up border observation posts staffed by 500 Chadian, Libyan, Sudanese and Eritrean troops. The Darfur Peace Agreement of May 2006 requires those observers to monitor and register Chadian troops in the Sudan, many of whom are children.