PEACE AND SECURITY COUNCIL
207th MEETING AT THE LEVEL OF THE
HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT
29 OCTOBER 2009
ABUJA, NIGERIA
PSC/AHG/COMM.1(CCVII)
The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 207th meeting held at the level of Heads of State and Government, in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria, on 29 October 2009, considered the Report of the AU High Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD), and adopted the following decision:
Council,
1. Endorses the report of the AUPD [PSC/AHG/2(CCVII)] and the recommendations contained therein;
2. Congratulates the Chairperson of the AUPD, former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, the other members of the Panel, namely General Abdulsalami Abubakar, former Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; Mr. Pierre Buyoya, former President of Burundi; Mr. Alhaji Kabir A. Mohammed (Nigeria), former State House Counsel and Special Envoy of former President Olusegun Obasanjo on the Trial of suspects of War Crimes and Human Rights Violations in Darfur, Hon. Judge Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia), Judge of the Supreme Court, Mr. Ahmed Maher El Sayed, former Foreign Minister of Egypt, and Rakiya Abdillahi Omaar (Somalia), Director, African Rights and the team of experts that supported their work, for the breadth of the consultations they have undertaken, the comprehensiveness of their Report, and the relevance of their recommendations;
3. Expresses appreciation for the cooperation extended to the Panel by the Government of the Sudan, opposition political parties, armed opposition movements, IDPs, pastoralists and the Darfurian civil society, and other Sudanese parties, as well as international stakeholders;
4. Recalls its previous decisions and communiqués on the situation in Darfur, in particular decision PSC/MIN/Comm(CXLII) of 21 July 2009, in which, among others, it requested the Chairperson of the Commission to take all necessary steps for the establishment of an independent High-Level Panel made up of distinguished Africans of high integrity, to examine the situation in depth and submit recommendations to Council on how best the issues of accountability and combating impunity, on the one hand, and reconciliation and healing, on the other, could be effectively and comprehensively addressed;
5. Reaffirms the commitment of the AU to combat impunity, in line with the relevant provisions of the AU Constitutive Act, and strongly condemns the violations of human rights in Darfur. Council urges, once again, the UN Security Council to heed the AU's call for the deferral of the process initiated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against President Omar Hassan Al Bashir, in the interest of peace, justice and reconciliation;
6. Stresses the need for speedy progress in the search for peace, security, justice and reconciliation in Darfur, bearing in mind that, while the situation on the ground has significantly improved compared to the height of the crisis in 2003 - 2004, civilians in that region continue to be exposed to the risk of violence and that millions of people continue to live in IDP camps or as refugees in neighboring Chad. Council also stresses the need to create inclusive and conducive conditions for the successful holding in Darfur, as well as in the rest of the country, of the April 2010 national elections provided for by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), and to ensure that Darfur fully participates in the national debate arising from the 2011 self-determination referendum in Southern Sudan;
7. Expresses its conviction that the achievement of lasting peace and reconciliation in Darfur requires that the Sudanese stakeholders take full ownership of the process and that, given the necessary support, the people of Sudan will be able to bring to an end the conflict in Darfur in an inclusive, peaceful and expeditious manner, bearing in mind that Darfur is a manifestation of the broader political and other challenges facing Sudan as a whole. Council stresses that the international community needs to play a supportive role, based on a proper understanding of the causes and consequences of the conflict in Darfur;
8. Stresses the importance of the general elections scheduled for April 2010 in the overall efforts towards the democratic transformation of the Sudan, and for addressing in a lasting manner the many challenges facing the country;
9. Welcomes the progress made in the deployment of UNAMID, as well as the efforts being deployed to facilitate the search for a lasting solution. In this respect, Council welcomes the steps taken for the early holding of negotiations in Doha under the auspices of the Joint Chief Mediator and the Government of Qatar, as an integral part of the approach to peace as articulated in the report of the AU High-Level Panel on Darfur;
10. Stresses that the recommendations contained in the report of the AUPD (para. 280- 377) provide a clear and sound Road Map for achieving peace, justice, reconciliation and healing in Darfur, and thereby contribute to the overall objective of promoting sustainable peace and stability in the Sudan, and decides that these recommendations shall be the basis of AU engagement in Darfur and its interaction with its international partners;
11. In order to support the peace process and the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report of the AUPD, Council:
a) Requests the Commission, in consultation with the UN Secretariat, to support and exercise due oversight over the process of the Mediation, to enhance the profile of the Mediation and ensure that it is well-planned, well-resourced in all respects, and that the mediation is undertaken within a fixed timeframe,
b) Further requests the Chairperson of the Commission immediately to take the necessary steps to enhance its capacity to support the implementation of the recommendations of the AUPD, including the establishment of an appropriate unit within the AU Peace and Security Department, the strengthening of the AU Liaison Office in Sudan and that of the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue and Consultation (DDDC), which has a key role to play in the implementation process, particularly with respect to reconciliation and in engaging the civil society, disseminating the report and facilitating ownership;
c) Stresses the need to pursue efforts to strengthen UNAMID, including the provision of the required force enablers and the strengthening of its civilian component, such as Civil Affairs, Human Rights and the Rule of Law and DDDC, to enable it effectively play its role in support of the peace process,
d) Requests the Chairperson of the Commission to establish an AU High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), comprising of former Presidents Thabo Mbeki, Pierre Buyoya, and Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, to assist in the implementation of all aspects of the AUPD recommendations, as well as to assist the Sudanese parties in the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and other related processes, as part of the democratic transformation of the Sudan. The AUHIP will have an initial mandate of one year. Council requests all concerned, including the Joint Mediation and UNAMID, to extend full and unreserved cooperation to the AUHIP,
e) Further requests the Chairperson of the Commission to undertake consultations with the UN Secretary-General and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, for the speedy establishment of a Consultative Forum, involving relevant stakeholders and Sudan's neighbouring countries, as well as AU partners, to receive regular reports on the implementation of the present decision and to serve as a coordinating mechanism to support and promote the achievement of the objectives stated in the decision.
12. Requests all AU Member States and partners to fully support the implementation of the recommendations of the AUPD and the implementation of the present decision;
13. Also requests the Chairperson of the Commission to formally transmit the present decision to the Sudanese stakeholders, as well as to the UN Security Council and other AU partners, in order to enlist their support and, with the support of the AUHIP, to implement an appropriate outreach strategy, in order to mobilize the broadest support possible for the successful implementation of the recommendations of the AUPD and of the present decision;
14. Further requests the Chairperson of the Commission to submit quarterly reports on the implementation of the AUPD recommendations and of the present decision;
15. Decides to remain seized of the matter.