Sudan (Darfur)
Current Operations
UNAMID
African Union - United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UN-mandated)
Since: 01/08
More Information
Unable to visit Darfur, UN Human Rights Council fact-finding team heads to Chad (17.02.2007)
(Quelle: allAfrica) After a planned visit to Darfur fell through because of visa problems, the United Nations Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission on the situation inside the strife-torn region of Sudan has traveled to neighboring Chad to interview refugees who have fled the war-torn region. The high-level, five-member team intends to complete its work on the ground by next week, UN spokesperson Marie Okabe said on Thursday, in response to press questions at UN Headquarters in New York. The mission is not going to Sudan as planned because of continued uncertainty over whether members could obtain visas for that country.
Military solution 'not an option' in Darfur (16.02.2007)
(Quelle: Irinnews) A military solution is not an option in ending the crisis in Darfur, according to United Nations and African Union officials. Instead, the parties to the Darfur conflict must agree to a peace process. 'There is an acknowledgement that there is simply no military solution to the Darfur crisis,' the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy to Sudan, Jan Eliasson, told reporters in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Thursday. 'That is a starting point for the way forward and that is the political road.' At a joint news conference with Salim Ahmed Salim, the AU’s special envoy to Darfur, Eliasson warned: 'A missed opportunity, again on Darfur – not building on what we have achieved and not taking the chance now to finally get this conflict behind us – will be a serious mistake.'
Darfur rebels to respect ceasefire, attend talks (15.02.2007)
(Quelle: Washingon Post) Darfur rebels said on Thursday they will respect a ceasefire and are willing to go back to the negotiating table after a meeting with U.N. and African Union envoys. U.N. envoy for Darfur Jan Eliasson and his AU counterpart Salim Ahmed Salim on Wednesday met rebel commanders in Darfur who rejected a May 2006 peace deal.
No let-up in attacks on Darfur aid agencies (12.02.2007)
(Quelle: Irinnews) Attacks against international non-governmental organisations and humanitarian workers in the Sudanese region of North Darfur have created 'an unsustainable level of insecurity' for operations, relief workers said on Monday. The European Union Council, in a statement issued from Brussels, said it was alarmed by the impact of the deteriorating security situation on the humanitarian and human rights situation in Darfur. In condemning the killing of an African Union police officer in Kutum on 1 February and the arrest of international humanitarian aid workers by Sudanese police in Nyala on 19 January, the Council demanded that all parties refrain from violence against civilians and aid organisations.
Darfur crisis is no longer a genocide – Natsios (09.02.2007)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) The on-going Darfur crisis is no longer a genocide situation, according to U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan Andrew Natsios. Natsios, a Professor in the School of Foreign Service, spoke on Wednesday in Gaston Hall. Natsios did note, however, that genocide had previsouly occured in Darfur, amidst the ongoing conflict between inhabitants of the Sadanese region and government-backed Janjaweed militias. ... Natsios called Darfur a catastrophe, but said that he is opposed to continuing to use the word genocide, which President Bush and the State Department use to describe the situation in Darfur.
Bush approves plan to pressure Sudan (07.02.2007)
(Quelle: Washington Post) President Bush has approved a plan for the Treasury Department to aggressively block U.S. commercial bank transactions connected to the government of Sudan, including those involving oil revenues, if Khartoum continues to balk at efforts to bring peace to Sudan's troubled Darfur region, government officials said yesterday. The Treasury plan is part of a secret three-tiered package of coercive steps -- labeled 'Plan B' -- that the administration has repeatedly threatened to unleash if Sudan continues to sponsor a campaign of terror that has left as many as 450,000 dead and 2.5 million homeless. But the administration has held back on any announcement of Plan B, even after setting a Jan. 1 deadline, in hopes of still winning Khartoum's cooperation.
UN and AU envoys to visit Darfur to revive peace process (06.02.2007)
(Quelle: allAfrica) The Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Darfur and his African Union (AU) counterpart will conduct a joint mission to Sudan next week as part of their efforts to revive the stalled peace process in the war-torn region. Jan Eliasson and the AU's Salim Ahmed Salim will travel on Monday to the capital, Khartoum, and to Darfur itself for talks with the Government and with representatives of those rebel groups that did not sign the Darfur Peace Agreement (DPA) in May last year.
UK says Sudan has to accept UN force or faces coercive measures (04.02.2007)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) Britain sent a strongly-worded warning to Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, urging him to accept the deployment of hybrid peacekeeping force in Darfur or else Khartoum will face unspecified coercive measures. Lord Triesman, the British minister in charge of African affairs told BBC Arabic Service that the world will not stand still while atrocities occur in Darfur. … Lord Triesman refused to rule out the possibility of direct military intervention against the Khartoum government, but he said that any move requires the approval of both the United Nations and the African Union.
China proposes 4 points plan to end Darfur crisis (03.02.2007)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday put forward a four-point principle for the concerned parties to observe in the pursuit of a solution to the Darfur issue. … Hu went on to say that the African Union and the United Nations should play constructive roles in a peacekeeping mission in Darfur, adding that wisdom and creativity should be employed in order to improve the efficiency of the peacekeeping mission to create favorable conditions for achieving peace in the region.
UN humanitarian arm vows to stay in Darfur despite rising tide of attacks (02.02.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) Despite the recent alarming surge in the number of violent attacks against relief workers in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, United Nations humanitarian officials pledged today to continue their work across the area, even if they have to modify operations. Acting Emergency Relief Coordinator Margareta Wahlström said Darfur is becoming one of the most dangerous areas in the world for aid workers, with many places and roads now either deemed “no go” or extremely insecure, making it difficult to reach those in need, especially in North and West Darfur.
Chad, Sudan trade accusations over rebel support (31.01.2007)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) Chad and Sudan traded accusations that their governments were supporting rebel groups in a heated closed-door session at the African Union summit, officials said. An AU commissioner said that leaders had agreed at the meeting, which was called to debate a report on various conflicts on the continent, to hold rapidly a session of the organisation’s top security body to thrash out the rising tensions. … The past year has seen increased attacks by rebel forces in eastern Chad, which Deby’s government charges are supported by Khartoum. Sudan for its part alleges N’djamena is backing rebels in its strife-torn western Darfur region.
AU picks Ghanaian as its leader, in snub to Sudan (30.01.2007)
(Quelle: New York Times) The African Union on Monday chose President John Kufuor of Ghana to lead the 53-member bloc. Because of the worsening violence in Darfur, the group turned aside, for the second year, Sudan’s effort to win the post. The United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, opened the meeting, asking the African leaders to end the deadlock created by Sudan’s refusal to allow United Nations peacekeepers into Darfur, the violence-plagued region in western Sudan. The Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu also sharply criticized Sudan on Monday, and an aid group said it was leaving Darfur for safety reasons.
Ban demands UN presence in Darfur (29.01.2007)
(Quelle: The Guardian) The UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon today called for the urgent deployment of a joint UN-African force to stop the 'scorched earth policies' in the Darfur region of Sudan. In a speech at the opening of an African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Mr Ban turned up the pressure on Khartoum, which has rejected plans to deploy UN troops to back up an ineffective AU force. 'We must work to end the violence and scorched earth policies adopted by various parties, including militias, as well as the bombings which are still a terrifying feature of life in Darfur,' Mr Ban told some 50 African leaders, including the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.
La guerre au Darfour domine le sommet africain (29.01.2007)
(Quelle: Le Monde) L'Union africaine (UA) a ouvert, lundi 29 janvier, un huitième sommet marqué par l'enlisement de la crise au Darfour, dans l'ouest du Soudan, qui menace d'engouffrer le Tchad et la République centrafricaine. 'Le Darfour nous interpelle', a déclaré le président de la Commission de l'UA, Alpha Oumar Konaré. 'Nous lançons un appel ardent à notre ami soudanais (...) : arrêtez vos attaques, arrêtez vos bombardements ! (...) La paix au Soudan, c'est la paix au Tchad, en République centrafricaine', a-t-il ajouté, évoquant une 'guerre que nous ne voulons pas voir'. En dépit de son rôle dans un conflit qui aurait fait quelque 200 000 morts et près de 2,5 millions de réfugiés, le régime soudanais n'a pas renoncé à briguer la présidence de l'organisation africaine, qui lui avait échappé en 2006.
UN Rights Council appoints Nobel Peace Laureate to lead mission to Darfur (26.01.2007)
(Quelle: allAfrica) Jody Williams, winner of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize and co-founder of the Nobel Women's Initiative, will lead a five-person high-level mission to evaluate the human rights situation in the war-ravaged Darfur region, the United Nations Human Rights Council announced today. The Council's President, Mexican Ambassador Luis Alfonso de Alba, appointed the five 'highly qualified persons' comprising the Darfur mission after conferring with the Council and Sima Samar, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Sudan, who will also participate in the mission.
Sudan’s Bashir says hybrid force must be African (24.01.2007)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) Sudan has reiterated rejection of the deployment of international troops in Sudan’s troubled region of Darfur. He further said that Sudan agreed a UN hybrid force plan provided that this force remains African. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir renewed opposition of Sudan to deployment of international troops to Darfur region, stressing the approval of UN plan for peacekeeping force that this force is to be African and African-led, with logistical support from the United Nations. The Sudanese president also acknowledged on Tuesday 23 January in an interview with the BBC Arabic Service that the Sudanese army bombarded positions of the rebel movements in North Darfur explaining that the bombing included the rebel groups that have been fighting the Sudanese armed forces, not civilians.
ICC team heads to Khartoum as part of Darfur investigation (23.01.2007)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) A team of investigators from the International Criminal Court will head to the Sudanese capital within days, the court’s prosecutor said Monday, as he prepares to present his first Darfur war crimes case to judges. 'We have our first case ready. We are checking a few things but we are planning to file a document to judges in February,' Luis Moreno-Ocampo added in an interview with The Associated Press.
Nigeria to send more policewomen to Darfur (23.01.2007)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) Nigeria is to send more policewomen on peacekeeping duties in Sudan's troubled Darfur region, President Olusegun Obasanjo said in Abuja Monday. The president, who commended the work of the 35 Nigerian policewomen currently serving in Darfur, was responding to a request for the deployment made by a visiting delegation of the International Policing Advisory Council (IPAC) of the United Nations.
UN probes police assault of staff at social gathering in Darfur (22.01.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) is investigating an incident in which 20 people, including five UN staff, taking part in a social gathering in a Darfur town were arrested by local police and assaulted – in some cases causing serious injuries – before being released.
EU threatens Sudan with sanctions over Darfur (22.01.2007)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) The European Union threatened Sudan with sanctions on Monday if it refused to allow U.N. peacekeepers into war-torn Darfur, but rights groups and analysts said the warning was not enough to stop the killings. Raising strong concerns about the 'intolerable' situation in Sudan’s remote west, EU foreign ministers urged other donors to provide funding for the struggling African Union mission there, while the EU executive said it had no more cash to support it.
Preparations step up for next phase of added UN support to African force in Darfur (16.01.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) The United Nations and the African Union (AU) have intensified their preparations for the second phase of the process leading to the eventual deployment of a hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force in the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur. The two organizations will hold a final round of consultations this weekend before submitting the details of the second phase, known as the “heavy support package,” to the Sudanese Government, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said today.
Darfur rebels divided over proposed truce (15.01.2007)
(Quelle: Reliefweb) A proposed ceasefire between Darfur rebels and the Sudanese government has exposed cracks in the fragile military alliance between insurgents in Sudan's west, highlighting the long road ahead for peace talks. The ceasefire was negotiated by U.S. governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson in a visit last week and the 60-day truce was to begin on a date fixed by the African Union and the United Nations who are mediating peace efforts. Richardson said he had met Darfur rebel leaders who had agreed to the ceasefire, but that backing is not unanimous.
Besetzung der Darfur-Mission sorgt in den UN für Ärger (15.01.2007)
(Quelle: Frankfurter Rundschau) Die Gruppe der westlichen Staaten im neuen UN-Menschenrechtsrat (MRR) probt den Aufstand. Sie will verhindern, dass eine mit der Wahrheitsfindung im Darfurkonflikt beauftragte Mission von Verbündeten der sudanesischen Regierung dominiert wird.
Second group of UN military staff officers heads to Darfur on Monday (14.01.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) The United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) today announced plans to deploy a second group of 10 military staff officers to Darfur to support the African Union Mission (AMIS) in the troubled region. The new batch, set to leave on Monday, comes in addition to the 17 UN military staff officers and 19 UN police advisers who are already in Darfur as part of a light support package for the thinly stretched AMIS, … .
200 die in Darfur during week of intertribal battles (14.01.2007)
(Quelle: Washington Post) More than 200 people have died in clashes between ethnic African farmers and nomadic Arabs in South Darfur in the past week, leading the Sudanese government to send emissaries to try to reconcile the tribes involved, officials said Saturday.
US hails new Chinese push for peace in Darfur (13.01.2007)
(Quelle: Daily Star) China has begun to actively encourage Sudan's government to negotiate an end to the conflict in Darfur, in a shift to its role in the crisis, a US envoy said Friday. After three days of meetings with Chinese officials, Andrew Natsios, US President George W. Bush's special envoy for Sudan, said he felt assured that Washington and Beijing were largely working in concert on Darfur.
UN envoy hopeful on Darfur peace (12.01.2007)
(Quelle: BBC) Sudan's government remains committed to a hybrid UN and African peacekeeping force for Darfur, a UN envoy says. Jan Eliasson said Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir had also agreed with him that the Darfur conflict could only have a political not military solution. On Wednesday, the government agreed to a Darfur ceasefire but Mr Eliasson said it was not clear to what extent rebel groups would be party to it.
Darfur talks hindered by rebel divisions (09.01.2007)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) A new African Union and U.N. push to restart peace negotiations between Darfur rebels and Sudan’s central government will first have to overcome a major obstacle: Who is Khartoum to talk with? At the height of conflict in 2003, there were just two Darfur rebel groups. During African Union-backed talks in May there were three rebel factions. Since then the rebels have splintered into around a dozen official factions, in addition to the numerous individual commanders and political leaders who have resigned from various movements to follow their own agendas.
Sudan softens its stance on UN troops in Darfur (09.01.2007)
(Quelle: Sudan Tribune) Presidential Adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail said the AU commander in Darfur could decide to send non-African troops to the violent region if the continent could not provide enough soldiers needed to preserve security. … While it is still unclear whether thousands of U.N. troops will be allowed into Darfur to stop the rape, killing and pillage Washington calls genocide, a middle ground seems to have been found to end the diplomatic confrontation between Khartoum and the world body.
Secretary-General pledges to give resolution of crisis his ‘highest attention’ (02.01.2007)
(Quelle: UN News) Describing the Darfur crisis as one of his top priorities in office, the new Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced plans today to enter immediately into diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed in the Sudanese region, holding a meeting with his senior envoy tomorrow and attending an African Union (AU) summit later this month.