S/PV.6096
6096th meeting
Friday, 20 March 2009, 3 p.m.
New York
Reports of the Secretary-General on the Sudan
The President, Mr. Dabbashi (spoke in Arabic): I shall now make a statement in my capacity as representative of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and Chairperson of the African Union.
We would have preferred to defer the briefing by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) until the completion of the joint missions carried out by the Government of the Sudan and the United Nations to assess the humanitarian situation in Darfur, so that we might have a fuller picture of the situation. Furthermore, if the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs were here, all delegations would have had the opportunity to ask him questions and receive direct responses. We also wish that those Council members who insisted that this meeting be held had been as enthusiastic and persistent when aircraft were bombing civilians in Gaza, who were deprived of food and medicine as a result of a blockade during that aggression and for as long as two years before it.
My country, as a neighbour of the Sudan and as current Chair of the African Union, is closely following developments in the humanitarian situation in Darfur. While we regret the decision by the Government of the Sudan to expel a number of humanitarian organizations, we understand the circumstances in which that decision was made. We realize the importance of cooperation in Darfur among the United Nations, the Government of the Sudan, the African Union, the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and the League of Arab States to facilitate the safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need. We hope that the Government’s decision, which has caused a number of humanitarian organizations to suspend their activities, will not affect the people and that those organizations will be replaced by others —possibly national ones — as soon as possible. We are confident that the Government will take care of its people in Darfur, who are Sudanese citizens, not — as some here are attempting to imply — citizens of any member of the Council.
Like others, we are awaiting the results of the joint assessment missions by the United Nations and the Government of the Sudan, and we hope that we will receive their report as soon as possible. Regrettably, OCHA itself, which we had hoped would be represented at today’s meeting, is also awaiting those results. We believe that the Government’s decision concerning a number of humanitarian organizations is one of the expected negative effects of the decision by the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant against Sudanese President Omer Al-Bashir. We cannot separate the two issues, and we have no doubt that the Court’s decision has created a new reality in the Sudan. As we have stated before, imposing the Court’s procedures at the expense of the peace process will neither do justice nor put an end to the conflict in Darfur; however, it could threaten the stability of the Sudan and the entire region and undermine the whole political process, both in Darfur and in South Sudan.
While that does not mean that we do not want those responsible for crimes to be brought to justice, we believe it is essential to create an atmosphere conducive to achieving peace. Rather than taking measures such as the Court’s decision, which, under the pretext of doing justice, could complicate peace efforts and increase instability, we merely seek to support the political process through other means. That is what why the African Union, a major partner of the United Nations, has taken a number of decisions — including, most recently, at its summit in Addis Ababa — highlighting the need to invoke article 16 of the Rome Statute.
Regrettably, the Council has yet to respond to those and other decisions taken at the regional level, including by the League of Arab States. The Sudan needs international efforts that are in consonance with — and not in contradiction of — its national efforts and the efforts of the African Union to avert the negative effects of the lack of security and the current instability in the country.
We do not believe that the Security Council needs more affirmations of the possible negative consequences for the stability of Sudan. Does it need more evidence of the repercussions that the decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court has had? We have all heard the statements by certain rebel groups in the Sudan. They in themselves constitute a warning to us here in the Security Council.
It is indeed urgent that the Security Council respond to the various national and regional concerns and act to invoke article 16 of the Rome Statute in response to the decision of the African Union that was adopted at its most recent summit and the recent decision of the League of Arab States.
We know that the relations of some members of this Council with the Sudan are tense. This is quite normal in international relations and indeed acceptable, but what is neither natural nor normal is that the Security Council be used as a forum to settle accounts with the Government of the Sudan or any other Government. The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya calls on all member States to refrain from such actions so that they do not further damage the credibility of this Council.
