Darfur rebel movement leaders hold meeting

The spokesman of the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), Abu Al-Qasim Al-Hajj, announced that a fifth leadership council meeting concerning several issues in Sudan took place between 26 September and 4 October in Kampala, Uganda. In an announcement released on Thursday, 4 October, Al-Hajj said leaders from different rebel movements allied with the SRF were present at the meeting. The spokesman said that during the meeting the council addressed issues such as the continuous massacres and systematic abuse against civilians carried out by pro-government militias in Darfur. He said this relates especially to Kassab, Kutum, Mellit, Nyala and Hashaba, where hundreds of civilians’ lives have been claimed. Systematic civilian abuse In the statement released after the meeting, the SRF strongly condemned the continuous violations against civilians in Darfur by the government of Sudan. The SRF also reportedly discussed UNAMID’s failure to protect civilians and it blamed the mission for legitimizing the systematic abuses against civilians in Darfur, according to the statement. In addition, the SRF also said the Doha document, an instrument for violations that occur in Darfur, is also supported by UNAMID, as claimed in the announcement. Al-Hajj also said the council calls upon the international community to break its silence and play its role in protecting civilians. Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile In the same meeting, the SRF discussed about the deteriorating humanitarian and security situations in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, the spokesman announced. They said a policy of Khartoum is to use food as weapon, which means the regime does not allow food delivery in the area, including to the regions severely affected by flood. Al-Hajj stressed that despite several attempts by regional and international actors to tackle the situation in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, Khartoum still did not allow food and aid to be delivered. In addition, the spokesman reported that the president and the secretary-general of the SPLM-N stated that the parties who held talks in Addis Ababa failed to reach an agreement concerning the critical humanitarian situation in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile. The SRF blamed the ruling National Congress Party for not addressing the deteriorating humanitarian situation in these areas, including UN resolutions drafted on the same matter, according to reports. Restructure of the regime The council leadership also announced that it drafted a document concerning how the Sudanese regime should be restructured. The document also includes the parties’ assessment of the current political, humanitarian and security situations in the country. According to reports, all members present in the meetings asserted their decision to bring down the regime in Khartoum “by all means”. In addition, they expressed that a national unity government should be established, which will run the country for a transitional period of 6 years. In this document, the present parties claimed to have decided that the new government should be composed of four levels: federal, regional, provincial and local. Also, it was stressed that the new state will promote equal citizenship, human rights, rule of law, and the peaceful transfer of power to a federal democratic system based on freedom and dignity, equality and justice. Power and wealth sharing The rebels also said to have approved a document stating that power and wealth sharing to each state will be divided and distributed according to the percentage of its population. Additionally, they stressed that a new constitution and new laws will be approved on the basis of separation between religion and state to ensure the end of of the exploitation of religion in politics. The new constitution will also ensure diversity of ethnicity, culture and religion in Sudan, it was announced. Lastly, the rebels asserted that perpetrators will not escape from justice and that everybody who committed genocides, war crimes and crimes against humanity will be tried either locally or internationally, according to the crimes they committed.