{"id":20048767,"date":"2023-08-10T10:05:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T08:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20048767"},"modified":"2023-08-15T11:03:08","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T09:03:08","slug":"us-rep-to-un-appalled-sudan-government-threats-to-expel-unamid-outrageous-and-unacceptable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/us-rep-to-un-appalled-sudan-government-threats-to-expel-unamid-outrageous-and-unacceptable","title":{"rendered":"US Rep to UN \u2018appalled\u2019\u00a0\u2013 Sudan govt threats to expel UNITAMS \u2018outrageous and unacceptable\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The US ambassador to the United Nations says she is \u201cappalled\u201d after UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sudan, Volker Perthes, was prevented from delivering his regular brief to the UN Security Council on Wednesday, following \u201coutrageous\u201d and \u201cunacceptable\u201d threats by the Sudanese government to expel UN Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS) should he do so.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As UNITAMS head, Perthes,must report to the council on the situation in Sudan every 90 days<\/a>. Wednesday\u2019s meeting of the UNSC was convened to discuss the continued conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The briefing was ultimately provided by the Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee<\/a>, and the Director of Operations and Advocacy at the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Edem Wosornu<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
UNITAMS head, Volker Perthes, briefs the UNSC in New York on May 22 (Photo: UNTV)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Speaking to reporters after the meeting US Representative to the UN, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, reflected on the briefing<\/a> as sobering: \u201ca conflict that has gone on for over 100 days \u2013 and has turned large swaths of Sudan into a living hell. The stories and the images coming out of Sudan, especially out of Darfur, are bone-chilling,\u201d Thomas-Greenfield said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018The stories and the images coming out of Sudan, especially out of Darfur, are bone-chilling\u2026\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

However Thomas-Greenfield condemned the fact that SRSG Perthes was compelled to withdraw from addressing the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had expected that SRSG Perthes was going to brief the Council. We now know that the Sudanese government threatened to end the UN Mission in Sudan if the SRSG participated in this briefing. And that was really outrageous,\u201d she said. \u201cNo country should be able to bully a briefer into silence, let alone the United Nations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018No country should be able to bully a briefer into silence, let alone the United Nations\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In her statement, Thomas-Greenfield laments: \u201cOne of the worst chapters of recent history is repeating itself. And it\u2019s beyond horrifying. The Security Council, and the entire international community, has a responsibility to demand the parties comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law regarding the protection of civilians. We have a responsibility to ensure humanitarian assistance can reach people in dire need. And we have a responsibility to urge the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces to immediately put down their weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt this perilous moment, the Security Council and all Member States must stand on the side of peace, and on the right side of history. Let us do everything in our power to end the bloodshed. Sudan\u2019s political future belongs to the Sudanese people \u2013 not to the men with guns who are prolonging human suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u2018We have seen this kind of violence being perpetrated by both sides. So, there are no innocents here\u2026\u2019<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Asked who is to blame for the suffering in Sudan, Thomas-Greenfield said: \u201cIt\u2019s all over the country. We have seen this kind of violence being perpetrated by both sides. So, there are no innocents here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regarding the pressure on Perthes not to deliver the briefing in person, she said \u201cwe were appalled by it, it was outrageous, it was unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The relationship with the UNITAMS head and the Sudanese government has been tenuous recently, after the Sudanese Foreign Ministry informed UN Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres in June, that Perthes has been declared persona non grata in Sudan<\/a>. The UN pointed out that this is contrary to the obligations of States under the Charter of the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perthes was interviewed by Radio Dabanga<\/a> in Addis Ababa in May, and told Radio Dabanga that since the outbreak of the war between the SAF and the paramilitary RSF on April 15, he is in constant communication with both parties to the conflict, including El Burhan and RSF leader Lt Gen Mohamed \u2018Hemedti\u2019 Dagalo.<\/p>\n