AUPD to submit recommendations on Darfur peace, justice.

September 6, 2009 (KHARTOUM) -- The African Union Panel on Darfur (AUPD) is expected to finalize recommendations on Darfur peace talks, the institutions to be put in place to address issues of justice, former South African President Thabo Mbeki, who chairs the panel, said at a recent press conference in Khartoum.

Former South African president and head of the AU panel Mbeki and former Nigerian president Abu Salam Abubaker at a public session in rebel-held areas (photo AUDP)

Since June, the AUPD has conducted a number of hearings across Sudan's Western region of Darfur. The hearings were organized by the Darfur-Darfur Dialogue & Consultation, which is an initiative supported by foreign donor countries. Darfur, which constitutes the westernmost states of Sudan, is subject to international attention for atrocities allegedly committed in the region, most particularly in 2003 to 2004. Sudan's president is indicted as a war criminal, but he rejects the jurisdiction of the body that is seeking his arrest, the International Criminal Court (ICC). He has won strong backing from Arab and Islamic countries and the AU. Peace, which has eluded the region since 2003, has been the subject of recent negotiations in Libya, Qatar, Ethiopia, and Egypt. Mbeki said that the AU Panel will make recommendations not only on who should participate in Darfur peace negotiations, but also on what agenda should be followed at the talks. "We shall concentrate on the issue of who should participate in the negotiations to resolve the conflictC* the question of who participates, and in what manner, are key questions for us to address." He also said, "There must also be negotiations about a global political agreement, which will need to involve people in addition to the belligerents." The former South African president was clear that the AU panel was weighing what should be on the table at Darfur peace talks,: "On the issue of the agenda of the negotiations, we shall also express ourselves. When negotiations are held towards a global political agreement, we need to consider what should be the agenda and what principles should be followed. We have discussed this with many people in Sudan and the Panel has to reflect upon this question." Likewise, Mbeki said that the AUPD will make recommendations about high profile issue of justice, but he did not give specifics: "The issue is, how justice can be done, and what judicial institutions should be in place? We will reflect on these issues." "Everyone agrees that justice needs to be done, the question is how. What institutions should address this challenge? The Panel will reflect upon the ICC as well as the actions of the domestic judiciary, within the context of producing an overall package." Mbeki went on to say that the three matters of peace, justice and reconciliation "must be dealt with as an interdependent whole." The full text of a summary of Mbeki's remarks was published at Making Sense of Darfur, edited by Alex de Waal who is a British academic and a regional expert on issues pertaining to the Horn of Africa. The summary is available at: http://www.ssrc.org/blogs/darfur. (ST)

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