Al-YURAE, Khartoum – In a strongly worded explanatory letter, the head of (UNITAMS) mission refuted
Volker Perthes refuted the communist party what he described as allegations that he supports impunity that does not take into account the dealings with the revolution and its forces.
The Sudanese Communist Party issued a statement on Monday explaining their refusal to meet with the UN mission and its tripartite mechanism led byVolker Perthes , attacking its role in helping to escape the punishment of the perpetrators of the coup and crimes against the Sudanese people and the revolutionaries of the glorious December revolution, describing the tripartite mechanism as “wrong from the beginning in dealing with the Sudanese crisis because it considered it a crisis between the military side and the people forgotten and does not appreciate that there is an “ongoing popular revolution since the coup of October 25, 2021.”
“The claim that we support impunity in the wake of the October 25, 2021 coup is in sharp contrast to our efforts to help Sudan ensure accountability and address impunity in line with Security Council Resolution 2579 and the Mission’s Human Rights Department on violations of human rights,” Volker said in his letter to the Sudanese Communist Party. Human rights and the call for an investigation to hold the perpetrators accountable”
A copy of Volker’s letter to the Communist Party, which was widely circulated on social media
Earlier, Volker reiterated that his mission’ was to work to restore the situation in the Sudan to the transition, to form a civilian-led government, to agree on a transitional constitution, to nominate a prime minister or prime minister by consensus, and to make a choice mechanism. He described “what happened in Sudan on October 25 as a “military coup”.
He added that both the international and regional communities classified the actions taken by army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on October 25, 2021 as a “military coup” in accordance with the law.
Summing up his mission’s efforts, Volker explained that it was planning to hold a “preparatory meeting”, but that it did not happen because there was no favorable climate for the real talks, and said: “We asked the military component as the strongest part measures to improve the environment suitable for negotiations, and he took steps such as the release of political leaders, some activists but there are still some activists in prisons… We still hope that the military component will lift the state of emergency, or at least start pre-emergency measures, to create a climate, but just as the military has taken some steps, the civilian sector must take similar steps.”
Volker argued that the political climate was not conducive to direct meetings between the Sudanese parties, that the main players refused to sit down with some parties at the same table, and required them to talk to them through the facilitators of the tripartite mechanism, so the mechanism decided to have an indirect dialogue.
Volker limited his mission’s mission to compiling the ideas agreed between the parties and presenting them, but some suggested presenting ideas in the form of a “paper”, saying: “This is difficult because the longer we wait, the more complicated things will be, the country is experiencing a political crisis and there is no economic progress, and the security situation is deteriorating further in Darfur and other regions.”
Security tensions were steadily increasing in the Sudan, not only in Darfur, but also in all camps, including security forces and factions of the Juba Agreement.
The representative of the Secretary-General pointed out a positive aspect of the political situation in the country, namely, that political discourse has turned into less intense discourse among all parties, as “we can see seriously from all parties towards dialogue, or accept the principle of discussion to get out of the crisis.”
He explained that the military component realized that civilians, including the forces that had been removed from power, could not be dispensed with by the “forces of the Declaration of Freedom and Change”.
He stressed the continuation of his mission’s efforts to help the Sudanese reach solutions, and said: “I will go to New York this weekend to present my periodic report to the Security Council, and my report will be as public as ever, and will address the general situation in Sudan.”
He revealed that consultations had been held with more than 100 parties, including the Communist Party and the Umma Party, and a number of academics and public figures, “I think we succeeded, even though direct negotiation has proved unsuccessful in the days.”
On the criticisms levelled at him, and even the demands for his removal, he said: “Some of them accused us of helping the putschists… But we are negotiating with all those who have an impact on events on all sides, and we are interested in reaching sustainable solutions,” although some are not satisfied with the negotiations, particularly freedom and change, and the military component does not prefer to sit directly with the parties.
“But this needs a longer discussion, and I expect that an agreement will be reached within the next two weeks,” he said. In any case, I have to carry out the mission of the Security Council.”
Volker said that the political crisis is not limited to the conflict between civilians and the military, but there are conflicts between all components of the actors, adding: “There is a crisis between the military, the military and civilians, and if there was not a crisis between the military, there would be no crisis between them and civilians… There are differences within the military component, many differences between multiple civilian parties, and even conflicts between the Juba Peace Group, if it were just a conflict between the military component and civilians, the solution would have been easier, the issue is more complex.”
Volker predicted that the war in Ukraine would affect the situation in Sudan, and the possibility of affecting discussions within the Security Council, saying: “Discussions within the Security Council are affected by geopolitical situations… I said in my briefing to the Security Council that the success of the mission depends on a consensual spirit in the Security Council, and that any international attraction will reflect on the situation in Sudan, as happened in Syria… Let us wait, if they agree to extend the mission, it will be a step towards carrying out its tasks in Sudan.”
He noted that both the international and regional communities classified the actions taken by army commander Abdel Fattah al-Burhan on October 25, 2021 as a “military coup” in accordance with the law.
