Sudan: Renewal of Conditions for Negotiations

Sudan Events – Follow-ups

The Sudanese Ministry for Foreign Affairs on Sunday Ministry renewed the position of the Sudanese government on bringing peace to the country as has recently been strongly echoed by the President of the Sovereign Council during an address for army officers and privates in Jabait areas, eastern Sudan near the Red Sea.
A statement issued by the Ministry has underlined that the Jeddah Declaration of Humanitarian Principles signed on May 11, 2023, would have brought an early end to the crisis had the militia adhered to what it signed at that time. The Ministry said the militias have disavowed what the declaration required them to do in evacuating civilian objects such as hospitals, universities, public facilities, and places of worship as well as the homes of ordinary citizens, rather, they went further to even expanded to occupy more of private properties and homes of civilians in other areas of the country.
The Ministry explained that, as an embodiment of that commitment, despite the militia’s attack in mid-December 2023 on the city of Madani, which was home to the largest concentration of people displaced from the war and the main center for humanitarian operations, the President of the Sovereign Council agreed to meet with the militia leader, as facilitated by the IGAD organization, and it was agreed that Djibouti would host the meeting in past December 28, before the IGAD presidency returned, and informed the Sudan that the meeting was postponed for reasons related to the rebel leader, and which are still unknown
The Sudanese Ministry indicated that the terrorist militia is still engaged in committing the atrocities of ethnic cleansing, massacres and sexual violence, even after the public appearance of its leader, and is currently imposing a siege on entire residential areas in the capital and preventing the arrival of food and humanitarian needs to the civilians trapped there, in clear violation of what was signed on the 7th of November in the Jeddah platform on humanitarian aid.
Testimonies of survivors of ethnic cleansing massacres in Darfur during the past months revealed crimes amounting to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, including the execution of male infants from specific ethnic groups, and the burial of citizens alive from the same groups, which is now the subject of an investigation by the International Criminal Court, it reminded
The Ministry of Foreign affairs concluded its statement by emphasizing the need for the implementation of the Jeddah Declaration and the subsequent commitments, such as the militia’s withdrawal from the cities, and the evacuation of the Gezira state were prerequisite that confirm the militia’s seriousness in reaching a ceasefire and then starting a comprehensive peace process.