OCTOBER 2012 // standcanada.org
SUMMARY // CONTENTS // DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
Sudan and South Sudan finally reached an agreement on trade and border security issues on 26 September. Despite this limited agreement, however, experts have noted that it will do little to dispel mutual feelings of mistrust and enmity, which have developed over decades of civil war.
OPINION: THE R2P DOUBLE STANDARD
An editorial arguing that the international community’s lack of fervour and consistency with regard to the implementation of the Responsibility to Protect doctrine is due to overriding corporate and governmental interests.
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POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS //
2. Provide up to three transport helicopters and five tactical helicopters: six transport, six tactical and three observation helicopters are still required for the UN mission.
1 Sudan
Violence continues to plague the border regions of Abyei, South Kordofan and the Blue Nile State. The conflict has escalated into a higher phase, as the rebels in the border regions (SPLM-N) have joined a national alliance opposed to the government called the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) which consists of Darfur rebel groups the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and the Sudanese Liberation Movement (SLM). Government troops continue to use heavy tactics such as aerial bombardments which disproportionally harm civilians and the government continues to deny access to many humanitarian agencies. In response, the Canadian government can take the following actions: 1. The Canadian Government should dispatch researchers or enlist the help of NGOs who have expertise in statistical research methods to the Sudan border regions and Ethiopia to investigate, document, and statistically verify the occurrence of mass atrocities from refugees who have escaped the violence. 2. Canada should demand that the North allow humanitarian organizations access to populations in need in the border regions where the fighting is taking place. 3. Canada should speak out at the UN against the escalating conflict and Canada’s Foreign Minister should create an ongoing multilateral dialogue with its international partners to apply pressure on both parties to stop attacks and begin a troop withdrawal.
3. Continue to support, and consider increasing funding to, the International Security and Stabilization Support Strategy (ISSSS), which is a UN multilateral peacebuilding fund that is integral to the stability and security of the volatile Eastern region.
4 Domestic Policies on Genocide Prevention
In order to effectively prevent, monitor and address grave human rights abuses and mass atrocities, the Parliament of Canada should create a Sub-Committee for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity which should be attached to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development. This would allow Parliament to conduct: • MONITORING: keep MPs informed about the onset of genocide and crimes against humanity, including the identifiable stages of these crimes • PREVENTION: become proactive in its response to such crises, allowing MPs to act early and utilize a wider set of policy mechanisms • COORDINATION: centralize Canada’s institutional approach to the issue of mass atrocities by giving one central committee the mandate to comprehensively monitor, study and recommend courses of actions.4
2 South Sudan
In the wake of South Sudan’s secession, the new country is faced with many critical development issues that could threaten its progress and re-ignite conflict in the region. In order to help South Sudan from becoming a failed state, Canada can aid South Sudan in the following areas: 1. As requested by the Government of South Sudan, Canada should chose one of the following areas of development to better streamline and manage the development process: a) general security b) food security c) healthcare d) education e) democratization. 2. Canada should use its influence at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the UN to broker an agreement between North and South Sudan to reduce the national debt of the two countries only if they both work out a reasonable debt sharing arrangement together. 3. Canada should consider providing direct bilateral assistance to the Government of South Sudan (GoSS), now that it has the opportunity to negotiate directly with the Southern government without interference from the North.
3 Democratic Republic of the Congo
According to the Secretary General, the United Nations Organization Stablization Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) is lacking critical resources such as military observers, transport and tactical helicopters. Although Canada has been playing a role in the DRC since 1999, due to the end of the combat mission in Afghanistan, it now has the capacity to provide more resources that are desperately needed. STAND calls on the government to: 1. Increase the number of military observers: Canada’s mandate is to provide 12 observers and currently there are only nine stationed in the DRC. The UN mission in total is currently lacking another 29 observers.
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DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH SUDAN //
JESSICA DUFFY
With the UN Security Council-imposed September 22 deadline for Sudan and South Sudan to formally resolve their issues or face sanctions looming, the two sides finally reached an agreement on trade and border security issues. Diplomats from both sides spent most of September in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, participating in talks mediated by the African Union. As the deadline grew closer and reports of skirmishes with rebels and accusations of supporting rebels emerged, there was uncertainty over whether any agreement would be reached. Presidents Omar al-Bashir of Sudan and Salva Kiir of South Sudan arrived for a summit the weekend of the deadline, but the date passed without any agreement being reached. The deadline was unofficially extended until the end of the current round of negotiations.
While the countries had reached an interim deal on oil last month, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir insisted on reaching a deal on border security before finalising anything. By this time it was clear that, at most, the two countries would reach a limited deal rather than resolving all of the issues left unresolved when the South seceded in July 2011. On 26 September, the two sides reached a border security deal to create a demilitarised buffer zone along their shared border, which will allow oil exports to restart. Among the outstanding issues to be resolved are border demarcation and the fate of the Abyei region, which is claimed by both sides. At the least, it is hoped that this deal will prevent any resumption of direct fighting (like the kind seen in April), and will throw both economies a badly needed lifeline with the resumption of oil exportation. The security and trade deal was signed the following day, with the African Union postponing the signing ceremony in order to make a final push for at least some agreement on Abyei. Abyei is rich in grazing lands, and has symbolic significance to both countries. Its fate was due to OCTOBER 2012 // 3
be decided by referendum prior to the South’s secession, but this did not occur, due to a failure to agree on who should participate. Despite reaching a limited agreement, essentially under duress due to UN and economic pressure, there are reports that the agreement will do little to dispel mutual feelings of mistrust and enmity, which have developed over decades of civil war. “There is a sense of disappointment among mediators that both sides will only take one step forward. They are not ready for a lasting peace deal,” a senior diplomat told Reuters. “These talks are about containing a crisis rather than solving a conflict,” said a Western diplomat. “You have a generation of people on both sides for which the conflict has become part of their lives. They don’t really act as statesmen but see themselves as opponents.” In other news, in mid-September, news emerged that there had been an outbreak of Hepatitis E in three South Sudanese refugee camps close to the Sudanese border. There were sixteen recorded fatalities, and South Sudan’s Ministry of Health has reported almost 400 cases of the virus since the outbreak was identified in July. More than 100,000 refugees live in camps in Maban County – the affected area. Hepatitis E causes liver infections, and is spread by drinking water contaminated with faeces, though is rarely fatal. In a joint statement, the Ministry and UN said that cases “are rising day by day, thus placing immense pressure on the available health services and resources. This is of grave humanitarian concern.” There is also a risk that the virus could spread to locals, who have less access to healthcare than those in the camps.
OPINION: THE R2P DOUBLE STANDARD //
ROMAN SOIKO The concept of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) is important for understanding how countries decide to respond to human rights abuses abroad. It
was borne from the need to intervene in situations such as Rwanda and Bosnia, and formed the basis for humanitarian intervention in the 21st century. The Responsibility to Protect purports that should states fail to protect their citizens from war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, the international community must on their behalf. The International Commission on State Sovereignty and Intervention adopted the policy after the genocide in Rwanda. However, the international community views the importance of Responsibility to Protect only in light of its own, narrow self-interests. If we look at the military intervention in Libya, it becomes clear that there were two prizes to be had: the first, toppling a regime that has been the source of much antagonism against the west; and second, oil. Now, the international community has failed to intervene in Syria. The Responsibility to Protect doctrine should force the international community to put its money where its mouth is: in civilian protection. The constant attacks in Homs, Aleppo and Damascus show repeatedly that the situation continues to deteriorate, and the longer we wait, the worse the situation will become.
The concept of Responsibility to Protect must begin to be implemented in spite of corporate and
governmental interests to the contrary. It is our generation’s obligation to enforce it.
STAND DIGEST STAFF // MANAGING EDITOR // TYLER FOX WRITERS // JESSICA DUFFY, ROMAN SOIKO
REFERENCES // DEVELOPMENTS IN SOUTH SUDAN
“Hepatitis outbreak kills 16 in S. Sudan refugee camps”, Reuters Africa, 13 September 2012, http://af.reuters.com/article/southSudanNews/ idAFL5E8KDNNR20120913 “Mistrust prevails as Sudan, S. Sudan head for limited deal”, Reuters Africa, 21 September 2012, http://af.reuters.com/article/southSudanNews/idAFL5E8KLNCA20120921 “Sudan, S. Sudan to resume oil exports, no wider deal”, Reuters Africa, 28 September 2012, http://af.reuters.com/article/southSudanNews/ idAFL5E8KQD1J20120926 “Sudan, S. Sudan sign deals to restart oil, boost trade”, Reuters Africa, 26 September 2012, http://af.reuters.com/article/southSudanNews/ idAFL5E8KRBCH20120927
OPINION: THE R2P DOUBLE STANDARD
“2005 World Summit Outcome,” UNGA 16th Session, items 48 and 121 of the provisional agenda.
There is a continual trend of failure by the international community to enforce the Responsibility to Protect, which has emanated from Darfur, where the government promoted a genocide that was responsible for the deaths and displacement of 400,000 people.
Haines, Steven; Kassimeris, George, ed. (2010). “Humanitarian Intervention: Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and the Use of Force.” The Ashgate research companion to modern warfare.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, where minerals like copper, diamonds, gold, platinum, etc. are rich and abundant, Responsibility to Protect has yet to come into play. Corporate and governmental complicity with abuses perpetrated as a result of mineral extraction has prevented an R2P movement with regard to DRC from gaining stamina within the international community. // 4
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