Bec Hamilton, who is currently investigating the past 6 years of Darfur policy and citizen advocacy, just returned from Sudan and Darfur. She writes on
four key issues facing Darfuris today.
Given the national elections scheduled for April 2010 are looming over all of Sudan, I asked her about the current conversations of Darfuris regarding the elections. Specifically, did what she hear on the ground generally match the concerns expressed in
the UN Secretary General’s report from July, in which he wrote:
38. Darfur, opposition parties and civil society actors have called on the Government to ensure the freedom of movement, assembly, association and speech required to ensure a free and fair process. Leaders of the internally displaced have expressed the view that peace, security, compensation, and the return of internally displaced persons should come before the holding of elections. They have also expressed the fear that voter registration of internally displaced persons in camps would be tantamount to relinquishing their lands.
I also asked if she thought any of the Sudanese and international actors that she spoke to are moving forward on the Secretary General's recommendations (below)?
67. The Government of National Unity and the Darfur movements must address the concerns of the internally displaced persons in Darfur. Concrete steps need to be taken towards a comprehensive peace agreement. These include a cessation of hostilities, and progress towards compensation, land rights and redressing marginalization issues. This would help to create an appropriate environment for the forthcoming elections. Should large segments of the population in Darfur be prevented from participating in elections by the refusal to agree to a cessation of hostilities, technical constraints related to registration, or voluntary or involuntary boycotts of the process, progress towards political stability would be impeded. Accordingly, I urge the Government of National Unity and the Darfur movements to openly discuss these issues and make concrete progress towards a comprehensive peace. The Darfur movements have an obligation to use the opportunity of national elections to pursue their political demands through the ballot box and lay down their arms.
Hamilton responded with a sobering assessment:
Yes - elections and the 2011 referendum are the big picture issues facing the whole of Sudan now. I’m developing a magazine feature on it, so will have my thoughts better organized as I work through that. But from the perspective of Darfuris who are living in Darfur, it is hard to get more than a dismissive wave of the hand from them on the elections. There are huge problems with the census results (and not just in Darfur). Not only are the camps not covered but the numbers don’t add up in areas outside the camps to a large extent either - especially in South Darfur. So with these problems, combined with the fact that for IDPs in Darfur there are much more immediate issues related to day to day survival, trying to even raise the elections with them is difficult. There is not one IDP I spoke with who thought the elections were anything other than a giant waste of time. This response however changes if you speak with Darfuris in Khartoum (they also are completely skeptical, but they have some attention to give to it). As to your specific question - What the UNSG wrote remains almost entirely aspirational.
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