A former senior UN diplomat has partially blamed the global body for failing to prevent the conflict in Sudan that has left more than 550 people dead and 3,500 injured.
Jamal Benomar, who worked at the UN for 25 years, says the Security Council should have intervened to prevent the clash between the top leadership of the Sudanese Armed Forces (ASF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
According to him, the UN ignored his advice.
“The international community should have acted very early. I remember from my days in the UN, when I begged the Security Council in early 2014 to take action against the spoilers [of peaceful transition], but they were very reluctant,” said Benomar.
“I have seen the same [laxity] happening in Sudan, even now. Some of the power-holders are reluctant to put real pressure on the warring parties,” he added.
Guterres’s confession
Benomar’s remarks come a few days after Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), said the ongoing conflict in Sudan took the global body by “surprise”.
“This issue in Sudan has taken the UN by surprise,” Guterres said on Wednesday at the UN office in Kenya’s capital Nairobi. “We were hopeful that negotiations will be successful. We were not expecting this to happen,” he added.
Guterres further said the UN had unsuccessfully tried to avert the conflict.
“We failed to avoid it to happen. I don’t think there was anything that we should have done [that we did not do] to stop it [from happening]. We were convinced that this was not going to happen.”
The generals of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) continue to clash over control of the nation, defying a ceasefire truce they had reportedly entered into earlier this week.
Thousands of people have been displaced as confusion and anxiety mars evacuation efforts, especially in the capital Khartoum.
‘Align mediation efforts’
Benomar says a long-lasting solution can be reached if mediators in the war align their efforts.
“There is need to have a sole mediator. There have been many countries involved, trying to mediate this conflict – from Saudi Arabia, the United States, Kenya, and then you have IGAD, the African Union, and recently we heard Israel wants to mediate this conflict,” he told TRT Afrika.
“What we know from experience is there needs to be only one mediator, with all the others supporting the sole mediator.”
Benomar says peace restoration efforts could, however, be hampered by powerful agencies and countries that have interests in Sudan.
“Everyone knows that there is a war economy in Sudan, they also know that they are benefiting from the networks, including the infrastructure that they built. I think the US and the European Union have the knowledge, knowhow and all the information needed to squeeze the spoilers in their economic base.”
UN Security Council membership
The ex-UN envoy suggested that it is high time Africa secured permanent membership in the UN Security Council.
“Africa definitely needs a voice in the Security Council. There have been talks about reforming the Security Council, but those in the council want to prolong these discussions. They don’t want their powers diluted.”
On Thursday, the United Nations appealed for $96 million to assist people fleeing conflict in Sudan.
Peter Van der Auweraert, humanitarian coordinator ad interim in South Sudan, said more than 32,500 people have crossed into South Sudan since the outbreak of conflict on April 15.
