POSITION OF THE SUDAN CALL ON THE SUDANESE PEACE PROCESS

20 January 2017
It is the position of the Sudan Call with regard to the Sudanese peace process that
the Roadmap Agreement, as signed by the Sudan Call and the Government of
Sudan, and witnessed by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel
(AUHIP), remains the only document that commits all the parties to a process for
ending the conflicts in Sudan and providing the people of Sudan with a truly
inclusive, credible, and comprehensive national dialogue process to address the
challenges facing the country. The international community has championed the
Roadmap Agreement and now has a responsibility to ensure its implementation.
The Sudan Call condemns the Government for not acting in good faith with
regards to the Roadmap Agreement and undertaking actions that contravene not
only its terms, but also its fundamental purpose. The actions of the Government,
together with the other new developments and realities in Sudan, including the
strong demands for inclusive and accountable governance from the Sudanese
people, create the need for the Government to recommit to the Roadmap
Agreement and establish a conducive environment for implementing the peace
process outlined in the Roadmap Agreement. Building upon the international
communitys already broad support for the Roadmap Agreement, the path forward
should include strengthened international and regional support for the AUHIP,
most notably through the establishment of a partners forum for the peace process.
The Sudan Call thus remains fully committed to the Roadmap Agreement and
continues to faithfully support the implementation of the Roadmap Agreement.
We further call upon the Government of Sudan to recommit itself to the Roadmap
Agreement and the peace process.
I.

Legal Framework
a. As a member of the African Union, the Government of Sudan is
bound by African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC)
Communiqus 456 and 539. The Roadmap, a binding agreement
between the Sudan Call and the Government of Sudan, derives its
authority from these Communiqus.
b. The Roadmap Agreement is the only binding instrument that provides
a synchronized path for both achieving peace in the conflict areas and
for pursuing an inclusive National Dialogue. Without such
synchronization, national political issues will continue to complicate
the peace negotiations.
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II.

III.

New Developments and Realities

a. Since signing the Roadmap Agreement, the Government of Sudan has
acted in bad faith with regards to its commitments under the Roadmap
Agreement and has breached its letter and spirit. These breaches
include:
i. Continuing to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity
against its own people in the conflict areas;
ii. Severely limiting rights and freedoms, such as through arbitrary
arrests, torture of detainees, and restrictions on the media;
iii. Unilaterally implementing economic policies and austerity
measures that have led to the real suffering of Sudanese people
and generated unrest across the country;
iv. Conducting and concluding its own National Dialogue that was
not inclusive, credible, transparent, or comprehensive and
which failed to produce tangible results in ending the wars or
achieving a national consensus;1
v. Engaging in negotiations in bad faith on concluding cessation
of hostilities agreements on Darfur and the Two Areas;2 and
vi. Dissolving the 7+7 Committee without calling for the required
meeting of the Parties and the 7+7 Committee to discuss
inclusivity in Sudans National Dialogue;3
b. While the Government has sought to actively undermine the Roadmap
Agreement, the Sudan Call has worked to coordinate with political
opposition throughout Sudan to support its good faith implementation.
c. The recent civil disobedience and strikes have brought new social
forces into the political scene and highlighted the importance of
inclusivity in the National Dialogue.
Conducive Environment
a. Based on the new developments noted above, most notably the
Governments efforts to undermine the Roadmap Agreement, the
Government must expressly recommit itself to faithfully implement
the full terms of the Roadmap Agreement.
b. As a confidence building measure, there must be an inclusive
preparatory meeting.
c. To further guarantee the effective implementation of the Roadmap
Agreement, including an inclusive National Dialogue, the

Violating Roadmap Agreement, Articles 3.2 & 4.

Violating Roadmap Agreement, Article 1.1.
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Violating Roadmap Agreement, Article 3.2.
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Government must also fully implement the confidence-building

measures for establishing a conducive environment, including the
measures the mandated by AUPSC Communiqu 456. These
measures must include, but are not limited to:
i. Concluding and respecting agreements for monitored cessation
of hostilities for humanitarian purposes in the conflict areas
based on the principles of:
1. Protecting the civilian population from aerial
bombardment and military or hostile attacks,
2. Ensuring unhindered and unimpeded humanitarian access
throughout the conflict areas and to conflict-affected
populations, and
3. Promoting the full respect for human rights and
humanitarian law, including freedom of movement for all
civilians;
ii. Immediately releasing all political detainees and prisoners, as
well as all prisoners of war;
iii. Ensuring political freedoms and guaranteeing the freedom of
expression and publication;
iv. Ensuring the judiciary is the only institution to adjudicate
matters relating to the freedom of expression and publication;
v. Providing guarantees for the armed groups freely to participate
in the National Dialogue;
vi. Abrogating or suspending all laws and regulations that
contravene the Interim National Constitution of 2005 or violate
fundamental freedoms and human rights;
vii. Ending the states of emergency in the conflict areas;
viii. Lifting censorship on the media to allow free speech and
expression, and guarantee equal access to publicly owned
media to all political parties and civil society organizations.
IV.

Strengthening the AUHIP Mediation

a. To support the peace process, ensure the full implementation of the
Roadmap Agreement, and strengthen the AUHIP mediation, the
Sudan Call urges regional and international actors to provide
maximum coordinated support to the AUHIP mediation, including
political, technical, and financial support.
b. Additionally, regional and international partners should establish a
partners forum to preclude forum shopping by the Government of

Sudan and ensure that all parties are working together towards a
durable peace in Sudan.
V.

United States Sanctions

a. The Sudan Call has strong reservations regarding the United States
decision to revoke certain Sudan-related sanctions.
b. Changes to the sanctions will not improve the well-being of the
Sudanese people unless linked to clear demonstrable progress in the
areas of good governance, fundamental freedoms, human rights,
peaceful settlement of conflicts, and democratic transformation. The
economic hardships of the Sudanese people are primarily due to the
Governments mismanagement of resources4 and wars against its own
people.
c. Going forward, the Sudan Call urges the United States to ensure that
issues of peace building and political transformation in Sudan are key
benchmarks in determining whether the sanctions revocation goes into
effect on July 12, 2017. Durable peace and political transformation
are essential for Sudan to play a constructive role in international and
regional efforts to promote regional stability, combat terrorism, and
curtail illegal migration and human trafficking.
d. Therefore, progress on peace and political transformation must be key
indicators in evaluating final determinations on sanctions revocation.
e. To ensure the United States has accurate and comprehensive
information regarding the Government of Sudans sustained progress
towards the indicators for sanctions changes, the Sudan Call calls
upon the United States to also incorporate reports and information
from Sudanese opposition groups, civil society, and human rights and
humanitarian organizations in its final sanctions determinations.

For instance, the Government derived tens of billions of dollars in revenue from oil resources, but those resources
have yet to benefit the people of Sudan.