The SPLM-N Delegation Met with the Swiss Government, Discussed a Child

The SPLM-N Delegation Met with the Swiss Government, Discussed a Child Protection Program and Signed a Total Anti-Personnel Mine Ban with Geneva Call, and Arranged to Release Prisoners of War to the International Red Cross

On the 30th of August, the SPLM-N delegation of the Deputy Chairperson, Abdalaziz Adam alHilu, and the Secretary General, Yasir Arman met in the Swiss Foreign Ministry in Bern with the different departments that are concerned with humanitarian assistance and peace building, and discussed with them the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and solicited their support for UN Security Council Resolution 2046 and the peace process under the auspices of the AUHIP and the Chair of IGAD, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and that this process should lead to a holistic approach to address the Sudan issue in its totality, away from a piecemeal solution practice. It is to be recalled that the Swiss government had played a crucial role in bringing a humanitarian cessation of hostilities to the Nuba Mountains in 2001 through the Bürgenstock Agreement.

The SPLM-N delegation arrived in Geneva, Switzerland on the 28th of August and they discussed for two days a program of action on child protection and signed a deed of commitment on a total ban of anti-personnel mines and cooperation in mine action with the Geneva Call. The SPLM-N will destroy its stockpiles of anti-personnel mines captured from the Sudan government, which were manufactured in Khartoum with Iranian expert assistance to the Sudan government. A local NGO will be established in the areas controlled by the SPLM-N to de-mine the minefields, especially the areas that are needed for agricultural cultivation and the free movement of the civilian populations, as well as assisting the victims of the anti-personnel mines. The SPLM-N will also form a commission on child protection.

On the 31st of August, the SPLM-N delegation met with the International Red Cross in Geneva and discussed the humanitarian situation and started with them a process for the SPLM-N to release the prisoners of war from the Sudan government under the custody of the SPLM-N.

It is worth mentioning that the SPLM-N leadership council is going to be convened soon. The meeting will discuss the current political situation in Sudan and other administrative and organizational issues of the movement as well as the Sudan Revolutionary Front, and it will be dedicated to the issues of human rights and to increase the commitment of the SPLM-N to international humanitarian law during the time of war, especially the issues of civilian, child and women protection in the liberated areas, and the overall humanitarian and human rights situation in Sudan.

The SPLM-Sudan very much welcomes the UN Security Council’s August 23rd Presidential Statement on the urgency of the humanitarian situation in the Two Areas. Moreover, the SPLM-Sudan would like to reaffirm its commitment to an immediate humanitarian cessation of hostilities and to implement a vaccination campaign program for the children in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile, and we have informed, many times, the AUHIP and the Ethiopian Prime Minister and Chair of IGAD of our readiness to address the humanitarian and political situations despite the continuous negative position of the Sudan government, which is continuing to deny access and to carry out aerial bombardments on civilian targets.

Yasir Arman
Secretary General, SPLM-N
September 2, 2013

Arabic Forum