Justice and Equality Movement Sudan (JEM) Opening Remarks of the Chairperson of JEM

02:57 PM December, 07 2018

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on the signing Ceremony of the Pre-Negotiation Agreement
Berlin, 6 Dec 2018

For the sake brevity, I will to tell all of you good afternoon preserving your names and titles. On behalf of JEM and the people of Sudan, I would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to the FRG, not only for organising this very important event or the hospitality we are enjoying, but more so for the relentless commitment and efforts that resulted in this agreement. Our thanks go to our other partners in the regional and international community namely the UNAMID, AUHIP, USA, UK, France, Qatar and Norway. The Berghof Foundation did a wonderful job to make this day joyful. This has been the outcome of collective concerted efforts of all of you and we wish to see these efforts continue during the coming negotiations in a more effective and cohesive engagement.
I seek this opportunity to reaffirm the commitment of JEM to a just and a comprehensive negotiated settlement. This is so not only because we love peace, but also because are the ones who are suffering most. Our people are getting killed and raped almost on daily basis. Generations of our young children are losing their future because of lack of education. Demographic engineering is unabatedly progressing and our people are losing their land by the hour. Our IDPs are suffering all sorts of shortages in services and supplies. Now as we speak, Suleia in West Darfur is under siege by GoS affiliated militias and thousands have been displaced in the last few days in the area of Sirba. Our people have been living unbearable insecurity conditions since 2003. The victims are longing to see justice done to them through international, regional and national legal entities. As we speak, our refugees in Ghana are facing a very precarious situation. Not only the people in the war affected areas are suffering, but the whole country is in the verge of economic collapse and experiencing numerous difficulties as a result of the conflicts.
This situation will come to an end only when a peaceful settlement is reached by appropriately addressing the root causes of the conflict as well as the effects of the war, and the perpetrators of the atrocious crimes are held accountable. That needs a peace partners who comes to the negotiating table not with the objective of scoring points against his adversary, but with good faith and strong determination to solve the problem of the country once and for all. The Government should understand that, through military means, it can win a battle but it will not achieve peace. Giving a free hand to the militias to kill, rape, grab land and loot property will exacerbate the already intricate situation and make peaceful settlement a remote dream. It is high time for all parties to get rid of self deception and be ready to pay the price of peace.
On our part, we are going to the negotiations in Doha with good faith and resolve to reach a peaceful settlement. However, I would like to remind all of you that the problem of Sudan cannot and will not be solved by having partial peace agreements for the war affected regions and areas. The country urgently needs a comprehensive, inclusive and credible political process that leads to true democratic transformation and national reconciliation. This requires the Government and the opposition to engage in a serious national dialogue through the implementation of the AUHIP RMA.
The withdrawal of UNAMID by 2020 will increase the level of insecurity in Darfur tremendously if a comprehensive peaceful settlement has not been reached by then. Implementation of the Darfur Development Strategy will not be feasible without real peace on the ground. Our Partners in the UNSC including FRG, who will soon join the Council, need to keep an eye on the situation in Darfur and make sure that the required bench marks for the final withdrawal of UNAMID are genuinely met and effective substitutions are in place before a final decision is made.
Finally, I am very optimistic that peace will come sooner than later. However, the peace building phase is not less laborious and demanding than the peace making process that has been consuming so much energy, time and resources from all stakeholders. We need genuine strategic partners who are ready to add some capital and technical knowhow to our vast untapped natural resources to change the face of life in our country. We are counting on you all to be ready to contribute generously in the peace building phase and help us fight desertification and the effects of climate change for which are all responsible.
Thank you.