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The Chairperson of the African Union Commission Welcomes the Agreement reached
by the Sudanese Parties on the Improvement of the Humanitarian Situation in
Darfur

African Union (Addis Ababa)
PRESS RELEASE
September 1, 2004
Posted to the web September 2, 2004
Abuja
The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Alpha Oumar Konare,
welcomes the Protocol on the Improvement of the Humanitarian Situation in
Darfur agreed upon, today, by the Sudanese Parties, namely the Government of
Sudan (GoS), the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and
Equality Movement (JEM), within the framework of the Inter-Sudanese Political
Talks on the crisis in Darfur, convened in Abuja, Nigeria, since 23 August
2004, under the auspices of the AU.
This Protocol constitutes an important step in the efforts aimed at alleviating
the suffering of the civilian population in Darfur and paving the way to a
comprehensive and lasting political settlement of the conflict in this region.
The Chairperson encourages the Parties to continue to show the same commitment
in discussing the remaining items on the agenda of the Political Talks, bearing
in mind the urgency of the situation.
Under the Protocol, the Sudanese Parties committed themselves to guarantee
unimpeded and unrestricted access for humanitarian workers and assistance, to
reach all needy people throughout Darfur. In this respect, the Parties
undertook to allow the UN and other humanitarian assistance organizations,
including Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), to travel along routes
proposed by the UN, without restrictions or escorts, in order to deliver
assistance to areas controlled by any Party.
With regard to the protection of the civilians, the Parties committed
themselves to, among others things, maintain civilian character of IDP and
refugee camps and protect the rights of IDPs and refugees to return to their
areas of origin. They also agreed to take all steps required to prevent
attacks, threats, intimidation and any other forms of violence against
civilians by any Party or group, including the Janjaweed, and other militias.
The Parties requested the AU to urgently take the necessary steps to strengthen
AMIS, the AU Mission in Sudan, on the ground, with the requisite mandate, to
ensure a more effective monitoring of their commitments.
The Parties will start considering the security issues on Thursday, 2 September
2004.

   

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