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Deploying Peacekeeping Mission Without the Will of the Sudanese People is
Illegal

Shabait.com (Asmara)
EDITORIAL
November 22, 2006
Posted to the web November 22, 2006
Asmara
Regarding the deployment of UN peace keeping mission, the UN Secretary General,
Mr. Kofi Annan recently said: "The Government of Sudan has agreed to accept a
joint UN and AU peacekeeping mission". After being a surprise to many, this has
been discarded as a lie by the people in charge or in a diplomatic language
reduced to a loll as "Mr. Kofi Annan has read what is not written, by mistake",
and this has been notified to all mass media outlets.
As it was known, engineered by the UK, a plan to deploy 17,000 strong UN
Peacekeeping Force in Sudan 's Darfur region was underway. This is bigger than
any other UN force ever deployed in the African continent and whether the
Sudanese government likes it or not the plan was meant to be implemented. Led
by the US, a number of parties have been exerting pressure through different
enticing and coercive means. And this white lie by Mr. Kofi Annan is a
contrived redraw of the various diplomatic efforts to convince the Government
of Sudan or in its raw expression to 'coerce' it.
It is natural to witness problems arising anywhere. However, a solution can
only be found by the people concerned in untangling their own problem. Hence,
since the fraternal people of Sudan know their problem more than any other
party, the first and best solution could have been promoted by encouraging them
to tackle their problems themselves. And if external assistance is sought, it
should be upon the will and determination of the people, who are in charge of
their own affairs.
The Sudan based solution, which brought about peace between the opposition
forces of East Sudan and the Sudanese government is such a bold example, which
was achieved through concerted political will and understanding.
By praying in the name of human rights as well as to prevent genocide and
taking this as a mere token of global responsibility; deploying peacekeeping
force without a clear agenda and above of all sending international troops
without the will of the people, is no less than military intervention. Such a
dangerous move will have dire consequence and it equally discredits the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of a given country. The issue is not
about sending "the blue berets or green berets"; it is rather about paying due
respect to the sovereignty of a given nation and its people. As Article 6 of
the UN Charter clearly spells out, if Security Council is to send peacekeeping
force, it should be done upon the agreement and conviction of the rivaling
parties involved, and not through intimidation or coercion, as currently
resorted by powerful countries over weaker ones. Nowadays, when the repeated
failures of the UN peacekeeping mission are becoming a disgraceful experience
in different corners of the globe, and at a time when it is being twisted to
serve as a means to employ various ploys deploying such a huge army through
intimidation and coercion raises a dubious question: what lies behind such a
motive.


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