Press Statement from Yassir Arman of SPLM-North
The SPLM-N Calls on the African Union to Take Steps to Ensure and Guarantee Humanitarian Assistance Delivery to South Kordofan/ Nuba Mountain and Calls Upon Valerie Amos to Brief the Security Council on the Humanitarian Tragedy, and on theRefusal of the Khartoum Regime to Allow Access for Humanitarian Assistance and their Continued Non-Cooperation Policy.
Yesterday, Monday 16
th January, the First Vice President of the Republic of Sudan, Ali Osman M Taha and his lieutenants convened a meeting for the so-called High-Committee for Humanitarian Assistance.
As expected, the meeting resulted in pursuing its non-cooperation line with the African Union, the international community and the United Nation’s efforts to reach agreement that will open access for humanitarian assistance to thousands of displaced people in South Kordofan /Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile who are estimated by the United Nations and relief agencies to be more than 417,000.
In fields assessments conducted by the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Organisation, the humanitarian wing of Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement- North (SPLM-N), there are more than 300,000 affected people in Nuba Mountain/ South Kordofan; and 405,000 people in Blue Nile, in addition to more that 150, 000 refugees in the Republic of South Sudan, and 38,000 in neigbouring Ethiopia.
Given this humanitarian tragedy and Khartoum’s denial since June 2011 of humanitarian access and the continuous bombardment and military offensive against the civilians, genocide and war crimes committed on ethnic and political grounds.
Added to this the ban of SPLM-N and the removal of its elected governor in Blue Nile, and the campaign of arbitrary arrests of SPLM-N leaders all over Sudan, and the issuing deaths sentences against 19 of them, including the writer and poet Abdel-Monim Rahama and other activists associated with the SPLM-N- such as Dr. Gamar Hussain and 400 missing others: victims of extra-judicial killings.
In the Light of this grave humanitarian situation, and the deliberate policy taken by the NCP government of the use of food as a weapon and the non-cooperation with the United Nations and the international Community, which is decided at the highest possible authority in the regime, the SPLM-N calls upon and appeal to African Union, in particular when meeting in Addis Ababa at the end of this month, to take the necessary steps to ensure that food will be delivered to the needy people of the Two Areas and that Khartoum dictatorial and racist government will not use the African Union inaction as an alibi to continue its policy.
Likewise, we call upon Valeria Amos who was denied access to Khartoum when in Turkey on her way there, and again didn’t find the necessary and deserved cooperation in her last visit to Khartoum, to give a frank report to United Nations Security Council to enable it to fully assume its responsibility in ensuring the delivery of humanitarian assistance and the protection of the affected civilian population.
It is worth noting that the delivery of humanitarian assistance would require a tripartite agreement between the de facto government in Khartoum, the SPLM-N and the United Nations, considering the fact that the affected people are in the areas controlled by the SPLM-N.
Throughout the 22 years of this dictatorial regime of the NCP, whose leaders are wanted by international justice, it has never responded to niceties, but only responds to genuine pressure mounted by the Sudanese people, the region, the continent and the international community.
Yasir Arman
Secretary General
Sudan People Liberation Movement- North
17th January 2012
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