PEACE PERSPECTIVES FOR SUDAN. A REBIRTH OF THE CIVIL SOCIETY?

Organized by the Italian Campaign SUDAN: PEOPLE WITHOUT RIGHTS

Final Declaration of the International Forum on "Peace Perspectives for Sudan. A rebirth of the civil society?"

To the Italian Government;
to the International Partners in the IGAD Forum;
to the International Community;

to the General Secretary of the United Nations;
to the UN Commission on Human Rights;
to the Parties in the IGAD negotiation forum, namely Government of Sudan and SPLM;
to the four states of the IGAD Committee on the Sudan;
to President Moi and to his Special Envoy on the Sudan;
to the press and international mass media.

Final Declaration of the International Forum on "Peace Perspectives for Sudan. A rebirth of the civil society?"

held in Milan on September 17-18, 1999
organized by the Italian Campaign for Peace and the Respect of Human Rights in Sudan

The Campaign, promoted by the Italian civil society, invited well known representatives of the Sudanese civil society, in order to give voice to as many possible expressions of groups, associations and movements which are active in Sudan for the promotion of peace, democracy, the respect of human rights and the resolution of the conflict that had brought about the civil war.

We were, thus, reconfirmed in our belief that perspectives and proposals that come from the civil society are a fundamental resource for the building of a just and durable peace which can put an end to the suffering of the entire Sudanese population.

We here gather in full consensus to bring to your attention actions that we believe can contribute to guide your efforts towards peace.

We strongly request the Italian Government and the International Community:

  1. to stop ignoring the voices and experiences of the different expressions of the Sudanese civil society, which do not feel represented in the peace negotiations, and to sustain them in their commitment, capacity and courage, to define internally, solutions to the Sudanese problem;
  2. to act for peace though a commitment to develop a concrete support to the development of the Sudanese civil society in its forms of social organization and towards real political participation; to remove all legal and political impediment and to reaffirm commitment to freedom of association, organization and expression;
  3. to recognize the need to look at the overall political context in the Horn of Africa region and to assume a long term perspective in the diplomatic action for pacification in the area. The civil society sees in peace not an "event" but a "process" which will require persistent efforts and continuity even from the side of the international community;
  4. to reaffirm the six points proposed as the Declaration of Principles (DoP) in the IGAD negotiations of 1994, and adopted by the Government of Sudan (GoS) and Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 1997, as a basis for the resolution of the conflict;
  5. to recognize the importance of an appropriate definition of the interim period which should include and be followed by a comprehensive cease fire by the warring parties, as a basis for the reconstitution of the necessary reciprocal trust for the parties to the conflict and among the populations. In this context we ask to take into consideration the confederal proposal presented by Abel Alier and supported by many of the participants to the Forum panel;
  6. not to stop sustaining, thorough humanitarian aid, the populations that are affected by famine, displacement and suffering, in the awareness of the need to put an end to the conflict as a basic condition for the solution of the huge problems that affect the populations;
  7. to pay special attention to the implications of those economic agreements pertaining the oil resources in Sudan, not only for the respect of human rights, but for the ending of the conflict itself.