UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council voted unanimously to move ahead toward ending the joint UN-African Union peacekeeping force in Sudan’s vast western Darfur region and replacing it with a civilian mission focusing on the country’s democratic transition, diplomats said.
But the council did not set a date for the end of the mission, known as UNAMID, in the two related resolutions that were approved in writing Wednesday night under new rules initiated because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of Thursday’s official announcement.
One resolution, adopted by a vote of 15-0 extends the current 6,500-strong mission for six months until Dec. 31, 2020. It says the council will decide by then on “the responsible draw-down and exit of UNAMID,” taking into account a special report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the chair of the African Union Commission.
That report, which is due by Oct. 31, should assess the situation on the ground and include the impact of Sudan’s peace process on the security situation in Darfur and the capacity of the Sudanese government to protect civilians, which is UNAMID’s primary mandate, the resolution says.
The other resolution, also adopted by a 15-0 vote, establishes a new political mission, the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan to be known as UNITAMS, for an initial period of one year. It has a mandate to assist the country in its political transition toward democratic governance and in protecting and promoting human rights and sustainable peace.
It says UNITAMS should also assist the government in “peace-building, civilian protection and rule of law, in particular in Darfur,” provide technical assistance in drafting a constitution, and support peace negotiations and implementation of any peace agreements if asked.
The Security Council asked Guterres to swiftly establish UNITAMS, with a view to reaching its full operational capacity as soon as possible so it can start delivering on its mandates no later than Jan. 1, 2021.
The Darfur conflict began in 2003 when ethnic Africans rebelled, accusing the Arab-dominated Sudanese government of discrimination. The government in Khartoum was accused of retaliating by arming local nomadic Arab tribes and unleashing them on civilian populations — a charge it denies.
In recent years, as the result of a successful government military campaign, the rebellion has been reduced to a rebel Sudan Liberation Army faction headed by Abdul Wahid Elnur in Jebel Marra.
In July 2018, the Security Council voted to dramatically cut the UNAMID force in response to reduced fighting and improved security conditions. The target then was to end the mission on June 30, 2020.
The Darfur conflict took place under the three-decade autocratic rule of former president Omar Al-Bashir, during which Sudan was convulsed by a bloody civil war and rebellions, not only in Darfur but in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states. Al-Bashir’s rule ended in April 2019 when the military ousted him after mass street protests by a pro-democracy movement which began in late 2018.
A power-sharing agreement signed in August 2019 between the military and protesters created a joint civilian-military ruling “sovereign council,” but the civilians are struggling to assert authority in the face of the military’s power.
In October 2019, the Security Council voted unanimously to keep UNAMID in Darfur for another year in hopes the new civilian-led transitional government can restore peace.
It faces towering challenges, including the dire economic conditions that fueled the protests. Sudan’s economy has been battered by civil wars and international sanctions. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok has said achieving peace with armed groups is also crucial for the government as it would allow a reduction in military spending, which takes up to 80 percent of the budget.
The UNAMID resolution recognizes improvements in security conditions, “while expressing concern that the security situation in some regions of Darfur remains precarious.” It underscores the need to protect peace-building gains in Darfur and “avoid a relapse into conflict.”
The resolution underscores that withdrawal of UNAMID “should take into account the progress made in the peace process,” and supports the African Union Peace and Security Council’s call “for extreme caution in the withdrawal of UNAMID.”
The UNAMID force was established in 2007, the first joint UN-AU peacekeeping operation. UNITAMS is a UN-only political mission but the resolution underlines “the importance of the partnership between the United Nations and the African Union in Sudan.”
The UNAMID resolution recognizes the impact of the pandemic on its draw-down, and the UNITAMS resolution expresses “grave concern” at its impact on Sudan’s health system, socioeconomic and humanitarian situation.
UN moves toward ending peacekeeping force in Sudan’s Darfur
https://arab.news/cnn6f
UN moves toward ending peacekeeping force in Sudan’s Darfur
- But UN Security Council did not set a date for the end of the mission, known as UNAMID
- UNAMID force was established in 2007, the first joint UN-AU peacekeeping operation
Mystery of CIA’s lost nuclear device haunts Himalayan villagers 60 years on
- Plutonium-fueled spy system was meant to monitor China’s nuclear activity after 1964 atomic tests
- Porter who took part in Nanda Devi mission warned family of ‘danger buried in snow’
NEW DELHI: Porters who helped American intelligence officers carry a nuclear spy system up the precarious slopes of Nanda Devi, India’s second-highest peak, returned home with stories that sent shockwaves through nearby villages, leaving many in fear that still holds six decades later.
A CIA team, working with India’s Intelligence Bureau, planned to install the device in the remote part of the Himalayas to monitor China, but a blizzard forced them to abandon the system before reaching the summit.
When they returned, the device was gone.
The spy system contained a large quantity of highly radioactive plutonium-238 — roughly a third of the amount used in the atomic bomb dropped by the US on the Japanese city of Nagasaki in the closing stages of the Second World War.
“The workers and porters who went with the CIA team in 1965 would tell the story of the nuclear device, and the villagers have been living in fear ever since,” said Narendra Rana from the Lata village near Nanda Devi’s peak.
His father, Dhan Singh Rana, was one of the porters who carried the device during the CIA’s mission in 1965.
“He told me there was a danger buried in the snow,” Rana said. “The villagers fear that as long as the device is buried in the snow, they are safe, but if it bursts, it will contaminate the air and water, and no one will be safe after that.”
During the Sino-Indian tensions in the 1960s, India cooperated with the US in surveillance after China conducted its first nuclear tests in 1964. The Nanda Devi mission was part of this cooperation and was classified for years. It only came under public scrutiny in 1978, when the story was broken by Outsider magazine.
The article caused an uproar in India, with lawmakers demanding the location of the nuclear device be revealed and calling for political accountability. The same year, then Prime Minister Morarji Desai set up a committee to assess whether nuclear material in the area near Nanda Devi could pollute the Ganges River, which originates there.
The Ganges is one of the world’s most crucial freshwater sources, with about 655 million people in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh depending on it for their essential needs.
The committee, chaired by prominent scientists, submitted its report a few months later, dismissing any cause for concerns, and establishing that even in the worst-case scenario of the device’s rupture, the river’s water would not be contaminated.
But for the villagers, the fear that the shell containing radioactive plutonium could break apart never goes away, and peace may only come once it is found.
Many believe the device, trapped within the glacier’s shifting ice, may have moved downhill over time.
Rana’s father told him that the device felt hot when it was carried, and he believed it might have melted its way into the glacier, remaining buried deep inside.
An imposing mass of rock and ice, Nanda Devi at 7,816 m is the second-highest mountain in India after Kangchenjunga.
When a glacier near the mountain burst in 2021, claiming over 200 lives, scientists explained that the disaster was due to global warming, but in nearby villages the incident was initially blamed on a nuclear explosion.
“They feared the device had burst. Those rescuing people were afraid they might die from radiation,” Rana said. “If any noise is heard, if any smoke appears in the sky, we start fearing a leak from the nuclear device.”
The latent fear surfaces whenever natural disasters strike or media coverage puts the missing device back in the spotlight. Most recently, a New York Times article on the CIA mission’s 60th anniversary reignited the unease.
“The apprehensions are genuine. After 1965, Americans came twice to search for the device. The villagers accompanied them, but it could not be found, which remains a concern for the local community,” said Atul Soti, an environmentalist in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, about 50 km from Nanda Devi.
“People are worried. They have repeatedly sought answers from the government, but no clear response has been provided so far. Periodically, the villagers voice their concerns, and they need a definitive government statement on this issue.”
Despite repeated queries whenever media attention arises, Indian officials have not released detailed updates since the Desai-appointed committee submitted its findings.
“The government should issue a white paper to address people’s concerns. The white paper will make it clear about the status of the device, and whether leakage from the device could pollute the Ganges River,” Soti told Arab News.
“The government should be clear. If the government is not reacting, then it further reinforces the fear.”
