International platforms and stopping

Al-Shafe’a Al-Khidir writes: International platforms and stopping the ongoing war in Sudan
The phenomenon of proliferation and multiplication of initiatives, platforms and blocs calling for stopping the ongoing war in Sudan, which possesses the same features and similarities amidst the Sudanese civil forces as well as the concerned international and regional community forces, has constantly been dealing with this aim with the utmost slowness and inaction that amounts to complicity. We hear them making noise but we don’t see them grinding, while the people of Sudan face death and destruction. In our previous article, we discussed the spread of this phenomenon amidst the civil forces and mentioned that one of its causes is political selfishness and the prioritization of private interests with some of these forces, or the inability and lack of resourcefulness when confronted with the complexities of reality, as well as the inability to present practical solutions, or perhaps some of these blocs and initiatives are the creation of non-Sudanese circles, be it international or regional, which that would certainly be a major calamity!

Today, we continue discussing the spread of such phenomenon regionally and internationally, dismissing its causation of helplessness and lack of resourcefulness, without ignoring that some external parties may not want to put a stop to the ongoing war in Sudan as swiftly and would want it to continue for some time, which is what we discussed in one of our previous articles. As we mentioned before, the proliferation of regional and international platforms and initiatives was evident prior to the war in (UNITAMS), then the Trilateral Mechanism after the African Union and (IGAD) joined it, and later on the (Quad) sponsoring the Framework Agreement before the war broke out. After the war, the Jeddah platform was organized under the Saudi and American initiative and sponsorship, and several truce agreements and the May humanitarian agreement were issued as a result, then the African Union Peace and Security Council summit was held, and the (IGAD) moved to form an expanded mechanism with the African Union, before the heads of the countries neighboring Sudan held a meeting and launched the Neighboring countries initiative. Various initiatives continued to surface, as we witnessed the formation of the African Union High-Level Panel, the visits of the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, then the new American envoy, and the European Union’s support from the beginning of these platforms and its organization of the Brussels meetings and this month’s proposed meeting in Paris in conjunction with France and Germany, followed by the recent UN Security Council resolutions, which urged both warring parties to cease fire during the month of Ramadan. Then there is the matter of the unannounced meetings, including “Al-Manama” leaked meeting, which was attended by new and significant parties such as the Republic of Egypt and United Arab Emirates. This is what we have been calling for since the beginning of the launch of the Jeddah negotiations. Senior leaders from the Army and Rapid Support Forces have participated in it as well. In addition to the numerous workshops and seminars concerning Sudan that were organized by European and American governments and organizations over the past year, and a number of them will be held during the period extending from the 15th to the 25th of April in Paris, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, and Kenya! What seems to be the common denominator between all these platforms and initiatives is “running around in circles” without any practical steps to implement the recommendations and decisions agreed upon, including the Security Council resolutions and agreements signed in the Jeddah platform.

Initiatives continued to grow, and we witnessed the formation of the African Union High-Level Panel, the visits of the UN Secretary-General’s Personal Envoy, and then the new American Envoy.
The international actors we met with recently discuss the international and regional powers’ motivation to continue to facilitate a new round of negotiations to stop the ongoing war, after Eid El-Fitr, and perhaps in Jeddah as well. We are hopeful this will happen today before tomorrow, taking into account the worsening calamity spreading throughout the country, which has expanded to claim lives due to the lack of food and medicine, as it manifested in the spread of racist and hate speech, which in turn exacerbates the tearing of the social fabric in the country and threatens Its unity, and the return of the vulgar practices of using the State services, specifically the judicial authority to simply criminalize those who differ in opinion and political position. The aforementioned scenarios fuel the flames of war and exacerbates the complexities of the country’s already volatile and tense situation. It also prompts indicators that the continuation of the war threatens security, peace and stability regionally and internationally.

Certainly, the Sudanese people, with their knowledge and experience in Sudanese affairs, can make observations and criticize the structure and composition of the various international and regional platforms and their operating methods in managing the negotiations to put a stop to the ongoing war. They are also able to present whatever proposals they believe can contribute positively to the success of the next rounds. For our part, we have been doing this since the establishment of these platforms and initiatives, and we will continue to do so, without any infringement on the knowledge and experience of the international facilitators of these discussions, to whom we acknowledge their possession of a combination of theoretical and practical knowledge gained from operational experience in silencing guns and resolving conflicts around the world. As for the next round, we acknowledge the importance of adhering to the same structure used in the “Manama” discussions. We also suggest that this round discusses the mechanisms for implementing what has been and what will be agreed upon, with the necessity of including the vision of the civil forces regarding stopping the war, and this requires these forces to speed up their reunification and creation of a mechanism to coordinate amongst themselves and unify their visions.

Today’s world is largely governed by the inescapable laws of globalization, which are the basis of interactions between its components. This is an objective and inevitable phenomenon, and its goal is to preserve the security, peace and stability of the world. Hence the inevitability of the international community’s contribution to stopping the war, especially in light of the inability and failure of our political elites who are still in the grip of political disagreements and factionalism. I believe that no rational person can reject these contributions, but they must differentiate with full awareness between their objectivity and inevitability in light of globalization relations, and the content of the solutions included in them, knowing that the solution to our crises lies within the country borders and will not come from outside. Of course, we also do not dismiss the international and regional community’s efforts to achieve its own interests related to achieving global stability, drying up the sources of terrorism, and ensuring the smooth flow of economic transactions. Rather, we acknowledge, understand, and cooperate with all of it. However, what we would like to say, quite firmly, is that the interests of the outside world cannot be at the expense of the interests of our people.

Quoted from Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper