Abyei: Sudan’s “Kashmir”Marked by wars and coups since its independence in 1956, Sudan is littered with killing fields. Perhaps no area is more volatile and carries more implications for Sudan’s future than the oil rich region of Abyei-Sudan’s “Kashmir”-astride the boundary between North and South roughly 500 miles southwest of Khartoum.
According to an ENOUGH Project report released today, Abyei is one of the most potent tripwires in all of Sudan, where the boundary between the north and south must be defined, and oil revenue must be shared. Authors Roger Winter and John Prendergast state “If the political crisis regarding Abyei is addressed, there is potential for peace in the entire country. If it is mishandled, it dramatically increases the possibility that Sudan’s current conflicts from Darfur to the South to the East will explode over the coming few years into a national war with regional implications and historically devastating repercussions for its people.”
Read the full report: http://www.enoughproject.org/abyei
The ruling National Congress Party’s non-implementation of its commitments on Abyei and other elements of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) it signed with Southern-based rebels is part of a pattern of obstruction that is at the core of its governing strategy and is linked closely to its obstruction of the UN-AU Darfur protection force, or UNAMID, and other Darfur agreements. However, in the past, when there have been meaningful consequences for such actions, the NCP has changed course. But if no costs are imposed against the regime for its efforts to undermine peace and security in Darfur and the South, the cycles of violence will continue. The only chance for peace in Sudan will come if the United States, France, and Britain, backed by strong support from the region, work together to overcome China’s and Russia’s objections at the UN Security Council and demonstrate a real cost for this pattern of obstruction.
Take Action
The success of the CPA, and in particular, the Abyei Protocol, will define President Bush’s legacy. We applaud the Bush Administration for taking a critical leadership role in brokering the agreement, and for the President’s recent appointment of a new special envoy. Call 1-800-GENOCIDE and urge the President to finish the job by putting U.S. diplomats in the field to work on implementing the CPA and forging peace in Darfur, and imposing a cost on any Sudanese official obstructing implementation of the CPA or deployment of the UN protection force by pressing for targeted sanctions at the UN Security Council.
Read the full report: http://www.enoughproject.org/abyei
