International Crisis Group
- The Khartoum-SPLM Agreement: Sudan's Uncertain Peace (July 25, 2005) Implementation [of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement] lags badly...The main obstacles are the old regime's lack of will to embrace genuine power sharing and elections...and lack of capacity in the South to establish and empower basic structures of governance....There are signs the NCP [National Congress Party] seeks to undercut implementation through its use of the militias, bribery, and through the tactics of divide and rule...these tactics will likely intensify if pressure over Darfur diminishes....The SPLM leadership must begin to democratise its movement and empower the nascent civil institutions of the new Government of Southern Sudan.
- The AU's Mission in Darfur: Bridging the Gaps (July 6, 2005) In view of the Sudanese government's abdication of its sovereign duty and to the extent that the AU cannot adequately protect Sudan's civilians, the broader international community has a responsibility to do so. Civilian protection needs to become the primary objective.
- Poll: Do Americans Care About Darfur? PDF (Jun. 1, 2005) The breadth of American support — across party and religious lines — for a much tougher response to the current situation in Darfur is striking. Some 84 percent of respondents said the United States should not tolerate an extremist government committing such attacks, and should use its military assets, short of combat troops, to help bring such attacks to a halt.
- CrisisWatch No. 21 (Jun. 1, 2005) Thirteen conflict situations around the world deteriorated in May 2005, according to this month's edition of CrisisWatch.
- Do Americans Care about Darfur? (Jun. 1, 2005) Some 84% of respondents said the U.S. should not tolerate an extremist government committing such attacks, and should use its military assets, short of inserting U.S. combat troops on the ground to protect civilians, to help bring them to a halt.
- A New Sudan Action Plan (Apr. 26, 2005) Despite the passage of important resolutions by the UN Security Council in the last week of March 2005, the situation in Sudan remains grave.
- CrisisWatch No. 20 (Apr. 1, 2005) Nine conflict situations around the world deteriorated in March 2005, according to the new edition of CrisisWatch.
- Darfur: The Failure to Protect PDF (Mar. 5, 2005) The UN Security Council must overcome divisions and act immediately to halt the mounting atrocities and death toll in Darfur. Three resolutions have failed to stem the violence; the fourth, now being debated, must be strong enough to make a difference. The key to stabilising the situation is to persuade Khartoum to fulfil its numerous commitments to disarm and neutralise the Janjaweed militia, but it will not do this as long as it believes the cost of inaction is minimal. Altering this calculus requires a resolution that: imposes targeted punitive measures; authorises the International Criminal Court to tackle atrocity crimes; and imposes a UN-authorised no-fly zone over Darfur. Equally vital, the inadequate African Union force in Darfur must be expanded to at least 10,000 and its mandate strengthened explicitly to protect civilians.
- Crisis Watch No. 18 (Feb. 1, 2005) Sudan's north-south peace was consolidated with the official signing of the Naivasha deal on 9 January, formally ending a decades-long war that claimed millions of lives; however, the grave crisis in Darfur remains.
- Sudan's Partial Peace (Jan. 7, 2005) If the parties uphold [the peace agreement], a principled peace will come to southern and central Sudan. If the government applies the blueprint it offers and moves vigorously towards peace in Darfur, the country could be transformed. But most indicators point towards a different outcome. The government is signing partially to deflect pressure over Darfur. It is likely to use resulting goodwill to increase attacks there and further undermine opposition elsewhere in the country. Without great international vigilance, implementation of the deal with the SPLM will slide, risking a standoff and return to war.
- Crisis Watch No. 17 (Jan. 1, 2005) In Sudan, the long-awaited signing on 31 December in Naivasha of a final peace accord between the government and Southern SPLA rebels was offset by deteriorating security in Darfur.
- Crisis Watch No. 16 (Dec. 1, 2004) Despite positive movement in peace talks between the Sudanese government and southern rebels, Darfur experienced increasing violence.
- Get serious with Sudan (Nov. 18, 2004) Op-ed published in The Baltimore Sun by John Prendergast. If the government chooses cooperation, peace throughout Sudan could be secured by early next year. Little of substance prevents a final deal with the southern rebels and forward progress with the Darfurian rebels.
- Crisis Watch No. 15 (Nov. 1, 2004) Diplomatic manoeuvring over Darfur crisis continued. Sudan accepted African Union (AU) force expansion ... government of Sudan retained primary security responsibility, disappointing hopes for more pro-active AU role.
- Sudan's Dual Crises: Refocusing on IGAD (Oct. 5, 2004) As the Darfur crisis understandably preoccupies the international community, inadequate attention is being paid to ending Sudan's 21-year old civil war between the Khartoum government and the mainly southern insurgency led by the [Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army]. The peace process mediated by the regional organisation IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development), looked close to finality in June 2004 but is now at risk.
- Darfur Deadline: A New International Action Plan (Aug. 23, 2004) The international response to the crisis in the western Sudanese region of Darfur remains limp and inadequate, its achievements so far desperately slight. The UN Security Council must, by its review deadline of 30 August 2004, endorse a new international action plan — taking tougher measures against the Khartoum government, which has acted in bad faith throughout the crisis, and authorising the African Union (AU), with stronger international support, to follow up more decisively its efforts to improve the situation on the ground and mediate a political settlement.
