Sudan and South Sudan European Parliament resolution of 13 June 2012 on the situation in Sudan and South Sudan (2012/2659(RSP))
Date: 2012-06-13
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: South Sudan, Sudan, border control, border war, drought, human rights, humanitarian aid, petroleum, settlement of disputes








CE2013332EN.01004901.xml










15.11.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


CE 332/49





Wednesday 13 June 2012Sudan and South Sudan
P7_TA(2012)0248
European Parliament resolution of 13 June 2012 on the situation in Sudan and South Sudan (2012/2659(RSP))
2013/C 332 E/08

The European Parliament,






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having regard to its previous resolutions on Sudan,










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having regard to UN Security Council Resolution 2046 (2012) of 2 May 2012 on Sudan and Southern Sudan,










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having regard to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the Commission Catherine Ashton’s statement welcoming UN Security Council Resolution 2046 (2012) of 2 May 2012,










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having regard to the Council conclusions on Sudan of 31 January 2011 and to Council Decision of 23 May 2011 (1),










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having regard to the Memorandum of Understanding on Non-Aggression and Cooperation signed on 10 February 2012 between Sudan and South Sudan,










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having regard to the Statements of 28 March 2012 and 11 April 2012 by the Spokesperson of EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton, on armed border clashes between Sudan and South Sudan,










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having regard to the African Union Statement of 17 April 2012 calling on Sudan and South Sudan to act responsibly and to heed the appeals made by the AU and the international community for an immediate end to the current conflict between the two countries,










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having regard to the Statement of 16 April 2012 by the Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General on the situation in Sudan and South Sudan expressing deep concern over continued hostilities between the two countries, including their impact on innocent civilians,










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having regard to the Statement of 19 April 2012 by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urging Sudan and South Sudan to end their hostilities, thus avoiding a return to a conflict which has already cost millions of lives over two decades,










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having regard to the Council conclusions on Sudan and South Sudan of 23 April 2012 (3159th Foreign Affairs Council meeting) expressing the EU’s deep concern about the escalating conflict between Sudan and South Sudan,










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having regard to the Roadmap for Sudan and South Sudan set out in the communiqué issued by the AU Peace and Security Council on 24 April 2012, which is fully supported by the EU,










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having regard to the Sudanese Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005,










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having regard to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA),










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having regard to the Declaration of the ACP-EU JPA Co-Presidents on Sudan and South Sudan adopted by the Joint Parliamentary Assembly on 30 May 2012,










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having regard to Rule 110(2) and (4) of its Rules of Procedure,










A.


whereas repeated incidents of cross-border violence between Sudan and South Sudan, including troop movements, the seizure and occupation of Heglig, support to proxy forces, support for each other’s rebels, the fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) have made the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan into a fully fledged confrontation;










B.


whereas a grave humanitarian situation has been created by the fighting between Sudan and South Sudan and the continued fighting in the states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile in Sudan;










C.


whereas the lack of agreement on transitional economic arrangements between the two countries, including on the use of oil, have led to Khartoum’s seizure of Southern Oil and South Sudan’s decision to stop oil production, and contributed significantly to the present crisis;










D.


whereas on 29 June 2011 the Agreement Between the Government of the Sudan and the Government of Southern Sudan on Border Security and the Joint Political and Security Mechanism was concluded, including the commitment to create a safe demilitarised border zone (SDBZ), and on 30 July 2011 the Agreement on the Border Monitoring Support Mission Between the Government of Sudan and the Government of South Sudan was concluded;










E.


whereas South Sudan has announced its immediate withdrawal from the Abyei area in accordance with the Agreement between Sudan and South Sudan of 20 June 2011;










F.


whereas the draft decisions of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism proposed to the Parties by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on 4 April 2012 provide a sound basis for establishing mutual security along the common border between Sudan and South Sudan;










G.


whereas the resolution unanimously adopted by the UN Security Council on 2 May 2012 endorsed a Roadmap for Sudan and South Sudan to end hostilities and resolve their outstanding post-secession issues within the next three months;










H.


whereas Sudan and South Sudan have both welcomed the Roadmap and confirmed their commitment to an immediate cessation of hostilities; whereas, however, tensions remain high;










I.


whereas on 4 June 2012 both Sudan and South Sudan began their first high-level talks on border security since a series of frontier clashes threatened to drag the former civil war back into a full scale conflict;










J.


whereas the EU attaches particular importance to the immediate activation of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism by deploying international observers and other personnel on the ground to monitor what is happening and help ensure compliance;










K.


whereas Sudan and South Sudan are affected by a severe drought and people have started moving in search of food, and whereas, according to UN officials, around one million people could be at risk of starvation if food aid does not reach them in the coming months;










1.


Welcomes the fact that Sudan and South Sudan have both agreed to the Roadmap endorsed in UN Security Council Resolution 2046 of 2 May 2012 and confirmed their commitment to an immediate cessation of hostilities; welcomes the resumption of direct negotiations in Addis Ababa, as well as the role of the African Union and the mediation of Mr Thabo Mbeki in this process;










2.


Urges Sudan and South Sudan to show their political and practical willingness to pursue the path of peace by addressing the security concerns of both sides through meaningful negotiations within the framework of the Joint Political and Security Mechanism, starting with the creation of a safe, demilitarised border zone and unconditional withdrawal of all their armed forces to their side of the border, in accordance with previously adopted agreements, including the Agreement on the Border Monitoring Support Mission of 30 July 2011;










3.


Calls for immediate activation of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM) through deployment of international observers and other personnel on the ground to monitor and help ensure compliance;










4.


Calls on Sudan and South Sudan to implement pending aspects of the 20 June 2011 Agreement on Temporary Security and Administrative Arrangements for the Abyei area, in particular the redeployment of all Sudanese and South Sudanese forces out of the Abyei area; welcomes the withdrawal from Heglig of the army of South Sudan and calls on the Government of Sudan to do the same; calls for the immediate cessation of aerial bombardments of South Sudan by the Sudanese Armed Forces;










5.


Calls on Sudan and South Sudan to cease the harbouring of, and support to, rebel groups against the other state;










6.


Urges all parties to stick in particular to paragraphs 7 and 16 of the 24 April 2012 Decision of the Peace and Security Council of the African Union, which reiterates that the territorial boundaries of states shall not be altered by force and that any territorial disputes shall be settled exclusively by mutually agreed, peaceful, political means and that there can be no military solution to the conflict in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile;










7.


Calls on the EU to continue to work closely with its international partners, in particular the AU and the UN, to ensure that Sudan and South Sudan implement the UN Security Council Resolution of 2 May 2012 on the Roadmap for Sudan and South Sudan;










8.


Expresses its deep concern at the humanitarian situation created by the fighting between Sudan and South Sudan, and the continued fighting in the states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile in Sudan; strongly condemns all acts of violence committed against civilians in violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law;










9.


Calls upon all parties to promote and protect human rights, including those of women and people belonging to vulnerable groups, and to comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian and international human rights law, and calls for those responsible for serious violations of such law, including sexual violence, to be held accountable;










10.


Strongly urges Sudan and Southern Sudan to permit humanitarian access to the affected population in the areas of the conflict, particularly Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, ensuring, in accordance with international law and international humanitarian law, the safe, unhindered and immediate access of United Nations and other humanitarian personnel, as well as the delivery of supplies and equipment, in order to allow such personnel to perform efficiently their task of assisting the conflict-affected civilian population;










11.


Urges both sides to stop inflammatory rhetoric and hostile propaganda, which result in mutual demonisation, xenophobia and the threat of violence; calls on both governments to assume full responsibility for the protection of each other’s nationals in line with international principles, consistent with the Framework Agreement on the Status of Nationals of the Other State and Related Matters initialled in March 2012;










12.


Welcomes the UN Security Council decision to extend the mandate of UNMIS and to send additional peacekeeping forces to Sudan; considers that a continued UN presence is extremely valuable to the peaceful development of two viable states; calls on both Sudan and South Sudan to welcome the UN presence and ensure its safety;










13.


Strongly urges Sudan and South Sudan to reach an agreement on the unsolved transitional political and economic arrangements between the two countries, including on the use of oil; reiterates that a precondition for achieving peace and stability in the region is to solve the issues of border demarcation;










14.


Calls on Sudan and South Sudan to use the services of the African Union Border Programme, which can assist the parties in resolving their concerns in the delineation, demarcation and resolution of disputed areas based on African best practices and international principles;










15.


Is convinced that the long-term stability in the region requires a new, unified, comprehensive international strategy, in which the EU would play a role alongside other global and regional actors, which would focus not only on North-South issues and the situation in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, but also on the long-overdue reform process in Sudan and the deepening of democratic reforms in South Sudan; calls on the HR/VP and the Commission to be ready to offer the necessary assistance if the ruling Sudan National Congress Party (NCP) accepts a free and unhindered national dialogue aimed at establishing inclusive constitutional arrangements accepted by all and takes genuine steps to end impunity in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile;










16.


Calls on the Commission, the EU Member States and the international community to honour their funding commitments to the region, and in particular to address severe shortages of food aid, emergency shelter and protection; calls for close attention to the food security situation and for measures to be put in place should the situation worsen;










17.


Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the European Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the UN Security Council and Secretary-General, the EU Special Representative to South Sudan, the Government of Sudan, the Government of South Sudan, the African Union institutions, the Chair of the African Union High-Level Panel on Sudan, and the governments and parliaments of the EU Member States.






(1)  OJ L 142, 28.5.2011, p. 61.