The Concerned South Sudanese Community in the UK Response to the Ethiopian Prime Minister Message to S. Sudanese

To H.E. The Prime Minister of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia and the Chairman of Inter-Governmental Authority for Development (IGAD) Assembly

Dear Prime Minister HaileMariam Dessalegn

The South Sudanese Community in the United Kingdom received with sadness, your message to the South Sudanese People, in the letter dated 6th March 2015, regarding the challenges IGAD faced in brokering a final agreement between the South Sudan Government and the SPLM/A-IO.

While we sincerely appreciate your patience in hosting the talks over this long period of time; acknowledge the efforts and resources you have invested to date to bring peace to our country; appreciate your concerns for the affected population who are going through untold sufferings as a result of this senseless war; and welcome your commitment to fulfilling the promise of peace in the near future; it is our sole experience that the majority of South Sudanese community in the country and diaspora have long been concerned by the approach to the mediation process from the following:

a) The narrow objective of the IGAD led mediation process aimed at brokering peace between the SPLM/A in the Government and the SPLM-IO, neglected the massacre of Nuer civilians in Juba in December 2013, the main cause of the armed resistance and ignoring that both leaders represent a very loose and dwindling constituency of the South Sudanese people.

b) The reluctance of IGAD to impose effective sanctions on the parties in armed conflict for breaching the 23rd January 2014 cessation of hostilities agreement and subsequent agreements thereafter set the tone for the warring parties to undermine the mediation process resulting in an expensive failure to tangible peace agreement.

c) The disregard to actively include other South Sudanese political parties, independent civil society, women representatives, community and church leaders in the negotiation process from the start undermined the principle of multi-party democracy, inclusiveness and the spirit of upholding the UNSC resolution-1325, in the bid for a comprehensive and sustainable solution. It is worth mentioning that not having any woman in the mediation team demonstrates the exclusive characteristic of IGAD mediation approach.

d) The predominant focus of the peace talks on the principle of power sharing and the subjective draft protocol of 25th August 2014 imposed on the warring parties not only overlooked the complexity of the underlying causes of the conflict, but also ignored the significance of securing justice for the grave human right atrocities committed during this conflict, hence, this undermined the importance of creating a safe and neutral environment for the all-important reconciliation and healing process, among the affected South Sudanese people.

e) The glaring conflict of interest demonstrated by some IGAD member states who were simultaneously involved in direct armed conflict against what many people view as an ethnic conflict and in the mediation as well as negotiation processes, rendered them unsuitable as a credible mediator with biased unhelpful intentions.
Unfortunately, it comes as no surprise that the IGAD peace mediation process has resulted in a significant waste of time, financial resources and human life; worse still it has made a mockery of the principle of democracy and showed little concern for the prolonged suffering of South Sudanese people. As it stands, over 1.5 million people are displaced internally, half a million people are living as refugees in extremely poor conditions in neighbouring countries, and more than 2.5 million people are at the brink of starvation, unable to make a livelihood due to the security situation in the country. Countless others may never see justice for the innocent loved ones they lost, not to mention the countless orphans, widows, widowers and parents grieving their loved ones and facing a future of uncertainty.

To restore trust in the next peace mediation process and adopt an effective approach that ensures the final agreement reached is inclusive, comprehensive, people-centred, achievable and sustainable, it is crucial that the following recommendations are truly considered:

1. The next peace mediation responsibility should be revised to formally include representatives from the African Union, United Nation and the Troika members. We believe this will establish an authoritative body with stronger influence, less biased and better positioned to ensure full respect to any agreement reached. It would also allow a new start necessary to establish confidence, trust and inclusive process that would move away from peace negotiation based on power sharing model.

2. Endorse proposal to set up a 'Strategic Technical Advisory Group (STAG)' composed of South Sudanese non-partisan experts, to work alongside the mediation team. The main objectives of the Advisory group is to (1) streamline the contribution of civil society and translate it into an actionable framework that informs the mediation process, (2) act as a catalyst and process analysis to help the mediation team ensure their assumptions are technically, historically and culturally informed and (3) provide access to a pool of other South Sudanese experts on other specialist and technical matters and traditional leaders (elders) not represented in the group.

3. Disregard the recent illegal extension to the President's term of office as it undermines the very essence of democracy and the peace process. The National Legislative Assembly does not have the legitimacy (Article 4 of the transitional constitution) because the president is only elected in a public general election not appointed by the parliament who also lost credibility for its inability to hold the government accountable over the murder of civilians from particular ethnic communities and failure to exercise its power to protect civilians.

4. Deploy UN/AU peace keeping forces to take full security control in the buffer zone between the two warring parties to enforce the cessation of hostilities agreement based on clear monitoring parameters; any breach of agreement should have immediate consequences to the party concerned.

5. Total withdrawal of foreign forces, directly or indirectly involved in the south Sudan armed conflicts as agreed in the cessation of hostilities agreement, this will assure the south Sudanese community and the warring parties to move towards a peaceful solution.

6. The international communities and IGAD regional member states to impose 'SMART' arms embargo and targeted sanctions on the senior officials from both sides of the belligerent groups, this will send strong signal to the warring parties and help refocus their efforts and direct attentions on peaceful solutions.

7. Review the previous peace mediation strategy and make it people-centred as opposed to a subjective power sharing approach within SPLM/A. The next strategy should strictly focus on establishing permanent cease fire, national security control, peace and unity of the people and allowing the reconciliation and unity of SPLM members to continue in Arusha Tanzania. The new model should be directed by the citizens through the STAG and the 'peace framework' agreed in Addis Ababa including the formation of the Interim Government (without President Kiir and Dr Riek) should be ratified at the South Sudanese People's Representative (National) Conference (SSPRC) as directed by the people.

The south Sudanese community in the UK is fully committed to a genuinely robust and inclusive peace process and we are consulting with the various South Sudanese community groups on the process of establishing the south Sudan Strategic Technical Advisory Group (STAG). We believe involving all stakeholders to peace is a pre-requisite for a successful peace negotiation.

We are also committed to speaking up as non-political body against the suffering inflicted upon our people in South Sudan and we shall not shy from any direct harassment and intimidations to speak for true peace, justice and freedom of expression. We ask of all the SPLM/A antagonistic groups to stop propagating violence but to show honest commitment and responsibility to creating the right conditions for reconciliation, peace and justice in South Sudan. We are one people that have suffered decades of injustice and discrimination in the hands of others. We owe it to our fallen heroes to hold high the flag of our country, the country they died for and ensure the rights of every citizen in the country is provided and people live in a dignified, free and prosperous environment.

We believe that most civil societies coming from the Government and Opposition camps are biased in their views which do not represent the opinions of majority south Sudanese people therefore having the Strategic Technical Advisory Group (STAG) would use effectively the views coming from the various camps as positive ingredients and catalyst to bring a balanced and representative opinions from all the quarters of the south Sudanese societies. We therefore ask IGAD Mediators to seriously consider the importance of the STAG body.

God bless the people of South Sudan.

Yours truthfully;

Benjamin Taban
Chairman
South Sudanese Community in UK
Building Alliance for Reconciliation Peace and National Unity

CC: The United Nation Secretary General
CC: The Chairman African Union
CC: Troika Heads of State
CC: South Sudanese People
CC: South Sudanese Legislative Assembly Juba
CC: The President of Republic of South Sudan
CC: The Chairman and Leader of SPLM/A In Opposition

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