Sudanese Intellectuals Call on African Union to Support UN Efforts

February 14, 2022 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese intellectuals and actors called on African Union to back the UN efforts to settle the ongoing political crisis in Sudan and to coordinate with the UNITAMS-facilitated initiative.

The African Union Peace and Security Council (PSC) on October 27, 2021, suspended Sudan’s membership in the regional body following a coup d’etat by the Commander in Chief of the Sudanese army Abdel Fattah al-Burhan two days before.

On February 13, Sudanese intellectuals and actors wrote a letter to the Chairperson of the African Union who just concluded a visit to Khartoum, requesting him to unify his efforts with the internationally-backed UNITAMIS initiative.

They further stressed that the regional body should not create “a parallel process” that would “be used and utilized by totalitarians to consolidate tyranny on the continent”

“We should not allow the African Union to become a club of governments instead of being a forum for supporting and realizing the aspirations of the African people,” reads the letter seen by the Sudan Tribune.

Sudanese intellectuals among others were frustrated by the inertia of the African Union towards the military coup after its decision of October 27.

They linked between the AU inaction during the past months and Egypt’s chairmanship of the PSC in November 2021. In addition, they believe that Cairo lobbied successfully several African countries at the PSC level to freeze any additional measures against the coup leaders.

Cairo refused to condemn the coup based on al-Burhan’s close relation with Egypt and the dispute with Ethiopia over the GERD construction.

On Saturday, al-Burhan for the first time blamed UNITAMS Head Volker Perthes saying he was not focusing on his role to support the transition but involved in Sudan political affairs.

Further, he expressed fears that Perthes might be influenced by “a specific group” and called that unify the regional and international efforts.

The African Union-UN partnership on conflict resolution still needs to be fostered to reach the level of the peacekeeping operations which has been well studied by the two parties.

In a decision issued on January 30, the PSC took note of the UNITAMS initiative stressing that the African Union has to “coordinate the international community efforts in Sudan”.

The decision further tasked the AU Commission (…) “to establish a mechanism aimed at supporting Sudan and coordinate the international community efforts”.

(ST)