VZCZCXRO1295
OO RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV
DE RUEHKH #1567/01 2961048
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 221048Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY KHARTOUM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2147
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE
RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RHMFISS/CJTF HOA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KHARTOUM 001567 
 
DEPT FOR A/S FRAZER, SE WILLIAMSON, AF/SPG 
NSC FOR PITTMAN AND HUDSON 
ADDIS ABABA FOR USAU 
DEPT PLS PASS USAID FOR AFR/SUDAN AND DCHA/SUDAN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PGOV PREL KPKO SOCI AU UNSC SU
SUBJECT: HIGH-LEVEL COMMITTEE MEETING ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 
JOINT COMMUNIQUE 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: On October 21, the high-level committee that 
oversees the implementation of the Joint Communique on the 
Facilitation of Humanitarian Activities in Darfur met at the 
Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs in Khartoum.  The meeting was 
attended by U.S. Charge d'Affaires Alberto Fernandez and a 
USAID/DCHA representative. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Participants acknowledged progress in the dissemination 
and revision of the General Directory of Procedures and pressed the 
Humanitarian Affairs Commission (HAC) to continue to ensure that 
state-level authorities in Darfur are implementing these procedures 
to the letter and spirit of the Joint Communique.  Key positive 
outcomes of the meeting included a clarification of HAC's policy on 
NGO travel notifications and a commitment from HAC to extend the 
Moratorium on Restrictions next month, well in advance of its 
expiration in January 2009.  However, the HAC continued to emphasize 
what is at-best an opaque process instead of tangible progress in 
removing bureaucratic obstructions and improving humanitarian 
conditions in Darfur.  End Summary. 
 
BACKGROUND 
---------- 
 
¶3.  (U) On October 21, the High Level Committee (HLC) that oversees 
the implementation of the Joint Communique met for the ninth time at 
the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs in Khartoum.  This was the 
first meeting of the HLC since August as the September meeting was 
delayed.  The meeting was co-chaired by the Minister of Humanitarian 
Affairs, Harun Run Lual, and the acting U.N. Resident and 
Humanitarian Coordinator, Chrysantus Ache.  Attendees included 
representatives from the Government of National Unity (GNU) 
Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 
European Commission and the United Nations Office for the 
Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA).  U.S. Charge 
d'Affaires Alberto Fernandez and a representative from USAID/DCHA 
attended the meeting in the role of donor observers.  The U.S. was 
asked to be the donor representative for this meeting even though it 
is the E.C.'s turn since neither the E.C. or U.K. Ambassadors were 
available. 
 
PROCESS OVER PROGRESS 
--------------------- 
 
¶4.  (U) The Tripartite Joint Technical Committee (TJTC) presented a 
progress report highlighting the following: 
 
- The TJTC has met 7 times since the last HLC meeting in August and 
50 times since the Joint Communique in March 2007. 
 
- Ongoing efforts to hold workshops and training sessions in the 
three Darfur states on the General Directory of Procedures (GDP), 
most recently in Geneina. 
 
- Visits from the Khartoum TJTC to formally launch the state TJTCs 
in Nyala and Geneina. 
 
- Ongoing efforts to revise the General Directory of Procedures, 
including revising the text and clarifying existing procedures. 
 
- Near-completion of Phase I of the Fast Track database to monitor 
the processing of visas, travel notifications and other 
administrative procedures for NGOs; expectation that testing for 
Phase II of the system will begin in November. 
 
¶5.  (U) The TJC also presented a list of actions completed by the 
Joint Procedure Center (JPC), which was set up to "streamline" 
bureaucratic requirements for international NGOs.  The list included 
numbers of entry/exist visas issued in 2008, travel notifications 
processed, flight permissions given to the U.N. and I.C.R.C., and 
registrations completed for international and national NGOs. 
 
¶6.  (U) CDA Fernandez noted that while there have been positive 
developments due to the efforts of the TJTC, the U.S. continues to 
see a mixed picture of overall progress.  The litany of numbers 
given by the TJTC doesn't give a full picture since NGO requests 
that have been pending indefinitely or rejected were absent from the 
report.  Additionally, while some impediments have eased, new 
restrictions often arise that are beyond the scope of existing 
agreements and procedures - such as restrictions on fuel deliveries 
to Kalma camp.  In other cases, restrictions have been in direct 
contravention of existing agreements and procedures, such as denying 
NGO travel permits when the Joint Communique specifically references 
that NGOs need only notify the HAC of travel outside of Darfur state 
capitals. 
 
KHARTOUM 00001567  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶7.  (U) Further, CDA Fernandez pressed the need to ensure that 
progress is uniform across the three Darfur states.  The CDA noted 
that while incidents between humanitarians and the HAC have been 
relatively limited in West and North Darfur recently, things have 
not gone as smoothly in South Darfur where negative and often 
punitive actions by the state HAC and Governor's office have 
contaminated the "cooperative spirit" resulting from the efforts of 
the TJTC and High Level Committee. 
 
¶8.  (U) Following the CDA's comments, the Acting RC/HC Ache 
reiterated the need to implement both the letter and spirit of the 
Joint Communique through robust monitoring in the HLC, including 
identifying pending cases and rejections from the HAC instead of a 
laundry list of numbers.  Ache also noted that there have been 
recent cases brought to the U.N. of targeting and impediments put on 
specific NGOs, such as HAC's recent closure of International Rescue 
Committee (IRC) centers for women, child and youth centers and rule 
of law programs in Darfur. 
 
¶9.  (U) In response to the CDA's and acting RC/HC's points, the HAC 
Commissioner noted that the HAC is implementing workshops for the 
three Darfur governors, in partnership with national security and 
relevant line ministries to ensure that policies agreed at the 
federal level are understood and implemented at the state level. 
Regarding the issue of travel permissions vs. notifications, the HAC 
Commissioner noted that the Government was trying to ensure the 
security of NGOs, but agreed that HAC would only give security 
advice; if an NGO chooses not to heed that advice, the HAC should 
not be held responsible.  [Note: this represents a significant 
policy clarification, since HAC's ability to deny travel permits to 
NGOs is frequently used to restrict humanitarian access to civilians 
in hotspot and rebel-controlled areas.  End note].  OCHA suggested 
sending a guidance note to state-level HAC authorities on this 
important clarification; the HAC Commissioner agreed to follow this 
up. 
 
¶10.  (U) The HAC Commissioner was decidedly more defensive on the 
IRC issue, stating that IRC should have dealt with the matter on a 
technical level before involving donors and the U.N. [Note: IRC had 
previously confirmed to USAID that it completed all the necessary 
procedures in a timely manner and had been dealing with the HAC on 
these issues for several months before finally going to the donors. 
End note].  The HAC Commissioner then further suggested that 
political involvement on these issues from the U.S. puts the IRC and 
other organizations at greater risk since they will be seen as 
agents of U.S. foreign policy.  CDA Fernandez responded that the HAC 
can not have it both ways: when IRC praised the cooperation of the 
HAC to the U.S. a year ago, the HAC happily accepted the kudos and 
used it to tout its commitment to humanitarian principles to the 
international community; if it is willing to accept the positive it 
should also be willing to acknowledge the other side of political 
involvement. 
 
¶11.  (U) In his closing remarks, the HAC Commissioner also noted 
that he intends to extend the Moratorium of Restrictions on 
Humanitarian Agencies for another year next month, well before its 
scheduled expiration in January 2009.  [Note: last year, the HAC let 
the extension of the Moratorium come down to the last minute, 
prompting NGOs to consider shutting down programs in anticipation of 
more significant restrictions.  End note.] As he was departing, CDA 
Fernandez pressed the Minister and HAC Commissioner a third time on 
solving the IRC issue. He noted that the US Embassy had just 
submitted a diplomatic note to the MFA complaining about harassment 
of the NGO and progress on humanitarian access was one major issue 
Secretary Rice had raised with VP Taha in New York last month. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) As in previous meetings, the HAC continues to attempt to 
limit the focus of the HLC to a procedural mechanism meant to 
monitor other procedures - death by a thousand processes. 
Nonetheless, the HLC does provide a useful venue for tabling issues 
of concern regarding humanitarian access and bureaucratic 
restrictions, as indicated by the clarification of the travel 
notification policy and the HAC's pledge to extend the Moratorium on 
restrictions.  Sustained high-level engagement from the rotating 
donor chair will be necessary to ensure that the HLC maintains its 
relevancy. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Another tentatively positive outcome of the HLC was the 
apparent commitment by the HAC to augment efforts at bringing 
state-level authorities in-line with the letter and spirit of the 
 
KHARTOUM 00001567  003 OF 003 
 
 
Joint Communique.  As usual, the devil is in the implementation, and 
the HAC has a long history of playing good cop/bad cop between the 
federal and state levels.  USAID will continue to monitor this 
closely. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Overall, the improvements noted above must be considered 
against the backdrop of continued NGO harassment, arbitrary program 
closures and ongoing violence and displacement within the past few 
months.  The Government of Sudan still apparently believes that it 
can masquerade process as progress on humanitarian issues, dodging 
any real effort to improve humanitarian conditions for the people of 
Darfur. 
 
FERNANDEZ