VZCZCXRO7050
PP RUEHGI RUEHMA RUEHROV RUEHTRO
DE RUCNDT #1095/01 3372359
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 032359Z DEC 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7753
INFO RUCNFUR/DARFUR COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 001095 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KPKO SU AF
SUBJECT: MBEKI TO BRIEF SECURITY COUNCIL ON AUPD REPORT 
 
¶1.  This is an action request.  See paragraph 8. 
 
¶2. Summary:  The African Union Peace and Security Council 
(PSC) mandated an AU High-Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD) which 
is chaired by former President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, 
to examine issues of accountability, combating impunity, 
peace and reconciliation in Darfur.  The Panel completed its 
work in early October and presented its report to the PSC in 
Abuja on October 29.  The PSC endorsed the report and all its 
recommendations in its 207th meeting communiqu.  In a 
November 3 letter to the Secretary-General, AU Commissioner 
Jean Ping requested that AUPD Chair Mbeki and PSC 
Commissioner Lamamra brief the Security Council on the AUPD 
report.  This briefing has been scheduled for December 21. In 
an informal meeting with French and UK experts, the UK 
indicated it might pursue a Presidential Statement on the 
Report, but would carefully weigh the U.S. position in making 
a determination.  France is opposed to  having a written 
product result from the briefing.  USUN requests the 
Department to provide guidance regarding the U.S. position on 
this report prior to the briefing.  End Summary. 
 
Summary of Key Issues 
--------------------- 
 
¶3.  The AUPD characterizes the conflict in Darfur as "the 
Sudanese crisis in Darfur" in order to signal a deliberate 
shift from considering Darfur in isolation to comprehensively 
addressing Sudan's problems.  Mbeki specifically discusses 
the need to accommodate Darfuri demands for political power, 
including a Vice-Presidency in the national government and a 
substantial quota of seats in the National Assembly.  The 
report acknowledges that political power under the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the 
north-south conflict is divided only between the parties to 
the CPA. 
 
¶4.  The AUPD recommends establishing a Hybrid Court composed 
of both Sudanese and international judges.  This Hybrid Court 
would apply national laws and be integrated into the Sudanese 
legal system.  Judges on the Court would be appointed by the 
AU, in consultation with the Government of Sudan (GoS), and 
the GoS would coordinate and oversee investigations.  The 
report states that establishing a Hybrid Court could "tilt 
the discussion within the Security Council in favor of 
deferring ICC action under Article 16 of the Rome Statute." 
 
¶5.  The AUPD is critical of Joint Chief Mediator (JCM) 
Bassole and urges him to spell out his strategy and factor 
upcoming elections and the CPA timetable into this strategy. 
The report states that a definitive peace agreement for 
Darfur must be concluded before the 2010 elections.  Mbeki 
recommends establishing a Joint Mechanism to oversee the work 
of the Mediation and to evaluate its performance. 
 
¶6.  The AUPD makes specific recommendations for UNAMID, 
including that UNAMID should assume responsibility for 
coordinating humanitarian efforts in Darfur.  The AUPD also 
recommends that the AU provide oversight of the 
implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, 
including the exercise of self-determination in Southern 
Sudan.  Currently, the United Nations Mission in Darfur -- 
which is not/not a hybrid mission -- has the lead 
responsibility for CPA implementation.  The AUPD suggests 
establishing a special unit within the PSC to support this 
increased engagement with Sudan. 
 
Initial P3 Feedback 
------------------- 
 
¶7.  France requested to meet with the U.S. and UK after 
receiving instructions from Paris to try to consolidate a P3 
position in advance of the Mbeki briefing.  Both France and 
the UK indicated that they could be broadly supportive of the 
report, but any detailed discussion would quickly raise 
problematic issues.  France said that discussion of Article 
16 deferral should not be reopened and expressed concern with 
Mbeki establishing a parallel mediation track to that of JCM 
Bassole.  France did not believe that UNAMID was the 
appropriate vehicle for coordination of humanitarian 
assistance since the UN country team does this for all of 
Sudan, and does it well.  The UK indicated that London would 
be in favor of a broad Presidential Statement expressing 
support for the AUPD report.  France said that it would 
prefer not to have a PRST and would hesitate to state 
anything that would imply Security Council endorsement of the 
report in its entirety.  The UK also expressed concern with 
giving the AU a role in overseeing CPA implementation, noting 
that UNMIS, unlike UNAMID, is not a hybrid mission. 
 
Action Request 
-------------- 
 
USUN NEW Y 00001095  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶8.  USUN requests that the Department provide guidance on the 
USG position on the following issues to prepare for the 
December 21 briefing from Mbeki and Lamamra and to facilitate 
developing a consolidated P3 position.  We will need guidance 
on the following issues: 
 
-- Establishment of a Hybrid Court. 
-- Establishment of a mechanism that would allow the AU to 
provide oversight and management of the Joint UN/AU Mediation. 
-- Expanding UNAMID's mandate so that UNAMID could be tasked 
with coordinating humanitarian assistance in Darfur. 
-- Giving the AU a role in overseeing implementation of the 
Comprehensive Peace Agreement, including the exercise of 
self-determination in Southern Sudan. 
RICE