The paramilitary group Rapid Support Forces (FAR) and Sudan's main civilian alliance reached an agreement on Tuesday (2) on a roadmap and a declaration of principles to end the conflict that erupted in the African country on April 15 last year between the Army and the armed group.
The agreement was reached during a series of meetings that began on Monday (1st), in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, between the leader of the FAR, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo; and the leader of the Civil Democratic Forces (Taqaddum), former Prime Minister Abdullah Hamdok.
According to the agreement, the roadmap constitutes “a good basis for the political process to end the conflict, in addition to providing for the creation of a joint committee to establish lasting peace and the formation of a civilian leadership to take the reins of Sudan.”
It also establishes a mechanism, monitored by the National Committee for the Protection of Civilians, for the return of more than seven million displaced people and refugees, as well as the reconstruction and restoration of markets, hospitals and essential services.
It also provides for the creation of another committee to “investigate who started the conflict in the country”, triggered by a power struggle between the Army and the FAR, and to “monitor all human rights violations that have been committed since the start of hostilities.” .
The declaration of principles, signed by Dagalo and Hamdok (deposed in a joint coup d'état by the FAR and the Army in 2021) also establishes “the integrity of Sudan, equal citizenship and a federal, civil and democratic system of government”, proposal made on previous occasions.
The pact also recognizes the need to restructure the country's security apparatus “in accordance with international standards in order to create a united, professional and national Army under the control of civil authority.”
It was precisely the restructuring of the Armed Forces and the process of integrating the FAR into them that began the struggle for power between Hemedti and the military leader, Abdelfatah Al Burhan, which led to the bloody fighting that devastated a large part of the country.
Furthermore, the document also proposes the beginning of a “comprehensive process for a just transition”, interrupted after the coup against Hamdok in 2021 and forgotten with the conflict, while calling for the “investigation of crimes committed and the prosecution of those involved without impunity.”
The FAR committed this Tuesday to releasing 451 prisoners of war and detainees in its custody, a gesture made in the midst of these negotiations to put an end to the conflict.
“As a gesture of goodwill, the Rapid Support Forces agree to release 451 prisoners of war and detainees,” wrote on the social network X (formerly Twitter) Al Rayah Mohamed, spokesman for the Forces for Freedom and Change, main opposition platform in Sudan.
Talks in Addis Ababa will continue on Wednesday. The civil alliance seeks to include the Armed Forces in negotiations to end the conflict, which has already caused more than 12,000 deaths, according to the UN.
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