A joint declaration was announced at the end of two days of talks in Addis Ababa between two Sudanese delegations representing the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese Civil Democratic Forces (Takadum).
The declaration was signed on Tuesday January 2 by Abdallah Hamdok, the former Prime Minister who initiated the meetings, and General Mohamad Hamdane Daglo, also known as “Hemedti”, commander of the paramilitaries. The meetings are the first between paramilitaries and civilians since the start of the war in Sudan on April 15. Their main aim is to set up mechanisms for delivering humanitarian aid.
It’s a kind of roadmap aimed at achieving a humanitarian ceasefire that will enable aid to be delivered to millions of Sudanese who are in absolute need and suffering the repercussions of war.
The 4-page document, signed by Abdallah Hamdok and Mohammed Hamdane Daglo, sets out in 9 points the need to establish a framework for resolving the humanitarian crisis, and insists on the principle of giving power to civilians, in order to install a democratic, unified and federal Sudanese state, entirely rid of the caciques of the former regime.
Among the important points on which both parties agreed: the formation of a national committee to investigate abuses committed against civilians. Another committee will determine which party launched the hostilities.
According to the document, the two parties agree on the return of civilians to areas controlled by the FSR, who are expected to release 451 detainees as a sign of goodwill. However, the paramilitaries are accused by international NGOs of committing the most serious abuses against civilians.
Takadum affirms that she has launched an appeal to meet both sides of the struggle. The joint program announced in Addis Ababa seems difficult to implement as long as the army does not adhere to it.