Social Science Research Council

Most political figures and commentators, Sudanese and international, made up their minds about the AU Panel on Darfur report before they had seen the contents of the report. Many were then struck silent when the report was actually released. Some have had the grace to admit that they were surprised by how substantive and principled [...]

The AUPD report is available in Arabic on this link.

The slogan ‘African solutions to African problems’ has become hackneyed and discredited. One reason why it is not taken seriously is that there has been little African analysis of African problems, because African institutions have borrowed their definitions and methodologies from elsewhere. The agenda has usually been set by non-African governments, multilateral institutions and NGOs, [...]

The following documents from the African Union Panel on Darfur can be uploaded here:
The AUPD report as presented last week: AUPD Report Final October 2009
The communique of the AU Peace and Security Council: PSC Mtg Cmqe 29 Oct 09
The speech of Pres. Thabo Mbeki to the AU PSC on 29 October: Speech by Pres Mbeki [...]

The report of African Union High Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD) has injected a new dynamic into Sudanese political life. President Thabo Mbeki has confounded those who had forgotten that he was the architect of the negotiated dismantling of Apartheid, and short-sightedly misperceived him as a member of the club of African status quo statists. [...]

SPEECH OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE AUPD, THABO MBEKI, ON HANDING OVER THE AUPD REPORT TO THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE AU COMMISSION, JEAN PING: AU HEADQUARTERS, ADDIS ABABA. OCTOBER 8, 2009.
Your Excellency, Mr Jean Ping, Chairperson of the AU Commission,
AU Commissioners,
Your Excellencies Ambassadors and members of the diplomatic corps,
Distinguished guests:
Following the decision taken by [...]

Last week, President Thabo Mbeki, Chairman of the African Union Panel on Darfur, addressed a press conference in Khartoum. What follows below is a summary of his remarks.
The African Union Panel on Darfur will comment upon the issue of properly identifying the root cause of the rebellion that broke out in Darfur in 2003. This [...]

The AU Panel on Darfur has completed its fourth mission to Sudan, with the purpose of consulting a wide range of Darfurian and other Sudanese stakeholders about its possible recommendations on the three issues of peace, justice and reconciliation, and moving towards finalizing its report. A press release is available here: au-panel-listens-to-darfur
The picture shows President [...]

Twenty years ago I heard the story of a southern Sudanese villager who stumbled out of the war zone into a small town in Kordofan and exclaimed, “at last, government!” As a human rights activist—a position that merged with being an anti-Khartoum political activist—it seemed odd. The government was the main source of the problem, [...]

The third and final posting on this subject examines the views of participants on how justice can be achieved in Sudan, looking at the extent of confidence in the Sudanese judicial system, the limits on traditional and transitional justice, and whether some form of special hybrid court might be an option. (The divergent opinions on [...]