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December 17, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The International Conference of the Great Lakes region (ICGLR) designated two major Darfur rebel groups as negative forces that should be combated.
- Burundi president Pierre Nkurunziza (R) arrives at the international Conference of the Great Lakes region (ICGLR), Speke Resort Munyonyo, Kampala in Uganda on December 16, 2011 (AFP)
At the summit held in Uganda this week, the heads of states approved recommendations of the ministerial meetings calling for working against the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and Justice & Equality Movement (JEM).
The two rebel movements have refused to sign the peace accord that was signed last July in the Arab Gulf state of Qatar.
Darfur is the scene of an eight-year long insurgency of mainly non-Arab rebels against the government in Khartoum.
At least 300,000 people have been killed since the Darfur conflict first erupted between non-Arab rebels and the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime, according to the United Nations, and 1.9 million people remain displaced.
Ironically, Uganda has recently been hosting a number of senior Darfur rebel groups prompting strong rebuke by Khartoum.
The closing statement of the summit, stressed the need to lay the foundations of democracy and good governance, human rights principles, and said that the absence of these items is the major cause of conflicts in the region.
It also called for the strengthening of the national media to combat violence against women and to increase funds allocated to the institutions of justice and security in order to create organs of strong works to protect women and children.
Separately, the Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) saying it seems to be targeting only Africans.
"The issue of ICC is something we want to discuss among ourselves as Africans, but the way it is being implemented it seems like it is only Africans committing crimes. There are people who have committed crimes but nothing has been done on them," he said.
He added: "When I was in Arusha, some people suggested that we leave ICC but I don’t want to comment more."
Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir who is wanted by the ICC has skipped the ICGLR after Kampala was unable to give him assurances that it wont arrest him.
Uganda as an ICC member referred the case of the Lord resistance Army (LRA) fighting its army to the Hague-based court in 2003 for investigation.
(ST)
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