Head of U.N.-African Union mission in Darfur expects smooth elections in war-wracked region

Darfur peacekeeping chief expects smooth elections

CAIRO — The head of the U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur said Monday he expects Sudan’s national elections next month to go smoothly in the region, despite fears of violence and calls for the poll’s delay.

The April vote — Sudan’s first multiparty elections in decades — will see voters cast ballots for a national president, a southern president, local and national assemblies as well as governors.

International observers and human rights groups have expressed concerns about security in Darfur for the vote amid reports of government repression against activists and campaigners throughout the country.

But Ibrahim Gambari, who took over the UNAMID mission in January, said he doesn’t think security will be “a major consideration.”

“The security will be pretty good, if our experience in the registration period was anything to go by,” he told The Associated Press after attending an international fundraising conference for Darfur in Cairo.

Gambari said an agreement between Sudan and Chad to stop supporting rebels in their respective countries, a general decline in fighting in Darfur and diminishing rebel control over territory have already had a positive impact on security.

He said UNAMID’s forces will help provide security for observers and the transportation of ballots in Darfur during the vote, which is slated to start April 11 and last three days.

Voter registration in Darfur has exceeded 60 percent so far, despite calls from a major rebel group for its supporters to boycott the elections. Another rebel group, which signed a cease-fire agreement with the government last month, had asked authorities to postpone the vote so it can organize its supporters.

Gambari’s comments stand in contrast to those of Western rights groups, who have voiced concerns that a lack of a comprehensive cease-fire in Darfur and shortfalls in the election preparations could hamper the vote.

The New-York based Human Rights Watch said Monday that continued insecurity in Darfur will be an obstacle to holding free and fair elections while large areas of Darfur remain inaccessible to election officials and candidates. It noted at least two cases in March when opposition party candidates were shot at and robbed.

In a report released last week, the Atlanta-based Carter Center, which has an election observer mission in Sudan, recommended a “minor” postponement in the vote over concerns Sudan’s election commission can deliver a successful vote on time.

The election commission, however, has said the vote will go ahead as planned. Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, is running for re-election despite having been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The conflict in Darfur erupted in 2003 when African rebel groups took up arms against al-Bashir’s government, complaining of marginalization and neglect. Sudan’s authorities responded with a bruising counterinsurgency campaign. The U.N. estimates some 300,000 people have died during the conflict and some 2.7 million have been displaced.

Gambari said he believed that even in an “imperfect environment”, casting votes would introduce a new dynamic to Darfur.