Disarmament of the Janjaweed Militia

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

FOR ORAL REPLY

QUESTION NO 10 - TRANSFER OF WRITTEN QUESTION NO 386 -

PUBLISHED IN THE INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 8 OF 20 AUGUST 2004

QUESTION TIME: 08 SEPTEMBER 2004

MR WJ SEREMANE (DA) TO ASK THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Whether the African Union force in the Sudan has been given a (a) Chapter 6 or (b) Chapter 7 mandate under the United Nations; if not, what is the specific mandate given to this force; if so, what are the relevant details of the mandate? N457E

REPLY:

The African Union Observer Mission deployed in the Darfur region of Sudan was established under the authority of the African Union. The mandate for this mission was provided at the 10th Meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council at the level of Heads of State and Government, held in Addis Ababa on 25 May 2004. During this Meeting the Peace and Security Council effectively mandated the deployment of personnel to this Observer Mission when the body instructed the African Union Commission to take "all necessary steps to ensure an effective monitoring of the Humanitarian Cease-fire Agreement, in particular through the development of an AU Observer Mission, with the required civilian component and, if necessary the protection element, to support the work of the Cease-fire Commission (CFC)".

End