The Quad for Sudan, which comprises Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the UK, and the US, has welcomed the Transitional Justice Conference, which kicked off in Sudan on Thursday, and said that it is a “vital gateway” for restoring a civilian-led transitional government in the North African country.
The Conference was also dubbed a tool for charting the way to preventing impunity for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Ali bin Hassan Jafar, the Saudi ambassador to Sudan, gave a speech on behalf of the Quad at the Conference.
In his speech, Jafar said the Conference is one of the most important stages of the Sudanese political process that resulted from the Framework Political Agreement (FPA) signed between civilians and the military last December.
It is noteworthy that Quad ambassadors attended the Conference as well.
According to Jafar, the Quad believes that the matter of “transitional justice” does not only concern Sudan alone, but also all countries willing to move from a dictatorship to democratic rule.
The Saudi ambassador confirmed that the FPA clearly defined the basic principles to prevent impunity, especially regarding war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, including sexual violence and violence against women.
Jafar stated that the FPA provided for a wide participation of stakeholders, the families of the martyrs and those affected by human rights violations since 1989.
Sudan’s ousted president Omar al-Bashir had come into power in 1989 following a military junta he led against the elected government of prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi.
Jafar predicted that the Conference would tackle questions on dealing with past crimes, and how to prevent their recurrence.
The Saudi diplomat further affirmed the Quad’s support for the Sudanese people to achieve democratic transition.
Jafar added that a democratic transition is the only way to find a political solution that could help form a new government with civilian leadership, as a key to building democratic institutions in the country.
The Conference has successfully completed two days of convening and is expected to run for another three days, concluding on March 20.
It sets out to discuss different experiences of transitional justice in the world.
Talks at the Conference are aimed at finding a Sudanese model for transitional justice that does justice to the victims, ends the history of injustice, and adopts a new model of justice that preserves the rights of a people who have long suffered from uncertainty and state violence.
