Introduction
- Since June 2010, the African Union High Level Implementation Panel, or AUHIP, led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki, has facilitated “Post-Referendum Arrangements Negotiations” between the Government of Sudan, or GoS, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, or SPLM, and the Government of Southern Sudan. Following South Sudan’s declaration of independence on July 9, 2011, negotiations have continued between the GoS and the SPLM/Government of the Republic of South Sudan, or RSS.
- The AUHIP-facilitated negotiations have largely been an opaque process, leading to much speculation in the press and elsewhere regarding the current status of talks between the two parties. As discussed in a December 2011 Enough Project report on the negotiations, the process has also undergone a number of structural iterations, adding to speculation concerning the negotiations’ status and results.
- In an attempt to shed light on what has occurred in the negotiations to date, as well as to inform future discussions concerning the process, and the AUHIP’s contribution to it, Enough has compiled the following timeline. This timeline provides an overview of the negotiations to date, and reflects the various changes to the process’ structure.
- Notably, the timeline is designed to provide a general overview of the negotiation process, and does not purport to detail every individual negotiation meeting that has occurred between the parties bilaterally or in the presence of the AUHIP, nor does it capture the extent to which the AUHIP has met bilaterally with the parties outside of formal negotiation rounds. The timeline also does not detail the substantive conversations that occurred during the negotiation rounds.
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Finally, it should be noted that others, among them, US Senator John Kerry and US Special Envoys Scott Gration and Princeton Lyman, have, at times, also met with one or both parties to discuss various issues under negotiation. While significant, these
meetings are not documented in the timeline below.