In the matter of an arbitration pursuant to the Arbitration Agreement between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army on Delimiting Abyei Area, the Presiding Arbitrator rendered and communicated, on behalf of the Tribunal, its Final Award on July 22 at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Peace Palace, The Hague.

A summary of the proceedings and of the Final Award is set forth below. It must be emphasized that the summary contained in this Press Release, though approved by the Tribunal as an accurate summary of the principal features of the Award, is not an official text. The Final Award, including its Dispositif, is the authentic statement of the Tribunal’s final and binding decision.

History of the proceedings: On July 7, 2008, the Government of Sudan (“GoS”) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (“SPLM/A”) signed the “Arbitration Agreement between The Government of Sudan and The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army on Delimiting the Abyei Area” (“Arbitration Agreement”). In the Arbitration Agreement, the Parties agreed to submit, for final and binding decision, their dispute as to whether or not the experts of the Abyei Boundaries Commission (the “ABC” Experts), established pursuant to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by the Parties on January 9, 2005 (“CPA”), exceeded their mandate.

In accordance with the Arbitration Agreement, on July 11, 2008, the Parties deposited the Arbitration Agreement with the Secretary-General of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The arbitral tribunal was fully constituted on October 30, 2008, and is composed of the following members:

Professor Pierre-Marie Dupuy (Presiding Arbitrator)

H.E. Judge Awn Al-Khasawneh

Professor Gerhard Hafner

Professor W. Michael Reisman

Judge Stephen Schwebel

In accordance with Article 8.3(i) of the Arbitration Agreement and the schedule set by the Tribunal, the Parties filed their written Memorials on December 16, 2008, their Counter-Memorials on February 13, 2009, and their Rejoinders on February 28, 2009. Oral pleadings, which were open to the public and attended by over 200 representatives of the Parties, were held at the Peace Palace in The Hague from April 18 to April 23, 2009. Under Article 9(1) of the Arbitration Agreement, the final award was to be rendered within ninety days from the closure of submissions, i.e., on July 22, 2009.

Mandate of the Tribunal

Under Article 2 of the Arbitration Agreement, the issues to be determined by the Tribunal were the following:

(a) Whether or not the ABC Experts had, on the basis of the agreement of the Parties as per the CPA, exceeded their mandate which is ‘to define (i.e. delimit) and demarcate the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905’ as stated in the Abyei Protocol, and reiterated in the Abyei Appendix and the ABC Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure.

(b) If the Tribunal determines, pursuant to Sub-article (a) herein, that the ABC Experts did not exceed their mandate, it shall make a declaration to that effect and issue an award for the full and immediate implementation of the ABC Report.

(c) If the Tribunal determines, pursuant to Sub-article (a) herein, that the ABC Experts exceeded their mandate, it shall make a declaration to that effect, and shall proceed to define (i.e. delimit) on map the boundaries of the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905, based on the submissions of the Parties.

The mandate of the ABC Experts was expressed in Section 5.1 of the Abyei Protocol, signed between the Parties on May 26, 2004 and included in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement:

5. Determination of Geographic Boundaries

5.1 There shall be established by the Presidency, Abyei Boundaries Commission (ABC) to define and demarcate the area of the nine Ngok Dinka Chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905, referred to herein as the Abyei Area.

The Abyei Area was defined in Section 1.1.2 of the Abyei Protocol:

1.1.2 The territory is defined as the area of the nine Ngok Dinka Chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905.

Applicable Law

Pursuant to the Arbitration Agreement, the Tribunal was required to reach its decision based on the following “applicable law”: the CPA (particularly the Abyei Protocol and the Abyei Appendix), the Interim National Constitution of the Republic of Sudan (2005), general principles of law and practices that the Tribunal deemed relevant, and the Arbitration Agreement itself.

Parties’ Positions

The GoS formally submitted that (i) the ABC Experts exceeded their mandate, and (ii) the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905 is the area bounded on the north by the Bahr el-Arab and otherwise by the boundaries of Kordofan as at independence (Figure 17, GoS Memorial).

The SPLM/A formally submitted that the ABC Experts did not exceed their mandate. In the alternative, the SPLM/A formally submitted that if the Tribunal determines that the ABC Experts exceeded their mandate, a declaration be made that the boundaries of the area of the nine Ngok Dinka Chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905 are the current boundary of Kordofan and Bahr el-Ghazal to the south extending to 10°35’N latitude to the north and the current boundary of Kordofan and Darfur to the west extending to 29°32”15’E longitude to the east.

Having considered all relevant arguments, the Tribunal concludes that:

1. In respect of the ABC Experts’ decision that “[t]he Ngok have a legitimate dominant claim to the territory from the Kordofan – Bahr el-Ghazal boundary north to latitude 10°10’N,” the ABC Experts did not exceed their mandate.

2. In respect of the ABC Experts’ decision relating to the “shared secondary rights” area between latitude 10°10’N and latitude 10°35’N, the ABC Experts exceeded their mandate.

3. The northern boundary of the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905 runs along latitude 10°10’00”N, from longitude 27°50’00”E to longitude 29°00’00”E.

1. In respect of the ABC Experts’ decision that “[t]he southern boundary shall be the Kordofan – Bahr el-Ghazal – Upper Nile boundary as it was defined on 1 January 1956,” the ABC Experts did not exceed their mandate.

2. The southern boundary as established by the ABC Experts is therefore confirmed, subject to paragraph (c) below.

1. In respect of the ABC Experts’ decision that “the eastern boundary shall extend the line of the Kordofan – Upper Nile boundary at approximately longitude 29°32'15"E northwards until it meets latitude 10°22'30"N”, the ABC Experts exceeded their mandate.

2. The eastern boundary of the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905 runs in a straight line along longitude 29°00’00”E, from latitude 10°10’00”N south to the Kordofan – Upper Nile boundary as it was defined on 1 January 1956.

1. In respect of the ABC Experts’ decision that “[t]he western boundary shall be the Kordofan – Darfur boundary as it was defined on 1 January 1956,” the ABC Experts exceeded their mandate.

2. The western boundary of the area of the nine Ngok Dinka chiefdoms transferred to Kordofan in 1905 runs in a straight line along longitude 27°50’00”E, from latitude 10°10’00”N south to the Kordofan – Darfur boundary as it was defined on 1 January 1956, and continuing on the Kordofan – Darfur boundary until it meets the southern boundary confirmed in paragraph (b) above.

1. In respect of the ABC Experts’ decision that “[t]he Ngok and Misseriya shall retain their established secondary rights to the use of land north and south of this boundary,” the ABC Experts did not exceed their mandate.

2. The exercise of established traditional rights within or in the vicinity of the Abyei Area, particularly the right (guaranteed by Section 1.1.3 of the Abyei Protocol) of the Misseriya and other nomadic peoples to graze cattle and move across the Abyei Area (as defined in this Award), remains unaffected.

In arriving at its decision, the Tribunal emphasizes that its mandate was limited by the Parties’ agreement in the Arbitration Agreement. The Tribunal acknowledges the possibility that the boundary lines may inadvertently lead to the partition of an inhabited permanent settlement, such as a village or town, in a manner that causes manifest impracticability to the inhabitants. In this regard, the Tribunal urges the Parties to begin immediate discussions with a view to reaching express agreement to mitigate hardships on the ground and to facilitate resolutions to such problems.

Under the Abyei Road Map, “[t]he parties commit themselves to abide by and implement the award of the arbitration tribunal.” The Arbitration Agreement reiterates: “[t]he Parties agree that the arbitration award delimiting the “Abyei Area” through determining the issues of the dispute as stated in Article 2 of this Agreement shall be final and binding.”

During the ceremony held at the Peace Palace on July 22, 2009, the Presiding Arbitrator stated: “The Security Council of the United Nations, which recognizes the importance of this Award to peace and reconciliation in Sudan among all of its peoples, has called upon the Government of Sudan and the SPLM/A to treat the Award as binding and to implement it fully. The Parties are so bound by the terms of their Arbitration Agreement and by the force of international law. The Tribunal has produced an Award which resolves the dispute between the Parties over the validity of the ABC Decision and which, in accordance with the Arbitration Agreement, draws a boundary that reflects the facts and law of the matter. The Tribunal has acted scrupulously within its mandate to prepare an award in whose terms and holdings it has every confidence. It is equally confident that the Parties will abide by and implement the Award in good faith.”

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Further information on the PCA is available at http://www.pca-cpa.org.)