Haven Accords

The Haven Accords

A binding agreement to resolve the conflict in Lauchenoiria, the Aelurian independence question, and avenues to permanent peace and stability in the eastern Hespian region of the International Democratic Union
Type	Peace treaty
Signed	4 September 2018 (2018-09-04)
Location	Basilica of the Lord, Haven, Sanctaria
Effective	04 September 2018
Mediators	Robert Smyth
Parties	Home Forces The Lauchenoirian 'Junta' Kerlile Gonhog --- Coalition Forces The Lauchenoirian 'Rebels' Laeral Libertas Omnium Maximus Skoden Conternia Slokais Islands --- Independence Forces Aeluria Kivasek
Depositary	Government of Sanctaria
Language	English

The Haven Accords was an important peace treaty that ended the Second Lauchenoirian Civil War. It was signed on 04 September 2018 after four months of intense and brutal fighting throughout the country of Lauchenoiria. Mediated by Robert Smyth, a representative of the government of Sanctaria, a neutral G5 member nation in the International Democratic Union, the treaty came into force immediately after it was signed by parties on all sides.

Considered to be the definitive document on ending the war, and accepted by all sides without much complaint, some aspects of the Accords did cause surprise and concern among its signatories, including the removal of all foreign troops from the country in a short amount of time, and the commitment to drafting a new constitution. The choice of Keitha Noguera, the First Minister of Aeluria as the interim Prime Minister also caused surprise among the signatories, though no party voiced any negative views of the pick.

The result of the Accords was a compromise on the part of all sides, something which the mediator, Smyth, felt was vital to ensure the document's success at ending the civil war. Sanctaria, though a neutral country throughout the conflict, pledged to take on much of the costs and execution of the recovery efforts, including supervision of elections, oversight of the unity government, and defence of the Accords themselves.

Background

On 09 May 2018, Laura Moore was deposed from the office of Prime Minister of Lauchenoiria via an unexpected and improper parliamentary vote of no confidence by her Home Secretary Suleman Chaher. Chaher, with the support of the military and questionable parliamentary procedures, then proceeded to remove Leanna Walker, President of Lauchenoiria, from office because of her refusal to recognise his legitimacy as Prime Minister. The state media organisations were also brought under the direct control of Chaher.

Amidst the actions unfolding on the Lauchenoirian mainland, Keitha Noguera the First Minister of Aeluria, a devolved state within Lauchenoiria, took the opportunity to declare independence for the small island. The declaration was not widely accepted within the International Democratic Union.

Walker, having been removed from the office of President, fled to Laeral where the Coalition to Liberate Lauchenoiria was formed between Laeral and Skoden. The nations of Gonhog and Kerlile both declared their support for Chaher's regime. In response to the growing international coalitions on both sides, native Lauchenoirians under the leadership of Moore, who was at this time in hiding, began to engage in guerilla resistance tactics against the Chaher-controlled military and government offices.

The First Battle of Annatown took place on 12 July in which the Lauchenoirian Resistance were successful in repelling Chaher's forces. However, they held the city for only a few days before being routed by forces from Gonhog. On 18 June, a mentally challenged Slokaisian man named Henderson Long unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate the Laeralian President Nicholas Brennan; the fallout later dragged the Slokais Islands into the conflict, but in the same coalition as Laeral.

In an attempt to deal with the Aelurian independence claim quickly in order to focus solely on the resistance attacks, Chaher ordered a naval blockade of the island on 20 July. Several skirmishes and small battles between government forces and the Resistance began to break out across Lauchenoiria as June came to a close.

Suleman Chaher also fell victim to an assassination attempt by former President Leanna Walker, who had returned to Lauchenoiria. Though he survived the initial attack on 01 July, he later died in hospital at the hands of his successor as Prime Minister, Charissa Clarke; Clarke was later revealed to be a Kerlian and a potential sleeper agent. Walker was captured after her assassination attempt and illegally executed. Libertas Omnium Maximus joined the coalition to remove the Chaher, now Clarke, regime in mid-July. Soon after they declared war, their President was subjected to an attempt on his life. He survived. Fighting between coalition and government forces, as well as resistance and government forces, continued to take place, with civilian casualties rising.

On Aeluria, the blockade was having a drastic effect on the island's population, with many basic resources in scarce supply. On 04 August, soldiers from Kivasek, whose forces landed in Aeluria before the blockade to help in their independence effort, opened fired on civilians at a food depot after mistaking a commotion for the beginnings of a riot. One died, with more injured.

Clarke's Foreign Secretary Rowan Martin was assassinated by unknown perpetrators in early August. Clarke's government blamed the Resistance for the assassination. Former Lauchenoirian Foreign Secretary Sonja Viratnen-Alvarez, now a leader in the Lauchenoirian Resistance, is revealed to be a secret Kerlian in a blow to the resistance's morale - their forces lose Usera to Kerlian forces, with hundreds of prisoners-of-war taken by Kerlile.

With cities and countrysides within Lauchenoiria being destroyed, and civilian deaths mounting, on 09 August Chancellor Charlene Hendry of neutral Sanctaria called for a ceasefire and offered to host negotiations in the Sanctarian city of Haven, stipulating the parties had until 24 August to agree.

Shortly after the Sanctarian offer of a negotiations and ceasefire, Gonhogian forces met soldiers from the Coalition, though primarily from Libertas Omnium Maximus, and began the Second Battle of Annatown. The Gonhogian forces came out superior and forced the remaining Maximusian forces intro retreat, with significant casualties. Shortly after the end of the Battle, all parties had agreed to the ceasefire beginning 24 August, and agreed to the peace negotiations beginning in Haven on 29 August.