Africa

After your favorite team lost an important match, would you still be able to be in good spirits? Allez Casa football fans keep smiling, dancing and singing even in defeat.

April 4, 2018 (JUBA) – The parties involved in the South Sudanese conflict should reach a political compromise and allow peace to prevail in the war-torn nation, Alain Noudehou, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for South Sudan, said on Tuesday.

Alain Noudéhou (UN photo)

“People don't feel secure […] they are not able to go back to their lands and they are not able to produce. They need to feel secure, not only in sense of physical protection but actually in the sense that they can go back to their lives,” he said.

Nearly 2 million people remain displaced within South Sudan and a further 2.5 million took refuge in neighbouring countries, the UN says.

“With women and children making up close to 85 per cent of the total, ensuring their inclusion and participation in the peace process is vital,” said Noudehou, who also doubles as the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan.

He said participation of women is critical for durable and effective peace.

“If they are not a part of the dialogue of peace-making, we will be missing a tremendous perspective of what it's going to take to make the peace much more lasting in [the country],” stressed Noudehou.

He said women not only define the peace agreement but also implement it.
“They understand the plight of the women [because] they have been there and can contribute to a solution that is durable and is effective,” added the senior UN official.

Last year, according to the world body, the conflict and instability in South Sudan also led to a devastating famine, leaving over 7 million people dependent on humanitarian and protection assistance.

Across the country, however, 5.3 million people are estimated to be facing crisis and emergency, the highest level of food insecurity, a recent Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, indicted.

“We are planning a multi-sectoral approach to provide the assistance. We are not talking about only about food assistance; but the whole gamut of a system that goes together with it,” said Noudehou.

“If we start to act now and receive the funding now, we will be able to serve more people and do it cheaply,” he further stressed.

With full funding, the senior UN official explained, the $1.76 billion humanitarian response plan for South Sudan will provide assistance to about 6 million people across the country.

(ST)

April 4, 2018 (JUBA) – The head of the Church of South Sudan's internal Central Province, Archbishop Paul Yugusuk has urged the rival parties involved in the country's ongoing civil war to declare an end to violence before the next round of peace talks commence.

A group of Bishops in Juba (ST/file)

The next phase of the talks, mediated by the regional bloc (IGAD) is expected to take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 26-30 April.

During the last negotiations, which stalled, the parties involved in the high level revitalization forum, discussed formation of a transitional government, permanent ceasefire and other security arrangements.

Archbishop Yugusuk said all parties must conclude with signing a peace deal during the upcoming round of talks in Addis Ababa.

“Our delegation is going to IGAD and as they go there and before they go there, let the government and opposition say it is finished,” said the Archbishop.
“Let us bring everything to an end. We open a new page and let us come back home and live,” he added.

The retired Bishop of Rajaf, Enoch Tombe, who led the religious team for the peace talks in Addis Ababa, said the parties should take a people-centered approach during the next round of negotiations.

“If you are serious about peace, we should go with a new mindset,” said Bishop Tombe.

“We shouldn't just continue business as usual - this is my position and that's it. I think we have to be ready to compromise for the sake of the people, for the sake of this country and for ourselves,” he added.

Fighting between the warring parties have intensified in recent weeks, with each of the two sides accusing the other of renewing fighting ahead of the next round of peace talks to end the ongoing civil war due in the Ethiopian capital this month.

(ST)

4 April 2018 | Abyei - The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) commemorated the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action in Abyei echoing this year's theme “Advancing protection, peace and development” among peacekeepers working in Abyei.

In celebration of this important day, UNISFA and UNMAS organized events in Abyei, Kadugli, and Gok Machar. These events included fun runs and static exhibitions of the work UNMAS is doing in support of the UNISFA mandate.

On this day the UN reaffirms its commitment to a world free from the threat of landmines and explosive remnants of war. "I urge all Governments to provide political and financial support to enable mine action work to continue, wherever it is needed. In our turbulent world, mine action is a concrete step towards peace," said the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres as delivered by the Acting Head of Mission and Force Commander Major General Tesfay Gidey Hailemichael.

In Abyei and in many parts of the world, mine action makes it possible for peacekeepers to carry out patrols, for humanitarian agencies to deliver assistance and for ordinary citizens to live without the fear that a single misstep could cost them their lives.

Mine action also includes high impact efforts aimed at protecting people from danger, helping victims become self-sufficient and active members of their communities and providing opportunities for stability and sustainable development.

“Today, we also remember all the people who got injured or killed as a result of this terrible threat that still persists in many countries in the world,” UNMAS Program Manager Mr Leon Louw highlighted in his message during the ceremony held in UNISFA Mission Headquarter in Abyei.

UNMAS is the coordinator for mine action within the United Nations system. UNMAS was deployed in support of UNISFA in December 2011, following a mine incident in August 2011, which killed four UNISFA peacekeepers and injured seven others. Since UNMAS deployment, no UNISFA personnel has fallen victim to either landmines or explosive remnants of war (ERW), and a substantial amount of work has been done to rid the Abyei area of the threat of ERW and landmines.

Facts and figures

Since 2011:

· 20 mines and 4,154 explosive remnants of war destroyed.

· 2,424,118 square meters of land deemed safe from explosive hazard threats, facilitating safe voluntary returns of displaced communities and peaceful migrations.

· UNISFA routes covering a distance of 1,488.79 kilometres verified and cleared from explosive hazards, enhancing UNISFA freedom of movement and the safe delivery of humanitarian aid.

· 179 weapons and 9,244 rounds of ammunition confiscated by UNISFA destroyed at the Weapons and Ammunition Management facility, in cooperation with UNPOL and national monitors from Sudan and South Sudan.

· Additional 25,024 rounds of ammunition found and destroyed by Integrated Clearance Teams, as they survey Abyei and act on reports by locals and community members.

· Mine risk education (MRE) has so far reached over 151,287 men, women, boys, and girls in Abyei, enhancing their knowledge of threats posed by mines and explosive remnants of war.

For inquiries please contact -

Christina Banluta

Public Information Officer | Strategic Communication and Public Information Section

United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA)

Intermission: 176-4806 | Dect: 176-3321 | Mobile: +249912535731 (Sudan)

Email: banluta@un.org, christinabanluta@gmail.com

Website: https://unisfa.unmissions.org/

Facebook: @unisfa

Twitter: @UNISFA_1

Instagram: unisfa

April 4, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - In a rare meeting held with the leadership of Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) on Tuesday, the head of the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) pledged t release all the detained opposition members.

Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) secretary-general Mohamed Mukhtar al-Khatib (Al-Sudani)

In a statement released on Wednesday, the SCP Political Bureau said NISS General Director Salah Gosh held a meeting with a delegation from the party leadership including Sidiq Youssef who was called to take part in the meeting, and the detained political secretary Mohamed Mukhtar al-Khatib.

The statement said other leading members - al-Harith Ahmed al-Tom, Sidqi Kablo, Saleh Mahmoud and Ali al-Kenin - took part in the meeting.

Gosh called on the opposition party to participate in the political dialogue and to express their positions freely. He also pledged to ensure freedoms and called them to join the fight against corruption declared by the government.

"Our comrades said that they listened to what the director of the security apparatus said and that the leadership of the party would freely assess the situation," said the SCP Political Bureau.

"Based on the outcome of the meeting, we expect that all the detainees will be released approximately within 48 hours," the statement emphasized.

Last January after a series of protests against the increase of bread prices, the NISS arrests without charges several opposition members particularly from the left forces.

However, Sidiq Youssef and Omer al-Diqair leader of the Sudanese Congress Party have been released for medical reasons.

Following the release of the National Umma Party members, Gosh said the release of the other political detainees depends on their political behaviour.

Darfur Bar Association issued a statement warning against such encounters, stressing the regime "intends to weaken the positions of the national forces and linking with a political compromise the rights of detainees to freedom which is guaranteed by the Constitution and the law".

April 4, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Minister of Water Resources and Electricity Muataz Musa and his South Sudan's counterpart Sofia Gai have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on water resources.

An oil polluted water section in South Sudan (Credit: Sign for Hope)

The MoU aims to promote and facilitate technical support as well as to develop, protect and utilize the joint water resources between the two countries.

The two ministers agreed to set up a joint technical committee comprised of five members from each side to follow up on the implementation of the MoU.

Following the signing ceremony in Khartoum on Tuesday evening, Musa said the agreement also aims to exchange information and expertise besides conducting joint research and building capacities.

For her part, Gai described the agreement as very important for the two countries, saying it could help to accelerate development in both nations.

She added her government looks forward to cooperating with Sudan for the benefit of the two peoples.

It is noteworthy that the technical support includes the management of water resources, drinking water, sanitation, hydropower, irrigation, drainage and river navigation.

South Sudan seceded from Sudan on July 9th, 2011 following a referendum on whether the semi-autonomous region should remain a part of the country or become independent. 99% of the southern voters chose independence.

In September 2012, both Sudan and South Sudan signed a series of cooperation agreements, which covered oil, citizenship rights, security issues, banking, border trade among others.

In March 2013, the two countries signed an implementation matrix for these cooperation agreements. However, the execution of the agreements didn't go according to the plan.

(ST)

April 4, 2018 (KHARTOUM) The Sudanese government Wednesday renewed its readiness to engage in direct negotiations with Darfur rebels as soon as the African mediation extends an invitation to resume the peace talks.

Head of government delegation for talks for peace in Darfur Amin Hassan Omer speaks to reporters in Addis Ababa on Friday 20 November 2015 (ST Photo)

Sudan's Presidential Envoy for Diplomatic Contact and Negotiation for Darfur Amin Hassan Omer told the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) that the government didn't receive an invitation from the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) to resume the talks.

He pointed out that the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) call to resume the peace talks within three months wasn't intended for the government but the armed movements.

Omer further said the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) constitutes the basis for any future peace agreement in the region, saying the document is open to accommodate anyone who wishes to join the peace process in Darfur.

In a meeting held on 20 February 2018, the AUPSC said concerned by the “unnecessarily prolonged” process for peace in Darfur and called for a rapid resolution of the 15-year conflict.

The Council further pointed to "the lack of commitment on the part of the non-signatory Darfur armed movements" and urged them to engage discussions with the government on the basis of the DDPD.

It urged mediators to make progress in the resolution of Darfur conflict during the upcoming three months and threatened to sanction those who continue to hinder the ongoing efforts for a lasting peace.

The holdout groups including the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Sudan Liberation Movement - Minn Minnawi (SLM-MM) refused to sign the DDPD in July 2011 and called to open the framework agreement for talks.

Other groups like the Sudan Liberation Movement - Abdel Wahid (SLM-AW) had declined to join the process and rejected its outcome.

The AUHIP led by former South African President Thabo Mbeki proposed a holistic process to end the armed conflicts and produce political reforms in Sudan

During the year 2015-2016, talks between the government and the SLM-MM and JEM failed to reach a tangible result despite international efforts to bring together the opposition groups and to narrow the gaps between them and the government.

The Sudanese army has been fighting a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003. UN agencies estimate that over 300,000 people were killed in the conflict and over 2.5 million were displaced.

(ST)

April 4, 2018 (JUBA) - UN Secretary-General António Guterres Wednesday appointed Ethiopian Major General Gebre Adhana Woldezgu as the new Force Commander of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

"Woldezgu succeeds Major General Tesfay Gidey Hailemichael of Ethiopia who will complete his assignment on 23 April 2018," reads a statement released by the UN.

"The Secretary-General is grateful for his tireless dedication and invaluable service and effective leadership of UNISFA," it further said.

The new UNISFA head, as the director of Ethiopian defence ministry, participated in the border issues with the neighbouring countries and fully involved in force preparations, planning and deployment of Ethiopian forces for international and regional peacekeeping operations.

Since 2008, he served as the Director of the Ethiopian Ministry of National Defence, he was also a Division Commander (1999-2008) and Mechanized Deputy Division Commander (1995-1998).

The 55-year major-general holds a Master's Degree from the Ethiopian Civil Service University.

The U.N. Security Council on 27 June 2011 approved a resolution authorizing the deployment of 4,200 Ethiopian troops to Sudan's disputed Abyei region for a six-month period.

The UNISFA has the authority to use force in self-defence and to protect civilians and humanitarian aid, but UNISFA mandate does not call to monitor compliance with human rights laws, as most peacekeeping forces do.

(ST)

Aril 4, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government and two armed groups from Darfur region are expected to meet in Berlin to negotiate a pre-negotiation agreement, Sudan Tribune has learned Wednesday.

Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Girbil Ibrahim told Sudan Tribune that the German government organises a meeting between his movement, the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) and the Government of Sudan on 16 and 17 April.

"The purpose of the meeting is to reach a pre-negotiation agreement".

"If an agreement is struck, it would pave the way for talks on a cessation of hostilities and then we would move on to negotiations on political issues," he stressed.

The armed groups refuse to negotiate a political agreement to end the 15-year conflict in western Sudan region on the basis of the framework agreement of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).

The parties are expected to strike a deal providing that any political agreement reached in the future would be attached as a supplemental protocol to the framework agreement of July 2011.

This annexe would preserve the DDPD, but at the same time would be considered a new agreement with new parties, mechanisms and timetables.

The meeting would be attended by the head of the joint African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), the Troika countries, the European Union and France.

Germany and the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) signed a deal to facilitated the two-track process for a comprehensive peace agreement in Sudan. Berlin already organised a number of meeting in this respect.

Last February, the Peace and Security Council of the African Union (PSC) urged the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) to make progress in the resolution of Darfur conflict during the upcoming three months.

The SLM-Abdel Wahid is not part of the meeting. The holdout group rejects negotiations with the government before the return of displaced persons to their areas of origin after providing the needed security and compensations.

(ST)

Villagers in Kenya are taking part in the world's largest trial to see what happens when charity cash goes directly to the people who need it.

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday strongly condemned the terrorist attack on 1 April perpetrated by the Al-Shabaab group against the Ugandan contingent of the African Union mission in Somalia.

The Ethiopian Football Federation (EFF) is told by Fifa to make key changes to its electoral process before presidential elections can take place.

By Stephen Par Kuol

The regionally coordinated policy of isolating the (SPLM/A (IO) since the breakdown of ARCISS on July 8, 2016, was syndicated by subjecting its leader, Dr Riek Machar to indefinite solitary confinement in South Africa. Initially, the publicity of his ordeal was that he was in Pretoria as a guest of the Republic of South Africa. South African authorities later disputed that without disclosing who actually detained him while on a medical visit in that country. To our disbelief and relief, the IGAD Council of Ministers Resolution dated March 26, 2018, has cleared the clouds that Dr Riek Machar was indeed and is still a political detainee of IGAD. The catchword in the wording of that document is “relocation”(not “release”) which could be legally interpreted as a transfer to another indefinite detention in another country chosen by his captors against his will. To anyone connecting the dots, it all makes sense as a manifestation of IGAD's failure to abide by the rule of law and the cardinal ethos that qualify the regional organization to mediate the peace process aiming at resolving the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. Among so many elements of injustice, in this case, the following spectral violations stand out:

1. It goes without first and foremost invoking the basic tenet of the criminal justice that deprivation of human liberty is subject to due process of law. In accordance with that universal standard, even initially lawful detention becomes arbitrary if it is not subject to speedy trial or periodic review. Hence, under the existing international law, the circumstances of Dr Machar's indefinite detention in South Africa contravene Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. That international humanitarian right covenant prohibits inhumane treatments such as kidnapping, indefinite detention, being “disappeared” with no access to court, family or friends all of which depict Dr Machar's ordeal in every jurisdiction under the existing international criminal justice system.

2. Pursuant to Article 9 (a&c) of the Cessation of Hostility Agreement (CoHA) brokered by none other than the IGAD itself, the implementation of the CoHA assigned on December 21, 2017, commences with the unconditional release of all the political detainees. This legally covers Dr Riek Machar as a political detainee of IGAD, which of course includes Kiir's regime. It must also be discerned that the tone of IGAD Council of Ministers Resolution is loaded with discordant prejudice and overt hostility against the person and persona of Dr Riek Machar in violation of Article 4(1) of CoHA, which abhors belligerent or hostile communication during this time of revitalizing ARCISS. This prejudicial tone comes out even louder in the self-incriminating coercion against Dr Machar to unilaterally renounce violence. This infers hostile prejudice portraying Dr Machar as the sole catalyst behind the ongoing violence in South Sudan.

3. Dr Riek Machar has not been formally charged with violation of any law under the IGAD jurisdiction. This makes his detention illegal by all standards of modern criminal law. The technical term for that illegal practice is” false arrest”. The mockery of justice in that political kangaroo court of IGAD is best illustrated by the conditions attached to even the relocation of this political detainee from one confinement to another under the same status. One of those conditions reads: “Riek Machar must renounce violence for IGAD to relocate him to another location to be determined by his self-appointing judges including his erstwhile political enemy( Kiir's regime). Any jurist or student of criminal law can easily discern this case of Dr Machar versus the IGAD as a malicious political persecution vanquished by the victors. It is a spectre of injustice where the victim of violence is arbitrarily victimized and the violent offender (Kiir) who has been an orgy of pogrom and genocide since December 2013 is elevated to the status of a judge to condemn his political enemy to rot in IGAD political jails.

4. Volumes of records surrounding the ongoing crisis in South Sudan have exonerated Dr Machar as a victim of political violence since December 2013. In pursuit of peace and dialogue with Salva Kiir, Dr Machar has escaped death twice from Salva Kiir who pursued him up to Gadiang in December 2013 and again up to the Grampa Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo in July 2016. Under that the sun, nothing can demonstrate Kiir's violence than those hot pursuits involving drones and warplanes. Yet, nobody is asking Salva Kiir to renounce violence. The records must also be informed that it was Dr Machar who signed the ARCISS first without any reservation and risked his own life to return to Juba under pressure and assurance by the leadership of IGAD-PLUS as guarantors that they would do everything in their power to ensure that ARCISS is implemented to that letter and spirit. Nobody needs to be reminded here that IGAD failed to do its part leading to the collapse of ARCISS. In a betrayal of Dr Machar and the people of South Sudan, IGAD did not only condone the violation of the agreement it brokered but also recognized that junta of Kiir and Taban as TGONU in violation of Article 6 (4) of ARCISS.

5. Despite all the betrayals by the IGAD and the international community, Dr Machar maintained his pursuit for peaceful settlement of the ongoing conflict even in his South African jailhouse and has written several letters to all the well placed regional and world leaders to intervene in the South Sudanese crisis by resuscitating the ARCIS. He continued with his relentless search for peace amidst military offensive by Kiir's regime until the commencement of HRF that he supported and sent high-level delegation under the leadership of his Deputy, Honorable Hennery Odwar in December 2017.

6. Dr Machar was again the first to embark on the full implementation of COHA by instructing his forces to release all POWS and stranded civilians under their custody. This has been done and witnessed by the international organizations concerned including the UNOCHA, International Red Cross and the International Rescue Committee. Kiir failed to reciprocate. The fascist regime has done the gross opposite by executing the POWs and sentencing detainees and abductees to death in violation of Article 6( a&c) of CoHA and the Geneva Convention. To date, the fascist regime has continuously attacked the opposition-held areas obstructing the delivery of the humanitarian relief and causing untold suffering to innocent civilians again in violation of Article 8(1&4) of the CoHA. It was also sensational that the IGAD Council of Ministers expressed “extreme concern on the report submitted by CTSAMM reporting flagrant violations of the CoHA by Kiir's regime during the 61st Extraordinary Meeting of the IGAD Council of Ministers without asking Salva Kiir to renounce violence.

7. During the Phase II of the HLRF peace talks, the SPLM/A (IO) signed the Declaration of Principles (DoP) which Salva Kiir's regime adamantly declined to sign in protest of article 28, which provides for punitive action against the violator and spoilers. This can be easily understood as the regime's audacity to pursue violence and obstruction of the peace process. Again Salva Kiir was not asked to renounce violence and negotiate in good faith. Instead of doing the needful, the IGAD mediating team succumbed to Kiir's intransigence and made the signing of that roadmap document optional.

8. As broadly evidenced by its continued cooperation and collaboration with Kiir's regime, the IGAD has legitimized Kiir's violence by condoning all the war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Kiir's regime since December 2013. This is policy is pursued in deliberate denial of the crude reality on the ground that the people of South Sudan are currently protected from the genocidal violence of Salva Kiir's regime by the United Nations within their own states capitals and the national capital, Juba where they are confined to POCs of UNIMISS. Furthermore, there is no stronger evidence of Kiir's violence than the testimonies of the refugees and IDPs that have confirmed the ugly truth that Kiir's violence is responsible for refugee and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan. In any case, it is desolate that the IGAD member states hosting the victims of Kiir's violence as refugees have miserably failed to ask this violent warlord to renounce violence.

9. The delicate point this region and the international community keep missing is the cold and bitter truth that the ongoing civil war in South Sudan is a popular armed uprising against the oppressive and genocidal policies of Kiir's ethnocentric regime. So, reducing it to the person of Dr Riek Machar is a public insult to the collective intelligence and the dignity of the people of South Sudan who are humanly obliged to resist Kiir's oppression with Dr Machar in the fences or outside the fences of IGAD jails. If anything, it is Dr Machar's physical participation in the peace process that could bring the light closer to the end of this long dark tunnel of political violence in South Sudan. That is why the region and the world must subscribe to Dr Machar's wisdom that the only sure and practical way to permanently end the ongoing violence is signing and implementing agreements such as COH that the SPLM (IO) has so far implemented. Anything else will only prolong the suffering of the people of South Sudan.

10. Given the mountain of factual evidences presented afore, it is hereby submitted that the judgment in that political kangaroo court of IGAD is fraught with gross violation of international humanitarian and human right law, violation of CoHA, double standards and conflict of interest legally and morally disqualifying the regional organization from its current status as a mediator in the peace process to resolve the ongoing conflict in South Sudan. In the light of this overwhelming credibility crisis, the IGAD must expressly take the following actions to save whatever little credibility it might still have to continue with mediating the peace process in South Sudan: Unconditional release of Dr Riek Machar to freely participate in the peace process, putting Salva Kiir where he belongs as a warring party (not a judge or mediator), holding him responsible for violation of CoHA and obstruction of the peace process since the year 2014 and ask him to renounce violence. With this submission, I rest my case and I look forward to hearing from the IGAD kangaroo court and the verdict in the court of public opinion.

The author is the head of the SPLM (IO) Legal Team to the High Revitalization Forum in Addis-Ababa. He can be reached at kuolpar@yahoo.com

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