Africa

December 31, 2017 (JUBA) - An armed opposition governor has been abducted in neighbouring Kenya, sparking concerns about security and the safety of the key opposition figures in the eastern African country. The abduction occurred at the refugee camp in northern Kenya on Friday evening.

Marko Lokidor Lochapio (ST file)

Rebel deputy spokesman Paul Lam Gabriel said in a statement released on Sunday that the opposition appointed the Governor of Kapoeta State Marko Lokidor Lochapio was abducted from Kakuma Refugee Camp.

Gabriel, according to the statement, said the abducted rebel official was driven to Lokichogio the same night and was taken to Nadapal where he was allegedly handed over to South Sudan National Security Service on Saturday.

Multiple sources confirmed to Sudan Tribune that the rebel official was picked up from his home with the knowledge of the Kenyan police authorities who later informed the relatives.

The opposition governor was abducted from home by people who came with two vehicles around 05:00 pm and one of the abductors was seen having a gun by an eyewitness, the sources said.

It is not clear how the gunmen managed to enter another country with weapons without being detected.

Opposition officials find it difficult to live in Kenya. James Dak the spokesperson of the leader of the main rebel group (SPLM-IO) Riek Machar in the country was deported to Juba in November 2016 from Nairobi.

Two other leading opposition figures were abducted and disappeared without a trace in Nairobi. A prominent and an opposition official, Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Idri, disappeared in Kenya and nobody knows what happened to them.

(ST)

December 31, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The government negotiating team for the Two Areas talks with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) said the next round of talks would be decisive stressing no new items will be added to the discussions agenda.

The Sudanese army has been fighting the SPLM-N rebels in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan, also known as the Two Areas since 2011.

The SPLM-N is now divided into two factions: one led by Abdel Aziz al-Hilu and the other led by Malik Agar. The rift emerged several months ago over the right of self-determination and other organisational issues.

Talks between the Sudanese government and SPLM-N for a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access are stalled since August 2016.

Sudan's Minister of Animal Resources and member of the government negotiating team Bishara Guma'a Aror told the semi-official Sudan Media Center (SMC) Saturday the resumption of talks was delayed due to the internal rift within the SPLM-N.

He added the SPLM-N asked the African mediation to delay the talks until its internal divisions were resolved and an official delegation was appointed, saying “both parties of the Movement claim to have the legitimate right to negotiate in its name”.

Aror pointed out that no new items would be added to the discussions agenda in the next round of talks, saying the African Roadmap have clearly stated the negotiations framework.

In September, Abdel-Rahman Abu Median, member of the government negotiating team, said they wouldn't negotiate with an SPLM-N Agar faction, pointing the group has no ability to implement what will be agreed upon.

The SPLM-N al-Hilu has a similar point of view as they say there is no split within the rebel movement, but only a change of leadership stressing they have the SPLA-N support.

On the other hand, the SPLM-N Agar recognizes the rift and proposes to form a joint delegation. If this proposal is rejected they propose to coordinate with the SPLM-N al-Hilu.

The African mediators met the two factions last August, but they didn't fix a clear position on the matter, while the facilitators from the Troika countries and the European Union also didn't determine a unified position on the matter.

(ST)

December 31, 2017 (JUBA)- The commander of the ground forces in South Sudan army has called for a comprehensive disarmament of the civil population across the country, saying the possession of weapons by the unauthorized persons was the cause of rising deadly communal rifts.

The SPLA displaying firearms in Rumbek's Freedom Square from a disarmament campaign in Lakes state. (ST)

Lieutenant General Santino Deng Wol told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that the proliferation of illicit weapons has made it difficult for the army to assert control.

The senior military officer further stressed the importance of enhancing collective disarmament efforts, while offering prescriptions on how to realize and maintain an illicit?weapon?free country.

“As the army, we are not relenting on our efforts. We are working with the authorities and we are always doing our best to ensure communities are provided with the protection they deserve. Police, security and the army work in collaboration in these efforts to ensure safety and peacefulness of the country and the people," Wol said.

"That is why we moved into Gogrial state on the directive of the President and the state leadership to help in the collection of small arms. Now we have collected 3,599 pieces of different weapons. This is an attempt to stop this dangerous situation. Almost everyone in the communities in which we carried out disarmament is having access to weapons,” he added.

The general said the safety of civilians would be assured if the whole country is disarmed and provided the adequate security they deserve by the police, national security services and the army.

During the ongoing exercise, community leaders have been coming to me and say, General Santino, now you have taken our guns, what is the guarantee that this and that community will not attack us, they will not raid our cows, he said.

"These are important questions which I could not answer," he said adding "We will do the best to provide protection to all who have given us weapons. Their lives and properties will be protected. This has been assurance and I take this message to the command,” he said.

He attributed the reasons for which the country is awash with all types of weapons to the war of liberation struggle for independence of the country and the current war over leadership.

(ST)

December 31, 2017 (KHARTOUM/KASSALA) - A joint police force in Sudan's eastern state of Kassala managed to free 95 victims of human trafficking following an exchange of fire with the perpetrators.

The director of criminal police and commander of the force Abdallah Ahmed al-Sayegh said a joint force from Kassala, Halfa Al-Jadida and Khashm Al-Girba police managed to free foreign victims after fire exchange with the human traffickers.

However, Al-Sayegh didn't identify the nationalities of the victims.

He told the official news agency SUNA they received information that a human trafficking gang has kept the victims, hostage at a forest east of Tringa village in Khashm Al-Girba County.

He added the police force encircled the area from all directions to prevent the escape of the perpetrators.

“The hostage rescue operation involved fire exchange but there were no injuries among the police, hostages or the culprits,” he said adding a number of the perpetrators have been captured and would be dealt with according to the law

For his part, the director of Kassala State police and rapporteur of the security committee Yahia al-Hadi Sulieman described the operation as “qualitative” in terms of the number of the victims as well as the police officers and the timing of execution.

Meanwhile, the governor of Kassala State Adam Jam'aa on Saturday visited the freed victims announcing 2018 would witness the end of human trafficking phenomenon in the state.

He said this rescue operation is considered the largest in terms of the numbers of the hostages in 2017, urging the police and security organs to continue their efforts with the same “vigour and determination” in 2018.

The governor further said this operation represents a strong response to all the human rights organizations which claim that Sudan is not cooperating in the fight against human trafficking.

The Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Saturday issued a decree imposing a six-month state of emergency in North Kordofan and Kassala states

The state presidential minister Al-Rashid Haroun told reporters the state of emergency in the eastern state of Kassala was prompted by security reasons pertaining to the collection of illicit arms as well as combating drugs and human trafficking.

Sudan is considered as a country of origin and transit for the illegal migration and human trafficking. Thousands of people from Eritrea and Ethiopia are monthly crossing the border into the Sudanese territories on their way to Europe through Libya or Egypt.

In its 2017 Trafficking in Persons report, the U.S. Department of State retained Sudan on Tier 3, saying the Sudanese government “does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is not making significant efforts to do so”.

In January 2014, the Sudanese parliament approved an anti-human trafficking law which punishes those involved with human trafficking with up to 20 years imprisonment.

Also, in 2014, Khartoum hosted a conference on human trafficking in the Horn of Africa, organised by the African Union (AU), the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Sudanese government.

The East African nation has also forged a strategic partnership with several European countries and the EU to combat illegal migration and human trafficking.

(ST)

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to exercise restraint amid reports of a violent crackdown by national security forces on demonstrations in the capital, Kinshasa, and a number of other cities.

By Duop Chak Wuol

Countries are created in line with international treaties and norms, and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is the deciding factor for any organized society that wants to become a nation. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) — the supposedly problem-solving East African regional bloc whose vision statement asserts that it is the premier league for achieving peace, prosperity and regional integration in the East African region—surprisingly contributed to the collapse of the August 2015 peace agreement by knowingly supporting Uganda's strategy to keep Juba's atrocious regime in power. The rationale behind its seemingly absurd decision is yet to be determined. There is no doubt in my mind that the revitalization of the 2015 agreement is the only plausible way to save South Sudan from complete disintegration. One can only hope that IGAD will be impartial in the revitalization process and restore its tainted credibility.

It is a known fact that South Sudan's peace was hijacked in July 2016 by the current First Vice President (FVP) Taban Deng Gai and President Salva Kiir in an attempt to silence the armed opposition under the leadership of Dr Riek Machar. The move came a few months after Taban was denied the position of petroleum minister by Machar. It was clear at the time that peace was destroyed by Taban and Kiir. But what I find even more surprising is the fact that IGAD, African Union (AU), Troika countries (the United States, Norway, and the United Kingdom), and the United Nations shamelessly endorsed Kiir's carefully calculated decision to replace Dr Machar with Taban. There were also wild claims soon after Taban assumed the position of FVP that the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army-In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) would crumble and that the new FVP would take full control of the movement. It was a pure fantasy and disgraceful mistake. The war continues to this day and the violence only increases.

Reasonable South Sudanese know that the current FVP was motivated by political greed. Taban is known for his raging temper whenever he is not appointed to a senior governmental position, and only likes lucrative positions susceptible to corruption. Taban is not a leader; he is a political mad man who does not like anyone who questions his rather avaricious leadership style.

Will the East African regional bloc maintain impartiality in the peace process? Are South Sudan's main rival leaders ready for the full implementation of a now-defunct August 2015 power-sharing pact? Will the revitalization of peace work? What can be done to make sure the agreement is implemented? Is there a plan B to restore peace in South Sudan in case the revitalization process fails? Will peace give birth to a second Juba one (J1) fighting like what had happened in July 2016, assuming the warring parties agree to its implementation?

These questions are not simple, but are vital to the revitalization of peace and deserve thoughtful answers. The South Sudanese are tired of Kiir's self-made war. If IGAD and the international community want real peace in South Sudan, then they should first answer the above questions. Answering these questions reasonably could help the community of nations force the two warring factions to implement the agreement.

For peace to return to South Sudan, IGAD, AU, Troika, UN, and other key players must avoid the repetition of previous mistakes. The people of South Sudan are not interested in blaming both side strategy — an empty strategy that was once used by former United States President Barack Obama. Obama's seemingly tough-talk policy only contributed to the July 2016 collapse of the agreement. If South Sudanese leaders failed to implement peace, then it is equally important to note that IGAD and the international community also failed to enforce their mandates. All key global peace partners must find a sensible solution to bring an end to suffering for the people of South Sudan. If the revitalization of peace and its implementation are not credible and impartial, then the peace will collapse again. I am certain of one thing: The SPLM/A-IO wants peace while Juba's oppressive regime still prefers killing, raping, kidnapping, and destruction. The atrocious regime in Juba has spilled enough blood. The South Sudanese are tired of this civil war — this more than four-year armed conflict is now a political, economic, and social tragedy. This war must come to an end.

The author can be reached at duop282@gmail.com.

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