Africa

Action movies are big business in Uganda's film industry and these children are trained stunt actors.

Who is the mystery VIP who's been memed as Trump's African half-brother?

Could Morocco's return to the African Union lead to an end to the 16-year Western Sahara impasse?

A network of wildlife traffickers selling baby chimpanzees is exposed by a BBC News investigation.

Thousands of people in need of aid in South Sudan&#39s Upper Nile area will have to wait indefinitely, after fighting forced the United Nations migration agency to suspend humanitarian activities in the area.

US President Trump suspends refugee admissions and temporarily bars people from seven countries.

Amid an outbreak of violence in the South Sudanese city of Malakal, the United Nations mission in the country today called on the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the SPLA in Opposition to silence the guns.

In his first address to the African Union since taking office, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today underscored the importance of a strategic AU-UN partnership for building sustainable development and advancing peace and security on the continent.

Two Somali refugees on the verge of going to the US after spending years in Kenya react to the news that President Donald Trump has banned all Somalis from entering the US.

Will AU boss Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma take over from her ex-husband as president of South Africa?

January 29, 2017 (JUBA) - The new head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), David Shearer held a meeting with South Sudan President Salva Kiir, during which the former reiterated the mission's commitment to supporting peace efforts in the young nation.

David Shearer (Getty Images)

Shearer, a U.N spokesperson said, also assured the South Sudanese leader that the U.N and UNMISS are there to support the Government and help the people of war-torn South Sudan.

The senior U.N official reportedly state that he was in South Sudan with an open mind and would leave the East African nation if conditions in the country permit UNMISS to leave.

Shearer, who doubles at the special representative of the Secretary General in South Sudan, also met with the South Sudanese minister of cabinet affairs, Martin Elia Lomuro and that he was pleased to hear the minister reiterate South Sudan Government's commitment to the deployment of the Regional Protection Force (RPF) mandated by the U.N Security Council in August 2016.

UNMISS was deployed in July 2011 after South Sudan's independence from Sudan. Currently, there are 13,000 uniformed personnel and over 2,000 international and local civilian staff.

South Sudan descended into turmoil in mid-December 2013 when rival forces loyal to President Kiir bitterly fought with those loyal to his former deputy Riek Machar. Since then, tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in a crisis that has produced one of the world's worst displacement situations with immense suffering for civilians.
(ST)

January 29, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The United People's Front for Liberation and Justice (UPFLJ), a group from eastern Sudan, has called on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the killing incident known as “Port Sudan Massacre”.

Over 20 people were killed in Port Sudan, capital of the Red Sea state on 29 January 2005 when thousands of protesters called for the end of an armed conflict in the impoverished province and to provide job opportunities.

A delegation from the UPFLJ including its chairwoman Zaineb Kabashi and her deputy Osama Saeed has met with a number of officials from the office of the ICC chief prosecutor in the Hague.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Sunday, UPFLJ said the meeting discussed the ICC role to prosecute Sudanese officials wanted by the tribunal and on top of them President Omer al-Bashir.

The ICC has issued two arrest warrants against President al-Bashir in 2009 and 2010 for alleged war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Darfur.

According to the statement, the delegation presented an integrated vision that the ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute the “Port Sudan Massacre”, saying “the special force which had committed the massacre in cold blood was brought to disperse peaceful protests”.

The statement pointed that the ICC has jurisdiction individuals for crimes against humanity, saying the tribunal shall have the jurisdiction “when national courts are unable or unwilling to investigate the defendants”.

It pointed that the Sudanese courts are unwilling to institute the proceedings in relation to “Port Sudan Massacre”, accusing the Sudanese regime and security services of obstructing any moves to file a lawsuit in this regard.

“Accordingly, the delegation requested [the ICC] to file a lawsuit against the perpetrators of the massacre,” added the statement.

It further said the two sides agreed to hold a second meeting to allow the UPFLJ to hand over a complete dossier to the ICC to file the lawsuit.

The UPFLJ is a splinter faction of the Eastern Front that signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government in October 2006.

The group says Khartoum government didn't implement the Eritrean government brokered agreement which provides to establish a $600 million development fund to be paid over four years.

(ST)

January 29, 2017 (JUBA)- South Sudan President Salva Kiir has issued an order removed Lam Akol Ajawin from the ministry of agriculture, several months after his resignation from the position.

Lam Akol, chairman of South Sudan's main opposition party (AFP/Samir Bol Photo)

Akol, an influential opposition leader, resigned his position august 2016 from the unity government formed in line with the 2015 peace agreement which the government and armed and non-armed opposition signed to end the over three years destructive war.

He described the agreement as “dead” following renewed rounds of fighting between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and former First Vice President Riek Machar, in the capital Juba in July 2016.

“Since the agreement is dead and there is no free political space in Juba, the only sensible way to oppose this regime so as to restore genuine peace to our war-torn country is to organize outside Juba,” Akol told journalists in the capital of neighboring Ethiopia, Addis Ababa,

Akol was one of two ministers in the unity government that was neither part of Kiir's SPLM nor Machar's opposition, known as the SPLM-In-Opposition (SPLM-IO). He was representing the alliance of non-armed opposition parties in unity government. When he left, the group was expected to convene a meeting at which they would deliberate on who should be the replacement.

His deputy, who hails from the alliance, has been acting and the new order from the president effecting removal of Akol from the position did not elevate him to full ministerial capacity and did not appoint a new official, continuing to create an administrative vacuum at the ministry.

South Sudan was plunged into civil war in December 2013, when Kiir accused Machar of plotting a coup to overthrow him, resulting in the eruption of war in which tens of thousands were killed and more than 2 million displaced in the civil war, with sporadic outbreaks of fighting even after a peace agreement was brokered in August 2015. Machar returned to the capital to re-take up the post of First Vice-President in April.

Last July, the rival forces clashed in Juba, resulting in the loss of more than 270 lives and tens of thousands of residents fleeing to neighbouring Uganda. Machar fled the capital with his forces as a result and Kiir issued a 48-hour ultimatum for him to return. When Machar failed to show, Kiir swore in Taban Deng Gai, as the new First Vice-President until Machar returned. The appointment was rejected by Machar as illegal.

Upon his resignation, Akol said he would to align with like-minded compatriots” in order to build a national coalition, saying the South Sudanese would no longer tolerate a “callous, totalitarian and ethnocentric regime that seems to thrive on the suffering of its own people,”

He later formed a national democratic movement which pledged to work with other remove the government under the leadership of President Salva Kiir from power.

(ST)

January 29, 2017 (JUBA) - The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has reiterated its call on all the warring parties involved in South Sudan's conflict to immediately cease hostilities and fully implement the peace agreement.

UNMISS troops from India patrol the UNMISS compound in Juba, South Sudan recently (UN MISSION/AP)

UNMISS, in a statement issued Sunday, said was deeply concerned about the outbreak of fighting between the South Sudanese army (SPLA) and SPLA in Opposition (SPLM-OI) in and around Malakal town, including intermittent shelling that has been reported over the last few days.

The situation in Malakal town, according to the mission, remained tense following clashes between rival factions.

“The mission continues to patrol regularly in Malakal and reports that the town is largely deserted,” reads the statement issued by the U.N mission in the young nation.

The acting SPLA spokesman, Santo Domic Chol said Wednesday that the two rival forces clashed near Malakal, the Upper Nile state capital after government forces were allegedly attacked by militias under the command of Johnson Olony.

He neither gave details on the exact location where the clashes occurred nor unveil information on any casualties from the Malakal incident.

UNMISS, however, said it will continue to act within its capacity to protect South Sudanese civilians in imminent danger and calls on all the country's warring parties in the conflict to silence the guns to enable the movement of humanitarian aid and personnel to affected areas.

South Sudan has experience violence since December 2013 when political disagreements between President Salva Kiir and Machar saw the nation split along ethnic lines. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in South Sudan's worst ever outbreak of violence since independence from neighbouring Sudan.

(ST)

January 29, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Foreign Ministry on Sunday has summoned the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires in Khartoum Steven Koutsis to protest against the decision by President Donald Trump restricting entry for Sudanese nationals to the United States.

President Trump on Saturday issued an executive order temporarily banning refugees and travellers to the U.S. from seven Muslim-majority countries – Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

In a press release extended to Sudan Tribune Sunday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir said Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Abdel-Ghani al-Nai'm has expressed to Koutsis his government resentment over the ban against Sudanese nationals.

He described the move as a “negative signal” in light of the recent positive developments in relations between the two countries following the ease of economic sanctions imposed on Sudan and the joint cooperation in the fight against terror.

A week before the end of his second term, President Barack Obama signed an executive order easing economic embargo imposed on Sudan since 1997.

According to the press release, al-Nai'm underscored Sudan's keenness to continue the dialogue and cooperation with the American side at all joint levels as well as regional and international issues of common concern.

He added that Sudan awaits the U.S. government to lift its name from the list of states sponsors of terror very soon; saying they also expects the U.S. to reconsider its decision to ban Sudanese nationals from entering its territory.

The US State Department added Sudan to its state terror list in 1993, accusing Khartoum of harboring local and international militants including for a time AQ leader Osama bin Laden.

Since Washington admitted Sudan's cooperation in the anti-terror war but continues to maintain the east African nation name on the list.

Last September, the State Department spokesperson praised Sudan counterterrorism cooperation with the United States. "In recent months, Sudan has taken important steps to counter ISIL and other terrorist groups and has sought to prevent their movement into and through Sudan," said John Kirby.

Countries on the list of state sponsors of terrorism cannot receive U.S. economic aid or buy U.S. weapons and a raft of restrictions on financial and other dealings. The list currently includes Sudan, Libya, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria and Yemen.

According to the sudanese foreign ministry, Koutsis pointed that he would convey Sudan's government message to his government, saying the U.S. is keen to continue dialogue and cooperation to promote ties between the two countries in light of the positive moves that have been achieved during the past six months.

(ST)

Human rights violations in the Democratic Republic of Congo surged by 30 percent in 2016, spurred largely by a violent crackdown on protesters by state agents, according to a new United Nations report. 

In a report published this week, the UN joint human rights office documented a total of 5,190 human rights violations across Congo, an increase tied to election-related repression and increased activities of several armed groups. 

State agents – particularly the national police – were responsible for almost 64 percent of all human rights violations documented in 2016, while armed groups were responsible for the remaining 36 percent. The number of violations committed by state agents jumped by more than 62 percent compared to 2015.

The UN documented a total of 480 victims of extrajudicial killings by state agents, an increase of 63 percent compared to 2015. Many of these victims were shot dead by security forces during the violent crackdown on protests against efforts to extend President Joseph Kabila’s stay in power beyond the end of his constitutionally mandated two-term limit on December 19, 2016.

The number of violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms linked to the shrinking of democratic space in 2016 was more than four times higher than the total number of such violations documented in 2015, with the rights to public assembly, opinion, and expression at serious risk. Numerous media outlets and journalists were targeted and abused by government agents, while political opponents were prosecuted in politically motivated trials. The government also failed to mount credible investigations into documented violations, according to the report.

While the majority (66 percent) of all human rights violations documented occurred in the eastern part of the country, there was a notable increase in violations documented in the southern and western provinces, including due to the political repression across the country, the resurgence of inter-ethnic fighting between Twa and Luba in Tanganyika, and fighting between security forces and the Kamuina Nsapu militia in the Kasai provinces.

(Tunis) – A Mauritanian blogger convicted of apostasy faces execution unless the Supreme Court cancels or commutes his death sentence in a ruling expected on January 31, 2017, Human Rights Watch said today. The Mauritanian authorities should drop the charges against Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mkhaitir and repeal the provision of its penal code that provides for the death sentence for apostasy.

Expand

Mohamed Cheikh Ould Mohamed. 

© Private

Authorities arrested Mkhaitir, 30, on January 2, 2014, and charged him with apostasy on the basis of an article he published three days earlier on the Mauritanian news website Aqlame. The article said that some people in Mauritania use religion to justify racial or caste discrimination, citing examples from the life of the Prophet Muhammad to condemn the practice. His article prompted demonstrations by thousands in front of the presidential palace. On December 25, 2014, a court convicted Mkhaitir and sentenced him to death on the basis that he had “spoken lightly” of the prophet.

“Mkhaitir should be free to write without fear of being prosecuted, let alone executed, just as protesters should be free to demonstrate against what he wrote,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Mkhaitir should be free to write without fear of being prosecuted, let alone executed, just as protesters should be free to demonstrate against what he wrote. Sarah Leah Whitson

Middle East and North Africa Director

Under Mauritania’s penal code, the Supreme Court has the power to cancel or reduce an apostasy sentence if the convicted person repents.

A March 2015 letter signed by six Mauritanian human rights and other nongovernmental organizations, and 16 African and other international organizations, called for Mkhaitir’s immediate release on the basis that the charges against him violate his right to free expression. They cited the fact that he had repented twice: in a pretrial hearing at a military police station, and again during his trial in December 2014. Mkhaitir repented again at the Nouadhibou Court of Appeals, but on April 21, 2016, the appeals court upheld his death sentence, which leaves the Supreme Court as the court of last resort.

Article 306 of Mauritania’s penal code provides for the death penalty for apostasy, but states that if the defendant repents before a court ruling, the Supreme Court has the authority to assess the validity of the defendant’s repentance and cancel the death sentence or reduce it to a prison term of between three months and two years and a fine of between 5,000 and 60,000 ouguiya (US$14-$167).

According to a 2015 US State Department report, Mauritania has never since its independence in 1960 carried out a death sentence for apostasy. Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Mauritania has ratified, states that countries that have not abolished the death penalty should reserve it “only for the most serious crimes.” Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances because of its inherent cruelty.

Addressing the thousands of anti-Mkhaitir demonstrators who had gathered in front of his palace on January 10, 2014, President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was quoted in media reports as saying that the article constituted a “hideous crime” and the media “should respect our religion and not harm it under any circumstances.” In a televised interview on April 4, 2014, the president said that he did not believe that Mkhaitir was aware of the seriousness of what he had written.

The United Nations Human Rights Committee, the body of independent experts that monitors state compliance with the ICCPR, has said in a general comment on article 19, which outlines the right to freedom of expression, that “prohibitions of displays of lack of respect for a religion or other belief system, including blasphemy laws, are incompatible with the Covenant,” unless they constitute incitement to discrimination, hostility, or violence.

January 29, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's President Omer al-Bashir will meet his South Sudanese counterpart on the sidelines of the 28th African Union Summit of the Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa next week.

Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour disclosed Saturday that the two leaders will meet in Addis Ababa to discuss peace in South Sudan. He made his remarks following a meeting with the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan David Shearer.

Sudan is a member of the IGAD mechanism that brokered a peace agreement signed by the South Sudanese warring parties in August 2015. Also, Khartoum has opened its river and land border to allow international humanitarian assistance to the South Sudanese.

In his statements published by the official SUNA , Ghandour said the meeting comes in the framework of the role played by President al-Bashir and Sudan in support of the (regional) efforts to stop the war and achieve reconciliation between the warring factions in South Sudan.

During a meeting of the IGAD leaders held last year, Bashir called for an inclusive process involving the SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar. He also backed the regional efforts to prevent the resumption of war in the neighbouring country after Juba clashes in July 20016.

The two leaders are also expected to discuss the deployment of the joint force on the buffer zone to prevent cross-border attacks by rebel groups.

(ST

January 28, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - European Ambassadors to Sudan Saturday expressed hope that the return of opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi would positively impact the ongoing efforts to achieve peace in Sudan.

The leader of the National Umma Party (NUP) al-Mahdi who returned to Sudan on 26 January vowed to work for an inclusive process to end war and accomplish democratic reforms in the country.

The opposition leader who sealed an alliance with the armed movements said after his return to the country that all the rebel groups are committed to a negotiated solution and pledged to not resort to violence to overthrow the regime.

Following a meeting with him at the NUP premises in Sudanese capital on Saturday, the European ambassadors including the EU Ambassador Jean-Michel Dumond issued a statement welcoming his return to Sudan after over two years of self-exile in Egypt.

"They expressed the hope that his return will contribute positively and leads to a meaningful dialogue and participation between all the political parties of Sudan," said the statement.

"They encouraged and urged all parties to seize this momentum to speed up engagement on the AUHIP roadmap framework to end the conflicts in Sudan and move towards peace and stability in the region," the EU diplomats stressed.

Different EU countries, particularly, Britain and Germany, are backing in the efforts led by African Union mediation team to sign a humanitarian cessation of hostilities and to hold an inclusive process including the armed groups.

Al-Mahdi, the leader of the largest opposition party, is seen by the international community as key element in this process as he played a crucial role in the signing of the Roadmap Agreement.

They expect that he continues to narrow the gaps between the government and the armed groups to sign the humanitarian truce and create a conducive environment for the inclusive constructional process.

In a speech he delivered last Thursday, he backed the American proposal for a humanitarian deal and suggested that the other demands of the SPLM-N particularly a safe humanitarian corridor through Asosa; Ethiopia be included in the agreement.

(ST)

January 28, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese government on Saturday has expressed regret over the decision by President Donald Trump restricting entry for Sudanese nationals to the United States.

On Saturday, President Trump issued an executive order banning citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries including Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Libya, Iran and Somalia from entering the U.S. for at least 90 days.

Also, people holding permanent residency cards (green card) in the U.S. are included in Trump's decision.

The executive order also stopped the admission of all refugees to the U.S. for four months.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, Sudan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir regretted the decision which coincides with the recent “historic move” to lift the U.S. trade and economic sanctions imposed on Sudan.

A week before the end of his second term, President Barack Obama signed an executive order easing economic embargo imposed on Sudan since 1997.

Khidir pointed that Trump's decision comes as companies and businessmen from both nations are getting ready to resume contacts and launch trade and investment projects to utilize natural, human and economic resources for the benefit of the two peoples.

It added the Sudanese nationals residing in the U.S are well known for their good reputation and respect for laws, saying they continued to stay away from any terrorist or criminal acts.

The statement pointed the U.S. decision to ease the economic sanctions was an outcome of a long joint dialogue between the two countries in the various domains particularly the fight against terrorism.

“Senior U.S. officials have acknowledged Sudan's significant efforts to confront this joint enemy [i.e. terrorism] in order to protect the two peoples” read the statement
The statement demanded the immediate lift of Sudan's name from the list of the U.S. states sponsors of terror following Washington's acknowledgement of Khartoum's cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

The Sunday Telegraph in an article on its website underscored that President Trump invoked the 11 September 2001 attacks when he issued the ban on the citizens of the seven Muslim-majority countries. "But the 19 plane hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Lebanon. None of these countries not included on the ban list," it added.

Eric Reeves, an expert on Sudan and Senior Fellow at Harvard University, wrote that slammed the decision of President Trump he "does not distinguish between Sudanese desperately and justifiably seeking political asylum and, say, members of the Rapid Support Forces, whose war crimes should indeed bar their entry to any country except those willing to send such men to The Hague".

Sudan was placed on the US terrorism list in 1993 over allegations it was harbouring Islamist militants working against regional and international targets.

Washington admitted Sudan's cooperation in the anti-terror war but continues to maintain the east African nation name on the list with Libya, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria and Yemen.

The Foreign Ministry further stressed Sudan's commitment to the “positive engagement” policy between the two countries, saying it would continue its dialogue with the U.S. government to promote friendship ties and enhance cooperation in the various fields.

The new American administration didn't yet determine its policy towards Sudan. Washington has to review the economic sanctions within six months and to decide to re-establish it fully or to lift it definitely.

(ST)