Africa

Zimbabwe's high court overturns a two-week ban by police on demonstrations in the capital Harare, despite a stern warning by President Robert Mugabe.

A new mayor in South Africa's Tshwane, an area that includes the capital Pretoria, rejects a fleet of luxury cars bought by his predecessors.

Why isn't more being done to prevent a repeat of last year's flooding in Malawi?

George Wyndham is the only Sierra Leonean competing at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio, but his only home is an office in the national stadium.

By Mahmoud A. Suleiman

The Darfur region is located in the far west of Sudan, on an area of 510,000 square kilometers, is characterized by the diversity of the region and the multiplicity of population and tribal and climate, and is adjacent to several countries. Moreover, the Darfur region neighbouring three countries: Libya from the north, Chad to the west and the Central African Republic (CAR) to the south-west, and from the south the state of South Sudan. The region of Darfur is as well adjacent to some Sudanese states like North Kordofan state and the Northern state in the far north of Sudan. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Refugees are people fleeing conflict or persecution. They are defined and protected in international law, and must not be expelled or returned to situations where their life and freedom are at risk. A plethora of reports indicated that the conditions of the Citizens of Sudan in Darfur's IDP camps represent the worst cases of displacement model in the world. The Darfur region continue weary and war-torn by the absurd wars of attrition waged by the genocidal criminal Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir through his proxy Janjaweed militias cloned under the codename of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

As of 5 January 2015, IDMS estimates that there were up to 3,100,000 IDPs in Sudan. Internal-displacement.org

This includes figures in the region of Darfur and the states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The IDPs in the camps in Darfur are now currently at risk of the trinity of hunger, disease and thirst, especially in the hot dry summer. Their actual figure as of May 2012 estimated at Two and a half million displaced persons (IDPs).

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) the total number of IDPs in Sudan has decreased significantly from a peak of around five million in 2010. This is due both to large-scale movement of southern Sudanese to South Sudan and the fact that former southern Sudanese IDPs, especially in and around Khartoum, were no longer counted as IDPs in Sudan. However, since 2011, the number of IDPs has been steadily increasing. Neither the figure for Sudan nor South Sudan includes IDPs from the Abyei Area as its final status remains undetermined. In Darfur, OCHA receives information on IDP figures from local authorities, the government, other UN agencies and international and national NGOs.

Media quoted news coinciding with the decision of the Government of Khartoum of dismantling the camps for Internally Displaced people (IDPs) that El Fasher, capital of North Darfur state is preparing to receive the Presidents Omar al-Bashir and Chadian President Idriss Déby and the Emir of Qatar for the celebration of the end for the Regional Authority in Darfur by Wednesday, the seventh in September 2016 in El Fasher. The function takes place in the presence of President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Shadi and Chadian President Idriss Déby. Tijani Sese said that the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) has become integrated and addressed all the root causes of the problem. He renewed his rejection to any other Document to discuss the issues of the people of Darfur! Moreover, observers said that this is a clear signal that the regime of the NCP is trying to legitimize the dismantling of camps for displaced people in Darfur.

Dr. Tijani Sese Mohammed Ateem, head of the Darfur Regional Authority critics consider him that he has benefited from the Darfur war and the suffering of his relatives and the rest of the people of Darfur. His critics say that Dr. Tijani Sese has not been part of the rebels but the former United States Presidential Envoy to Sudan, retired Major General Jonathan Scott Gration whisked him off to the Qatari capital Doha from Addis Ababa for inaugurating him a Chair for the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM), which was manufactured in Doha, Qatar.

Thus, the loop was completed to carry out the plot premeditated in advance, the dismantling the camps for the displaced in Darfur.

The removal of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Camps in the Darfur Region remained an obsession with great concern to the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) regime in Khartoum chaired by Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir. Omer al-Bashir remains fugitive from the International Justice and the indictee of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the crimes of war, crimes against humanity and genocide he has perpetrated against the civilian Sudanese populations in Darfur. The insistence of the (NCP) government in Khartoum on IDP camps removal because they stand as living witness and stain for the crimes of genocide committed in Darfur. The (NCP) regime alleges that they opted for the closure of the (IDPs) camps in Darfur because the (IDPs) represent bastions for the armed rebel movement supporters.

Furthermore, the issue of the removal of camps for displaced people in Darfur remains causing grave concern to the ruling regime in Khartoum which currently trying relentlessly for rapprochement with the European Union (EU) in an attempt to receive the amounts of money promised to set up camps in Eastern Sudan to prevent migration by detaining migrants from the Horn of Africa mainly- Ethiopian, Eritreans and Somalis from reaching the shores of Europe through Libya. This is more so given the present dire financial situation, approaching bankruptcy, which the (NCP) regime is languishing in. Every sensible individual knows for fact that the (EU) fund received from the EU will be employed for hardware of the war planned against the armed rebel movements by the end of the rainy season in December 2016, as declared by the proxy Janjaweed paramilitary militia , Rapid Support Forces (RSF) leader, Commander Major General "Mohammed Hamdan Dogulw"!

It is noteworthy to recall the statements of the (NCP) regime Second Vice President, Hassabo Abdel-Rahman on December 28, 2015 in EL-Fasher when he urged the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Darfur region to choose between two option, " within no more than a month between resettlement or return to their original areas" adding that his government is determined to close their camps the year 2016. Moreover, Hassabo further reiterated his government's commitment to take all the measures and do the needful to achieve this goal, stressing that "the year 2016 will see the end of displacement in Darfur". http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article57524

Unfortunately that Hassabo descends originally from the Darfur region and without a thread of doubt some of his relatives continued suffering from the devastating effects of war in the region for more than a decade.

Since 2002, the region of Darfur in Western Sudan has undergone significant internal conflict, forcing many people from their homes and into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camps, as well as Refugee Camps in eastern Chad. - See more at: http://www.ghets.org/projects/darfur-idps-camps/#sthash.4vH7fOv8.dpuf

As of October 2008, Data provided by UNOCHA, indicated that Some 4.7 million people were directly affected by the Darfur conflict, out of a total population of around 6.2 million. In 2008 alone, 310,000 people have been displaced, or newly displaced – bringing the total at the time to 2.7 million. Half of those affected by the conflict were children; of those, nearly 700,000 (the under-five population) have grown up knowing nothing but the conflict. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/sudan_darfuroverview.html

The UN estimates that between 200,000-300,000 people have died in Darfur since the start of the current conflict in 2004. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/sudan_darfuroverview.html

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Refugees are people fleeing conflict or persecution. They are defined and protected in international law, and must not be expelled or returned to situations where their life and freedom are at risk.
• Since the succession of Sudan, the UN has estimated that at least 2.2 million people remained internally displaced in Sudan at the end of 2011
• This figure includes the following:
? 1.9 million IDPs in Darfur
? 200,000 IDPs in South Kordofan (excluding Abyei)
? 66,000 IDPs in Blue Nile.
IDP Figures In Darfur region prior to dividing it into 5 States
Northern Darfur 508,499
Southern Darfur 1,410,704
Western Darfur 746,912
Total Darfur 2,666,115
Recent warfare in Jebel Marra locality resulted into new Displacement of 876912 (IDPs).

There are a huge number of IDP camps in the Darfur region. To give just an example one quotes the following for the North Darfur State:

The State of North Darfur alone accommodates five IDP Camps, the largest of which is «Aboushouk» in which about 50 thousand displaced people live, and »al-Salam» where 49 thousand displaced people live, and »Zamzam» where 39 thousand displaced people reside, and »Kassab» in which 26 thousand IDPs live, and lastly »Fatta Borno» in which 24 thousand displaced people live. Thus, the total number is 163 thousand displaced people in the state of North Darfur. The IDPs numbers in Darfur continue increasing due to the ongoing proxy warfare waged by the regime through the Janjaweed paramilitary militias along with the intertribal fighting stirred up and fueled by the division of the Darfur region on tribal and ethnic basis to five warring states using the principle of divide and rule made its inhabitants in a constant infighting adding more displaced persons to those in the (IDPs) camps. According to figures quoted from the UN, there are at least 52 (IDPs) Camps in Darfur. Furthermore, there are 13 Darfuri refugee camps in the East of the neighbouring Chad. This is in addition to 2 refugee camps in the Central African Republic, 2 camps in in South Sudan, one camp in Uganda and 1 refugee Camp in Kenya. The reported numbers of IDPs in those camps estimated between 1900000 to 2500000. Other more recent reports and according to UN statistics indicated that about 3.5 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) live in the camps scattered in the capitals of the Five states of Darfur since 2003. The outbreak of the Darfur crisis between the three rebel movements and the (NCP) government forces escalated when the parties failed reaching sustainable peace, despite the signing of a number of negotiated agreements. The most recent agreement signed was so-called the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), signed between the Government of Sudan and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) on 14 July 2011. The Justice and Liberation Movement, was created and manufactured in Qatar when the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) the Founder for the Doha Forum (as Platform for Peace Negotiations) refused to sign the (DDPD) as neither meeting the demands nor keeping pace with the basic rights of the people of Sudan in Darfur.

The crime of forced dismantling of the camps for internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Darfur region is an integral part of the crime of genocide and the earlier conspiracy of the so-called Darfur referendum. Both of these criminal acts represent part and parcel of the fraudulent systematic Falsification of the will of the people of Darfur. Moreover, all these desperate miserably failed efforts, which represent waste of the Sudanese people money and carried out by the regime of the NCP only to protect Omar al-Bashir against the grip and lawful apprehension by International Criminal Court (ICC), which monitors the movements of the genocidal criminal wherever and whenever found.

Thus, dismantling of the camps for the (IDPs) in Darfur by force has become the first and last goal for hiding the landmarks of the war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide committed against the people of Sudan in Darfur while the offender and his entourage remain fugitives from the international justice.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir in March 2009 which making it the first president in power required by the court as a second warrant was issued for his arrest in July 2010.

The residents of camps for displaced peoples (IDPs) in Darfur consider the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) was isolated from the core concerns, grievances, and demands of the people of Darfur.

It is clear that nobody else owns a magical wand to solve the Sudanese problems and the damage caused by the National Congress Party (NCP) regime, which continued using a demolition pick over the past 27 lean years, but the united Sudanese people who will not budge from demanding their legitimate rights.

The monster kills a rebel and the Earth Sprouts a Thousand of Rebels.

Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/

A miner in DR Congo tells the BBC why he ventures 25m (82 ft) underground, without ropes or safety gear, in search of copper.

Two children from one of Nairobi's poorest communities are hoping to start a career in the music industry after some help from their father.

Uganda's qualification for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations delights football fans, most of whom had not been born last time their team appeared.

In the face of increasing protests across the country, the Zimbabwe authorities yesterday invoked a draconian law to ban all public protests in Harare.

On Thursday evening, a senior police official, Chief Superintendent Newbert Saunyama, announced that police would ban all demonstrations in the capital, including a planned demonstration the next day by 18 opposition parties. He justified the ban under the Public Order and Security Act. The parties – which are calling for national electoral reforms – decided to postpone the protest to a later date.

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Riot police stand guard as opposition party supporters, arrested following Friday's protest march, arrive at court in Harare, Zimbabwe, August 29, 2016. 

Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo

The law banning demonstrations, the Statutory Instrument 101A of 2016, went into effect yesterday. It’s use signals intensifying government repression amid rising public discontent. It prohibits “the holding of all public demonstrations” in Harare until September 16, 2016.

Violating the ban carries penalties of up to one year’s imprisonment and a fine of $300. Since June, various groups and political parties have staged at least 13 public protests across the country over deteriorating economic conditions, widespread corruption, police brutality, and lack of electoral reforms.

The government’s ban on all protests violates the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression protected under international human rights law.   

Today I spoke to lawyers who are preparing to challenge the ban in Zimbabwe’s Constitutional Court. They intend to argue that the ban violates the right to free expression under the country’s constitution. They will also raise a constitutional provision that states that human rights can be limited only “in terms of a law of general application and to the extent that the limitation is fair, reasonable, necessary and justifiable in a democratic society based on openness, justice, human dignity, equality and freedom.”

Banning protests will not resolve the country’s problems. Instead of imposing pseudo state-of-emergency regulations banning protests, the police should be maintaining public order and protecting life and property. The government should make a clean break with the country’s violent past: It should allow peaceful protests, respond appropriately if protests turn violent, and hold all those breaking the law to account.

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Billboard advertising the 2016 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit in Mbabane, Swaziland.

© 2016 Dewa Mavhinga/Human Rights Watch

(Johannesburg) – The Southern African Development Community (SADC) should take concrete steps to improve respect for human rights among its 15 member countries. SADC heads of state will meet on August 30-31, 2016, in Mbabane, Swaziland, for SADC’s 36th Summit.

“Political repression and disregard for basic rights characterized several SADC countries over the past year,” said Dewa Mavhinga, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “SADC governments need to ensure that they meet their human rights obligations and improve the quality of life for those who are most vulnerable.”

Child marriage remains a major concern in a number of Southern African countries, Human Rights Watch said. Half the girls in Malawi and one-third of girls in Zimbabwe marry before they turn 18. Girls who marry young often discontinue their education, face serious health problems from early and multiple pregnancies, and suffer greater sexual and domestic violence.

SADC member countries should align their laws to the SADC Parliamentary Forum Model Law on Eradicating Child Marriage adopted in June, including by setting and enforcing a minimum marriage age of 18.

Human rights concerns in Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Swaziland, South Africa, and Zimbabwe should get particular attention, Human Rights Watch said. SADC member countries have identified peace, security, and the promotion of human rights as key concerns within the region, but the individual countries need to take steps to ensure respect for human rights and the rule of law.

In Angola, the government of President José Eduardo dos Santos has pledged to improve its rights record, but instead has been severely curtailing the rights to freedom of expression and association. Security forces have used excessive force, arbitrary arrests, and intimidation to prevent peaceful anti-government protests, strikes, and other gatherings. In April, police gunfire wounded at least three people during a peaceful student demonstration against an increase in school fees in Caluquembe, Huila province. On August 6, soldiers fired live ammunition during a peaceful protest in Luanda, killing a teenage boy. There have also been reports of excessive use of force to evict people for development and agriculture projects.

In Zimbabwe, the government of President Robert Mugabe has disregarded the rights provisions in the country’s new constitution, neither enacting laws to put the new constitution into effect, nor amending existing laws to bring them in line with the constitution and Zimbabwe’s obligations under regional and international human rights conventions. The police use outdated and abusive laws to violate basic rights such as freedom of expression and assembly, and to harass activists, human rights defenders, and LGBT people. There has been no progress toward justice for human rights violations during past political violence.

Itai Dzamara, a pro-democracy activist and human rights defender who was forcibly disappeared on March 9, 2015, remains missing. Dzamara, the leader of Occupy Africa Unity Square – a small protest group modeled after the Arab Spring uprisings – had petitioned Mugabe to resign and to reform the electoral system.

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has brutally cracked down on those who have spoken out against or opposed attempts to extend President Joseph Kabila’s time in office beyond his constitutionally mandated two-term limit, which ends on December 19, 2016. Since January 2015, government security forces have arbitrarily arrested scores of opposition leaders and activists, fired on peaceful protesters, banned opposition demonstrations, shut down media outlets, accused peaceful pro-democracy youth activists of plotting terrorist acts, and prevented opposition leaders from moving freely around the country.

In one of the latest attempts to curtail human rights reporting during a period of increased government repression, the Congolese government in early August 2016 blocked a senior Human Rights Watch researcher, Ida Sawyer, from continuing to work in the country.

The government should urgently free all political prisoners, allow Congolese and international rights defenders to continue their crucial work, permit activists and opposition supporters to protest peacefully and express their political views, and hold those responsible for the crackdown to account.

Meanwhile, the security situation in eastern Congo, where dozens of armed groups are still active, remains deeply volatile. In the Beni area, armed forces have killed more than 500 civilians in massacres since October 2014, according to local rights groups. The government needs to improve protection for civilians in the area, identify abusers, and hold them to account.

In Swaziland, which takes over as SADC chair for the next 12 months, human rights conditions have deteriorated significantly. The government has imposed restrictions on political activism and trade unions that violate international law, including potential bans under the draconian Suppression of Terrorism Act, and subjected activists and union members to arbitrary detention and unfair trials.

In Mozambique, the political and military conflict between the government and the opposition RENAMO party has resulted in increased human rights abuses. Since October 2015, tens of thousands of people have fled to Malawi because of abuses by the military, including summary executions, sexual violence, and mistreatment of people in custody. In Zambezia province, armed men linked to RENAMO have attacked hospitals and health clinics to loot medicine and supplies, threating access to health care for tens of thousands of people in remote areas. The Mozambican government has yet to publish its findings of an investigation of a mass grave found in May 2016 containing at least 15 bodies.

In South Africa, public confidence in the government’s willingness to tackle human rights violations, corruption and respect for the rule of law has eroded. The government has done little to address concerns about the treatment of migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, or the root causes of xenophobic violence. The government has failed to ensure that an estimated half million children with disabilities have access to basic education. Rights groups expressed concerns about the government’s failure to develop a national strategy to combat the high rate of violence against women and the continued underreporting of rape.

“To achieve the SADC Summit theme of ‘enriching nations,’ SADC countries should seriously focus on respecting human rights, upholding the rule of law, and curtailing corruption,” Mavhinga said. “Transparency and justice will help drive regional economic development that can genuinely improve people’s lives.”

A few months ago, I listened to a Kenyan man talk about his brother who has been missing since April 2015. “To see the dead body of your family member is painful, but you at least know he is dead,” he told me. As the world commemorates the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances today, I think of him and many others I interviewed for Human Rights Watch’s report on people who “disappeared” after last being seen in the custody of Kenya’s security agents.

Others have reported similar findings. The official Kenya National Commission on Human Rights documented numerous similar cases, as have local rights groups and the Kenyan media.
 

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Zeinab Bulley Hussein holding the national identity card of her son, Abdi Bare Mohamed. Community members stumbled on Abdi Bare’s dead body 18 kilometers from Mandera, in northeastern Kenya, three weeks after police officers arrested him outside the family’s home in August 2015. 

© 2015 Will Swanson for The Washington Post via Getty Images

Enforced disappearances are devastating. Family and friends of those disappeared suffer tremendously, often never learning whether their loved one is alive or dead. Under international human rights law, an enforced disappearance occurs when a person has been detained by government officials or their agents, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of the person’s liberty or to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the person.

In Kenya, Muslim communities are among those most affected by disappearances, caught between the threat of the armed Islamist group, Al-Shabab, and security forces that carry out abusive counterterrorism operations. While Kenyan government officials often condemn Al-Shabab’s horrific violence, they remain troublingly silent about security forces’ role in enforced disappearances.

Families who report their loved ones as missing to police, providing witness accounts of arrest, often receive no response or are told the police have no information. In some cases, government officials have suggested – without evidence – that Al-Shabab may have killed these people. When United States Secretary of State John Kerry recently visited Kenya, he said Kenyan authorities told him that people reported as disappeared may have crossed the Somali border to join Al-Shabab. This may be true in some cases, but without credible investigations into the disappearances – and considering Kenya’s counterterrorism response – these assertions should comfort no one.

Some diplomats suggested to me that perhaps the disappearances are conducted by “rogue” security officers. But the avalanche of evidence and the sophisticated inter-agency coordination of the operations make that unlikely. Even if true, without the government’s commitment to investigate the abuses and prosecute all those responsible, “rogue” officers will never face accountability.

Today, as the world stands in solidarity with victims of enforced disappearance, President Uhuru Kenyatta should commit to launching a commission of inquiry into these disappearances. Such an effort would be a first step toward justice.

September 6, 2016 (JUBA) – Governor Louis Lobong of the newly created Namorunyang state in Eastern Equatoria, has called on the state youth to stop cattle theft or raiding from their neighbouring communities, including from across the Ethiopian border.

Eastern Equatoria state governor Louis Lobong Lojore talks to communities in Bari and Omorwo villages (ST)

The top executive official of the state made the remark during the community meeting with residents in Kauto county on Friday. He also appealed to community and youths leaders to organize reconciliation process among different tribes.

Governor Lobong called on the communities in Kauto county to identify the Ethiopians' cattle that were recently raided by suspected gangs from his state.

He said he had come along with members of the state parliament and chiefs from various sections of Toposa tribe in order to meet the population of Kauto county in regards to the question of cattle raiding between them and the populations of the county of Nyangtom.

He added that he was also in consultations with the chiefs and the citizens of Nyangchor and the community agreed that there was need to reconcile with the neighbouring community in Ethiopia which cattle have been raided and to return their cattle to them.

Lobong noted that the citizens also tasked them to carry out consultation with the Ethiopian government so that their previously stolen cattle by the Ethiopian community of Suruma should as well be returned to the Toposa.

“The meeting was very fruitful, we also touched [on] some other issues,” said governor Lobong.

Some local chiefs have welcomed the move, saying that they are ready to work together with the state government on peace initiatives.

(ST)

September 5, 2016 (TORIT) - The Governor of Namorunyang, one of South Sudan's newly created states has urged youths to refrain from cattle raids and embracesl peace.

Eastern Equatoria state governor Louis Lobong Lojore (ST)

Louis Lobong Lojore made these remarks during a community meeting with residents in Kauto county last Friday.

He appealed to the community and youth leaders to organize reconciliation processes among the different tribes in the state.

Governor Lojore further urged communities in Kauto to help identify cattle recently raided by suspected gangs from neighbouring Ethiopia.

I have come with the MPs and chiefs from various section of toposa in order to meet the population of this kauto county in regards to the question of cattle raiding between them and the population of the county which comprise of Nyangtom, Toposa, explained the governor.

"In the consultative meeting with the chiefs and the citizens of Nyangchor the community all agree that there was need to reconcile with the community in Ethiopia and also they agree to recover all the stolen cattle's that they have stolen," he added.

According to the state governor, community members also tasked them to carryout consultations with the Ethiopian government so that all the stolen cattle are returned to the rightful owners.

“The meeting was very fruitful, we also touched some other issues," stressed Lobong.

Some local chiefs have welcomed the move and vowed to work together with the government on peace initiatives.

Governor Lobong was accompanied by the Toposa elders and lawmakers for the five-day peace mission in search of peace within the border community in Kauto county.

(ST)

September 5, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan government has downplayed concerns from among senior party and government officials that deployment of protection force from countries in the region as authorized by the United Nations Security Council would undermine national sovereignty.

Officials loyal to President Salva Kiir said they only accepted the deployment in principle, but which details are yet to be agreed upon with the United Nations.

“What the government has done was the reiteration of commitment to implementing peace and to confirm in principle the acceptance of the protection force. But this does not mean this force will be deployed without the consent of the government. The communiqué was very clear. The government will have a role to play in discussing technical matters,” said cabinet affairs minister, Martin Elia Lomuro.

Minister Lomuro, who attempted to allay fears of the pro-government supporters opposed to the deployment of protection force, however said international support to implement peace for the country to be stable was very important part in regional security.

"What is important as the people of South Sudan, regardless of the ruling party in the country, is that we must always have a unique and common goal, which is to maintain peace and stability. President Salva Kiir is up to the task. He wants peace to prevail so that the country can move forward,” he said.

He explained that he is "certain" that all parties interested in maintaining peace in the country "will assist in one way or another" to pursue that goal.

"All parties will work hand in hand, taking into account that peace and stability in the country represent the maximum interest for all relevant parties,” he said.

But while the cabinet affairs minister confirmed the acceptance of the deployment of the regional protection force, other officials claimed that the government did not agree with the United Nations Security Council's visiting officials to deploy foreign forces without prior consent and agreement on details.

They argued that the government on Sunday in a communiqué it signed with the UN Security Council only “consented" but did not "accept" the deployment of the force.

The "consent" which the government has given, according to opponents of the deployment of the protection force, means that it has agreed in principle to the deployment of foreign troops but not necessarily acceptance unconditionally.

The objective, they argued, was to enable further discussions to take place between the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the army, and other stakeholders to work out the modalities.

The latest development comes amid fierce internal criticism after it appeared the government buckled under the UN Security Council's pressure during their three days of visit to Juba.

Before succumbing to the pressure to accept the deployment of forces, President Kiir earlier repeatedly said he would not allow a single additional foreign troop to deploy in South Sudan.

However, after meeting the delegation from the Security Council on Sunday, the government announced that it has accepted the deployment of 4,000 troops to “protect the people of South Sudan”, pending confirmation of its details.

(ST)

September 5, 2016 (JUBA)- South Sudan government under the leadership of President Salva Kiir has assured visiting members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that it would cooperate with the African Union (AU) in expeditious formation of the hybrid court to try individuals accused of war crimes in the world's youngest nation.

UNSC delegation meets Ethiopian PM in Addis Ababa over the deployment of South Sudan protection force on 5 September 2016 (ENA photo)

As part of the joint communique issued after a meeting between the UNSC delegation and President Kiir in Juba, the hybrid court will be formed once the AU provides other details.

“The Transitional government of national unity signals it readiness to implement chapter five of the agreement on the resolution of the conflict in the Republic of South Sudan – including to work with the African Union setting up the hybrid court for South Sudan as soon as the African Union provides proposal for the its work as provided for in that agreement,” said South Sudan's cabinet affair minister, Martin Elias Lomoro.

Lomoro said this while reading a prepared statement to reporters in Juba on Sunday.

Chapter V of the Peace Agreement signed in August 2015 to end 21 months of conflict between government and SPLM in Opposition forces required accountability for the war crimes and other human rights abuses committed during the war.

The armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) leader and former first vice president Riek Machar supports the formation of hybrid court but President Kiir appears to avoid setting up of the court in op-ed article published by New York Times in May this year.

The AU Commission of Inquiry established in early 2014 found that both sides to the conflict committed crimes including rapes, targeted killing and forced disappearance.

(ST)

September 5, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir has been invited by the Moroccan King Mohamed VI to participate in the 2016 United Nations Climate Summit which will be held in Rabat in November.

Sudan's President Omer Hassan al-Bashir waits to welcome Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni at Khartoum Airport September 15, 2015 (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

On Monday, Morocco's ambassador to Khartoum Mohamed Maa al-Ainain has handed al-Bashir a written letter from the Moroccan monarch inviting him to attend the conference and discussing bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to promote them.

In statements following the meeting, the Moroccan ambassador expressed appreciation to the great role played by Sudan to support Morocco, saying his country's hosting of the UN summit represent an important move to intensify and unify efforts to activate climate policies that matters to the African continent.

SUPPORT FOR YEMEN

Meanwhile, al-Bashir on Monday has discussed with the Yemeni Prime Minister Ahmed in Dagher various aspects of bilateral ties between the two countries.

Following the meeting; Dagher told reporters that al-Bashir expresses keenness to support Yemen, describing relations between the two countries as strong and historic.

He pointed the meeting discussed ways to promote political, security and military cooperation between the two countries, saying the two sides held identical views on regional issues.

The Yemeni prime minister further praised Sudan's support for Yemen and the Arab nations, saying leadership of both nations seek to enhance bilateral ties and achieve security and stability in the region.

He added that Sudan is considered a key player in the Arab coalition that seeks to restore stability, peace and legitimacy in Yemen.

Sudan participates with over 850 troops in the Saudi-led "Decisive Storm" coalition against the Iranian-allied Houthi militants in Yemen.

(ST)

September 5, 2016 (JUBA) – Mabior Garang de Mabior, chairperson of national committee for information and public relations in the opposition faction of the SPLM-IO commended the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for forcing the government under the leadership of President Salva Kiir to accept deployment of additional regional troops to the war-ravaged country.

He however added that it was important for the opposition forces of the SPLA-IO to participate in the further negotiations on the details of the force deployment.

“The Leadership of the SPLM/SPLA - in Opposition (IO) welcomes the Joint Communique by the SPLM/SPLA in Government (IG) and the members of the United Nations Security Council, dated 2016/09/04. The SPLM/SPLA – IO salutes the courage of the other warring party in reaching this decision after being vehemently opposed to it,” Mabior said in a press statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Monday.

“The SPLM/SPLA IO believes this is an important step in resolving the contradictions that have emerged in the implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS) after the collapse of the security arrangements on 2016/07/08,” Mabior added.

Mabior, also a member of the political bureau, the highest political executive organ of the opposition party, argued that the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) should also consult with the opposition faction under the leadership of Machar on the details of the deployment of the force.

“The SPLM/SPLA – IO, under the leadership of the legitimate Chairman and Commander in Chief of the SPLM/SPLA Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhuorgon; who is also the legitimate First Vice President, advises the SPLM/SPLA – IG and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to consult the SPLM/SPLA – IO in any negotiations for the deployment of the Regional Protection Force,” he said.

This, he added, will ensure that the forces of the SPLA-IO will “observe” any decision made during the negotiations.

“The SPLM/SPLA (IO) would also like to take this opportunity to express our full commitment to the full implementation of UNSC Resolution 2304 and all related communiques, which will allow the leadership of the SPLM/SPLA – IO to leave the UNMISS PoC's and return to resume the implementation of the ARCISS in letter and spirit. This will also ensure the return of the legitimate FVP who was forced to flee Juba after the collapse of the Security Arrangements of the ARCISS on 2016/07/08,” he added.

Mabior, eldest son to late leader John Garang de Mabior, who founded the SPLM ruling party in 1983, is currently in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where he fled to following the 8 July clashes in the capital, Juba.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

September 5, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – A United Nations Security Council (UNSC) delegation on Monday arrived in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, where it conferred with Ethiopian Prime Minister on peace implementation in the troubled South Sudan.

The high-level meeting comes only one day after South Sudan's President Salva Kiir government finally accepted the deployment of a regional protection force, agreed by IGAD and authorized by the UNSC.

Juba's decision was announced after the UNSC delegation held meeting with President Salva Kiir.

Following yesterday's meeting South Sudan's cabinet Affairs Minister Martin Elias Lomoro read out the joint communiqué agreed by the Juba government and the UNSC in the capital, Juba.

“To improve the security situation, the Transitional Government of National Unity gave it consent to the deployment, as part of the UNMISS, of the regional protection force recently authorized by the United Nations Security Resolution 2304,” said Lomoro

The UNSC delegation came to Ethiopia to brief the IGAD chairperson about South Sudan's decision on the deployment of the regional force and to discuss with the regional bloc on the steps that to be taken in this respect.

In Addis Ababa, members of the United Nations Security Council said they had fruitful discussion with Ethiopian premier on ways of deploying the regional protection force.

UNSC's delegation head and New Zealand's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Phillip Taula told reporters that the delegation had good discussion with the South Sudanese government.

“Discussion about the role and purpose of the deployed force will be held with IGAD,” said Taula.

Ethiopian Primer and IGAD chairman, Hailemariam Desalegn, stressed the need to exert concentrated collaboration among the various stakeholders in South Sudan for peace to prevail in the youngest nation.

Hailemariam elaborated on the procedure and course of actions needed to deploy the 4,000 strong regional Protection Force.

He said military chiefs from IGAD member states are finalizing preparations to deploy the third party force as soon as possible.

The Ethiopian leader called on UNSC, AU and IGAD to exert collective efforts to bring durable peace in South Sudan and help out the war-torn east African nation conducts a national election scheduled for 2018.

He further noted that the conflict in South Sudan is a threat to peace and stability of the volatile east African region and further could create a safe haven for terrorist elements affiliated with al-Qaida.

It is not yet clear if, former First Vice President and armed opposition leader, Riek Machar, would return to his home country once the regional force is deployed.

Machar had previously refused to return to South Sudan's capital Juba unless a regional force is deployed.

Machar fled the capital Juba, some two month ago following fierce fighting between opposition and government forces in the capital which led to attempts to kill him.

Opposition officials today told Sudan Tribune that Machar is in Khartoum in good condition.

They urged that he is immediately reinstated to his posts as first vice-president hence he is the legitimate person to assume the position per the recognition by IGAD.

(ST)

September 5, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The United Nations Independent Expert on the situation of human rights in Sudan, Aristide Nononsi has called on the Sudanese government to create a conducive environment for a free and fair national dialogue with the participation of all stakeholders.

United Nations Independent Expert, Aristide Nononsi, visits the national dialogue exposition in Khartoum on 14 April 2016 (ST Photo)

In his report, which covers the period from October 2015 to June 2016, , Nononsi also demanded rebel groups to put the “interest of the people of the Sudan first and engage in negotiations and dialogue with the Government of the Sudan”.

He said that human rights situation in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile remains precarious, pointing to the continued fighting and breaches of human rights and international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict.

“Hundreds of thousands of civilians continue to suffer the effects of the armed conflict through direct attacks, displacement and limited access to humanitarian assistance.

The peace process continues to face significant challenges without the active participation of some major armed movements”.

The Sudanese army has been fighting the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) in South Kordofan and Blue Nile since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

According to the UN, 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict, and 2, 5 million chased from their homes.

The report, which will be presented before the 33rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council from13 to 30 September 2016 in Geneva, urged the government to ensure unhindered humanitarian access to all humanitarian organizations so that they could provide the assistance necessary to persons displaced by the conflicts in Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States.

Nononsi expressed concern about human rights challenges raised in his previous report that the Sudanese government had still not addressed.

“These included the violations committed during the oil-subsidy demonstrations in September 2013, press censorship, harassment of human rights defenders and curtailment of activities of civil society organizations, restrictions on freedom of religion, as well as arrests and detention of student activists”.

He encouraged the Sudanese authorities to ensure that an independent judicial inquiry was conducted into the killings of the September 2013 protests, saying he was informed about the ongoing compensation process for victims and families of victims of these incidents.

“Impunity for human rights violations would send the wrong message to victims, perpetrators and the wider public and would undermine the rule of law,” he said.

The demonstrations erupted in Sudan's major towns in September 2013 following a decision by the government to lift subsidies on fuel and other basic commodities, leading to calls for regime change.

At least 200 protesters died, 15 of them children, with more than 800 others detained. However, the Sudanese government puts the death toll at 80.

The report pointed to the continued to clamp down on press and civil society organizations, stressing the need for the government to allow journalists human rights defenders to carry out their activities in an open, safe and secure environment.

The independent expert further called on the government to continue the process of reviewing national laws to comply with international human rights standards, stressing the need to withdraw “law enforcement powers, including the power of arrest and detention, from the National Intelligence and Security Service”.

“During the reporting period, there were widespread reports of arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention perpetrated by the National Intelligence and Security Service,” he said.

It is noteworthy that Nononsi visited Sudan one time during the reporting period, from 14 to 28 April 2016.

(ST)

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