Africa

August 29, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM)'s secretary-general Yasir Arman said that the Sudanese government will not accept to implement the decision of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) in favour of peace and democratic reforms without more internal and external pressures.

Members of the national dialogue general assembly and President Omer al-Bashir attend the third session of the internal process in Khartoum on August 20, 2015 (Photo AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

On Monday 24 August 2015, the AUSPC held a hearing meeting for first time with the Sudanese opposition groups. On the day after, it issued a decision reiterating its call for a national dialogue preparatory conference the government has previously rejected.

In written statements he extended to Sudan Tribune on Saturday, Arman welcomed the AUPSC's decision, adding that it does not contradict with the opposition's agenda for popular uprising and armed struggle to achieve political change in Sudan.

"If the regime does not feel the uprising is knocking its doors and that military action is shaking its forts, it would not accept a comprehensive peaceful solution or a constitutional national dialogue," he said.

Arman said further that issues including calls to stop war, humanitarian access to affected civilians, comprehensive solution and the constitutional conference should serve for political mobilization and to attract all those who are interested by change even the Islamist seeking for new agenda based on the recognition of the other.

"We will not accept partial solutions and will not give up the demands of our people for change. Also we do not reject any new opportunity leading to national constitutional dialogue providing that it should be a balanced process and not controlled by the National Congress Party (NCP)," he stressed.

Sudanese government last March refused to participate in a two-day pre-dialogue meeting to discuss and agree on procedural matters relating to the dialogue process which should be held inside the country.

At the time, the government said hold the meeting two weeks before the elections will send a negative message to the voters and vowed to take part in such meeting after the elections.

However, President Omer al-Bashir told the chief mediator Thabo Mbeki who is tasked with the facilitation of the national dialogue that the government can resume talks with the rebel groups before they join the constitutional process.

In a meeting held on 3 August, Bashir further said that the holdout opposition political parties can join the process stressing that his government would not concede to their demands for a conducive environment and will not wait them.

National Umma Party leader Sadiq al-Mahdi on Friday said the opposition Sudan Call forces are willing to participate in the internal process but stressed they the dialogue should not be controlled by the ruling NCP as it is the case now and also insisted on the need to implement a conducive environment before.

Arman called to involve regional bodies like IGAD, and countries including Chad, Egypt, South Africa, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), permanent members of the Security Council, Germany and Norway.

He added that the international participants will recommend after the process to normalize Sudan relations ending the current isolation of the country.

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August 29, 2015 (JUBA/TORIT) - A South Sudanese journalist has gone missing nearly month after he was allegedly arrested and detained by security operatives in Eastern Equatoria state, his relatives and community members told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

Clement Lochio Lormonana (Facebook photo)

Clement Lochio Lormonana, formerly a reporter with Gurtong Trust, was arrested on 6 August in Eastern Equatoria's Budi county, the Haula community, an association of the Didinga and Buya communities in Canada and the United States, said in a statement.

“[We are] writing to express urgent concerns […]to circumstance of South Sudanese journalist missing after being detained by South Sudan security forces on August 6,” partly reads the statement signed by the Haula diaspora group.

“Clement Lochio Lormonana was arrested in Chukudum, Budi County, with two friends when government security agents showed up in their hut in the middle of the night, rounded them up, and took them to the military barracks,” added the statement.

Eastern Equatoria governor, Louis Lobong Lojore, declined last week to answer queries regarding the arrest of three individuals in the capital, Juba. He instead said any suspect arrested by security forces would be investigated and then released if found innocent.

South Sudanese journalists operate in an extremely insecure environment and the recent killing of a reporter in Juba by unknown gunmen has increased more fear. The death of Peter Julius Moi brings to seven the numbers of scribes killed in South Sudan this year.

According to the Huala group, Lormonana and his brothers Amin Venansio and Nailo Venansio, were immediately placed in solitary confinement and tortured after their arrest.

“Even after Clement's arm was broken and Nailo started coughing blood, abusive interrogation went on uninterrupted,” the group further claimed in their statement.

Relatives said Lormonana and his brother were last seen being loaded onto a military vehicle.

“Nothing has been heard of them ever since. All attempts by the community to secure their release while still in Budi County failed", the community said in their release.

According to the Huala community, in the months leading to Lormonana's arrest, the journalist had shared his worries with his family members and friends because he allegedly received death threats and was reportedly being followed in Juba by stalkers.

"He found it necessary to leave his family and journalism work and go into hiding in Uganda and Kenya. The family abroad helped with his living expenses. He returned this month to Chukudum his home town hoping it would be a safe haven,” the group said.

Authorities in Eastern Equatoria are yet to comment on Lormonana's alleged arrest or whereabouts.

Front Line Defenders, a Dublin-based international human rights body, has asked the South Sudanese authorities to "unconditionally" release the renowned human rights defender.

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August 29, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudanese armed opposition faction of SPLM-IO has condemned government forces for allegedly continuing with military offensive against their bases in violation of the peace agreement signed by the opposition leader, Riek Machar and president Salva Kiir on 17 and 26 August, respectively.

Soldiers from the South Sudanese army (SPLA) on guard in Bentiu, the capital of South Sudan's Unity state on 12 January 2014 (Photo: Reuters)

“SPLM/SPLA condemns in the strongest possible terms the continued military offensive by forces of the regime in Juba against bases of SPLM/SPLA in Unity and Upper Nile states. Government forces on Friday shelled our bases in the west bank of the River Nile near Malakal, Upper Nile state's capital,” said James Gatdet Dak, spokesperson of the opposition's leadership, in a press statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

“This is a serious violation of the terms of the peace Agreement signed on 17th and 26th August 2015 by the principals of the two warring parties and declaration of Permanent Ceasefire which shall come into effect at midnight of 29th August 2015,” he said.

Dak said three ferries and six boats carrying troops and mounted with heavy weaponry have been shelling their defence positions along the river in Unity state as they proceeded to Malakal.

“We suspect that their plan is to launch a full scale offensive against our bases around Malakal,” he added.

He called on the international community to exert pressure on the government to stop the war and abide by the declared ceasefire.

Government officials however denied the accusations and blamed the fighting around Malakal on the opposition fighters.

The two warring parties have declared permanent ceasefire to come into force by Saturday midnight, but it remains unclear if this will be respected.

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Welcoming the recent signature by President Salva Kiir, SPLM/SPLA-IO Chairman Riek Machar and others of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, the Security Council today called on all the parties, with the help of the United Nations, to implement the accord and adhere to the permanent ceasefire.

A group of independent United Nations human rights experts have voiced alarm after a female Sudanese student was sentenced to public flogging and a heavy fine for charges of “indecent dressing,” while another received a hefty fine for the same charges, and urged that the convictions be overturned immediately.

With Guinea-Bissau facing political turbulence barely a year after the re-establishment of constitutional order, the top United Nations official there expressed hope today that political leaders would rise to their “historic responsibility” to preserve the gains made so far in the interest of the country and people.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced today that 163 children have been released by an armed group in the Central African Republic, where thousands of other boys and girls are still serving as combatants, cooks and messengers for the country’s militant factions.

Fifteen years after the signing of a landmark Burundi peace accord, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called on all the country’s political leaders, including those in exile, to find common cause and commit to build on the stability that was ushered in by the Arusha Agreement.

Provides an overview as well as key facts, figures and dates for this west African country

Provides an overview, basic facts and key events for Burundi, this small country in Africa

August 13, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) handed over a sub-camp to the University of Geneina in West Darfur and decided to move its activities to its main base in the state capital.

A signing ceremony took place that was attended by the Director of UNAMID Support Division Rakesh Malik and the West Darfur governor Khalil Abdalla Mohammad.

“By handing over these facilities, UNAMID is not abandoning West Darfur but has merely moved its operations from this location to its main base at El Geneina Super Camp, from where it shall continue to carry its mandate as before,” Malik said according to UNAMID statement.

The facilities of two blocks, built in 2008 on an area of 98000 sq. meters, were allocated to UNAMID by the Sudanese government and served as a base for their operations in West Darfur.

The governor thanked UNAMID and commended the cooperation the two sides and the local community.

“UNAMID has remarkably supported the community in West Darfur over the past years,” he said.

The Chancellor of Geneina University El-Tayeb Ali Ahmed also thanked UNAMID for the initiative and stated that they had plans to start using the sub camp immediately.

Sudan called for UNAMID withdrawal from Darfur following a dispute over alleged mass rape in the village of Tabit in North Darfur, by army troops in October last year.

A tripartite working group comprised of officials from the Sudanese government, UN and AU was formed to draft an exit strategy for the peacekeeping force.

Last June however, the United Nations Security Council extended for 12 months the mandate of UNAMID and tied the exit strategy to the progress in the security and humanitarian situation.

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August 13, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The leader of a Darfur rebel group laughed off allegations leveled by Khartoum which claimed that his forces are fighting with the forces of Libya's internationally recognized government.

Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) leader Minni Minnawi (AFP file photo)

Minni Minnawi who heads a faction of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) told Sudan Tribune that the accusations by the Sudanese government is an attempt to cover up Khartoum's support of Islamist militants in Libya including ISIS.

"This talk is not in isolation from the racist tone towards the people of Darfur. It was the [former] foreign minister Ali Karti who declared that Darfur rebels are fighting in Libya along with Gaddafi which was a message to the people of Libya to wipe out the people of Darfur because they escaped from the trap of the [Sudan ruling] National Congress Party," Minnawi said.

On Tuesday, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) summoned the Libyan military attaché in Khartoum to protest against what it claimed is his government's harboring of SLM-MM rebels.

SAF spokesperson, Colonel al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa'ad, told the official news agency (SUNA) on Tuesday that the participation of SLM-MM fighters in the Libyan conflict alongside the forces of the retired General Khalifa Heftar poses real threat to Sudan's national security particularly in Darfur.

He added that it also undermines regional security on the joint Sudanese-Libyan borders.

“The participation [of the SLM-MM in the Libyan conflict] encourages rebel groups to destabilize security of the citizens through forced recruitment and looting”, he added.

The SLM chief said that the message to ISIS is that they can forcibly recruit from large pool of illegal African migrants in Libya including those from Darfur.

"We do not have any groups in Libya and we have no relationship nor knowledge nor contacts with Heftar Brigade," he stressed.

Minnawi described as “conflicting” Khartoum's statements on Darfur with president Omer Hassan al-Bashir on the one hand claiming on a trip to Mauritania the eradication of rebels but stressing to African mediators that he will not discuss peace in Darfur with rebels outside the Doha accord framework.

“All these are attempts to cover up their support for terrorism in Libya and training Chadian opposition and the opposition in Central Africa Republic and what they are doing in south Darfur".

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August 13, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudanese former vice president and current rebel leader, Riek Machar, has further reshuffled officials assigned to various national committees in a series of orders relieving and reappointing others.

In the orders released on Thursday, but signed by the chairman and commander-in-chief since 6 August 2015, Machar relieved the chairman of national committee for external relations, Dhieu Mathok Ding, and replaced him with his deputy, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth. The new external relations chairman will also be deputized by Peter Marcello Nasir Jealingo.

Dhieu, former external relations chairman, is reappointed as chairman of national committee for roads and transportation systems.

Sandra Bona Malual is appointed as chairperson of national committee for women empowerment, child welfare and social development, while Abdel Daim Deng is assigned as deputy chairman of national committee for agriculture.

The rebel leader also relieved his office's chief coordinator, Ramadan Hassan Laku, from his duty. No replacement or new assignment was done for the removed official in the office of the chairman.

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August 13, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar is in negotiations with some of the senior commanders with whom he had political and security disagreements over the approach to handle the talks with the government, revealed assistant press officer in the rebel camp.

Riek Machar sits in his field office in a rebel controlled territory in Jonglei State February 1, 2014. (Photo/Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

Rebel commanders led by Peter Gatdet Yak, former deputy chief of general staff for operations in the rebel movement and Gathoth Gatkuoth, former deputy chief of general staff for logistics, both of whom were relieved from the positions last month by Machar, announced at a press conference in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday to have” denounced and disowned” Machar from the leadership of the rebel movement.

It was not immediately clear how many officers attended the conference, although unverified reports indicated Maj. Gen. Gabriel Tanginye, Maj. Gen. Chuol Gakah, Maj. Gen. Gathoth Gatkuoth, Maj. Gen. Malith Gatluak and Brigadier Gen. Gatwec Puoc were among those who have declared their defection.

Five other politicians allegedly issued a separate statement announcing their support to the decision of the commanders in which they claimed to have dismissed Machar.

Former minister of youth, culture and sports, Gabriel Changson Chang, their ring leader, Timothy Tot Chol, Thomas Thoan Teny, Michael Mariew Dhuor and Gabriel Yoal Dok were said to have been among those who issued the statement denouncing the manner in which Machar had managed the leadership and the movement.

Several opposition figures have in response to the defection downplayed the significance of the decision of the rebel commanders and accused the government of having allegedly played a role to create a rift between the members of the opposition leadership using all means available at its disposal, including the use of monetary enticement by way of bribery to defecting officers and members of their families.

Dickson Gatluak Jock, who claimed to be assistant press secretary in the office of the armed opposition leader, Machar, said the press release denouncing his boss was not written and sent by the commanders but politicians wanting to pull the commanders out from the movement and against Machar in order to divert his vision, reduce his dignity from the entire Nuer community and South Sudan at large.

“This is to let him go. The sacrifices he made for the sake of his nation to go in vain. Their objectives are meant to spoil an anticipated peace agreement which may be signed in the coming 17th of this month”, said Jock in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Thursday.

The aide of the opposition leader, however, asserted that obstructing peace wouldn't make sense because it's the demand from the public in South Sudan rather than individual interest.

He said Machar had already sent a team to Khartoum to negotiate the return of the defected rebel commander, Peter Gatdet Yak.

"As I am writing, Peter Gatdet is in Khartoum, Sudan, engaging in negotiating with the team sent to him by the chairman of SPLM/A Dr. Riek Machar to get him back to Pagak as well as the Nuer elders over there,” he said.

He admitted that there were differences between Machar and commanders but these differences, he explained, could have been addressed in the recent consultative conference held at the headquarters of the opposition group inside South Sudanese territory at the border with neighbouring Ethiopia.

“Yes there were differences sometimes back when the two generals were relieved but the leadership in Pagak during the consultative meeting ironed out all these issues and resolved that the generals would be assigned to other positions with in the SPLA IO military headquarters. These are normal ways of making thing in the system,” he added.

“If they accept to dialogue and present their complaints to the leadership of the movement, then they will be reassigned”, he explained.

The rebel official charged that “elements that are running up and down to create division within the movement for their own personal interest would not be given room.”

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As the battle against cholera outbreak continues in South Sudan, the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners are boosting assistance to help children and the most vulnerable prevent and reduce the spread of further cases.

The deadly Ebola outbreak which ravaged West Africa for more than a year has demonstrated the increasing importance of emergency preparedness both in Africa and across the world, said two senior United Nations health officials who noted that if the current intense focus on case detection and contact tracing is maintained, the virus could be “soundly defeated” by year’s end.

The latest round of the United Nations-facilitated Libyan political dialogue has concluded in Geneva, with the different parties emphasizing the need to set aside partisan agendas and uphold the country’s higher national interests.

August 12, 2015 (BOR) - Elites stalling South Sudan's ongoing peace process ahead of the 17 August deadline set by regional mediators should face high level sanctions and asset seizures as part of United States president Barack Obama's "Plan B" strategy, a new report said.

U.S. President Barack Obama holds a meeting on South Sudan with IGAD leaders at his hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia July 27, 2015. Pictured at the table are: Obama (clockwise from the top center), U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan Donald Booth, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, African Union Chairperson Dlamini Zuma, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Sudan's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Ghandour, Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta and U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice. (Photo Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

Enough Project's report, entitled, "Beyond Deadlock: Recommending Obama's Plan B on South Sudan", devises ways to force the warring parties to end the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced nearly two million.

President Obama warned of grave consequences if South Sudan President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar failed to sign a final peace agreement by Monday next week.

South Sudan's information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, told the state-owned SSTV they were yet to agree with the rebels on the proposed protocols of power sharing, security arrangement and allocations to government at national and states levels.

“We have not agreed on power sharing, the power of the powers of the president and what the rebels call first vice president. We have not agreed on the percentages whether at the national and states levels. With this, we cannot deceive ourselves that there will be peace”, he said.

During his recent visit to East Africa, President Obama said that if the two warring sides miss the deadline, “the international community must raise the costs of intransigence.”

"If they miss [the 17 August ], then I think it's our view that it's going to be necessary for us to move forward with a different plan and recognize that those leaders are incapable of creating the peace that is required,” he said during his visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

"More sanctions are part of the story, but the real game changer in South Sudan will be a transnational commitment to trace, seize and ideally return the billions that have been stolen from the South Sudanese people by their own leaders,” Akshaya Kumar,Sudan and South Sudan policy analyst at Enough Project said in the report.

"That money, and continued access to patronage networks, lies at the heart of elite motivations driving the ongoing conflict", he added.

Obama's Plan B strategy, Enough Project report stressed in its report, should involve high-level asset freezes and travel bans, a global arms embargo, and the prosecution of grand corruption and atrocity crimes, including natural resource pillage as a war crime.

John Prendergast, a director at Enough Project, said: "With each passing day it looks like a Plan B will be necessary in South Sudan. If August 17 passes by with no agreement, the US government should launch an aggressive diplomatic strategy at the UN Security Council to secure a global arms embargo and impose a second round of high-level sanctions designations against South Sudan's leaders and their financial enablers".

South Sudan's warring factions have one last chance to end the country's over 20-month civil war and sign a compromise agreement proposed by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) mediators facilitating the ongoing negotiations.

According to the report, pressure from President Obama and other world leaders at such a pivotal moment in negotiations has already set in motion the most serious peace deliberations to date.

"The United States must be prepared to take swift action on the promised Plan B should the parties once again fail to agree to and implement peace. The United States must follow through on the president's strong words with equally strong action, both unilaterally and at the UN Security Council, where so far only six ground commanders —who hold little in the way of personal wealth or assets outside of South Sudan—have been designated for sanctions", it further stressed.

STRENGTHEN REGIONAL EFFORTS

Building on efforts to tackle corruption and money laundering in the region, US should offer additional legal and technical support to improve regional sanctions enforcement.

"The US should prioritise programs that enhance the operational capacity of regional financial intelligence units to identify and freeze the assets of designated individuals," says the report.

"The United States should also urge Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda to submit reports on their efforts to enforce UN sanctions as required by UN Security Council Resolution 2206," it added.

REGIONAL PEACE PROJECTS

It said the US and Chinese governments should jointly review bilateral and multilateral funds earmarked for regional infrastructure projects in East Africa to assess the feasibility of additional investments given risks presented by South Sudan's ongoing.

"This review should make clear that active regional sanctions enforcement will be considered a key risk mitigation factor", reads the report extended to Sudan Tribune.

TACKLE CORRUPTION

President Obama should direct the US Department of State, the US Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI to provide inter-agency support to the US Department of Justice's Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative and focus on investigating instances of grand corruption in South Sudan, Enough Project urged in its newly-released missive.

"The US should also encourage Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda to actively contribute to global efforts to trace, seize, freeze, and return the proceeds of corruption to the people of South Sudan by sharing intelligence through the Asset Recovery Inter-Agency Network for Eastern Africa," its report further recommended.

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August 12, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The head of Darfur peace implementation follow-up office state minister, Amin Hassan Omer, said that the former South African president Thabo Mbeki is not tasked with peace process in Darfur region.

Amin Hassan Omer (Photo SUNA)

Speaking to reporters at the National Assembly on Wednesday, Omer reiterated the government's commitment to the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), underscoring the regional and international support to the framework agreement reached in July 2011.

"Darfur file remains the responsibility of the international community which was a witness to the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur" he further said, and pointed to the support of the Doha text by the United Nations, the African Union and the Arab League.

During a short visit to Khartoum on 3 August, Mbeki met President Omer al-Bashir and discussed with him the ongoing efforts to hold the national dialogue and resumption of his activities to facilitate the internal political process.

Following the meeting, several officials including presidential assistant, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, expressed the government interest for talks with Sudan People's Liberation Movement - North (SPLM-N) to end the four year conflict in the Two Areas.

Hamid also said Darfur rebels have to sign the DDPD and to negotiate a security arrangements agreement dealing with the disarmament, demobilization and integration process.

The head of Darfur peace office further told reporters that the rebel groups have no presence inside the country.

"They are now in Libya, South Sudan or tourists in other countries," he said.

However, he stressed the government's willingness to reach a peace agreement "with those who want peace" and commit themselves to the DDPD, adding that the file of those who continue to refuse peace will be considered as "security file".

In line with the decision 456 of the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC), Mbeki is tasked with the facilitation of national dialogue process. According to his mandate he has to convene talks for a cessation of hostilities agreement followed by security arrangements deal.

After what, he has to convene a national dialogue preparatory meeting to discuss the procedures and matters related to the internal process, including the guarantees for the rebel delegations .

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