Africa

November 28, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese authorities Monday barred a team a ceasefire monitoring team from reaching Yei to assess the security situation in the troubled Central Equatoria region .

SPLA soldiers are seen at the airport in Bor January 19, 2014. (Photo Reuters/Andreea Campeaunu)

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM) said one of its teams was "denied freedom of movement while trying to reach Yei to conduct an assessment of the area and carry out its mandated activities".

The ceasefire monitoring mechanism said they got the green light from all the concerned authorities including the Joint Military Ceasefire Commission since early this month.

"However when the MVT began their journey from Juba this morning they were stopped at a check point on the outskirts of the city and told they would not be allowed pass beyond that point," said the statement.

Since last summer, different reports emerged from the areas speaking about attacks by armed opposition elements in the area who are designed as "terrorists" or ''anti-peace elements'' by the local authorities. Other reports also mention violent counterinsurgency operations by the government army in the area.

On 12 November Adama Dieng, U.N. special adviser on prevention of genocide, called to probe the human rights violations in the state, stressing the gravity of the situation there "merits immediate intervention – a full scale fact-finding investigation and enhanced humanitarian support".

Also, Dieng motioned reports about the expulsion of farmers from their agricultural plots into Yei town. "These farmers have lost their homes and belongings, livestock and land. Property has been looted and villages have been burned," he said.

The ceasefire mechanism called on the Transitional Government of National Unity to intervene in this issue to ensure that its teams can visit Yei.

" The CTSAMM would like to reiterate that it has a legal right to be present in South Sudan as stipulated in Chapter II of the ARCSS, and condemns, in the strongest terms, the denial of freedom of movement for the CTSAMM MVTs," said the statement.

In line with the peace agreement, the CTSAMM tasked with the monitoring of the implementation of the Permanent Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements (PCTSA).

(ST)

A major survey into global football shows that African footballers are often subjected to abuse, poor pay and job insecurity.

(Nairobi) – Ugandan authorities should investigate the conduct of security forces in response to recent clashes in western Uganda, Human Rights Watch said today. Security forces killed dozens of people and arrested at least 139 during violence on November 26 and 27, 2016, in the town of Kasese between Royal Guards of the region’s cultural kingdom, Obusinga bwa Rwenzururu (Bakonzo), and government forces.

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The grave of Anna Kuguma, who was killed in Katumba, Kirumya sub-county in Bundibugyo district, Uganda, around February 27, 2016.

© 2016 Human Rights Watch

Many details of the violence, including the total death toll, remain unclear. Police have stated that 46 Royal Guards were killed and 139 others arrested following attacks on several police stations on November 26, during which at least 14 police officers were killed. The king was also arrested on November 27, and eventually transferred to Nalufenya police post in Jinja, Eastern Uganda, where he is still being held. Police have not yet said what, if any, charges will be brought against him. There is no independent corroboration of affiliation or total number of those killed.

“The events on November 26 and 27 are yet another tragic loss of life in the Rwenzori region, which has already suffered many deaths,” said Maria Burnett, associate Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The government needs to investigate and put equal effort into prosecuting crimes by both sides, including government security or intelligence forces, and address grievances in the community, or the violence in the region may ignite again.”

Photographs of what appeared to be dead bodies, some of men with their hands tied behind their backs, circulated on social media on November 27. Police have blocked access to the area around the palace in Kasese and families are not being permitted to collect bodies.

Police also arrested a prominent journalist, Joy Doreen Biira, and charged her with “abetting terrorism,” then released her. Police allege she was not permitted to photograph some events during the violence. Journalists should be able to report on events of public interest without fear of arrest or intimidation from state forces, Human Rights Watch said.

The Rwenzori region in western Uganda is the site of past violence. A Human Rights Watch investigation found that between February and April, 2016, members of the Bakonzo and Bamba ethnic groups clashed following contested local elections and political infighting, resulting in at least 30 deaths. During the subsequent law enforcement operations, the Ugandan police and military killed at least 17 people. One police officer and two soldiers were also killed.

For example, on March 10, a group allegedly from the Bakonzo ethnic group attacked soldiers in Hima Town Council, stabbing and injuring four. In response, the soldiers fatally shot two people. The clashes in Hima led to at least four more incidents between the government and Royal Guards, resulting in the deaths of six Royal Guards, three government security forces, and one person not affiliated with either security force. Footage of some of those events was shared widely on social media. Royal Guards are volunteers who provide security to the customary king.

In the wake of the violence earlier this year, Human Rights Watch wrote to the inspector general of police, urging him to order investigations into the killings of at least 50 people, including 17 killed by security forces. The inspector general has not replied.

In July 2014, local media reports suggested that after members of the Bakonzo ethnic group attacked police and army posts, government security forces killed at least 100 people in reprisal killings. Human Rights Watch raised concerns about the possible involvement of government forces in reprisal attacks and torture, and the limited protection for civilians in the following days.

There has been little or no investigation of the conduct of government forces in these violent episodes or into the arrests of hundreds of civilians, some of whom have faced trial before military courts, Human Rights Watch said. Some government officials, including a parliamentary committee on defense and internal affairs, and the Uganda Human Rights Commission, have conducted investigations that are understood to have been completed earlier in 2016, but their reports have not been made public and it is not clear if they will be.

Some leaders from the community said in a letter to President Yoweri Museveni in July 2014, that they have numerous concerns that the government is failing to address, including land conflicts and high unemployment rates among Bakonzo people.

All those arrested should be brought before a court of law within 48 hours or released, and everyone, including government troops and their commanders, should face investigations into their conduct that led to the deaths, Human Rights Watch said. The prosecuting authorities should investigate all instances of lethal use of force by security forces.

The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials require law enforcement officials, including military units responding to national emergencies, to apply nonviolent means before resorting to force, to use force only in proportion to the seriousness of the offense, and to use lethal force only when strictly unavoidable to protect life. The principles also provide that governments shall ensure that arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials is punished as a criminal offense under their law.

Less than one month before the December 19 deadline marking the end of President Joseph Kabila’s constitutionally mandated two-term limit, he still has not made any clear commitment on if and when he will step down. All while government repression against pro-democracy activists, the opposition, protesters, and the media has intensified at an alarming rate. The so-called “national dialogue” – which postponed the elections to at least April 2018 – and the appointment of Samy Badibanga from the opposition as prime minister have not succeeded in easing tensions. The Catholic Church is pursuing its mediation efforts to reach a more inclusive political deal – but time is running out.

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From left to right: Gen. Céléstin Kanyama © 2013 Private; Gen. Gabriel Amisi © 2016 Private; Évariste Boshab © 2015 Radio Okapi/Ph. John Bompengo.

If President Kabila stays in power beyond December 19 without a clear public commitment on when he will step down and a broad consensus on organizing the transition period to elections, there is a risk that protests will erupt and security forces respond with excessive force. The country could descend into widespread violence and chaos.

Congo’s regional and international partners should be mobilizing at the highest levels to prevent this scenario. They should apply targeted sanctions against officials implicated in abuses to show there are real consequences for repression and to help deter further violence. 

The targeted sanctions imposed by the US on several officials at the forefront of violence against protesters had a notable deterrent effect and rattled those implicated. But the impact could be much greater if they targeted more senior government and intelligence officials – and if the European Union and United Nations Security Council also took action. 

In October, the EU announced it would “use all means at its disposal” against individuals responsible for serious human rights violations, who promote violence, or who “obstruct a consensual and peaceful solution to the crisis.” The EU should move now from threats to action and impose targeted sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, against senior Congolese officials responsible for the violent crackdown.

In a resolution passed on November 15 with strong bipartisan support, the US House of Representatives called on the Obama administration to impose additional sanctions on officials in Congo “who impede progress toward a peaceful democratic transition through credible elections that respect the will of the people.” In a letter on Monday, Human Rights Watch also called upon President Barack Obama to take this step before leaving office.

Our research has found that these people played critical roles in the repression, and should be targeted for sanctions: National Intelligence Agency (ANR) Director Kalev Mutond, Vice Prime Minister and Interior Minister Evariste Boshab, Republican Guard overall commander Gen. Ilunga Kampete, western region army commander Gen. Gabriel Amisi (known as “Tango Four”), and Kinshasa police commissioner Gen. Céléstin Kanyama.

The EU, the United States, and the UN should make clear to Kabila that violating the Congolese people’s rights comes at a high price – before there is more bloodshed and it is too late to change course.

All people in South Sudan, regardless of their ethnic affiliation, must unite towards creating a national identify, the head of the United Nations mission there urged today, underscoring the potential of the resource-rich African country to prosper despite its ongoing challenges.

With nearly half the population in the Central African Republic (CAR) in need of humanitarian assistance, some $400 million is required over the coming year to shore up relief efforts that will be critical “to save the lives of people who are among the poorest and most forgotten on this planet,” a senior United Nations official said today.

A joint assessment by the Office of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP), has revealed that 43 per cent of refugees who have been living in Chad for more than 10 years continue to face a precarious food security situation and require assistance.

ATTN: U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan; Ambassador Donald Booth

by Abdul Wahid al-Nur

Sir,
Your calumnious editorial scapegoating me as the primary obstacle to peace in Darfur is so glaringly devoid of truth, morality or fairness that it becomes a caricature of itself, presenting so false a narrative. It does injury to the eye and history to read your slander but it is most of all blood libel to 600,000 dead Darfuris, the vast bulk of them civilians, killed in a deliberate genocide, under a state policy of ethnic cleansing, scorched earth, criminal neglect, death and torture endured by my people.

I therefore must personally condemn and repudiate your tragi-farcical communique in the harshest possible terms not only for its mendacity but ultimately for what verges on criminal incitement in encouraging the Sudanese regime to perpetrate more atrocities. That you issued your missive when incontrovertible evidence has emerged of Sudanese regime use of chemical weapons in Darfur, and you are silent on this point, eviscerates the honest broker persona you portrayed yourself as and leaves you ethically bereft.

Eight years ago, then presidential hopeful Barak Obama at least paid lip service to ending Darfur's suffering and expressed what seemed at the time, heartfelt empathy, just as George Bush Jr., had earlier first correctly decried the slaughter of my people as genocide but in this the new era of President-elect Trump, it seems the concept of “post-truth” also applies to the US State Department and you too Ambassador Booth in your cynical moral flexibility towards Sudan and Darfur in particular.

Never would I have imagined to see a senior US Diplomat publicly playing apologist for a hardline Islamist dictatorship linked to multiple terror groups, led by the sole sitting president on earth, Omar al Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court for Crimes Against Humanity. It is a sinister page turning, Washington softly providing Khartoum carte blanche in an active genocide. You have done nothing less than this, de facto exculpated and legitimized ongoing state terrorism by Sudan against it's own population. Will you thus admit to the true purpose of your visible efforts to rehabilitate the regime, to which the fate of the Darfuri people is readily sacrificed, where we are subordinate and judged expendable to your aims?

Your bid to enlist Khartoum as an ally against Salafist extremism, while ignoring its own brutal authoritarianism, criminal conduct, enduring linkages and sponsorship of Islamist extremism is as myopically doomed to failure as US humanitarian policy on Darfur is self-evidently, a hollow and un-kept promise, now only more flagrant a betrayal of the democratic principles you a vow to defend, you've traded for the expedient Realpolitik you're peddling. You've not only conflated the victim with the victimizer, you have placed us in reverse categories, where those under the bombs are cast as villains and those that drop them are reasonable. The Dystopia is not of our making, it is yours.

You present me as the principal obstacle to peace, as though I were inexplicably and irrationally stubborn in rejecting what are ostensibly, sincere, government peace overtures. You paint me further as someone removed from the struggle of his people, as an aloof figure, suggesting subtly that I have somehow also lost the pulse of my people, as if you knew them better and can more readily speak to their aspirations, heartbreak or indignation than I or the Sudan Liberation Movement can? Shall we walk together in one of the Displaced People's camps or clamber to a cliff top position to visit SLM fighters or speak to those sheltering from the bombs in the caves? I will show you then if my people still recognize me but I doubt they will have kind words for you.

I live and breathe only to deliver my people from the hell they daily endure to grant them a brighter, more just future where they may live in peace and security. To do so there is no aspect of my existence that isn't consecrated to this cause. I was born on the soil of Darfur. I bear wounds borne in battle for defending Darfur. My life belongs to Darfur, if needs be, my death too. How dare you attempt to judge me or my people when you do not inhabit our skin or our condition? Yours is the worst possible, faux paternalism and we discard it as a matter of principle for it has the whiff of neo-colonialism. We do not fight because we relish it. We are weary of war and fight only because we are left with no equitable or palatable alternatives. We fight for sheer survival to save ourselves from extermination. We fight alone, largely unheard, unseen, a forgotten, disposable people.

Please elucidate Ambassador Booth how it is possible to enter into a peace dialogue or negotiations in good faith when the relentless brutalization of my people is unceasing? Disingenuously, you admit at the end of your bizarre missive, that I may have cause to distrust the regime for over a decade of genocidal violence against my people. Better to have presented this key truth at the outset of any discourse concerning myself or the SLM's refusal to engage in the travesty of a peace dialogue with Khartoum, which has never shown itself to be sincere. A priori, my actions and those of the SLM are belligerent, precisely because the regime has to date never abandoned the violent subjugation to my people. We find it distinctly difficult to speak when we are routinely, shot, shelled, bombarded, gassed, tortured or raped.

Even as I write you now, government troops, their partner militias and death squads do their worst in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile State. Negotiations by Khartoum are illusory, they serve only to grant the regime greater leverage in seemingly appearing amenable to dialogue, while the guns continue to speak for the regime, its true language. So long as this remains practice, the SLM will not participate and will continue to boycott any such overtures by Khartoum.

We will happily confine our fighters to their base camps and observe a cessation of hostilities, if the regime withdraws its soldiers and paramilitaries from civilian population centers, if it ceases the practice of extra-judicial summary executions, the use of torture, rape en mass and pledges to never make use of chemical weapons again and submits it's chemical weapons stockpiles to international inspection for disposal.

The notion that the SLM impedes joint AU-UN so called peacekeeping force access to investigate government atrocities is as ludicrous a premise as stating that the SLM blocks access to humanitarian supplies, when the SLM has begged the international community to end the crippling embargo on essential supplies, which the regime uses as a tool of war to better enable disease and hunger.

Just as the SLM will continue to call for free and open access to the media and human rights investigators, it will also demand a new international force to more ably carry out its duty in Darfur, where it is long overdue to accept that the combined peacekeeping mission in Darfur is an abject failure. The people of Darfur would be thrilled if the blue helmets would actually protect them, but when the mission is starved of the necessary manpower, resources, lacking in a sorely needed peace enforcement mandate, decisive leadership and repeatedly shown itself willing to be Khartoum's pawn, our hopes are not high.

What truly beggars belief is that you contradict your own experience. Not long ago you met with civil leaders in three IDPs camps, all relaying their omnipresent fears of being attacked, disappeared, tortured or killed by government backed militias, paramilitaries, soldiers or police. You guaranteed their safety for openly meeting with you. All of them were later arrested and their fates as yet remain unknown and are unlikely to have been kind. How has this slipped your memory? We fight for a secular, free and pluralist, democratic Sudan, where sectarian violence and zealotry of every variety, in particular religious, racial or tribal chauvinism and ideological extremism of every stripe will no longer be state policy. We wish for all Sudanese to live in peaceful coexistence, tolerance and equanimity and we do draw partial inspiration from your Civil Rights Movement, your rule of law, democratic process and the unmatched diversity of your civil society.

Ambassador Booth, the people of Darfur will have Abdul Wahid at the negotiating table, when it is just and reasonable for me to occupy such a seat, with the confidence that the human rights, civil rights and dignity of my people and their right to live will not be casually violated as I do so. Self-defence is our God given right as is freedom from wilful stupidity. We will not sacrifice ourselves needlessly when we already die in droves. When the Sudanese regime has shown itself able only to mete out death and destruction, as it duplicitously spoke of peace, your entirely fictive rendition of the reality of Sudan and Darfur will have no bearing on the actions of the SLM. As it is your manipulative, counter-intuitive and cynical reproach, casts serious doubts about your commitment to the well being of the people of Darfur and your truer intentions. As we refuse to become your unwitting pawns, our understanding of our reality will remain lucid, unlike your distorted and utterly false narrative. Americans do not seem to hold answers for Darfur any longer, not that they ever did.
Sincerely;

*Abdul Wahid Al-Nur, is the Chairman of Sudan Liberation Movement. He is reachable at: tibotoum@gmail.com

Three female cartoonists from North Africa depict how the practice of male guardianship continues to affect women's lives in their countries.

Fidel Castro, who died on Friday, played a crucial role in shaping southern Africa, writes Richard Dowden.

November 27, 2016 (EL-GENEINA) - Unidentified gunmen Sunday abducted three staff members of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in El Geneina, capital of West Darfur State.

The three workers, a Sudanese national and two foreigners, were kidnapped near the UNHCR office as they had been returning from a mission outside El Geneina.

"The abductees are two foreigners and a Sudanese, they have been kidnapped and transferred from the UN vehicle they used to a four-wheel-vehicle which headed to an unknown destination," said West Darfur Government Spokesperson, and State Minister of Information, Abdallah Mustafa Jarel-Nabi.

In press statements on Sunday, he said the state government took the necessary security measures to follow up the situation and secure the release of the captives as soon as possible.

He stressed that the state government has the capacity to release them, based on its large experience to deal with similar incidents. He further ruled out political motivations saying the armed gangs seek ransom.

An eyewitness said the kidnapping took place at 05:00 pm near El Geneina Grand Mosque in down town and not far from the police headquarters.

He added that the kidnappers were six men who came from Um Shalaya area where is a camp of Chadian refugees and headed towards Aljebel neighbourhood.

Earlier this month, the recently appointed Governor of West Darfur State, Fadl al-Mula al-Haga, vowed to impose the state authority, rule of law and fight against all forms of crime in the state.

(ST)

November 27, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese authorities ordered to close down a TV station on Sunday, as the opposition called for a three day civil disobedience to protest the recent austerity measures and the lack of freedoms.

Omdurman TV

In a statement released on Sudan evening the Director General of Omdurman TV, Husseil Khojali said he had received an order from the Director of Sudan's General Authority for Radio and Television Broadcasting to cut its transmission, under the pretext that the private TV didn't yet the administrative authorization to broadcast.

However Khojali denied the explanation of the General Authority saying "This is not true. We got the permission from the former minister of information and another letter from the chief registrar of companies. "

Omdurman TV is a private TV channel that had been broadcasting since six years, its owner Khojali is a known Islamist journalist.

Several journalists from the TV house told Sudan Tribune that the editorial line and the coverage of the news related to the government's decision to lift subsidies on fuel, electricity and drugs.

Khojali said that Omdurman TV would contest the closure's decision and seek resume their activities very soon.

Last Thursday, another new private TV channel Sudaniya 24 was warned by the security services that the content of a political talk show ''exceeded the red line''.

Freedom of the press and expression is very restricted by the security service which censors printed newspapers and confiscates.

(ST)

November 27, 2016 (YIROL) - More than 5,000 people cheered on Thursday as wrestlers representing Yirol and Awerial communities battled during a competition organized to enhance peace efforts.

Friendly wrestling in Yirol West County of Lakes state on Sunday 21 Nov, 2010 (ST)

The event, one of the first of its kind in the area since South Sudan's independence, was organized by Solidarity Ministries Africa for Reconciliation and Development (SMARD) with support from the United Nations Development Programme's Community Security and Small Arms project.

“We are here for promoting peace and peaceful coexistence,” said Gabriel Modol, the Awerial county wrestling committee member and lead referee of the competition, further adding that, “At this event you will see community, you will see love and socialization.”

The contest consisted of 21 matches, each lasting for three minutes.

The first wrestler to force their opponent onto the ground is often declared the winner. If neither wrestler submitted after three minutes the match was a draw. The teams were divided between the “home” community of Awerial and “visitors” from Yirol East and West.

“This event is important as it brings people from Yirol and Awerial together, to meet and interact in a place that allows understanding. Now when [the spectators and wrestlers] return to their homes, they will remember the people they met here. If, say, a member of this group gets in trouble in an opposing community, it doesn't need to turn into a bigger problem. They will know each other. They will have understanding,” said Sibet Jenena, a Yirol wrestling manager.

The security and small arms project, funded by UNDP, supports the wrestling competition as part of its initiatives to encourage social cohesion and strengthen ties between neighboring communities.

“The role that sports can play in bringing communities together and building peace is often underestimated,” said UNDP Country Director Kamil Kamaluddeen.

“This initiative is community-led, supports an area which has seen many challenges in the past few years, and we are pleased to see the competition organized well, providing the community with a reason to celebrate themselves and promoting cooperation and understanding between the groups,” he added.

Events like wrestling tend to encourage positive behavior changes in youth, solidify inter-community cooperation, and provide an attractive alternative to violent or criminal activities in South Sudan.

(ST)

November 27, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - Students at four high schools in El-Fasher, North Darfur capital on Sunday have staged a demonstration to protest against the high cost of living and recent increase in drug price.

A police source told Sudan Tribune under the condition of anonymity that the students of El-Fasher, Darfur, Al-Sharqia and Al-Namozagia high schools demonstrated on Sunday against high price level, saying “the police have dispersed them in order to avoid acts of vandalism”.

Also, an eyewitness told Sudan Tribune that the police used tear gas and fired shots in the air to disperse the demonstrators, pointing to cases of fainting and light injuries among the students.

He added that some of the students were arrested by the police and security services.
For its part, the pro-government North Darfur Students Union (NDSU) said the protesters sought to destabilize the security situation.

In a statement seen by the Sudan Tribune, the NDSU said it developed a plan to address the situation, saying the students have been deceived and given false information in order to create a crisis.

It is noteworthy that the Sudanese capital, Khartoum on Sunday saw the first day of a three-day civil disobedience against the recent government austerity measures that led to a significant increase in general price level especially fuel, electricity and drugs.

(ST)

November 27, 2016 (YAMBIO) – Unknown armed groups attacked Nabiapai, a border market located in South Sudan's Gbudue state on Saturday, looting goods and burning vehicles.

The map of Western Equatoria in red

An eyewitness said the group first surrounded the market, prior to the eruption of sporadic gunfire forcing people to flee to nearby bushes.

“I went to sell my second hand clothes and surprisingly I found many armed group coming to the market and immediately gunshots were heard. Local shops and vehicles were burnt,” said the eyewitness.

Those who carried out the attack reportedly took several minutes before they withdrew from the market after looting motor bikes, bicycles and several items, heading towards neighboring Congo.

Immediate response came from the army who exchanged fire with the group that abducted civilians and looting items from the market.

Although no group or individual claimed responsibility for the attack, residents suspect armed elements loyal to Alfred Futuyo carried out the raid.

Meanwhile, Gbudue state spokesperson, Gibson Bullen Wande condemned the attack, which he blamed on followers of the armed opposition faction led by South Sudan's former First Vice-President, Riek Machar.

Wande urged residents who fled their homes to return, while reiterating government's commitment to protect innocent civilians.

(ST)

November 27, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) - The head of the African Union Commission Sunday welcomed the South Sudanese government's decision to authorize the deployment of the Regional Protection Force (RPF) without condition.

On Saturday, the South Sudan's Council of Ministers, "unanimously accepted the full implementation of the UN Security Council resolution number 2304," said Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Peter Bandi in statements broadcasted on the official TV SSBC.

"All the discussions that ensued between UNMISS and the technical working groups the government resulted with the full acceptance and immediate deployment of the RPF so that we are able to address some the security challenges that are facing us," he added.

"Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, welcomes the agreement reached between the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) of South Sudan and the United Nations on all outstanding issues concerning the (RPF) deployment".

Zuma further said the deployment of the 4000 troops will create a conducive political environment for the implementation of the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCISS) of August 2015.

"In this regard, the Chairperson urges all South Sudanese stakeholders to fully cooperate with the RPF and desist from engaging in activities that may set back the progress made," she said.

Also, she urged the transitional government to ensure the full implementation of the security arrangement, and renewed its support for the African Union envoy for South Sudan Oumar Konare.

Zuma praised the tireless efforts exerted by IIGAD and the international community to bring stability to the young nation.

Last week, US envoy to the United Nations Samantha Power slammed Juba government for delaying the deployment of the regional force. She further called for arm embargo on the country and targeted sanction against the SPLA Chief of Staff Paul Malong and Information Minister Michael Makuei.

(ST)

November 27, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese from different walks of life on Sunday have started a three-day civil disobedience with varying proportions of response among the residents in the capital Khartoum.

On Thursday, political activists launched social media campaign calling on the Sudanese people to engage in civil obedience from 27 to 29 November to resist recent government decision to lift fuel, electricity and drug price.

Several opposition parties and rebel movements declared support for the civil disobedience and said directives have been issued to their members to join the call.

On the first day of the strike, Sunday, some neighbourhoods in the capital saw limited movement of vehicles and pedestrians which is unusual while normal crowding on public transport in down town Khartoum stayed the same.

On the other hand, universities and schools were largely impacted by the strike as the majority of students stayed at home forcing some schools to cancel the school day.

A teacher at a public school located in southern Khartoum said some parents prevented their kids from coming to school but pointed that 80% of the students attended their classes on Sunday.

Also, a college student at the Sudan University of Science and Technology told Sudan Tribune that rumours of the civil disobedience have circulated outside the university and “that is why the students didn't attend their classes”.

A driver at Khartoum's largest public transportation station said “the streets are empty as if the country is on a holiday”.

“I drove from down town Khartoum to Omdurman [Khartoum's twin capital city] and came back in 10 minutes while it usually takes one hour to go on the same trip,” he added.

It was also evident that the majority of the commercial shops, pharmacies and kiosks in and around down town Khartoum were closed but the majority of groceries and vegetables and fruits stores have been working as normal.

For its part, state TV channels showed live pictures of the streets to prove the failure of the strike and called on the residents to go about their lives as normally as possible.

Earlier this month, the government lifted fuel and drug subsidies and increased electricity price in a bid to stop the surge in inflation and control the fall of Sudanese pound in the black market.

The move stirred a large wave of protests across Sudan. Also, some two hundred private pharmacies in Khartoum went on partial strike and closed their doors from 09:00 am to 05:00 pm last week in protest against the move.

The government decision led to significant increase in the general price level and exacerbated the already dire living conditions.

Sudan's economy was hit hard since the southern part of the country declared independence in July 2011, taking with it about 75% of the country's oil output.

(ST)

At least 14 die in a battle between police and militia allegedly linked to a traditional king.

November 26, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – There is a massive influx of South Sudanese refugees into Sudan, with large numbers of them in Sudan's East Darfur state, since late January 2016.

South Sudanese refugees perform a traditional dance as President Omer Hassan al-Bashir addresses a crowd a rally held in Ed Daein, East Darfur, April 5, 2016. April 5, 2016. (Photo Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said the population in the state increased from 164 individuals in December 2015 to over 54,000 refugees in 30 September.

The South Sudanese arrivals, it added, are highly mobile and spread out across East Darfur, living in areas including the newly established Kario camp, Khor Omer, El Ferdous Raja old camp, Abu Jabra, Adila, and Assalaya.

“These areas are underserved and often difficult to access, making the provision of assistance by humanitarian partners challenging,” the agency said in a recent fact-sheet.

Continuing conflict and food insecurity in South Sudan are two of the main drivers of the displacement, with emergency levels of acute food insecurity and malnutrition in the states of Northern Bahr El Ghazal, Unity and Warrap.

With the continuing insecurity in South Sudan, said UNHCR, a steady influx of refugees into Sudan is expected to continue.

Meanwhile, Sudan has maintained an open border policy, allowing safe and unrestricted access to its territory for those fleeing the conflict in South Sudan, and has ensured their immediate protection and safety within its borders.

The Four Freedoms Agreement, supported by the President of Sudan, allows South Sudanese to move, reside, work and own property in Sudan.

On 1 September, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between UNHCR and Sudan's Commissioner of Refugees (COR) as a framework on protection and assistance for South Sudanese refugees, which clarifies their status as refugees and COR's role in coordinating the response on behalf of the government.

UNHCR and partners supported the relocation of South Sudanese refugees living in Khor Omer camp in Ed Daein locality to the new camp in Kario town.

The influx in East Darfur has critically stretched available resources and operational capacity of partners. Additional funds are required in order to meet the needs of the growing refugee population and mobilize a full-scale emergency response across the state, according to UNHCR.

“The influx of South Sudanese refugees that began in late January 2016 continues, driven by deteriorating food security and continuing violence in South Sudan. Between January and September 2016, over 54,000 refugees have arrived in East Darfur,” further stressed the UN agency.

It added, “The majority of them are women and children who have arrived with poor nutritional and health status, with very few opportunities for livelihood and subsistence activities”.

(ST)

November 26, 2016 (KHARTOUM) -A Swedish humanitarian group announced this week it would gradually end its activities in the troubled South Kordofan State where they provide nutrition and health assistance to some 200,000 people.

New arrivals wait in line to register with the UNHCR at the Yida refugee camp along the Sudan-South Sudan border on 3 July 2012 (Photo: Paula Bronstein/Getty Images)

Save the Children Sweden (SCS) is operating 20 health centres in South Kordofan in different areas including Dalami (1 centre), Al Goz (1), and Abu Kershola (1), Habila (2) and Kadugli (2), Kalogi (3), Diling (5) and Al Reif Ashargi (5).

With the support of USAID's Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), the group provides health and nutrition services for more than 58,000 displaced persons and 142,000 people from the host community.

The SCS " announced that it is phasing out health and nutrition services in 20 centres in South Kordofan State due to funding constraints," reported UNOCHA in its weekly bulletin last Thursday.

The announcement comes as over 27,000 Sudanese refugees have returned to South Kordofan from Yida camp in South Sudan due to the increasing insecurity in the neighbouring country.

The returnees are hosted in the government and SPLM-N controlled areas.

In a separate development, South Kordofan Humanitarian Commissioner Kamal Ahmed Rahama Saturday said the government humanitarian body is ready to receive the civilians who arrive from the rebel held areas and to provide them with humanitarian services.

Rahama further pointed to the good coordination between the state humanitarian authorities, UN agencies and local and international groups on this respect.

The government and the SPLM-N last August failed to reach an agreement over humanitarian access to the civilians in the war affected areas.

The African Union mediators did not yet announce a new round of peace talks as the two parties stick to their positions and refuse to make any concessions.

(ST)