Africa

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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August 11, 2015 (JUBA) –The head of the United Nations mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Ellen Margrethe Loej has stressed the need for peace and stability in the nation.

The head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Ellen Margrethe Loej, speaks to the media during a visit to Western Bahr el Ghazal state on 23 September 2014 (ST)

Loej, also special representative of the UN secretary general in South Sudan, visited Warrap state, a region that has witnessed communal violence in recent months, Tuesday.

“The people of Warrap and of this country deserve peace and stability, and I encourage people across the state to refrain from violence and to foster community dialogue and resolution of conflicts in peaceful ways,” she said in the Warrap capital, Kuacjok.

The visit, UNMISS said in a statement, was part of efforts to obtain first hand knowledge of the situation in the state, but did not specify which issues were particularly discussed.

Clashes between Aguok and Apuk communities of South Sudan's Warrap state over cattle grazing area has cost many lives and displaced hundreds of peple in the region.

Governor Nyandeng Malek issued an order on Monday for disarming civilians. Armed youths, locally known as Gelweng have been accused of fuelling sectional feuds.

The gubernatorial order, effective within 72 hours, instructed civilians to voluntary handover guns and the army to forcefully seize them from non-complying individuals.

UNMISS described as "fruitful" Tuesday's meeting between Loej and governor Malek.

“UNMISS remains committed to the people of South Sudan,” said the UNMISS chief.

“The mission is actively involved in conflict mitigation and community support,” she added.

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August 12, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudanese rival warring parties have not made any significant progress on most of the contentious matters at peace talks currently underway in Addis Ababa, capital of neigbouring Ethiopia. This is despite mounting regional and international pressure on the two sides to reach a consensus and strike a deal by 17 August deadline.

South Sudanese foreign minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin talks with members of the opposition delegation after a special consultation in support of the IGAD-led peace process in Khartoum on 12 January 2015 (Photo: Reuters)

South Sudan's information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, who speaks for the government delegation, said on Wednesday that none of the outstanding issues has been resolved with the rebel group since direct negotiations resumed last week.

“None of the outstanding issues which were left pending in other negotiations have been agreed upon,” said minister Lueth, in a statement broadcast by the state owned South Sudan television (SSTV).

Many contentious issues on governance, security arrangements, wealth and power sharing as well as accountability, compensation, reparation and reconciliation are yet to be agreed upon by the parties.

Lueth expressed scepticism at reaching a deal by the 17 August, but said there was still opportunity at the level of the two principals to reach a consensus when they convene before the deadline reaches.

“I doubt reaching an agreement by the 17th, but the final decision is not with us but with the principals,” he said in reference to president Salva Kiir and the leader of the armed opposition Riek Machar.

“When they come, they will have to resolve that, whether to sign or not to sign,” he said.

Bishop Enock Tombe, head of the faith-based groups participating at the talks said in a separate interview that the regional mediating team has reduced the number of delegates from the warring parties and the former political detainees to at least 12 members from all parties.

“The number of participants has been reduced. There will now be twelve members from all the sides to help them reach consensus. The three groups called leadership committee are discussing contentious issues but until now, there is no significant progress on the contentious matters,” explained Tombe.

IGAD-Plus said it would incorporate into its peace compromise proposal any agreement reached on the outstanding issues, but will however impose its proposed agreement in areas where there is no agreement between the warring parties.

The two parties, IGAD-Plus said, should sign a final peace agreement by 17 August, next Monday, warning of tough measures against any party that will refuse to ink the proposed deal.

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August 12, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudanese government and army dismissed reports alleging it played an instrumental role in the defection of the top rebel commanders from the leadership of the former vice president, Riek Machar, claiming the differences were purely over the manner in which Machar managed the movement.

South Sudan's defence minister, Kuol Manyang Juuk, pictured following a cabinet meeting in Juba on 17 January 2014 (Photo: Reuters/Andreea Campeanu)

“It is not surprising to hear because it has always been the result of a rebellion without objectives. This was expected because this is not the first time rebellion under Machar has never managed to remain intact,” said South Sudan's defence minister Kuol Manyang Juuk, in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.

“You know what happened when he (Riek Machar) defected from the SPLA in 1991 with Lam Akol. They never stayed together. They went and torn apart that movement. Lam went his way and took his own way,” explained minister Juuk, in response to the announced defection of a number of senior rebel commanders who claimed to have disowned their commander-in-chief, Machar.

The top defence official however explained that the division within the rebel leadership was not the work of the government but allegedly due to differences between Machar and some of the commanders.

“Reports [of] their differences have been in the news for quite sometimes and so what those of Peter Gatdet did yesterday [Tuesday] was to formalize what has been in the circulating in the media all this long about their differences with Riek,” he said.

Juuk said the reasons put in the declaration statement which denounced the rebel leader's leadership were issues which, he said, had nothing to do with the government.

“They are purely their own issues,” he said.

Presidential advisor on decentralization and intergovernmental linkages, Tor Deng Mawien, said in a separate interview that the government was ready to negotiate with any group willing to lay down their arms and return to the country to pursue peaceful dialogue without the use of violence.

A statement purportedly signed by Major General Peter Gatdet Yakah, former rebels' chief of general staff or operations was issued from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, and circulated on Tuesday in the media.

General Yak, together with Major General Gathoth Gatkuoth and few others said they were no longer part and parcel of the movement under the leadership of Machar. They also called for exclusion of president Salva Kiir and Machar in a transitional government of national unity.

(ST)