Africa

May 23, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudan army (SPLA) forces loyal to president Salva Kiir is accused of carrying out gross human rights abuses including gruesome killings of civilians, abduction of adolescent boys and girls and raping of women and young girls in the oil-rich Unity state.

Soldiers from the South Sudanese army (SPLA) patrol near burnt houses in Unity state capital Bentiu on 12 January 2014 (Photo: AFP/Simon Maina)

A report on a new research published by the Amnesty International has painted a devastating picture as victims narrated experiences they recently faced in the hands of the government's troops during the ongoing full scale military offensive against the rebel forces led by former vice president, Riek Machar.

Amnesty International researchers who have just returned from Bentiu in Unity released documented violations, quoting the victims of the atrocities.

Most army officers and soldiers who do the fighting on behalf of the government are from Machar's Nuer ethnic group, also targeting their fellow Nuer in the state whom they accuse of supporting the rebels, the report said.

“Individuals who fled violence in Rubkona, Guit, Koch and Leer counties consistently described government forces, some in SPLA uniform and others in civilian clothing, mostly from the Bul section of the Nuer ethnic group, attacking their villages armed with axes, machetes and guns,” said Amnesty International.

The interviewees gave chilling accounts of the government forces setting entire villages on fire, killing and beating residents, looting livestock and other property, committing acts of sexual violence and abducting women and children.

Amnesty International quoted a 45-year-old woman as saying that government forces reached Panthap, in Rubkona county, early on the morning of 8 May. They instructed villagers to bring out all their property and took away anything of value. She said they beat her with a stick, but no one was killed. She fled with approximately 200 other villagers, arriving at the UN camp for displaced persons in Bentiu on 12 May.

A woman who said was from Chatchara, in Rubkona county, described an attack on her village on 7 May by groups of Nuer young men she believed were allied with president Salva Kiir's government.

“They came and said, ‘bring your property out,' and then they burnt our tukul [thatch-roofed mud structure]. They beat us with sticks and metal rods, saying ‘where are the boys and young men?' They took our property, our maize and clothes, and forced us to carry them towards Mayom. We were many women from the village. One woman got tired and was killed. They also shot her two-year old daughter,” she said.

A 70 year-old man, also from Chatchara, similarly described beating, burning and looting by the government forces in which their livestock were looted and girls abducted.

“When the SPLA arrived, they beat me and set fire to my three tukuls, and all the tukuls in the village. They took the cows and goats. Some children were shot in the crossfire. Many women and children were killed. I saw young children and women taken and forced to drive the cows and goats. They took my granddaughter, a girl of 13 or 14 years.”

Another 20 year-old woman from Guit county, home town of rebels chief negotiator, Taban Deng Gai, also recounted how a group of armed SPLA soldiers and youth attacked her village on the night of 7 May.

“They even killed young children and old men. They set the granaries, where we keep maize, on fire. They came to my house and shot my nephew who was about 20 years-old. They beat my mother with a rope used for tying the cows. They were asking her, ‘Where are the young men, we want to kill them, they have joined the opposition,” Amnesty International quoted her as narrating.

“I took off running with my three children and two siblings. We ran to the river while they were shooting at us. From the river, I saw them burn the house. They also took our cows and goats—we had 15 cows and 30 goats.”

She also said four men raped her 23-year-old cousin, a mother of two, and abducted her 13 year old sister and 15 year old brother.

Nyanaath, a mother of three, said that government forces attacked her village in Guit county at midday on 10 May. She said the attackers, some of whom were in uniform, stole cows, looted property and set all the tukuls on fire.

She said women, including herself were raped at gun point by the government forces. Nyanaath told Amnesty International that soldiers took her, pushed her on her back and pulled down her underwear.

She said one started raping her while another pointed his gun at her. She also said she saw 10 boys and girls, aged between 10 and 13, being abducted by soldiers.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says some 100,000 people have been displaced by the recent fighting in Unity state. About 2,300 civilians, mostly women and young children, have sought refuge at the UN base in Bentiu since 20 April, joining over 50,000 others who have fled there since the start of the conflict in December 2013. More are on their way.

Government forces have blocked others at checkpoints, preventing them from reaching the safety of the base. Thousands have fled into the bush or swamp areas.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that at least 28 towns and villages in Unity state were attacked in the space of two weeks, between 29 April and 12 May. Civilians were targeted and their property was looted.

CALL FOR ACTION
The rights group has called on the international community to act fast, calling on the UN Security Council (UNSC) to impose a comprehensive arms embargo against all parties to the conflict in South Sudan.

“The UN Security Council to move quickly to impose asset freezes and travel bans against individuals and entities who have engaged in violations of international humanitarian law and violations and abuses of international human rights law,” the statement says.

It said the UN Security Council should make public and act upon a paper outlining options for accountability that the Council members reportedly discussed on 12 May.

The report also called on the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council to release and make public the report of the Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan conflict, pending the finalisation of a peace agreement.

On the other hand, it called on the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), to quickly reconvene parties to the conflict and impress upon them that they are bound by commitments to abide by international humanitarian law incorporated within the 23 January cessation of hostilities agreement and recommitted to on numerous occasions over the past year.

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Press Review

May 22, 2015 (JUBA) – Medical charity, the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, said thousands of civilians in Jonglei, Unity and Upper Nile states have been displaced and left without food and medicines previously provided by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) following the escalation of violence.

Thousands of civilians fleeing violence seek shelter at a UN compound in Jonglei state capita Bor (Photo: UNMISS/Hailemichael Gebrekrstos)

In a press conference held in Nairobi on Friday, MSF, the largest medical provider for South Sudanese, said the fighting was “exposing civilians to widespread violence and severely restricting the provision desperately.”

“The escalation [of the conflict] has left people in conflict areas exposed to violence and without much needed medical care and humanitarian assistance,” said Paul Critchley, MSF head of mission in South Sudan.

He said an upsurge of violence in Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile states has resulted in the suspension of medical services, destruction of health structures and evacuation of medical staff.

“All parties to the conflict must respect civilians and healthcare structures in order to prevent even more unnecessary suffering,” he said in a press statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

MSF said since the conflict erupted in December 2013, it provided 167,207 outpatient consultations, of which 62,269 were for children under five years, 10,367 patients admitted to hospital, of which 5,123 were children under five years, 5,096 surgeries performed and 3,587 deliveries. Another 1,102 patients under treatment for kalaazar and 6,243 children treated for malnutrition, of which 1,102 admitted to hospital in South Sudan as well as contested region of Abyei.

“Ongoing insecurity is preventing planes from landing and has forced hundreds of people to seek shelter at the United Nations ‘Protection of Civilians' site in the last few days,” the statement further lamented.

MSF's ability to provide care to those in desperate need is now at risk, he said, unless the safe passage of staff and supplies is guaranteed, the press statement claims.

Describing the security situation in South Sudan as “volatile,” the medical charity said it treated people wounded in recent fighting in Malakal and provided medical assistance to approximately 30,000 people living in the ‘Protection of Civilians' in the Upper Nile state capital.

“The highly volatile situation continues to prevent teams from being able to enter Malakal town itself where much of the fighting took place.”

MSF evacuated its staff from Unity state's Leer town on 9 May as front-line approached, leaving about 200,000 people without medical access.

Even before the conflict began in December 2013, the government of South Sudan was not providing adequate medical services or food needed by people in the villages. The war, being fought by forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar, has worsened the already dire humanitarian situation in the nearly four years old country.
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The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) has condemned a spate of suicide bombings committed by Islamist terrorists in what it says is a blatant effort to undermine the country&#39s ongoing political dialogue.

May 22, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Hundreds of Sudanese Islamists staged a demonstration in Khartoum denouncing a recent death sentence against Egypt's ousted president Mohammed Morsi.

A man holds a banner with the image of Egypt's ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi as protesters march against an Egyptian court's decision this week to seek the death penalty for Morsi, after Friday prayers in Khartoum, May 22, 2015 (Reuters Photo)

Last week, a court in Cairo sentenced to death Morsi and 105 co-defendants for allegedly taking part in a mass jailbreak during Egypt's January 2011 uprising that ousted then president Hosni Mubarak.

Sudan's government distanced itself from the matter and described it as an Egyptian “internal affair”.

While several Sudanese Islamists groups including the People's Congress Party (PCP) of Hassan al-Turabi and the Muslim Brotherhood condemned the court decision and warned that Egypt would witness a strong internal strife if Morsi and his companions were executed.

On Friday, the secretary general of the pro-government Islamic Movement (IM), al-Zubair Ahmed al-Hassan, and the leader of the opposition Just Peace Forum (JPF), al-Tayeb Mustafa, led about 800 hundreds of demonstrators following the weekly prayer in the Sudanese capital.

“Down with the al-Sisi government,” protesters chanted as they marched from the grand mosque toward the United Nations office in Khartoum east.

They waved pictures of Morsi and the famous yellow and black four-finger sign (symbol of the Raba'a al-Adawiya protest camp in Cairo where Egyptian police allegedly killed hundreds of Morsi supporters in 2013).

Riot police cordoned off roads leading to the UN office and the protesters dispersed peacefully.

Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was ousted by the military in July 2013 after only one year in office following mass protests against his rule.

The court decision against Morsi and his aides drew condemnation from US, Turkey, Germany and the European Union (EU) with the rights group Amnesty International describing it as “nothing but a charade based on null and void procedure”.

Al-Hassan addressed the protesters demanding the UN and the free people across the world not to remain silent about Morsi's death sentence.

He condemned silence of the rights groups and the secular and liberal forces “who claim to defend freedom but remain silent about the heinous crimes against the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt”.

The IM secretary general also said Egypt has turned into a “large prison”, noting those illegal, unconstitutional, and inhumane rulings would lead to an endless conflict in the country.

Mustafa, for his part, said Egypt is witnessing a “new pharaonic era”, stressing the protesters seek to support the “right” anywhere in the world.

The leading figure at the opposition Reform Now Movement (RNM), Hassan Osman Rizg, said Egypt is being tested by the recent events, noting the Egyptian government chose to bully its people after it failed to achieve a victory for the Islamic nation.

The political secretary of the PCP, Kamal Omer, said that al-Sisi must know that the Sudanese people would not remain silent while he is killing the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.

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May 22, 2015 (JUBA) – Visiting diplomats to South Sudan's capital, Juba, have condemned the recent fighting in Unity and Upper Nile states and called on the warring parties to cease hostilities.

An aerial view of a UN camp for internally displaced people in South Sudan's capital, Juba (ST)

The delegation of European Union (EU), together with the heads of missions from Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the heads of mission of Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland and United States of America converged in Juba on Friday, condemning the spread of violence in South Sudan.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Friday the diplomats have called on the opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), led by former vice president Riek Machar and the South Sudan government headed by president Salva Kiir to end the 17-month long conflict.

"The heads of missions are deeply concerned about the spread of violence in Unity state and Upper Nile. The ongoing military offensives constitute blatant violations of the cessation of
hostilities agreement signed by the Government of South Sudan and the SPLM/A-in Opposition,” partly says the statement.

The diplomats urged the warring parties in the “strongest possible terms” to end the fighting and killing immediately, both to respect the ceasefire and stop the “terrible” humanitarian consequences.

South Sudan warring parties have been engaged in intensive military operations for the past three weeks in Upper Nile and Unity states.

It is reported the military activities during recent weeks in the two states have forced up to 100,000 people to flee from their homes. Humanitarian actors have also been forced to leave areas which already were extremely fragile and volatile.

The result is that an estimated 650,000 people are left without life-saving aid at the onset of the rainy season. The heads of missions are especially disturbed by reports coming from the conflict ravaged areas about gross human rights violations, often targeting children and women.

The statement says situation in Unity and Upper Nile states are volatile, adding that they are standing against destabilization of citizens and urging both parties to stop fighting.

“Those responsible for violations of human rights and other humanitarian crimes must be held to account. We urge all fighting parties to lay down arms, ensure the safety and security of civilians and humanitarian aid workers, and provide unhindered access for humanitarian aid,” the statement added.

The groups called on the South Sudan warring parties to continue with face to face dialogue to end the conflict and restore peace in the country.

“The only way forward is for all parties to immediately return to the negotiating table to resolve the crisis," they said.

Recently a regional Great Lake region that include Angola, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda have rejected direct involvement of troika countries and the United Nations in another expected round of talks in Ethiopia.

They also rejected the United Nations resolutions which calls for targeted sanctions and arms embargo on South Sudan.

Observers criticize the African leaders for failure to successfully mediate between the warring parties and at the same time refusing direct help from outside the continent.

The East African regional bloc (IGAD) said it was developing a new mechanism to expand membership of the mediation team that will include troika countries (US, UK and Norway) as well as African Union, European Union, China and the United Nations.

(ST)

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May 22, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - Two female diplomats at the United States embassy in Khartoum have posted a video message expressing sympathy with the Sudanese women who serve tea on the streets.

Two American diplomats from the US embassy to Sudan sipping tea on on the River Nile street, The video was released on 21 May 2015

A video recording which has been widely circulated on social media websites showed, Caroline Schneider and Jennie Munoz sitting on the River Nile street in Khartoum sipping tea while they are recording a video message of solidarity with the women.

“Carrie, Jennie, and everyone at U.S. Embassy Khartoum congratulate the entrepreneurial women who serve tea along the Nile and businesswomen throughout Sudan,” they said in a short written message released with the video.

“Research shows that societies are more prosperous, stable, and secure when women are safe and empowered, so we applaud efforts to increase women's access to education, technology, capital, justice, and leadership opportunities. Cheers and thank you for all the delicious tea,” the two diplomats added.

The message of the American diplomats coincides with a campaign carried out by the local authorities in Sudan's twin capital of Omdurman on Thursday against women serving tea on the streets under claims of “combating negative phenomenon”.

Women who sell tea on the streets were forced by the absence of the breadwinner due to civil war or domestic migration from the countryside to the cities which was caused by drought.

The profession became their only source of livelihood especially as the country faces increasing economic hardships.

ACTIVISTS CELBRATE TEA SELLERS

Activists and various sectors of the Sudanese society also express solidarity and sympathy women who sell tea on the streets.

Last week, in a big gathering of ordinary people, the “Emergency Clinic” Youth Initiative celebrated the opening of the new Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the children's hospital in Omdurman.

Um Gisma, a woman who serves tea on the street, cut the ribbon giving a start of the ICU to provide help for children who suffer from cancer and bedded in the hospital.

Members of the initiative explained that the costs of the ICU, amounting to 2.6 million (SDG) ($435,880) were raised by voluntary work and fundraising campaigns. The unit is equipped with the latest monitoring capabilities, to treat seven emergency cases a day.

Um Gisma then has been known as the Godmother of the Emergency Clinic Initiative. Thus, the initiative decided to award her the honour of opening the new ICU instead of the minister of health.

Although large segments of Sudanese applauded the move, the publisher of the Al-Meghar al-Siasi daily newspaper, al-Hindi Izz al-Din, attacked it saying the youth group should have invited the minister of health to inaugurate the ICU instead of Um Gisma.

His column drew a tidal wave of criticism on the social media prompting several activists to launch a boycott campaign against purchase of his newspaper.

However, a leading figure at the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and former minister of social welfare, Amira al-Fadil, has expressed support to the tea sellers and the youth initiative.

“I am impressed with the initiative and with the youth who stood behind it. Tea sellers are women who seek to seek to gain Halal livelihood and each of them have a family to support,” she said in a statement on Friday.

“Tea sellers are victims of our political, economic and social problems and they are in need for our help and protection. We have to organize and develop their profession,” al-Fadil added.

The former minister said she drew this conclusion after conducting studies including 10.000 women tea server in Khartoum state.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

May 22,2015 (ADDIS ABABA) - The Ethiopian government has continued to evacuate thousands of citizens who are stranded in Yemen's roiling violence.

Spokes person for the Ethiopian ministry of foreign affairs, Tewelde Mulgeta on Thursday said some 2,000 nationals have arrived home during the past week alone.

Up on arrival at Addis Ababa Bole international Airport, the repatriates are being welcomed on daily basis by government officials from the ministry of foreign affairs.

Approached by Sudan Tribune, arrivals, who most are women were overwhelmed with gratitude to the urgent response by the Ethiopian government and called for more coordinated effort to evacuate for those thousands who remained behind.

According to the government official, hundreds more will be repatriated via Saudi Arabia in the weeks to come.

The repatriation operation is underway in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM)

The horn of Africa's nation intends to evacuate at least 50,000 Ethiopians stranded following the fighting erupted in March between Houthi rebels and forces loyal to ousted president.

According to the UN refugee agency at least some 200,000 refugees from the east African region are trapped in Yemen left almost with no option for escape route.

Every month hundreds of Ethiopians and thousands of others from Eritrea and Somalia take dangerous sea journeys to Yemen, a country seen as a gate way to the wealthier Arab nation of Saudi Arabia where they hope to get a lucrative job.

However thousands of them every year drown and perish at the Arabian Sea off the coast of Yemen while travelling in a crowded and unsafe boats.

(ST)

May 22, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – The South Sudanese rebel faction led by former vice president, Riek Machar, claimed their forces have captured Mundri town in Western Equatoria state.

Western Equatoria's information minister Charles Kisanga (ST/File photo)

“The spokesperson in the office of the chairman and commander-in-chief,SPLM/SPLA, do hereby announce the capture today [Friday] of Mundri town in Western Equatoria state by our gallant forces under the overall command of Major General Elias Lako Jada,” Machar's spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak said in a statement issued on Friday evening.

He said Mundri town, about 200km west of the country's capital, was strategic since it links Juba to the state capital, Yambio.

“We congratulate our freedom fighters for the victory,” said Dak, adding that more details on the matter would follow later.

But Western Equatoria's information minister, Charles Kisanga dismissed the rebels' claims, saying the entire Mundri county remains under government control.

TOP GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL KILLED

Meanwhile, a top state official was Friday killed after unknown gunmen opened fire at his convey as he returned from the scene of an earlier attack in Mundri West county.

Kisanga said the executive director for Mundri West, John Keliopa met his fate after visiting the scene where government troops traveling to Lakes state were attacked.

“The council [of ministers] agreed unanimously that this was another assassination of a top Western Equatoria official, condemned it in the strongest term possible and ordered thorough investigation into the killing”, Kisanga told Sudan Tribune Friday.

He said the council of state ministers, during their emergency meeting, further discussed the deteriorating security situation in the state, especially around Mundri.

“Since yesterday the security situation around Mundri was very fluid, particularly in the evening after some SPLA soldiers arrived in the area using Maridi roads junction and set camp for night on their way to Lakes state,” Kisanga disclosed.

The minister said an attack on SPLA soldiers occurred Friday night at about 2:00 am [local time], resulting into two fatalities and some injuries.

“In the morning, the commissioner plus the executive director, John Keliopa rushed to the scene to investigate the shooting and deaths and see how to take the bodies of the dead soldiers to Mundri. While at the scene, unknown gunman opened fire on the officials and resulting in fatal shooting of the executive director”, he explained.

DECEASED HAILED

State officials described the late Keliopa as a hero who stood for justice among citizens, citing his stand on insecurity caused by cattle keepers in Mundri last year.

The former executive director acted as the Mundri West commissioner when the latter resigned earlier this year and served until the current commissioner was appointed.

He reportedly faced several threats from various communities, but maintained steadfast.

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May 22, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) said it repulsed a government attack on Thursday in Kalgo area, 45 km west of the Blue Nile state capital, Ed Damazin.

SPLM-N leader and SRF chairman Malik Agar (photo SPLM-N)

Earlier this month, SPLM-N said it repulsed an attack carried out by the Sudanese army backed by 18 military vehicles against the town of Kalgo in Bau in county. They also claimed to have repulsed a third attack against the same area on 23 April.

The SPLM-N has been fighting the Sudanese army and their aligned militias in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since June 2011.

The rebel group said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune that its fighters in the fourth front of the Angasana Mountains sector had repulsed a government attack against Kolgo on Thursday, noting the attack started at 6:00 am (local time) and continued for six hours.

The statement further said the government army suffered heavy losses while the SPLM-N forces did not incur any losses.

It claimed that 11 government troops were killed in the battle including two officers besides destroying 4 military vehicles and seizing 10 Kalashnikov rifles and RBG ammunition.

The SPLM-N stressed the government troops were forced to withdraw to Damzain and Khor Manza.

A Sudanese army spokesperson was not available for comment.

Since last year, the Sudanese army and its aligned militia have launched the “Decisive Summer” military campaign in a bid to end rebellion in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

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United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he is deeply troubled by Boko Haram’s “continuing indiscriminate and horrific attacks” against the civilian populations of Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, according to the United Nations.

The escalation of fighting in South Sudan has resulted in “alarming gross violations” of international human rights and humanitarian law as well as having exacted a terrible toll on the young nation’s civilian population, the United Nations human rights chief confirmed today.

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Algiers, Algeria (PANA) – Exhibitors from at least 30 countries and 643 Algerian companies are expected in Algiers Wednesday next week for the 48th international fair of Algiers, the Algerian minister of Trade, Amara Benyunés, said here Friday.

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May 22, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – The Chinese government announced it has conducted mass evacuation of its oil workers from Paloch oilfields in South Sudan due to the ongoing fighting around the oilfields in the oil-rich Upper Nile state territory.

Oil workers at one of petrodar oil fields (photo petrodar)

Heavy fighting between troops loyal to president Salva Kiir and the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO), led by former vice president, Riek Machar, has continued near the oilfields since Tuesday.

In a statement announced in Beijing on China's national television(CCTV) on Thursday, it said the decision came due to the insecurity around the oilfields resulting from the advance by the rebel forces towards the oilfields.

It said the Chinese embassies in both Khartoum and Juba with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), a government owned major oil company operating in Paloch, have already evacuated over 400 Chinese oil workers from the conflict area.

“More than 400 Chinese oil workers have been evacuated from South Sudan due to growing violence,” said the statement published by the Chinese government.

Beijing said the evacuated workers will be flown to China in the next few days.

This latest development largely contradicts South Sudan government's claim on Thursday that oil workers were returning to Paloch allegedly after defeating the rebels.

REBELS BESIEGE PALOCH OILFIELDS

South Sudanese rebels, however, issued statements claiming their forces captured Tangrial Bil refinery site and besieged Paloch oilfields aiming to capture it.

They urged oil companies to close down and evacuate their workers for safety reasons.

The rebel leader's spokesman, James Dak said the country's main oilfields of Paloch, some 200kms north of Malakal, had been besieged and designated priority target.

“SPLM/SPLA forces have converged around Paloch oilfields - Adar (Upper Nile) state - from different directions to capture the oilfields from pro-Salva Kiir forces any time soon,” Dak said.

He said the leadership of the movement also renewed “strong advice” to any remaining oil worker in Paloch to evacuate for safety reasons.

He accused the government of allegedly using some oil workers as human shield and said Juba would be responsible for any harm on them.

“We have learnt with disbelief that the government, out of panic, has prevented some of international oil workers from leaving the area, using them as human shield,” he said.

“We call on oil companies operating in the area to ensure their workers are evacuated.”

The rebels said their counter-offensive aimed to temporarily close down oil production or to cut off Juba from the oil revenues which they said president Kiir's government had been using to “hire mercenaries and buy weaponry to perpetuate the war.”

This, Dak said, was in response to government's “full scale offense” which he described as a violation of the cessation of hostilities agreement between the two warring parties.

(ST)

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May 21, 2015 (WAU) – Authorities in Western Bahr el Ghazal state have arrested three suspected men allegedly responsible for the assassination of Wau county paramount chief, Angelo Bagari, who was gunned down on 10 May along with his wife.

According to Wau county commissioner, Elia Kamilo Dimo, the prime suspect, Peter Unango, was identified as the master planner who killed the couple.

“Unango was identified through a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) personnel based on many evidences including the letter of his own hand writing that he dropped in the compound of the chief with threatening words on the chief before the chief was killed,” said Dimo.

Unango was a member of Wau county youth known as Wau Pimalu who were inciting the 2012 December's violence and was convicted to jail for five years. He later last week escaped from the prison and killed the chief.

“He was the one during the Wau violence who led an attack on the chief Angelo Bagari for his stance with the state government to relocate the county headquarters from Wau town to Bagari,” said the commissioner.

The suspect was also previously found guilty of being responsible for burning down commercial trucks in Wau town during the December crisis.

“We have information about the place that the murderer went and took shower because in our customs, when you kill someone they will take you to shower with tree called ‘jal',”Kamilio explained.

He further explained that the investigation committee was working with the police's CID to conclude the probe into the killing.

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May 21, 2015 (JUBA) – A South Sudanese freelance reporter has been killed in what relatives and local officials said was a targeted revenge attack.

Pow James Reath, who left Bor, the capital of Jonglei state at the onset of the conflict, was a freelance reporter with UN-run Radio Miraya FM and most recently worked for Radio Tamazuj and Gurtong website.

Reath, who held a diploma in journalism and mass communications in Uganda, was allegedly moving to a nearby non-governmental organization (NGO) base to get internet access when he and Yohannes Pal Kuek, a master's degree student who was on research mission, were killed.

“The killing of two young men in Akobo county on Wednesday has been strongly condemned,” said Gatwech Koak Nyuon, a peace activist in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

A displaced pro-government's Akobo county commissioner, Taban Juoch, who is based in Juba, confirmed the killing of the two young men. He said there were no details.

“We are told this was a revenge attack,” he said when contacted for comment on Thursday.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that the victims were killed on Wednesday in a revenge attack between the Chie-Tot and Chie-Majok of Akobo East county in Lou-Nuer territory which is all under the control of the rebel forces led by former vice president, Riek Machar.

Inter-clan revenge killings are common in South Sudan where justice is not often available for victims and civilians resort to taking the laws into their own hands.

Activist Nyuon called for justice for the victims who were well educated and died under unclear circumstances.

“I appeal to authority in Akobo to critically look into situation so that civilians are aware of the importance of an educated person,” he said.

(ST)