Africa

January 12, 2016 (WAU) - Thousands of people lined-up Tuesday to welcome the governor of South Sudan's Wau state, Elia Waya Nyipuoch and deputy Andrea Dominic.

Governor Elias Waya addressing people in Wau upon his arrival on January 12, 2016 (ST)

South Sudan National Legislative Assembly's deputy speaker, Mark Nyipuoch Ubong and the country's ex-education minister, Joseph Ukell Abango accompanied the two leaders.

In his address during an occasion organised by the state council of ministers, the governor of Wau wowed to prioritise security, the political situation and development.

Governor Waya urged the people of Wau to embark on peace and reconciliation.

“The peace is already singed, therefore, the situation should go back to normal, the government has already signed everything with the SPLM IO [Sudan People's Liberation Movement in Opposition], and there is no more war again,” said Waya.

“Please forgive each other, open a new page to peace and discuss your differences at day time not at night,” he added.

Waya further assured the people of Wau that those detained since the mid-December 2013 outbreak of the South Sudan conflict would soon be released from detention.

(ST)

January12, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese Ministry of Information has said it is about to launch a centre to monitor news and reports broadcast on the Internet.

Sudanese Information Minister Ahmed al-Balal Osman speaks during a press conference in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on June 9, 2013. ( Photo AFP/ASHRAF SHAZLY)

The Ministry on Monday said the move was triggered by publication of false reports harming the government without further details.

Recently, the cyber crime security unit has filed complaints against two journalists because of certain interventions on the WhatsApp groups.

Information Minister Ahmad Balal Osman Monday said that the centre, which will be launched soon, "was dictated by the need to deal seriously with the lies electronic media says".

Osman didn't say when the monitoring body will be established.

The Sudanese government security apparatus used to censure the printed newspapers in the country but however failed to control the independent electronic media outlets.

The National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) and the interior ministry have set up special units for combating cyber crime.

Observers described the measure as an attempt by the government to curb the increased use of electronic media in the country.

The government used in the past to block some websites but the measure has failed as there is many applications allowing to bypass Internet censorship and gain access to the censored sites.

(ST)

January 12, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese peace partners have agreed to reopen up the peace agreement for further renegotiation on whether to revoke or confirm the 28 states unilaterally created by president Salva Kiir on 2 October in violation of the peace deal he signed in August 2015 with other opposition parties on the basis of the constitutionally recognized 10 states, government's officials said.

Ethiopian prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn (C), South Sudan's president Salva Kiir (L) and South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar (R) attend a meeting on 3 March 2015 in Addis Ababa (Photo: AFP/Zacharias Abubeker)

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday in the national capital, Juba, shortly after participating in a third meeting of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), information minister Michael Makuei Lueth, who is also the acting chief negotiator for the government's faction, said about 10 outstanding issues had remained unresolved by the National Constitutional Amendment Committee (NCAC), a body set up to amend the current transitional constitution.

Minister Lueth revealed that the number of presidential advisors and the 28 states remained some of the sticking points the two parties would continue to engage in dialogue.

"It was agreed that the parties shall negotiate "outside the box" in regards to 28 states because it was not a legal issue but a political issue,” Lueth informed the public on Tuesday.

Fustus Mogae, former President of Botswana who heads JMEC also confirmed he had asked the parties: government under the leadership of President Kiir; armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) led by Riek Machar; former detainees led by Pagan Amum and other political parties in the country to discuss the issue of 28 states and see how they can reach a consensus as a political, but not a legal issue.

“We have also agreed that the issue of the 28 states is not actually a legal issue but it is a political issue; so the parties have been directed to sit and negotiate outside the box so that the issue is resolved,” Mogae told reporters.

It was not however clear how the parties agreed to call the issue of states non-legal when the 10 states have been constitutional and therefore legal in the sense of their constitutionality. Likewise, the government unilaterally amended the constitution by inserting the 28 states into the constitution.

The issue of the 28 states will become the second sticking point to be discussed “outside the box”, meaning outside the provision of the peace agreement in further negotiations to finding a solution.

In the peace agreement, 10 states have been confirmed as the number of the administrative units in the country until the parties discuss whether or not to create more states, and on which basis, during the constitutional making process.

The move to discuss contentious issues outside the box is seen by observers to mean an attempt to reopen up the agreement for further negotiations including on deployment of joint integrated forces, among others, which the government has been split over its implementation.

The meeting also discussed the establishment of security institutions in the country and agreed that the next meeting of JMEC will be held on 2 February to follow up on the implementation of the agreement and see whether there are challenges to be addressed and resolved by the parties to the agreement.

JMEC chairman, Mogae, has called on the parties to form a transitional government of national unity in Juba and delay formation of state governments until the issue of 28 states is either confirmed, revoked or reconciled.

He on Tuesday announced that the parties to the power sharing deal will reveal names of their designate ministers to their respective ministerial portfolios which they selected last Thursday.

With the current urge to form government, it is not clear whether the leader of the SPLM-IO, Riek Machar, will return to Juba to form a transitional government with president Kiir before his forces could be deployed in the capital.

Earlier, his spokesman, James Gatdet Dak, told Sudan Tribune that Machar will not return to Juba until the security arrangements in the agreement are implemented including withdrawal of the government's “excess” forces from Juba to 25km outside the city and deployment of joint police and military forces in the capital.

(ST)

January 12, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Secretary General of the rebel Sudanese People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) Yasser Arman has disclosed moves by Germany to host a meeting for the Sudanese opposition in Berlin to discuss the pre-dialogue meeting.

Leaders and delegates of the Sudan Call forces pose in a collective picture at the end of their meeting outside Paris on November 13 2015 (ST Photo)

In a message sent to the leaders of the “Sudan Call” charter and the Reform Now Movement (RNM) and seen by Sudan Tribune, Arman said the German moves have not yet matured but stressed if the meeting was held it would participate to unifying views of the opposition towards the pre-dialogue meeting.

It is worth to mention that Germany had signed a strategic partnership agreement with the AU High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) by the end of 2014 allowing it to work with the Sudanese parties to facilitate a process aiming to bring peace and achieve democratic transformation in the east African country.

Thanks to the German efforts, Sudanese opposition holdout groups, in a meeting held in Berlin last February, declared their readiness to participate the national dialogue preparatory meeting despite their previous reserves.

Arman pointed out that the proposed German meeting would include the RNM leader Ghazi al-Attabani who is a signatory of the Addis Ababa agreement.

Khartoum had previously refused to participate in a comprehensive preparatory meeting including the political opposition and civil society groups. Only it reiterated its readiness to meet the rebels to discuss the conditions and guarantees related to their participation in the internal process.

However, the Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir last October instructed the dialogue body known as 7+7 to meet with the signatories of Addis Ababa agreement including the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) and the National Umma Party (NUP).

The SRF and the NUP from one side and 7+7 committee from the other side on 5 September 2014 signed an agreement on identical term with the AUHIP “on the national dialogue and constitutional process”.

At the time, al-Attabani signed the agreement on behalf of the 7+7 committee but his party later withdrew from the national dialogue and since then the government refused his participation in the pre-dialogue meeting.

SPLM-N secretary general expected the AUHIP would submit its annual report and new plan to the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) on January 20th, saying the latter would most likely renew its mandate to continue mediation efforts in Sudan.

“Important regional and international powers have developed new ideas and contacted [the mediation] asking them to take into consideration the latest developments and the new players such as Saudi Arabia,” he said.

Arman added in his message that the AUHIP chief Thabo Mbeke sought to hold the pre-dialogue meeting before he submits his new plan to the AUPSC on January 20th so as to test the will of the various dialogue parties but said that was no longer possible.

He stressed that it is not in the interest of the “forces of change” to keep the current African, regional and international stances, saying this would serve the interests of the regime.

“The internal [opposition] fronts constitute the foundation [for the opposition work] and the major factor to impact on the outside [world] however, it is important to develop a strategy for external action,” he said.

“The world is changing and we all know that opposition work [can't be carried out] the same way as we did in the seventies, eighties and nineties [of the twentieth century] ,” he added.

Some opposition parties inside the country refuse to join the dialgue process despite the regional and international efforts to convince them to change their mind. They say they plan to mobilize the street and bring down the regime through a popular uprising like what they did in 1964 and 1985.

Regarding the upcoming informal talks between the government and the SPLM-N, Arman said they would take advantage of any opportunity to arrive at an equitable dialogue leading to a comprehensive peaceful solution and allowing for delivering humanitarian assistance besides ending the war and allowing freedoms.

“Our negotiating team would be resilient enough to achieve those objectives and it wouldn't abandon the joint goal of [achieving] the comprehensive solution and the equitable dialogue in order to arrive at a political settlement within the framework of a credible political process,” he said.

He expressed readiness to hold more consultations with the political and civil society forces on the issues under discussion in order to develop the joint stances to address the new developments.

DARFUR TRACK

Meanwhile, SPLM-N secretary general welcomed ongoing efforts to achieve a solution on the Darfur track, noting they are aware of moves to hold informal discussions between the government and Darfur movements either in Addis Ababa or Berlin.

“We welcome those efforts and we had previously asked the Sudanese government to hold the [informal talks] on both tracks because the war must stop simultaneously,” he said

The Qatari Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed bin Abdallah al-Mahmoud Monday has discussed with leaders of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Gibril Ibrahim and the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) Minni Minnawi ways to achieve peace in Darfur.

Doha brokered the Darfur peace negotiations which resulted in the signing of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) by the Sudanese government and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) in July 2011.

In April 2013, a dissident faction of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) joined the DDPD while the main Darfur rebel movements abstained.

The latest round of talks last November between the Sudanese government and the JEM and SLM-MM have stalled over issues pertaining to the security, humanitarian and political arrangements.

Darfur rebel groups demand to hold talks on Darfur conflict and to open the DDPD for discussion before to join the national dialogue process.

Earlier this month, the Sudanese government said it has received an invitation from AU to participate in an informal meeting with two Darfur rebel movements in Addis Ababa.

(ST)

January 12, 2016 (BENTIU) - A woman was killed and two others injured in a shooting in Jeizira area, west of South Sudan's Unity state capital, Bentiu.

The map of Unity state

The incident, an aid worker told Sudan Tribune, occurred in a civilian position.

Lunyjow Manyuan Gatdet, the deceased's husband, said five shots were fired on to his wife's body, describing the situation as “very severe”.

Gatdet admitted the huge presence of pro-government in the area.

An eye witness separately told Sudan Tribune that the shooting occurred inside Mathoyoh village, some few kilometers from Bentiu.

Weirial Puok Baluang, a press secretary for the armed opposition appointed governor of Unity state accused government forces of “murdering civilians”, allegations Sudan Tribune could not independently verify.

Baluang said their forces were stationed on the other side of Naam River, further claiming that pro-government forces be held accountable for the incident.

“Today, we received sudden news that three civilians were killed in a shooting instigated by pro government forces. We have been monitoring their usual activities in the area,” he said.

A resident of Bentiu, only identified as Mary, said 70-year old Mun Koy Bayah was seriously wounded and admitted in a hospital operated by the international medical charity, Medicines San Fronties (MSF) in Unity state.

(ST)

January 12, 2016 (JUBA) - Citizens in South Sudan's newly-created state of Warrap
have been requested to turn out in large numbers to welcome their new governors.

Map of South Sudan showing Warrap state in red

In a statement issued Tuesday, the caretaker information minister for Gogrial state, Ariech Mayar Ariech, said the governors of Gogrial, Twic and Tonj states will visit their respective places Wednesday.

“Therefore, all members of three states' public are requested to come out in their huge numbers to receive their heads of governments. As for now, we have deployed handful of journalists/reporters to the welcoming events in term of the news coverage", partly reads the brief statement.

In October last year, South Sudan's leader established 28 states through an order, cited as “The Establishment Order No. 36/2015 AD for creation of new South Sudan states”.

President Salva Kiir, however, issued a separate republican order in December last year appointing governors for the 28 new states created to replace the initial 10.

(ST)

January12, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Sudan Liberation Movement- Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) will present a joint position paper to the Qatari mediator on way to achieve peace in Darfur.

JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim (C) speaks at the opening session of Darfur negotiations flanked by SLM-MM leader Minni Minnawi in Addis Ababa on 23 November 2014 (Photo courtesy of AUHIP)

The announcement was made on Tuesday following a meeting held in the French capital Paris between the Qatari Deputy Prime Minister Ahmed bin Abdallah al-Mahmoud, JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim and SLM-MM chairman Minni Minnawi on Monday.

Earlier last week, the two rebel leaders indicated that the meeting was organised on their request to discuss with the Qatari official who co-brokered the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) their demand to open the framework text for negotiations.

"The two sides agreed that the two Movements provide a detailed paper to the Qatari mediation including their vision about the possibility of finding common ground for the peace process in Darfur as soon as possible," said the short statement.

The statement further underlined that the meeting was constructive. It further said that the meeting centered on the peace process in Darfur and the role of the Qatari mediation to achieve a comprehensive peace in Darfur.

The two groups call to open the DDPD for negotiations saying some issues were ignored or not fairly treated, but Khartoum rejects such request.

The Sudanese government proposes they sign the framework document deal stressing it deals with all their claims. After what, they have to discuss security arrangements agreement and join the national dialogue to discuss any further regional or national demands.

During the two round of talks in Addis Ababa in 2014 and 2015, Darfur holdout rebel groups say they want to renegotiate the compensations of the war affected civilians, their security and protection from the armed militias; land ownership, power and wealth sharing.

One of the participants in the meeting told Sudan Tribune that the Qartari minister said the DDPD "is not a revealed book and they are open to new ideas".

his "implies that the document failed to achieve its objectives at least they wished," he further added.

The Paris meeting comes at a time where the African Union's High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) is preparing to hold an informal meeting between the government and the two rebel groups in Addis Ababa.

The DDPD was signed on 11 July 2011 between the Sudanese government and and the Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) of Tijani al-Sissi. A JEM splinter faction led by Bakheit Abdel- Karim Dabajo (JEM-Dabajo) joined the deal in April 2013.

(ST)

January 12, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Central Bureau of Statistics in Sudan announced that the monthly inflation rate has slightly dropped to reach 12, 58% in December compared to 12, 8% recorded the month before.

A vendor sells vegetables during Ramadan at a local market in north Khartoum August 3, 2012 (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

The 2015 budget had a target inflation rate of 25% while the IMF projected 12.4% by year end.

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.

The Sudanese pound has lost 100% of its value since South Sudan's secession, pushing inflation rates to record levels given that country imports most of its food.

The East African nation which became a net importer of oil after the partition is benefiting from the sharp drop in crude prices worldwide weak demand and rise in supplies.

Ordinary citizens however continue to complain from cost of living increases that impaired their access to basic commodities.

Last month, the Sudanese government expected that growth rate would increase this year and imports would decrease due to the falling crude prices.

(ST)

January 12, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudanese parties to the peace agreement signed in August 2015 will on Thursday for the first time reveal names of national ministers they have nominated to compose the membership of cabinet for a transitional government of national unity, the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) announced on Tuesday.

SPLM-IO Chief Negotiator, Taban Deng Gai, leader of advance team, with David Deng Athorbei, chairman of national committee, hold a press conference in Juba airport upon arrival on Monday, 21 December 2015 (ST Photo)

In meeting on Tuesday with participation of all partis to the peace agreement chaired by JMEC chairman, former President of Botswana, Festus Mogae, the parties also agreed to allow unimpeded humanitarian access to all parts of the country.

The government, SPLM in opposition, former detainees and other South Sudan political parties selected their respective ministerial portfolios last week. The exercise, seen as a breakthrough in implementing the peace agreement, was done through consensus.

The parties have not yet nominated their officials who will fill the selected positions of institutions, but this would now happen on Thursday.

“The Parties committed to naming their ministers for the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) by 14 January 2016, and that the TGoNU would be formed by 22 January 2016, as provided for in the implementation calendar issued earlier by JMEC,” said a statement from JMEC extended to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

“Additionally, the Parties committed to the expeditious convening of the Strategic Defence and Security Review Board, to begin the vital process of security sector reform and transformation provided for in the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan,” the statement added.

TGoNU will run for thirty months as a coalition government before elections will take place at the end of the transitional period in 2018..

JMEC added that the transitional government of national unity will be sworn in on 22 January, 2016.

Former vice-president and first vice-president designate, Riek Machar, is expected to return to the national capital, Juba, for formation of the government. It however remains unclear whether his forces will be deployed in the capital for his security before his arrival.

(ST)

January 12, 2016 (JUBA) – Former chief administrator of Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA), David Yau Yau, has abandoned his South Sudan Democratic Movement (SSDM) Cobra Faction to join the ruling party of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in order to participate in the power sharing drawn from the peace agreement the government signed with opposition factions.

Greater Pibor Administrator and head of SSDM/A Cobra faction David Yauyau seen in Juba on May, 20, 2014 (AFP)

Yau Yau, flanked by military, political and community members of the SSDM cobra faction who signed a peace agreement with the government in May 2014, declared his decision at the SPLM general secretariat on Monday in Juba.

“As of today, 11th January 2016 in Juba, Monday onwards, we have become members fully in the SPLM,” said Yau Yau.

“We are ready to participate, we are ready to partake, we are ready to share (power) and we are ready to contribute to the development in South Sudan,” said the former rebel commander.

President Salva Kiir dropped Yau Yau last month from the newly created Buma state leadership and instead appointed Baba Bedan Konyi as governor for the new state transformed from GPAA.

Tension increased in Pibor area with Yau Yau loyalists claiming that the population was disappointed by appointment of Konyi. President Kiir hosted a meeting for two days early last week in the State House to dialogue with members of the Murle tribe – one led by Yau Yau and another faction by the new governor Konyi.

Yau Yau attempted to join the SPLM before appointment of the new governors was announced last month in a bid to take the job but the process was delayed, SPLM sources told Sudan Tribune.

“So fully we are SPLM members, and we are SPLA, especially the military part,” Yau Yau told reporters after holding a closed door meeting with SPLM top political officials in Juba.

His military wing, the Cobra Faction, was integrated into South Sudan army, the SPLA, in accordance with the May 2014 peace agreement. Yau Yau, a former Bible student with no military background before, has been made a military general, only five years after forming his armed rebellion in Jonglei state in 2010 following defeat in local elections. He accused the SPLM of electoral fraud.

SPLM secretary for political affairs, Antipas Nyok, received Yau Yau on Monday in the national secretariat.

“We are very grateful that today comrade David Yau Yau is here with all the political and military leaders who were there with him in the Cobra Faction, and they have declared their full intention of joining the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) under the leadership of Comrade General Salva Kiir Mayardiit,” said Nyok.

Reporters were not allowed to ask questions during the press briefing and it remained unclear what new role Yau Yau may be playing in the party or government.

(ST)

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By Valentina Ieri
UNITED NATIONS, Jan 12 2016 (IPS)

In 2015, the number of international migrants reached 244 million – a 41 percent increase compared to early 2000 – according to a United Nations report, released on January 12. Of those 244 million migrants, 20 million were refugees.

The report – titled “Trends in International Migrant Stock: The 2015 Revision“ – was presented by Jan Eliasson, U.N. Deputy Secretary-General, along with Bela Hovy, Chief of the Migration Section of the Population Division, at the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA).

Produced by the UN/DESA, the new dataset showed that nearly two thirds of all international migrants live in Europe (76 million), Asia (75 million), North America (54 million), Africa (21 million), Latin America and the Caribbean (9 million) and Oceania (8 million).

The United States hosts the largest number of international migrants (47 million), which equals to one fifth of the world’s total, according to UN figures.

Trailing behind the United States are Germany and Russia, with 12 million respectively, Saudi Arabia with 10 million, the United Kingdom with nine, and the United Arab Emirates with eight million.

Drawing attention to refugees, Eliasson noted how particularly relevant migration is for population growth. “Between 2000 and 2015, positive net migration contributed to 42 percent of population growth in North America and 32 percent in Oceania. In Europe the size of the population would have fallen in the absence of a positive net migration”.

The international community, he said, must focus more on the “positive narratives of international migrations”, such as remittances, exchange of international labour and the economic contribution of migrants to both the country of origins and the recipient country.

Currently, the three main countries with the highest outflow of refugees are Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia, where the population is forced to flee due to political conflicts and lack of infrastructures, social and public services for men, women and children, said Eliasson.

“Migration should be safe, orderly and regular” – he said- “although we have seen that this is not the case today.” He highlighted the need to design good policies in the host countries, and ultimately solve the problems in the countries of origin.

It is also necessary to support countries of transitions, such as Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, in developing the adequate infrastructures and humanitarian responses to welcome refugees, said Eliasson.

Reinforcing this view, Hovy said: “It is important all these groups of migrants have rights, especially the right of refugees not to return to their countries where their life and their routine is at risk, and the right to seek asylum”.

Back in November 2015, U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, announced the need for a roadmap on the large movement of migrants and refugees.

As part of Ban’s roadmap, three other meetings are schedule to take place in 2016:

First, the UN, along with UK, Kuwait, Germany and Norway will address the fourth Financial International Humanitarian Pledging Conference for Syria, on February 4, in London.

Second, the Office of the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will hold a conference in Geneva on March 30 on resettling Syrian refugees. Third, the international community will gather at the World Humanitarian Summit, on May 23-24 in Turkey.

(End)