Africa

June 16, 2015 (PARIS) - A member of the European Union Parliament called to reconsider the Khartoum Process on human trafficking in a way to support peace and democratic reforms in the Horn of Africa countries, particularly in Sudan.

EU Parliament member Marie-Christine Vergiat (Photo GUE/NGL)

Marie-Christine Vergiat, a member of the committee on Civil Liberties and Justice at the European Union Parliament criticized the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, also known as the ‘Khartoum Process' saying the African government involved in this process are the ones which should be held accountable for causing this recent waves of illegal migration into Europe.

In a meeting held in Rome on 28 November 2014, EU countries and Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia South Sudan, Sudan and Tunisia agreed to coordinate efforts to stop human trafficking and smuggling of migrants between the Horn of Africa and Europe.

They further agreed to promote sustainable development in countries of origin and transit in order to address the root causes of irregular migration.

Vergiat said the Italian presidency of the European Union, at the time, played a negative role by talking directly with the heads of state and government in the whole countries in the Horn of Africa in way to legitimize them and give them some credibility.

"From the beginning, I have been opposed to the Khartoum Process because I do not see how we can work with those governments, as they are fully involved in the trafficking issue. Instead, we risk reinforcing the repression of people looking to immigrate because they are victims of violence and conflicts," she said.

"So, if the EU really wants to find solutions to these issues we must first stop legitimizing those governments," added the EU legislator who is a member of the European United Left - Nordic Green Lef.

The French lawmaker who organized a hearing for the opposition "Sudan Call" forces at the EU parliament in Strasbourg on 9 June pointed out that the Sudanese opponents deserve a special treatment because they worked hard to unify their ranks.

She added that they are also interested by the situation of the human rights in countries like Eritrea but divisions among the opposition forces there prevent them from engaging in constructive dialogue with them.

"So, from the moment that there is an organized opposition, able to work together, make proposals and meet European officials, I think it can be intelligently argued to deliver a counter-model and demonstrate that in these countries there can be no solution without implementing peace processes involving all stakeholders in a genuine and serious dialogue," she said to explain her position on Sudan.

Vergiat disclosed that the EU civil liberties committee would receive Sudanese civil society groups during the upcoming period. She further said that they seek to mobilize EU MPs and draw attention to the Sudanese issue and to work closely with the foreign affairs committee at the European Parliament.

The Sudan Center for Transitional Justice and Peace Studies (SCTJPS), which supported the hearing of the Sudanese opposition forces earlier this month also confirmed the meeting with the Sudanese civil society groups.

SCTJPS officials told Sudan Tribune that the EU MPs agreed to received them and they are seeking to determine a date for this meeting, pointing that Sudan is not the only priority at the agenda of the EU Parliament.

Vergiat said they need to hear the civil society groups particularly those who had been prevented by the Sudanese authorities from participating in the hearing of the "Sudan Call" forces.

The Sudanese security services imposed a travel ban on the rights groups and political leaders who were invited to participate in a meeting with the European legislators on the perspectives of peace in Sudan after the general elections held last April.

(ST)

June 16, 2015(BOR) – Unknown thugs broke into offices of the Food Security Program (JFSP) in South Sudan's Jonglei state on Monday and stole $147,000, an official said.

Funded by the United States aid arm (USAID), JFSP is a livelihood project which was established in 2011. It is currently being implemented by Catholic Relief Service (CRS) in a consortium with Save the Children International in nine counties of Jonglei state.

David Deng Ajok, the director for Relief and Rehabilitation Commission (RRC), acknowledged the incident, saying theft has lately been rampant in the state capital, Bor.

“Last night, unknown gang went into CRS compound from behind the fence, they broke it, they went inside, and broke five offices, went to finance office, and looted $117, 000 and 90,000 pounds. They also took some laptops and cameras”, he said.

No arrests were made, but the matter is before the criminal investigation department.

In November 2013, the Catholic relief agency also lost several computers and cameras when their Jonglei office was raided in a similar manner by unknown people.

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June 16, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudanese rebels led by former vice president, Riek Machar, have appointed a governor for Lol state (Warrap state) in accordance with their newly created 21 federal states in the country.

Agel Riing Machar is appointed governor of the state by the rebel leader with effect from 10 June, replacing the former rebel appointed governor Aguer Rual, who has taken new assignment as advisor to the rebel leader, Riek Machar.

Warrap state, according to the proposed states by the opposition leadership, is divided into two states, of which Lol is one.

The newly appointed governor was formerly the president of South Sudan National Youth Union and the Chairman of Political Parties Youth Forum. He declared his defection to SPLM/SPLA, under the leadership of Machar.

In his declaration in March, the former youth leader called on the youth in the country to rise up to restore a country that he believes has been destroyed beyond repairs by incompetent leadership of president Salva Kiir.

The opposition group said appointing the officials in the states was important to mobilize citizens to support the movement and provide security to the populations.

(ST)

By John Prendergast and Akshaya Kumar

Sudan's President Omer al-Bashir, who has been dodging an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for years, is now safely back in Khartoum. But he returns branded with the scarlet letter of a wanted man, a fugitive from international justice.

Over the weekend, a South African judge responded to a local group's petition for his arrest by issuing a court order preventing Bashir, who stands accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, from leaving the country. Bashir was in South Africa to mingle with other presidents and prime ministers at the African Union's semi-annual summit. The AU's ongoing opposition to the ICC's work in Africa had a prime position on the agenda. But creative lawyering helped South African civil society groups steal the headlines and turn the summit's spotlight back to Darfur's long-suffering people.

Undoubtedly, South Africa's judges and lawyers are this story's heroes. On the morning of June 15, Judge Dunstan Mlambo ruled that his government's failure to arrest Bashir is inconsistent with the South African Constitution. The judge demanded an account of how Bashir was allowed to leave the country despite a court order prohibiting it, when he left and who signed off on his departure. While some may frame Bashir's brazen escape as a setback for the international justice movement, the South African court's commitment to upholding the rule of law must be applauded. Moreover, the South African Litigation Center's brave challenge of their government's decision to allow Bashir immunity should be celebrated. Today, African lawyers and judges stood together in solidarity with African victims to push for justice against one of Africa's most notorious perpetrators of human rights abuses.

Unfortunately, South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) did not do the same. A representative for the ANC said on Sunday that the ICC was “no longer useful for the purposes for which it was intended.” On Monday, South African government lawyers appeared in court to argue against an arrest warrant, notwithstanding their obligations as a signatory to the Rome Statute, the treaty which requires states to uphold and enforce ICC actions. After originally feigning ignorance of Bashir's whereabouts, after the court demanded his arrest, a government lawyer finally confessed that Bashir had left the country.

The opposition of African heads of state to the international justice movement is not news. While charges of orchestrating murder, rape and persecution were hanging over his head, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta labelled the International Criminal Court a “toy of declining imperialist powers.” Even though the court recently dropped its charges against Kenyatta in part because of disappearing or intimidated witnesses, African leaders' heated animosity towards the ICC has not chilled.

Communities that have lived through these crimes, however, tend to have a distinctly different point of view.

In Darfur, where hundreds of thousands continue to be displaced by government violence, survivors are vehement in their calls for criminal prosecution and accountability. In neighbouring South Sudan, people share the same view. A June 2014 study (in South Sudan by the American Bar Association) found that “every person interviewed indicated that there must be accountability, at all levels, for the atrocities committed during the current crisis.” In a 2010 survey by the University of Berkeley's Human Rights Center, 98% of respondents in the Central African Republic said the people responsible for the violence should be held accountable. Even as their governments obstruct international justice efforts, communities that have suffered through mass atrocities continue to demand accountability. Luckily, creative lawyering is helping to put international criminal justice back in vogue.

This weekend's dramatic court proceedings in South Africa are just one example. On the other side of the continent, an innovative approach to universal jurisdiction has led to a new hybrid court in Senegal, where Chad's former dictator, Hissène Habré has been living in exile. A quarter century after his fall from power, civil society groups demanding Habré's prosecution have finally succeeded in getting their day in court. In July, Habré's trial for crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture will begin at the Extraordinary African Chambers in Senegal's court system. This hybrid approach represents the first time that a universal jurisdiction claim has gone to trial in Africa.

Seventy years ago, Robert Jackson inaugurated the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg by expressing the hope that those prosecutions would “put the forces of international law, its precepts, its prohibitions and, most of all, its sanctions, on the side of peace.” Winston Churchill, in contrast, believed that Nazi leaders should be “hunted down and shot.” However, in the end, a more measured approach prevailed, substituting the hand of vengeance with the judgement of the law.

A decade after Darfur first entered headlines for the Sudanese government's abuses against its marginalized Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa communities, Bashir's forces are continuing that campaign. Impunity has allowed the same Janjaweed forces who directed attacks over a decade ago to be given charge of better equipped and government financed terror brigades called the Rapid Support Forces. In Darfur, due to the Sudanese government's obstruction, international law's force has yet to be put to service on the side of peace.

But there is a silver lining. From the African Union-backed effort to prosecute Habré in Senegal, to the South African court's ruling on Bashir's arrest, accountability efforts are gaining ground. Despite head of state opposition, creative lawyers, civil society groups in Africa are recapturing the best of the legacy of Nuremberg.

John Prendergast is the founding director of the Enough Project, where Akshaya Kumar is a policy analyst.

June 16, 2015 (BENTIU) – At least 4.6 million people need food support in South Sudan in 2015, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.

IDPs stack their belongings up outside the gate of the UNMISS compound, after government forces on Friday retook the provincial capital of Bentiu, in Unity State, Sunday, Jan 12, 2014 (Photo AP/Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin)

The numbers of internal displaced persons, OCHA said, has vastly increased in Unity state and other parts of the nation following last month's resumption of fighting.

The numbers of displaced civilians in the protection of civilian camps have reportedly soared from 52,000-72,000 after clashes resumed between country's warring factions.

According to OCHA, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have been tracking the movements of people into displaced camps.

Overcrowding has been cited as one of the biggest challenges faced by the displaced people in the protection of civilian sites.

Ruon Kuol, who heads the IDPs in the UN camp, wants new facilities built for people.

“The UN is working to expand the camp in order to accommodate large numbers of people who have just reported there,” said Kuol.

People reportedly arrive everyday in thousands. Most of them are said to lack basic needs as they seek shelter in bushes while many are feared to have died of starvation.

Kuol further said most of the people have lost everything they owned and many worried about missing relatives and children in the bushes.

Collectively, the aid agencies in South Sudan reportedly require $123 million to reach 3.8 million people with assistance by the end of December 2015. So far, they have a budget shortfall of $39.4 million.

“While needs have risen dramatically, funding hasn't. Those who need help the most, particularly in remote communities many of them cut off by fighting may also end up being cut off from humanitarian aid,” said Aimee Ansari, country director for Care South Sudan.

Over 2 million people have been forced from their homes in, including 135,000 who are living in UN bases across the country and over 500,000 in neighbouring countries.

By end of July, the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) predicts 40% of South Sudan's total population will be severely food insecure. The UN has estimated that to fully meet the needs of South Sudanese affected by the crisis, $1.63 billion is needed.

“Only 36% of the response has been funded to date. The South Sudanese regional refugee response is only 11% funded,” aid agencies in South Sudan said this week.

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June 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese and South African governments as well as the United Nations (UN) strongly denied a report alleging that Khartoum held its peacekeepers in Darfur ‘hostages' while they ascertain that president Omer Hassan al-Bashir has arrived safely from the African Union (AU) summit in Johannesburg.

A UNAMID peacekeeper during a routine patrol in Tawila, North Darfur.(Photo UNAMID/Hamid Abdelsalam)

Bashir narrowly escaped an arrest order issued by High Court judges in South Africa in compliance with the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants against him for war crimes and genocide allegedly committed in Darfur.

South Africa refused to execute a court decision issued last Sunday that ordered Bashir to remain in the country while a case against him is being reviewed.

After his departure, the government suggested that he left without their knowledge and vowed to submit an affidavit early next week explaining how this happened.

On Tuesday, South Africa's website News24 quoted unnamed peacekeepers in Darfur as saying that they were held “hostage” by Sudanese troops when the drama around Bashir's possible arrest in Johannesburg.

“We were so scared – we were surrounded by soldiers. We handed out extra ammunition to all our troops in case they needed it,” said one South African soldier in Sudan on Tuesday.

“Vehicles approached our bases and the commander placed us on State 2 of readiness,” said another soldier. This meant all troops had to be in combat gear, fully armed, and positioned in bunkers and against embankments.

Another soldier said if the situation got out of hand, “we would have had to surrender to save our lives, because you can't fight a country's army with a poorly equipped battalion”.

“I am so thankful that South Africa did not arrest Bashir. The battalion commander said after Bashir touched down safely in Khartoum, all the [Sudanese] troops were withdrawn. The calamity has returned to normal,” reads a message sent by a soldier in Darfur to his friends in South Africa.

But the South Africa National Defence Force (SANDF) rejected the report calling it unfounded.

“There is no iota of truth in these allegations. There is equally no substance to support these allegations. The SANDF did not come under any threat during this period,” SANDF said in a statement.

“No extra-ordinary operational preparedness was done by the SANDF in view of the reported situation in South Africa. No additional instructions, with regard to higher alert levels, were issued. The security situation in Darfur is calm where our troops are deployed.”

The United Nations also dismissed the report.

"South Africa currently has 802 members of an infantry battalion deployed in Kutum, Malha and Mellit team sites in North Darfur. We can confirm that the mission's South African troops were not held hostage or under any threat as reported in the media," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said in a statement.

A Sudanese official speaking to Sudan Tribune on condition of anonymity called this report “part of a domestic political battle in South Africa.

“This is the same battle that moved the court proceedings [in South Africa against Bashir] from the start,” the official added.

The Sudanese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement to al-Sudani newspaper that the information included in the report are “imaginary” adding that Khartoum has no control over Darfur peacekeeping mission.

But the South African National Defence Union's (SANDU) Pikkie Greeff told Eyewitness News (EWN) on Tuesday said this incident had been confirmed by several sources, some of them soldiers.

“The Sudanese army only withdrew from their position once al-Bashir left South Africa. This would boil down to blackmail by threatening someone with war.”

Greef said he has no reason to doubt the reports because they come from the soldiers.

“We are concerned about the safety of our soldiers because they are there as peacekeepers and not there for conventional war. Zuma must take a firm stand on this issue,” he added.

SANDU is the South African trade union for SANDF members.

(ST)

June 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – A visiting German diplomat discussed on Tuesday with Sudanese officials issues pertinent to the national dialogue, illegal immigration and human trafficking.

Last February, the Berghof Foundation, a renowned German institution for mediation, and the SWP (Stiftung Wissenschaftund Politik) the Foreign Policy Think Tank of the German Government organized a workshop for the Sudanese opposition to support the national dialogue.

Following the workshop, the rebel umbrella Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), the National Umma Party (NUP), the opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) and several civil society organizations signed the Berlin Declaration.

The head of East Africa division in the Germany foreign ministry, Marian Schuegraf, who arrived in Khartoum on Monday evening in an official three-day visit, met on Tuesday with Sudan's first Vice President, Bakri Hassan Salih and the foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour.

At the outset of her meeting with Ghandour, the German official conveyed to him congratulations of his German counterpart on taking office as foreign minister.

Ghandour, for his part, told Schuegraf that national dialogue will resume after the holy month of Ramadan with the participation of all parties committed to dialogue as means for resolving issues of contention.

He added that the government is ready to provide the necessary guarantees for the opposition to participate in the dialogue and join the peace process.

Ghandour told Schuegraf that he discussed, in Johannesburg last Sunday with the former South Africa president, Thabo Mbeki the situation in South Sudan and the role that Khartoum could play to maintain stability and resolve problems of the newborn country.

The meeting also discussed the recent regional developments particularly the situation in Libya and ways to restore security and stability in that country.

The first Vice President, who met with Schuegraf Tuesday, welcomed Germany's efforts to support the national dialogue by seeking to convince the opposition and the rebel groups to join the government-led dialogue.

He agreed with the German diplomat to continue discussions on issues pertaining to national dialogue through detailed meetings between competent bodies in the two countries.

The meeting also discussed ways for promoting bilateral ties particularly in the area of economic investment by urging German companies to invest in Sudan in the upcoming period.

Sudan's president Omer Hassan al-Bashir launched the national dialogue initiative a year ago in which he urged opposition parties and rebels alike to join the dialogue table to discuss all the pressing issues.

But the initiative faced serious setbacks after rebel groups and leftist parties refused to join and after the National Umma Party (NUP) led by al-Sadiq al-Mahdi withdrew from the process in protest of al-Mahdi's brief arrest last May.

Later on, several political parties including the Reform Now Movement (RNM) led by Ghazi Salah al-Din and the Just Peace Forum (JPF) led by al-Tayeb Mustafa and the Alliance of the Peoples' Working Forces (APWF) announced they had decided to suspend participation in the national dialogue until the requirements of a conducive environment are met.

COMBATING ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

Meanwhile, Schuegraf met with Sudan's interior minister, Ismat Abdel-Rahman, on Tuesday in the presence of the director of the European department at the foreign ministry, Youssef al-Kordofani, and commissioner for refugees, Hamad al-Gizouli.

The head of the passports and civil registry authority, Awad al-Nil Dahia, said the meeting came within the framework of ongoing cooperation between Sudan and Germany regarding the illegal immigration.

He stressed two sides agreed to form joint committees to develop a unified strategy to regulate management of illegal immigration, control borders and administer refugees camps in order to eliminate the phenomenon.

Dahia pointed the meeting discussed the outcome of the human trafficking conference held in Khartoum besides the Rome conference which laid the foundation for the European-African partnership for fighting against illegal immigration and human trafficking.

Last October, Khartoum hosted a meeting aimed at combating human trafficking organised by the African Union (AU) in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the Sudanese government.

The meeting was attended by ministerial delegations from 15 countries and a large delegation from the European Union, with the US government also represented by its deputy chargé d'affaires in Khartoum.

Ongoing political instability and conflict in the Horn of Africa makes the region volatile and insecure driving large number of people to quit their countries and cross to Sudan seeking to join Europe, Canada and USA.

This situation also created a market for smugglers and traffickers who request important amounts of money to facilitate their departure to their final destination.

In December 2013, the Sudanese parliament endorsed a bill on combating human trafficking and called for carrying out deterrent penalties including capital punishment and life imprisonment against those involved in those crimes.

(ST)

June 16, 2015 (NAIROBI) – South Sudan's incumbent vice president, James Wani Igga, has reportedly agreed to offer both his government's executive and party positions to the rebel leader, Riek Machar, earning praises that he had been a peace lover who always bought Machar back with position.

South Sudan's vice-president, James Wani Igga (Photo: Larco Lomayat)

This came in light of the Arusha intraparty reunification dialogue involving three rival factions of the ruling Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM) in which Machar is reportedly reinstated as first deputy chairman of the party and also in the Addis Ababa power-sharing negotiations where he will likely become the first vice president in government.

Igga would get back to his previous pre-December 2013 position as second deputy chairman of the party and also second vice president in government per provisions of the SPLM constitution on leadership hierarchy.

The armed opposition leader was the vice president in government until June 2013 when he fell out with president Salva Kiir reportedly due to his call for internal reforms in the ruling party and in government, which earned him a dismissal decree. He was also dismissed from the position as party first chairman after the December 2013 crisis, subsequently replacing him with Igga in both government and party positions.

In the past one year of peace negotiations on power-sharing in Addis Ababa, Igga vowed not to again step down for Machar like he allegedly did in 2002 during 21 years of war with Sudan when the previously disintegrated SPLM in 1991 between Machar and late John Garang reunified its ranks and file in Nairobi, Kenya, under the leadership of its founder, late Garang.

However, sources revealed to Sudan Tribune that Igga had last week expressed willingness to let go the position for Machar on condition that the speaker of national parliament became an Equatorian.

“Vice president Wani Igga always buys back Riek Machar with his positions. He has now agreed again to let him reoccupy his two positions so that peace prevails,” the source alleged on condition of anonymity.

Also one of the SPLM former detainees officials who travelled to the South Sudanese capital, Juba, last week, for talks with the government on party reunification confirmed to The East African this week that Igga was willing to step down for Machar.

“Mr Wani has been very magnanimous and is a lover of peace. That is why he gave up the position of the SPLM second deputy chairman to Dr Machar in 2002, when the former vice-president joined the movement. He still holds that people should not continue dying because of a position,” said Cirino Hiteng.

IGGA POSITION NOT TAKEN

SPLM opposition faction led by Machar however dismissed the argument as “nonsensical” saying the rebel leader had never taken the position of James Wani Igga.

“Yes, we have been hearing these nonsensical and misleading arguments. Comrade Dr. Riek Machar has never in history taken the position of comrade James Wani and he will not do so because this will be a self-demotion,” Machar's spokesman, James Gatdet Dak, told Sudan Tribune in response to the allegations.

“How would a senior leader choose to take the lower position of his junior if the idea is to reinstate to pre-crisis positions? This does not make sense and nobody asked for it,” he said.

Dak claimed that Machar was always senior to Igga whether in historical SPLM since formation in 1983 or in government since formation in 2005, saying the first SPLM merger or reunification in 2002 was to restore the historical hierarchy of the movement in which Machar was senior as number three at the time after late John Garang and incumbent president Salva Kiir.

He further explained the circumstances which led to the power-sharing in the reunified leadership of the movement on 6 January 2002, saying the leaders were simply reinstated to their respective positions they held prior to 1991 split.

“If people referred back to 2002 leadership merger agreement, it was based on the understanding of reinstating historical party leadership to their pre-1991 positions of the political military high command. This was how late Dr. John Garang retained his position as chairman and commander-in-chief, and Salva Kiir became first vice chairman,” he further claimed.

“Dr. Riek Machar rightfully took the third position as the next in the hierarchy. This was after the first debate to merge the two SPLM factions as equals was abandoned. This first proposal was for either late Dr. Garang or Dr. Machar to chair the reunified movement and the other automatically became the first vice chairman.”

He said the debate finally boiled down to reinstating the historical leadership when Salva Kiir refused to give the second position to Riek Machar with the argument that the former was historically senior to the latter in the movement's original leadership hierarchy.

He further explained it was also agreed in the document that an election for new party top leadership would be conducted during a second national convention three months after the Nairobi merger agreement in 2002, which he said did not happen.

Dak said in the same current situation if there was to be an agreement to reinstate leadership per a peace agreement, Machar would be going back to his former position, but not taking Igga's hierarchical position.

He said it would have been the other way around if Igga took Machar's position or the position of president Kiir.

The rebel leader's spokesman further challenged that people who made such allegations that Igga gave his position to Machar were either ignorant of the terms of such agreements or consciously trying to drag Equatorians into falsely believing that their “so-called position” was always snatched by somebody.

He said Equatorians had the right to occupy any position including the party chairmanship and president, and not condemned to the position of deputy. He added that if president Kiir stepped down for Igga the rebels would have equally recognized him as “peace-partner-president of the regime in Juba until a final peace agreement says otherwise.”

The East African regional bloc, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), has proposed a power-sharing in a draft final peace agreement to end the 18-month long civil war between president Kiir and his former deputy Machar.

The agreement proposed to maintain Kiir as interim president during a 30-month long transitional period with Machar reinstated as his first vice president.IGAD is yet to announce a date for resumption of the talks in Addis Ababa where the warring parties are expected to officially present their respective responses to the proposal.

(ST)

June 16, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - A senior official at the opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) led by Hassan al-Turabi said that differences within the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) have presented the major obstacle to the national dialogue process.

From left to right: Leader of the Popular Congress Party (PCP) Hassan Al-Turabi, Reform Now Party (RNP) head Ghazi Salah Al-Deen Al-Attabani, National Umma Party (NUP) Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi and second vice-president Hassabo Abdel-Rahman attend a speech by the president announcing a national dialogue initiative on 27 January 2014 (SUNA)

In an interview with Sudan Tribune, PCP external relations official Bashir Adam Rahma, said that the government and the opposition forces supporting the dialogue agreed on a roadmap including allowing freedoms, stopping the war, opening safe corridors to deliver humanitarian aid to the needy, releasing political detainees and offering the necessary guarantees for the rebel groups to take part in the national dialogue conference inside Sudan.

“However the government slowed down the implementation of the roadmap in order to hold the general elections,” Rahma further said.

He pointed that the national dialogue mechanism known as 7+7 had met after the elections and decided to call on the dialogue's executive committee to meet, adding the move is contingent upon approval by president Omer al-Bashir.

Rahama said the delay of the process from the government side was likely due to their hopes that rebel groups could join it. But he was quick to add that there are divergences within the government on how to deal with them.

“Apparently the position within the government [towards the rebels] is not unified because some [government parties] speak of crushing them militarily along the lines of the Sri lanka's experience while others say weakening rebels is enough to force them to join the process,” the PCP official said.

“It seems the view which calls for achieving decisive military victory [against the rebel] had the upper hand particularly following the recent defeat of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which is the most powerful rebel force, in Gouz Dango”, he added.

Nonetheless, Rahama stressed the PCP adheres to dialogue because it is the only safe option for Sudan, saying no negotiating party could achieve 100% of its demands but could arrive at a middle ground and hence achieve large parts of it.

He said they hope to see more pressure being put on the NCP to start the dialogue particularly as it held the general elections and formed the new cabinet. He pointed that it is imperative that rebel groups and opposition forces take part in the internal process.

The ruling NCP refused to participate in a pre-dialogue meeting called by the African Union mediation last March, stressing that the priority should be given to ensure the political stability. It also vowed to participate in the preparatory meeting after the elections.

The PCP also rejected the invitation to take part in the meeting based on their position that the national dialogue process should take place inside the country and without any external intervention.

Rahama said that the NCP represents the main obstacle to the dialogue process.
The opposition official believes that the formation of the cabinet and appointment of the speakers of the parliament and the States Council reflects internal division within the ruling party.

“We fear that some of those who have been excluded [from the cabinet posts] could obstruct the dialogue,” he added.

“I call them [those who have been excluded] the “deep state” because they ruled the country for 25 years and they have supporters within the army, security and business and economic society and they could easily obstruct the dialogue and stir up the streets,” the PCP official said.

Rahama said it is impossible to exclude a group of people who have been ruling the country for long years just by a “stroke of a pen”, calling for reassuring them for the benefit of the country.

He urged the NCP to unify its internal ranks particularly as many people think that the ruling party became nothing but president Bashir.

“He [Bashir] appointed the “yes men” in the NCP posts, National Assembly and States Council and this makes other groups within the ruling party particularly the Islamists see the work they made since the coup d'état [of June 1989] is now being controlled by a single person [Bashir] ,” he added

Earlier this month, the NCP delayed twice the announcement of the Sudanese cabinet last following differences over the composition of the government and the appointment of the speakers of the lower and upper houses.

Rahma expected that political parties which withdrew from the national dialogue including the Reform Now Movement (RNM) and the Just Peace Forum (JPF) would return to the process again, noting that leaders of those parties signalled readiness to join the dialogue particularly as there are no other options available.

He said the government, from its side, is required to allow freedoms and stop crackdown on media and confiscation of newspapers besides stopping detentions, demanding it to declare a cease-fire in order to allow passage of humanitarian assistance and hence gaining confidence of the opponents and the international community.

The PCP official also called on the 7+7 committee to intensify its work with the political parties which refused to join the dialogue besides the Western nations and the United States taking into consideration the latter's support for the national dialogue and their large influence on rebel groups.

Bashir launched the national dialogue initiative more than a year and a half ago in which he urged opposition parties and rebels alike to join the dialogue table to discuss all the pressing issues.

But the initiative faced serious setbacks after the government refusal to create suitable atmosphere by releasing political prisoners, ensuring freedoms, and postponement of elections.

The rebel groups and the opposition alliance of the National Consensus Forces (NCF) refused to join the process from the beginning while the National Umma Party (NUP) led by al-Sadiq al-Mahdi withdrew from the process in protest of al-Mahdi's arrest in May 2014.

Later on, several political parties including the RNM, JPF the Alliance of the Peoples' Working Forces (APWF) announced they had decided to suspend participation in the national dialogue until the requirements of a conducive environment are met.

The PCP was among the first political forces to approve Bashir's call for the national dialogue. Also, the lslamist party is the only significant political force that didn't suspend its participation in the process.

(ST)

June 16, 2015 (JUBA) – South Sudan has accused neighbouring Sudanese government of carrying out air attacks inside South Sudan at a border area in the oil-rich Upper Nile state on Tuesday.

A SPLA soldier looks at warplanes as he lies on the ground to take cover beside a road during an air strike by the Sudanese air force in Rubkona near Bentiu April 23, 2012 (Photo Reuters/ Goran Tomasevic)

Upper Nile state officials said warplanes sighted as coming from neighbouring Sudan entered its airspace twice on Sunday and Monday this week in Maban county area, dropping bombs and injuring at least four children, including a woman.

The air attack, according to Upper Nile state minister of information and communications, Peter Hoth Tuach, took place on Sunday in Khor Tumbak, an area at the border with Sudan in Maban county, saying this was a clear “violation” of international law.

“Sudanese warplanes, Antonov, dropped two bombs on Sunday and again on Monday in Khor Tumbak area in Maban county, wounding four children including a woman,” Tuach told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday.

“This is not the first time the Sudanese warplanes have dropped the bombs in the same area. They have done that before, destroying schools and local health centre,” he said.

Maban county commissioner John Ivo also told Sudan Tribune that the area witnessed two warplanes flying over again on Tuesday and dropped more bombs, calling it “a barbaric act in violation of the international norms and practices.”

South Sudanese army spokesperson Colonel Philip Aguer in a statement to the state owned South Sudan television on Monday accused Sudanese army of violating international law by repeatedly entering the airspace of another independent country without permission.

Aguer said the army was capable of defending the country against foreign aggression but added that the military leadership and its general command remained committed to respecting political process and bilateral agreement as a way to addressing security concerns at the common border with neighbouring country.

It remained unclear why this particular area in the border state has continued to be targeted by the Sudanese military.

Maban, which hosts over 130,000 Sudanese refugees, was bombed several times in 2014 by the Sudanese army, as Khartoum accuses the south Sudanese army of supporting the rebel Sudan people's Liberation Movement- North (SPLM-N).

The Sudanese army recently intensified attacks on the positions of the rebel SPLM-N, which controls some areas near the Upper Nile state.

Sudan and South Sudan have been trading accusations about the activities of their respective rebel groups at the border.

Last April, Sudanese government troops ambushed in a remote area in South Darfur near the border western the fighters of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) who reportedly crossed from the South Sudan Western Bahr el-Ghazal.

(ST)

To tackle the humanitarian impact of the “relentlessly deteriorating” crisis in South Sudan, the European Union and the United Nations today announced that more than $275 million has been pledged in support of the victims in the country and the wider region.

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June 15, 2015 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese army spokesperson has denied the armed opposition's claims to have captured pro-government forces, challenging the rebels of those allegedly captured in clashes over control of Kaka in Upper Nile state on Sunday.

South Sudan army spokesperson Phillip Aguer (ssinpo)

Col. Phillip Aguer told Sudan Tribune that fighting continued on Monday, accusing the armed opposition of allegedly violating greed ceasefire agreements.

He said government roops have been responding to repeated attacks from militias of Gen. Johnson Olony, who until recently allied to the government of president Salva Kiir.

“If they have captured some SPLA soldiers, let them [rebels] show them to you [the media],” said Aguer.

“Let them [rebels] call the press and let them show where those soldiers are,” he added.

The armed opposition forces loyal to South Sudan's former vice president Riek Machar claimed their forces captured an SPLA field commander in Kaka. The rebels further claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on the army and allegedly killed 60 of them.

Sudan Tribune could not, however, independently confirm the armed opposition's claims.

Aguer admitted there was clashes on Sunday and continued through Monday, but strongly dismissed claims that government forces had violated the ceasefire.

“[Gen] Olony has been attacking SPLA in Malakal. They [rebels] wanted to capture the oilfields, they went to Melut and they were defeated. They think the whole world is fool but they will not fool most of the South Sudanese,” Aguer told Sudan Tribune.

He said the army headquarters in Juba was still awaiting official reports from field commanders to ascertain if the SPLA lost some soldiers or if others were missing.

Olony, a former rebel leader until 2013, changed sides last month and declared allegiance to Machar's rebel group. His forces have been battling for control of several areas with the government in oil rich Upper Nile state for the last one month.

(ST)

June 15, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudanese rebel forces in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state under the overall command of Major General Dau Aturjong, on Monday claimed they received new defecting officers and officials joining their ranks and file from the government. General Dau is a senior commander under the leadership of the rebel leader, Riek Machar.

Rebel commander Brig General Joseph Gai Gatluak (left) pictured in front of his troops in Upper Nile state's Manyo county in March 2015 (ST)

Abdallah Kuot, spokesperson of the group told Sudan Tribune on Monday they have received up to 200 officials and military officers after launching offensives in response to large scale offences in the area.

The group, according to the opposition official, was led by Lieutenant Colonel Deng Deng Aliel, whom he said defected from Gaj, a local administrative headquarters where the government troops in the area had established military outpost.

If confirmed, Colonel Aliel's defection will be the latest in a series of such moves by high-profile government officials, raising questions about the stability of president Salva Kiir's government two years into the civil war gripping the country.

Lt. Col. Aliel had previously served as the head of logistics and supply for the government troops fighting the armed opposition fighters in Jonglei state at the start of the conflict between late 2013 and early 2014. He led retreating government soldiers in June 2014 from Jonglei state to some of the states in greater Bahr el Ghazal region.

The new defecting officers, he said, claimed that many soldiers still serving in president Kiir's government had lost faith and morale and were ready to join the movement any time soon.

“Colonel Deng Deng and his group have told us that those still serving in the government of Salva Kiir and his friends are only for appearance's sake to present an image to the international community showing that the regime is the one that pulls together all segments of South Sudan,” Kuot explained.

“He had been working with rebels to defect”, he said.

There was no immediate reaction from the government on the reported defection.

(ST)

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(Nairobi) – Human Rights Watch today released a short video on police abuses during demonstrations that began on April 26, 2015, in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura. 

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June 15 (JUBA) - Warrap state government in South Sudan has presented a request seeking parliamentary approval to extend the term of governor Nyandeng Malek, one month after her term in office expired in May, leaving the state in limbo.

Warrap state governor Nyandeng Malek (ST)

Minister of local government in the state administration, General Acuil Tito, last week tabled the request before the house asking them to expedite the process so that it did not create political and administrative vacuum in the state.

Minister Acuil, according to his request, copy of which Sudan Tribune has seen, cited article 72 of the state model transitional constitution as the basis of requesting for extension of the term of the governor.

Acting chairperson of parliamentary committee responsible for public relations information and communications, Ariech Mayar Ariech, confirmed in a separate interview receipt of the request, but said there were faults in the procedure.

“The representative of the governor has presented the request and urged the members of parliament to pass the amendments under article 72 (1) of the model state transitional constitution, which is wrong. It is the article used for adoption of minor resolutions. The correct article [which] tackles any amendments in Warrap state transitional constitution is article 55 (1), which requires two-third majority of all members to the amendment and passing,” Ariech told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

The legislator said the citing of a wrong article indicated bad intention on the side of the executive in collaboration with speaker of the house to use wrong approach in order to rig parliamentary procedures.

Any amendments to the constitution, according to Ariech, should be done after spending a period of one month after the request has been submitted to the parliament in order to allow members ample time to carry out proper studies and examine rationality of the request and whether it meets the public interest

“There is bad intention in submitting this request with a strong call on the members to pass it. In our constitution, any request seeking amendment to the constitution should stay at least for one month. But now they are asking for the passage before the completion of the period permitted by the constitution,” he said, accusing the speaker of working with the executive to rig the process.

“The way they are doing it shows that they want to bribe some members of parliament and if they fail to bribe some of us, then they will resort to rigging the process and the procedures,” he said.

He said the state executive wanted to do the procedure in the same way the national transitional constitution was passed in 2011 spearheaded by former justice minister John Luk Jok who rushed and wrote a bad constitution.

(ST)