Sudan Tribune

Notions From the United Nations Human Rights Council in its 33rd Session on Sudan:
Is it a “Diplomatic Conspiracy” and “CSOs camouflage”?

By Mohamed Yassin

As an attendee of the UN Human Rights Council #HRC33 and as an academic stemming from #Sudan, and activist in the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), it is imperative for me to let the General Public and the Sudanese People know the following notions concerning Sudan....

The #HRC33 started 13 September and will end on the 30 September 2016. On the table of the Council there are two spate tracks concerning Sudan. First a track, which has been working on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on Sudan and submitted 244 recommendations to the Government of Sudan, and a second track, which is still running concerning adoption of new resolutions to address the Human Rights Situation Sudan.

The UN Human Rights Council in its Universal Periodic Review on Sudan, which was held in April 2016, has submitted 244 recommendations to Sudan, of which the Government of Sudan has accepted andendorsed 188 recommendations, and provided vague answers on the residue arguing that it will provide answers after further consultations and studies.

The huge magnitude of the recommendations reflects the dire human rights and humanitarian protracted crises and deteriorating human rights violations in the Sudanese tragic reality. The Sudanese delegation and diplomats worked on mounting “Diplomatic Conspiracy” through its rented PR operators and selling promises to its alliances from the Arabic and Africangroups and some countries such as Brazil, China, Russia etc. It is like support me in this, and I will support you when it is your turn. An example, is thecase of the South African which is leading the Africa group and which is facing pressure on issues of racism and diminishing democracy and disputes on it's bias in judiciary systems. Another example of the Arab group is the Saudia and Qatar, because the Arab Coalitions in Yemen are facing an strong report of serious human rights violations committed. All in all the Government of Sudan wants to sell that the UN HRC is selective and punishing the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and throwing on the table many other unfounded argumentations that the West and Israel are targeting Sudan, the Islam and the Arabic nations. (Here I am referring to the intervention of Mr. Ahmed Hassan El Bashir (brother of Sudan's president Omer El Bashir) who is participating in his capacity as CSO).

Here I should highlight the “CSOs Camouflage” which was so clear during the invited interventions to the Sudanese CSOs.

Allow me to explain to the public what I mean by the CSOs Camouflage. It is a phenomenon prevailing in Sudan, and the contamination is extending to other dictatorial states, a phenomenon in which the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organizations (CBOs), Faith-led Organizations and other innovative formats of Civil Society Organizations are denatured and deprived from its independence and autonomynature. i.e. these CSOs are created, supported and steered by the Government of Sudan and are integrative parts of the state apparatus, and in particular the security (NISS). A CSOs camouflage because it announces sessions with specific titles and themes and when it comes to the presentations, it presents official Government statements which has no much to do with what is stated of presented in the official agenda and because when it comes to the discussion the opportunities are given to addition operators present in the rooms and who go in persuasive discourse to kill the session and discussion time.

Just to let the readers know, who are the members of the UN HRC active for this session: Albania; Algeria; Bangladesh; Belgium; Bolivia; Botswana; Burundi; China; Congo; Côte d'Ivoire; Cuba; Ecuador; El Salvador; Ethiopia; France; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; India; Indonesia; Kenya; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Maldives; Mexico; Mongolia; Morocco; Namibia; Netherlands; Nigeria; Panama; Paraguay; Philippines; Portugal; Qatar; Republic of Korea; Russian Federation; Saudi Arabia; Slovenia South Africa; Switzerland; The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Togo; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; Venezuela; and Viet Nam. These members will decide on the resolutions tabled by the Africa Group led by South Africa and the alternative resolution tabled by the United States of America. Should the two counterparts had reached a compromise, then a jointed resolution could have been presented to the council for adoption, approval or endorsement.

The Dilemma here is neither on the language of the resolution, soft language of item 10, which is focuses on the technical assistance and capacity building, nor the language of Item 4. The real issue is a language, which addresses and tackles the dire human rights and humanitarian protracted crises in Sudan, especially in the conflict Areas, when the Independent Expert or the Special Rapporteur or the Independent Human Right defenders and genuine CSOs are denied access by the Government of Sudan. The Government of Sudan insist to escape its responsibility and does not want to recognize its severe, excessive and successive violations of human rights and the repeated massacres committed by its militias, armed forces and security apparatus, and the cracks on the students and repeated shoot to kill policies and crimes. More than 200 students are shot dead in Khartoum during September 2013 uprising and Khartoum Government allocated merely 40 million Sudanese Pound of compensation to the vulnerable families who accepted to take that money for the loss of the beloved ones. And the Government delegation do not want to accepted mentioning the recent killings to students in Khartoum University, Ahlia University, El Nilein University, Nyala University, Kordofan University and other Universities and higher education institution. Instead, the delegation of the Sudanese Women Parliaments, who came to the council under the covering of CSOs camouflage have blamed the International community and the United States of America sanction on Sudan and attributed the dire socio-economic to that unfounded and weak claim.

These gentlewomen, without shy, continue to trade themselves as human rights defenders and messengers of gender equity, however, in a blind and wrong directions as if the interlocutor present in the UN rooms do not know the reality. They should know that the dire economic situation in Sudan is due to the expenditure on the arms and war, corruptions and not caused by the sanction and the external debts, because the borrowed money was spent and continue to be used for the war on the Sudanese populations.

Furthermore, the Government does want the UN HRC to renew the mandate of the special rapporteur or the Independent Expert, and does not want to allow his/her re-entry to Sudan, especially the SPLM controlled Areas to verify, document, monitor and report the committed crimes in South Kordofan / Nuba Mountains Heiban Massacre, Blue Nile massacres, Northern Nubia Kajbar Massacre, Beja Areas Port Sudan Massacre and the most recent EL Sanadra Massacre near Tagali in South Kordofan Nuba Mountains.

The verifications, monitory and reporting are vital processes to guarantee the integrity and credibility of the UN HRC and implementation of its mandate, especially when the top of the Sudanese Diplomatic Negotiators Mr. Khalid Musa argued that the resolutions language is not suitable and the Sudanese justice system is functioning well when it held fair trails as in the case of the Christian Detainees, who are currently facing accusations which might lead to death penalty. He went further on the shameless attitude and argumentation when he confronts a genuine civil society organization executive director who complained that his human rights monitory centre in Sudan is closed by the Sudanese Authorities, and some of his colleagues are now jailed in Sudan and that others were prevented from attending the last meetings of the UPR held in Geneva this year. The Sudanese diplomat tried to tell and convince the attendees of the session that those who were prevented and banned from traveling to Geneva are having immigration problems and related issues and that they have participated in meetings with Rebel group in Paris, accusations which are totally fake and unfounded. As far as I know the diplomacy is the art of improving relations between nations and the international community but not mystification of facts and hiding the ugly reality of the Sudanese terroristic Regime and its distorted, deformed and twisted diplomacy.

I fear that nothing can be achieved through the fake dialogue, deals or concessions under the tables and selling Sudan to multi-buyers. The Government of Sudan is on its way to provide concessions and seal dirty deals on the shoulders of its peoples.
The UN HRC 33 session is still running, with certain degree of polarization, and this week will be decisive for the respect of the human rights for the Sudanese people who deserve to embark on on-going process and efforts to advance the achievement of the sustainable development goals, given that they have already missed the MDGs phase. The Government of Sudan is accusing the International community of selectivity and politicization of justice, while it is fully aware that is exactly what it is doing, therefore, it should abandon the hypocrisy, and should not pretend that it is respecting the UN charter, accepting the international justice systems, genuinely committing for the attainment of the SDGs. Instead it should prove its good political will and implement on the ground and that should be revealed, reflected and witnessed by the grass-root. The Sudanese Government should acknowledge and recognize that it is jeopardizing the social fabrics, “tribelising” the state, incubating the terrorism, and blackmailing the International community on the migration issues and grabbing the foreign aid and selling cheaply the very resources of the country to diverse exploiters and not investors.

The Government of Sudan are spending a lot and hiding behind the African Union (AU) (ECOSOCC) to tell the International Communityabout the impact of the unilateral coercive measures on human rights in Africa, suggesting Sudan as an example. Hiding behind the AU and engaging professionals and traders of PRs will not help the useless Regime of Khartoum. That is a silly argumentations when you kill your own people and come and cry to the international community that the sanctions and these measures are harming us and that is hindering the development and prosperity of the peoples of Sudan.

Of course, there will be no sustainable development without peace, security and stability, but the more important; there will be neither peace nor sustainable development with the respect of the fundamental universal human rights and basic freedoms, that is valid everywhere, for everyone and always, and that is why the Human Rights Charter should remainuniversal and the implementation to be transparent and accountability should be persistent and consistent.

Mohamed Yassin is a Sudanese and Italian PhD candidate (2013-2016) in Economics, Ecology, Landscape and Territory at the Department of Civil Engineering & Architecture, University of Udine, Italy. He holds B.Sc. in Agricultural and Rural Economy (University of Khartoum), PGD in Rural development in Developing countries, PGD in International Development Cooperation, Masters in International Business Import Export Management and a M.Sc. in International Veterinary Cooperation (Italy). He has been visiting scholar at the University of Minnesota (USA) where he conducted research works on the Nile Basin. He is reachable at E: mohamed.yassin@uniud.it E: yassintowers@gmail.com Twitter: @MohamedSMYassin

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

September 25, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ethiopian officials on Saturday said a multi-billion dollar railroad project linking the nation to the port of Djibouti has been completed.

The project manager, Mokenen Getachew said the 656km Addis Ababa–Djibouti electric railway trans-boundary project will be inaugurated next month.

The mega project, built by China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) and China Civil Engineering Construction (CCECC), has reportedly cost $ 3.4 billion.

According to Mokenen, 70% of the total cost was financed by the Exim Bank of China, the China Development Bank, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China while 30% was covered by the Ethiopian government.

The line is double-track from Addis Ababa to Adama city (115 km) and single-track from Adama to Djibouti.

The electrified railway line which provides both freight and passenger transportation services will allow landlocked Ethiopia to easily access to world markets and further boost the country's trade volume hence it reduces travel time by over 50%.

According to the official, the railroad further saves foreign currency that would have been spent on diesel fuel and reduce air pollution.

He added that 1,171 wagons with a capacity to transport 3,500 tons at once and 41 locomotives will be in full service when the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway line enters into full operation following 3-6 months trial rides.

The freight trains can ride at a speed of 90 kilometers per hour while passenger trains which can carry over 1100 people at once can hit at 120 km/hr.

It will take only around 10-12 hours for the electrified trains to reach Addis Ababa from Djibouti.

It used to take 3-7 days for the former Diesel locomotives to cover the same route.

The modern and fully electrified trains, which were all imported from china have different facilities, among others beds, kitchen, restaurants, VIP rooms and toilets.

The project manager said the new Ethiopia's cross-border railroad project is part of the East to West African railway network.

“It is part of the trans-Africa railway network and it will open opportunity of linking Ethiopia with neighboring countries” Mokenen told Sudan Tribune during a government-organized a day-long media tour to the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway project.

As well as Djibouti, Mokenen said Ethiopia will eventually be connected by railway with, Kenya, Sudan and South Sudan.

Ethiopia is investing billions of dollars on constructing transport infrastructures to improve transport access and to boost the socio-economic development of the country.

During the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-2), launched last year, the east African nation has plans to construct a total 5,000 kilometers-long railway lines which would enable the country link with its neighbors.

The country has so far constructed some 2400 kilometers of rail roads and will construct 2600 kilometers during the remaining GTP-2 period.

Since landlocked Ethiopia cut ties with Eritrea following the 1998-2000 border war, Addis Ababa has become highly dependent on Djibouti sea port to carryout around 90% its total import-export trades.

When Ethiopia-Djibouti railroad goes to full function, it will avoid delays in the transport of goods by over 50%.

The completion of the new railway track comes only months after the Ethiopian capital inaugurated sub-Saharan Africa's first light rail system which has eased transportation problems of continent's second most populace nation.

Ethiopia, one of the world's fastest growing economies, attaches construction of road and railway projects as a major component of the GTP-2 as part of its vision to join middle income countries by 2025.

Ethiopia says cross-border road and railway lines will allow it to boom its economy hence it connects it with to the regional and global trade routes.

Transport Minister Workneh Gebeyehu recently stressed that the development of a country shouldn't be confined by the borders of that country.

(ST)

September 25, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government and the United Nations have agreed to hold a meeting in Khartoum on October 17th to resume discussion over an exit strategy of the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

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

A tripartite working group including the Sudanese government, African Union (AU) and United Nations (UN) has been set up in February 2015 to develop an exit strategy for the UNAMID from Darfur.

In a press release extended to Sudan Tribune on Sunday, Sudan's Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Abdel-Ghani al-Na'im said he met with the UN peacekeeping chief, Hervé Ladsous in New York on the sidelines of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly.

The Sudanese diplomat added he underscored importance of the efforts exerted by the tripartite team, saying the team is tasked with determining the situation in Darfur and developing plans and programs to address challenges facing the region.

He stressed that the Sudanese government is committed to the cessation of hostilities in Darfur, pointing the security situation has improved significantly following the defeat of the rebel groups.

Al-Na'im added the meeting also discussed peace talks between the government and the armed movements and the national dialogue.

Last June, the UN Security Council (UNSC) extended the mandate of the UNAMID until 30 June 2017, stressing that the situation in the western Sudan region continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security.

The hybrid mission has been deployed in Darfur since December 2007 with a mandate to stem violence against civilians in the western Sudan's region.

It is the world's second largest international peacekeeping force with an annual budget of $1.35 billion and almost 20,000 troops.

UN agencies say there are nearly 2.5 million displaced persons in Darfur, despite the signing of peace agreement in Doha in July 2011.

(ST)

September 25, 2016 (JUBA) – A senior United Nations official said former First Vice President and opposition leader, Riek Machar, is not “politically dead” as assumed by his rivals.

Herve Ladsous, head of UN's peacekeeping on Friday sad Machar represents a big number of population in South Sudan.

"Clearly (Machar) is, I think somebody said in the meeting just now, he is not dead politically by a long way, he's there, I mean he's out of the country, but he does represent a very important element of the South Sudanese community," Reuters quoted Ladsous as saying.

President Kiir last month fired six ministers allied to Machar. A UN statement summarizing Friday's meeting stressed the need for inclusivity in the South Sudanese political process.

US has said it does not believe that Machar, who was first vice president until he fled, should return to his former position in the government given the continuing instability in the country.

Ladsous said the South Sudanese government had not yet improved cooperation with the world body on the deployment of more peacekeepers.

"There have been contacts at various levels with the government, with the authorities of South Sudan but this has not really translated into significant progress on the ground," Ladsous told reporters.

Taban Deng Gai who replaced Machar as first presidential deputy, told the General Assembly that the government needed to "engage more with the U.N. on the details" on the deployment of the regional forces.

"This is in order to avoid derailing national healing and reconciliation. External intervention often affects negatively internal reconciliation," he said.

The opposition leader, Machar, left Juba when violence erupted between his forces and those loyal to President Kiir.

(ST)

September 25, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The World Bank Group (WBG) has advised the Sudanese government to accelerate structural transformation and economic diversification in order to reach a more stable economic growth path.

Employees pack refined sugar at the Kenana Sugar Company's main plant, 270kms south of Khartoum on 14 May 2013 (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

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.

In its newest Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) for Sudan entitled “Realizing the Potential for Diversified Development” released on Sunday, the WBG pointed that Sudan needs to implement a combination of institutional, macroeconomic, and sectoral reforms to reach a more diversified, non-natural resource economy.

“Economic diversification is high on the Government of Sudan's agenda”, said Michael Geiger, lead author of the report.

“While the authorities have succeeded in reducing inflation and slightly recovering from the negative growth rates of 2011 and 2012, more must be done to ensure a more stable medium-term outlook,” he added.

The report mentions a number of barriers that have been preventing Sudan from effective economic diversification including the “high and volatile inflation, a long overvalued exchange rate, low productivity in agriculture, among others”.

It proposed several measures to remove these barriers including “removal of exchange restrictions to unify the official and black market rates, increasing agricultural productivity through key policy changes, improving the management of natural resources rents, addressing broader business environment constraints and building human capital to support structural change”.

WBG Country Director for Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan, Carolyn Turk, pointed the report encourages Sudan to apply a set of direct and indirect approaches in order to “embark on the structural transformation necessary to accelerate inclusive economic growth leading to sustained poverty reduction”.

Xavier Furtado, WBG Country Representative in Sudan, for his part, said that Sudan needs to implement a road set of reforms to diversify its economy, saying the WBG would launch several initiatives to help the Sudanese government in this regard.

(ST)

September 25, 2016 (BENTIU) - Heavy fighting broke out on Sunday morning between South Sudanese government troops (SPLA) and armed opposition faction (SPLA-IO) in Rubkotna county of the country's oil-rich Unity state.

South Sudanese rebel troops loyal to former vice-president Riek Machar stand on guard in Unity state capital Bentiu on 12 January 2014 after recapturing the strategic town from government troops (Photo: Reuters)

Civilians, who fled to the United Nations camp in Unity state capital, Bentiu, confirmed the clashes in series of interviews with Sudan Tribune.

Heavy gunshots and bombardments were heard west of Rubkotna.

A resident of Rubkotna, only identified as Peter, said clashes occurred in Wichbaar, Tong and Pakuur in the northwest of Bentiu.

The press secretary to the rebel-appointed governor of Unity state, Weirial Puok Baluang claimed the armed opposition faction had been facing imminent attacks from government forces for weeks.

He said they repulsed the attacks, as their forces advanced towards Bentiu town “with heavy causality against the government forces”.

“Nonetheless, our valiant army SPLA-IO repelled them with vast mortalities inflicted on them as they were dreadfully running back towards Bentiu town,” Puok told Sudan Tribune over phone.

Puok accused forces allied to President Salva Kiir of resorting to war options, but said the armed opposition was well equipped militarily.

“The demise of the August 2015 agreement on the TGoNU [Transitional Government of National Unity] and the subsequent exit of the unsolicited weeds from the SPLM/A-IO have boosted the willpower of our army. Thus, it will allow the rightful owners of the land to claim back their family land in Bentiu anytime from now,” he said.

The army is yet to officially react to reports on Sunday's clashes in Unity state.

(ST)

September 25, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - Traders in the town of Kabkabiya in North Darfur state have decided to shut down the market and stop trade convoys coming from the Sudanese capital, Khartoum to protest against continued looting incidents by armed groups.

A woman, irrigates, crops, Kabkabiya, camp, North Darfur (Public Domaine Images Photo)

In a memo issued by the Chamber of Commerce in Kabkabiya, 150 km west of North Darfur capital, El-Fasher, the local merchants decided to close the market starting from Saturday due to banditry and repeated looting on the roads linking between El-Fasher and Kabkabiya.

The memo, seen by Sudan Tribune on Saturday, pointed the militias impose illegal fees and levies on the trucks carrying merchandise, saying the government failed to address this problem.

It added the residents and traders were affected by these practices and decided to shut down the market, demanding local authorities to guard the market until the issue is resolved.

During his visit to the five states of Darfur last April, President Omer al-Bashir warned militias against collecting illegal tolls and levies along the highways linking the various towns in the region.

Kabkabiya has recently witnessed repeated killing and robbery incidents besides tribal clashes. Armed militias particularly those affiliated with the government and known as Janjaweed have large presence in the locality.

On Monday, tribes residing in Kabkabiya signed a document to enhance peaceful co-existence, fight against crime and promote security.

Last June, North Darfur governor Abdel-Wahid Youssef accused unnamed parties of seeking to keep the “insecurity and instability” situation in Darfur, pointing to “hidden hands that prompt the security chaos in all Darfur's five states not only North Darfur”.

He declared a state of maximum readiness among regular forces to control the lawlessness situation in the state and prevented riding of motorcycles, wearing of Kadamool (a turban which covers the face) and holding arms inside the capital, El-Fasher.

(ST)

September 25, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan's former minister of agriculture minister, Lam Akol, has formed a new rebel faction after spending several weeks of consultations with different unarmed and armed opposition parties in the country.

Lam Akol, chairman of South Sudan's main opposition party (AFP/Samir Bol Photo)

Akol, according to a statement issued over the weekend and extended to Sudan Tribune has named the new rebel group as National Democratic Movement (NDM) and said that his aim is to overthrow by all means the government of South Sudan under the leadership of President Salva Kiir.

“The National Democratic Movement was born to wage the struggle, together with others in the field, against the totalitarian, corrupt and ethnocentric regime in Juba that is bent on dragging our country into the abyss,” the statement reads in part.

Akol, who previously chaired the Democratic Change Party (DCP) said he resigned and left the party last month because the members and the other leaders of the DCP believed in peaceful dialogue and non-violence as the only means to bring about change in South Sudan.

He described his new rebel faction as a front bringing together the social and democratic political forces as well as civil society activists, who want the political discourse in the country to be centred on the “transformation of the centuries-old conditions of extreme poverty, ignorance, illiteracy and cultural backwardness of the masses of our people.”

The movement, it explained, is founded on the principles and concept of national democratic revolution based on the core values of freedom, equality, justice and fraternity, and solidarity anchored in historical and philosophical perspectives. These values, it stressed, translate into fundamental rights and freedoms as provided for in the UN Conventions of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

The political statement of the NDM set out in details what the NDM stands for and how to rid the people of the totalitarian ethnocentric regime in Juba and replace it with a pro-people inclusive government.

“It must be clear from the outset, the NDM is not just for change of personalities in Juba to replace them with others of the same feathers; it is out for a radical change in the country that will bring about genuine state-building and nation-building,” it emphasized.

He also said his new faction will closely work with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) under the leadership of the former First Vice President, Riek Machar.

It is not clear from whether the prominent politician will get military forces for his new faction.

(ST)

September 25, 2016 (JUBA) – The armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) led by South Sudan's former First Vice President, Riek Machar, has for the first time come out with a statement declaring war on the “regime” in Juba under President Salva Kiir and called on the international community to declare it a “rogue” regime.

South Sudan's rebel leader, Riek Machar (Photo: Reuters/Tiksa Negeri)

The opposition group also said it has now dismissed all its senior members who have taken part in President Kiir's new government.

This came in a resolution passed by the political bureau meeting convened for three days in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, under the chairmanship of Machar, also commander-in-chief of the SPLM-IO.

According to Article 2 (d) of the resolution obtained by Sudan Tribune, the SPLM-IO's political bureau resolved to “Call for reorganization of the SPLA (IO) so that it can wage a popular armed resistance against the authoritarian and fascist regime of President Salva Kiir in order to bring peace, freedom, democracy and the rule of law in the country.”

This is the first official statement from the opposition's leadership since the 8 July violence erupted in the capital between Machar's bodyguards and forces loyal to President Kiir, killing over 200 soldiers.

The resolution also accused President Kiir's regime of allegedly attempting to “assassinate” the leadership of the SPLM-IO at the Juba-based presidential palace when the fighting erupted.

The opposition group, however, said they were for peace and to “resuscitate” it, calling for rapid deployment of regional forces in order to salvage the peace agreement signed in August 2015.

Currently the resolution said, both the peace agreement and the transitional government of national unity have collapsed without the SPLM-IO as a peace partner.

Members at the meeting endorsed the dismissal of Machar's successor, Taban Deng Gai from the armed opposition movement. Also dismissed from the movement were former interior minister, Alfred Lado Gore, Dhieu Mathok Diing, Richard Mulla, Ezekiel Lol Gatkouth, Hussein Mar Nyout, Lumumba Di-Aping a and Sophia Pal Gai.

Machar vowed to reorganize to “wage a popular armed resistance against the authoritarian and racist regime of President Salva Kiir.”

This is the first political statement Machar has issued ever since he fled South Sudan, following an attack on his residence in the young nation's capital.

Machar immediately demanded that additional peacekeepers be sent to increase numbers of the 12,000-strong UN force in South Sudan. These forces will be tasked with restoring security in Juba.

Barely five years after its independence from neighbouring Sudan, South Sudan descended into civil war in December 2013. Tens of thousands of civilians were killed and more than 2 million displaced.

In August last year, a peace deal was signed by both Machar and Kiir, but fighting in Juba put the accord at risk of possible collapse.

“(The SPLM-IO) call on the international community to declare the regime in Juba a rogue government,” the resolution reads in part.

It urged those monitoring the peace deal to suspend their activities.

Meanwhile, a senior SPLM-IO member, who sought permission to return to Nairobi, Kenya before the Khartoum meeting commenced, said he supported armed struggle against the Juba establishment.

“These people, the people in Juba, Salva Kiir and his group understand no other languages than the language of guns. If you talk of nonviolent language, they think you are doing so because they have weakened you and will not listen to you anymore. So I told Dr. Riek that we must pursue armed struggle until we achieve objectives of the movement," Ramadan Hassan Laku, the SPLM-IO's national committee chairperson for governance affairs told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

Observers say Hassan's views show the level of difference within the movement on how to approach the settlement of the conflict in the country. Those advocating for nonviolence, they argue, are using it as a strategy to tactically avoid being viewed by the global community as warmongers to be sanctioned while the ones advocating for armed struggle see the approach as the only way through which wider attention could be attracted to demands that must be settled in a position of strength.

(ST)

September 24, 2016 (NEW YORK) – South Sudan's First Vice President Taban Deng Gai on Friday said the world's youngest nation consented to a Security Council resolution calling for the dispatch of the additional troops to Juba.

South Sudan's first Vice President Taban Deng Gai addresses the UN General Assembly (UN Photo/Cia Pak)

“My government's position is that we have to engage more with the UN on the details pertaining to the implementation of this resolution,” Gai told the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York.

"This is in order to avoid derailing national healing and reconciliation. External intervention often affects negatively internal reconciliation,” he added.

The official's remarks, however, appeared to have contradicted his earlier statement in which he appeared to have rejected the deployment of the force approved by the African Union during its extraordinary summit that was held in Kigali, Rwanda in July.

"We already have 13,000 UN troops in South Sudan who are sitting idle, not doing anything because there's a problem with their mandate, and there's also a problem with how they were selected," Gai earlier told the Associated Press.

“I don't think we need peacekeepers in South Sudan,” he stressed in a statement in line with President Salva Kiir's initial rejection of the peace keepers.

The South Sudanese deputy president, while addressing the General Assembly, also accused his predecessor Riek Machar of allegedly instigating the July violent clashes in between the country's rival forces in the capital, Juba.

Over 270 soldiers died in the incident, which a recent UN report solely blamed on President Kiir and the South Sudanese army chief of staff, Paul Malong Awan.

Gai, however, assured the General Assembly that South Sudan was now “stable, peaceful and that my government is functioning and life is returning back to normal”.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced in South Sudan's worst violence since its cessation from Sudan in 2011. The UN, on several occasions, accused South Sudan's warring forces of gross human rights violations.

LEADERS BLAMED

The UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Ban charged South Sudan leaders, including President Kiir with having “betrayed their people” by pursuing a violent path to power.

Last month, the Security Council approved the deployment of an additional 4,000-strong peacekeeping force in South Sudan, after renewed clashes in Juba between the country's rival factions threatened to send the young nation back to all-out civil war.

Stressing that consensus should not be confused with unanimity, Ki Moon told the General Assembly: “The global public is right to ask whether this is how an organization in which we have invested so much hope and aspirations should function.”

The UN chief also called on the President of the General Assembly, to explore, with his successor, the establishment of a high-level panel to find practical solutions that will improve decision-making at the global organization.

He also urged all countries to cooperate with and work with the UN's human rights arm; to not put obstacles in the path humanitarian workers; and not to ostracize or threaten UN envoys or and staff when they raise difficult issues.

“We must all be open and accountable to the people we serve,” said the UN chief.

(ST)

September 24, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - South Sudanese President Salva Kiir discussed with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) the implementation of security agreement signed between the two countries.

A photo extended to Sudan Tribune by the SPLM-N showing the group's chairman Malik Agar (C), its secretary general, Yasser Arman (L), and Gen. Gagod Mukwar in Stockholm on 23 May 2015.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune Saturday, the SPLM-N leadership said they concluded a visit to Juba at the invitation of President Kiir who expressed the desire of South Sudan government to support the peace process in Sudan.

The meeting also discussed the implementation of an agreement reached by the defence ministers in the two Sudans concerning the opening of the crossing points, border monitoring and the formation of joint forces, the statement further said.

Last June South Sudan's defence minister Kuol Manyang Juuk and his Sudanese counterpart Mohamed Ahmed Ibn Ouf signed an agreement providing to activate the buffer zone between the two countries and the deployment of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mission (JBVMM) before to open 10 crossing points on the common border.

The Sudanese rebels welcomed the efforts of South Sudan in support of peace in Sudan, and expressed willingness to provide the needed efforts for the successful implementation of this agreement between the two countries.

"SPLM-N welcomes every effort to defuse tensions and improve relations between the two countries. As the SPLM-N controls a considerable part of the international border between the two countries, it has expressed readiness to carry out its duties in all that would contribute to the implementation of this agreement, especially the SPLM-N has no military presence in the State of South Sudan," says the statement.

Last August during a visit to Khartoum, the South Sudanese First Vice President Taban Deng Gai vowed to expel Sudanese rebel groups from his country within 21 days and to implement the security agreement signed between the two countries since September 2012 within the framework of the Cooperation Agreement.

Also, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs recently said the south Sudan didn't implement its pledges and warned that "Juba's failure to commit itself to this agreement entails stopping the transit of humanitarian aid through Sudanese territory to the South Sudan".

Besides the SPLM-N, Khartoum claims that Juba harbours also rebel groups from Darfur region and asks that the South Sudanese government should also evict them.

The SPLM-N and the Sudanese government are expected to meet during the upcoming weeks to resume discussions over cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access.

The parties diverge only on the SPLM-N demand to allow direct transit of 20% of the humanitarian assistance through the Ethiopian border, a matter that Khartoum rejects.

However, the African Union mediation continues to hold informal discussions with the two parties in order to narrow the gaps over this point.

The SPLM-N said they highly value the sheltering of nearly 300,000 Sudanese refugees in the neighbouring country, and are looking to end the war and to reach a just peace with Khartoum to pave the way for the return of refugees to inside Sudan.

The SPLM-N delegation to Juba was led by its Chairman Malik Agar, secretary general Yasir Arman, SPLA-N chief of staff Gen. Gagod Mukwar and his deputy Ahmed Alomda Badi

The statement said they met with President Kiir, his deputies Taban Deng Gai and James Wani Igga, defence minister Kuol Manyang Juuk and a number of security officials.

(ST)

September 24, 2016 (BOR) – Governor Philip Aguer has questioned the unfair distribution of the current newly created 14 counties in the new Jonglei state, but supported the increase in the number of the counties in principle although merging some of them in the future, he said, is a possibility.

Aguer, who first rejected the creation of the 14 counties earlier this month, said he had received a valid reason from the national capital, Juba, for their implementation. He made the remarks during the swearing in ceremony of the newly appointed commissioners on Friday, 23 September.

“The local government board recommended the 14 counties, so we have the legitimacy to implement the fourteen counties,” Aguer noted in his speech.

According to Aguer who comes from Twic East county, home to late leader John Garang, he said the biggest question which remained not answered was the reasons for not increasing the number of counties in Duk and Twic East counties.

Currently, the former Bor county, where defense minister Kuol Manyang Juuk and information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, has been increased into 8 new counties while Twic East is only increased to 3 counties and Duk with only 3 counties as well, making the total 14 new counties.

“The other question was, what about the other counties, like Twic East and Duk, who did not get more [counties] than what they requested? We have addressed that by seeing it to the population,” Aguer inquired.

“Decentralization process is not a one-day-process, you do this step and you evaluate it. So the rest of the areas-Twic and Duk- in the near future, if they need more counties, provided that is justified, and is not bringing more problems, then definitely we will recommend a county,” he said.

He said after two to three years, the state may evaluate the status of the new counties and may decide to further increase the number or merge the current ones into smaller number of administrative units.

“As I said decentralization is a process, [that] needs to be evaluate, may be 2 to 3 years, evaluation will come, and we will recommend more [counties] or amalgamation,” he added.

He said services delivery to the people should be the top priority to the government, not to have more counties.

“We the politicians need more counties, but what do the people want? The people need more services; it is our role to provide the services. You have more counties now, what is remaining is the services and the people will start questioning you tomorrow, where are the services?” Aguer, a former SPLA military spokesperson, continued.

Although the governor instructed the minister of finance to plan on how to get the budget for the 14 counties, he clearly urged the commissioners to think of where to get their vehicles as the state would not be able financially to buy vehicles.

“Now that you are appointed, expect a lot of challenges. You may wonder if you will get salaries. Mobility is another, bicycle and footing will be shame on the commissioner. For you to get vehicles, you must mobilize 250 heads [each] of cattle to buy a car,” he said, directing them to get the cattle from the populations they will be administering in their respective counties.

“We have every reason to create more counties because we have issues of insecurity. Issues of the education are handled at the level of the payams and counties,” he further continued.

Peace was among the issues the governor talked about when he addressed the new commissioner, saying peace between the Dinka of Jonglei state and the Murle ethnic group of Boma state should be consolidated.

“We have the task to implement the peace agreement signed in Juba and the peace between us and our neighbors. We have moved two steps forward in the direction of peace between us and Boma state. The Murle community is more than committed to peace and to peaceful co-existence,” he emphasized.

He said through achievement of peace the state authorities should plan for the return of the displaced people who are scattered all over the region, adding they will not come back if the authorities do not have peace and security.

“Through peace, we will return our cattle camps that are becoming bone of contention in Equartoria,” he said.

Some commissioners, who spoke on behave of their colleagues, pledged to work with the government to improve service delivery, work for peace within, and between their borders.

(ST)

September 24, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has criticized the United Nations for welcoming the release by the sudanese government of child soldiers allegedly recruited by Darfur rebel groups saying the international body was deceived by the regime.

Undated picture extended to Sudan Tribune on 28 April 2015 by the Justice and Equality Movement showing their fighters during a training exercise

Earlier this month, President Omer al-Bashir announced the release of twenty one children allegedly detained during the Gouz Dango battle with the JEM in April 2014.

However the rebel group denied that these children were part of its fighters reiterating its commitment to international conventions banning the use of child soldiers.

On Wednesday, the UN welcomed the release of the child soldiers and vowed to work with the Sudanese government to enhance the protection of children in the armed conflict affected areas in Sudan.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Saturday, JEM spokesperson Gibril Adam Bilal, underscored that his movement doesn't recruit children and hence there is no child soldiers among its prisoners held by the regime.

He described the UN announcement that the move indicates the regime's intention to implement the work plan developed by the UN last March as “strange and suspicious”.

“How did the UN know that those whom the regime claimed to have released were captured during the Gouz Dango battle?” he wondered.

Belal also wondered about the measures that the UN has taken to ensure the validity of the regime's claims and to confirm that the children belong to the JEM.

JEM spokesperson described the UN move as “breach of the minimum standards of justice”, saying the international body took for granted the regime's claims and didn't consider the viewpoint of the movement.

“What is the legal justification that allows the regime to keep [these children] in the prison cells of its security organs and torture them physically and morally for 17 months without notifying their families or the United Nations or the competent organizations of their conditions and whereabouts?” he further wondered
The Sudanese army has been fighting a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

According to the UN, 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict, and 2, 5 million chased from their homes.

(ST)

September 24, 2016 (JUBA)- The new South Sudanese First Vice President Taban Deng Gai will be holding series of meetings with top officials in the United States to explain circumstances under which he replaced Machar and his vision in implementing the peace agreement.

Gai will hold a meeting with the U.S. Administration and Congress between September 28 and October 4.

According to a statement from the embassy of South Sudan in the United States, the US Congress has already accepted to hear from the FVP about how to implement the peace in South Sudan. The high ranking members of the Congress will meet him next week.

On the other hand, senators on Foreign Relations Committee have also expressed willingness to meet the FVP to hear from him the circumstances under which the leadership changes of the SPLM-IO took place and whether it was in accordance with the provision of the peace agreement.

The visiting South Sudanese deputy president will meet officials in the White House and US state Department to discuss humanitarian assistance and the deployment of the protection force that is supposed to be deployed to South Sudan.

“It should be noted that the views expressed by some senators during the hearing of September 20 are not shared by the White House and the State Department. The position of the White House and the State Department is very clear, that is, Riek Machar should not return to Juba. This position was expressed by Donald Booth on September 7 hearing in the Congress," said Gordon Buaya senior diplomat at South Sudan embassy in Washington.

The diplomat stressed that the White House and the state Department want Gen. Taban and President Kiir to continue implementation of the peace. He expressed fears that the return of Riek Machar to Juba can lead to more war and instability.

“The FVP will also make presentations at various Think tanks in Washington DC. He will make presentations at Wilson Center, US Institute for Peace and Atlantic Council. His presentations will be attended by policy makers and academics in Washington, DC,” he added.

Gai led the South Sudan's delegation for the meetings of the UN General Assembly in New York.

(ST)

September 24, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - A delegation from the internal groups of the opposition umbrella Sudan Call on Saturday has travelled to Addis Ababa to participate in the meeting which will take place from 25 to 30 September to discuss organizational matters of the alliance and the pre-dialogue meeting.

Leaders of the opposition "Sudan Call" sign an agreement on the alliance's structures in Paris on 22 April 2016 (ST Photo)

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Saturday, Sudan Call spokesperson Mohamed Farouk Sulieman said the delegation was led by the chairman of the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) Omer al-Digair who is also the head of the internal groups of the Sudan Call.

He pointed the Addis Ababa meeting would review political stances of the alliance besides discussing ways to develop its organizational structures and the role of the Sudan Call in unifying the opposition forces.

According to Sulieman, a workshop would be held in conjunction with the Addis Ababa meeting to develop the joint stance of the Sudan Call toward the upcoming preparatory dialogue meeting with the government groups.

The Sudan Call groups participating in the meeting include the two factions of the armed opposition umbrella Sudan Revolutionary Forces (SRF), the National Umma Party (NUP) besides the internal groups of the alliance including the SCoP, the Sudanese Ba'ath Party (SBP), the National Alliance Party (NAP), the Sudanese National Party (SNP) and the Center Alliance Party (CAP).

Last week, the leader of the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Gibril Ibrahim told Sudan Tribune that the Sudan Call groups will meet in Addis Ababa from 25 to 30 September to discuss the preparatory meeting to coordinate positions and discuss some organizational matters.

Ibrahim who chairs a faction of the SRF stressed that the good coordination between the opposition forces, which include political and military groups, is needed more than any structural reforms.

On Wednesday, the opposition alliance National Consensus Forces (NCF), which is part of the Sudan Call, suspended the membership of the SCoP, SBP, NAP, SNP and the CAP as a result of the increasing differences over their participation in the African Union-led peace process.

Since several months, the NCF has been divided over its participation, within the framework of the opposition umbrella Sudan Call, in the negotiations for a peaceful settlement to end war in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states and Darfur region and a national constitutional dialogue conference.

While the suspended groups were willing to take part in the political process alongside the armed groups and NUP, the other forces including the Sudanese Communist Party say they want the Sudan Call to focus on the regime change agenda and popular uprising.

They believe that the current process would not bring democratic change in Sudan but would be a repetition to previous peace agreements and reinvigorates the regime of President Omer al-Bashir.

(ST)

September 23, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, and his chief of general staff, Paul Malong Awan, have eventually accepted the creation of the cantonment sites for the armed opposition fighters in his home region of Bahr el Ghazal, according to senior officials.

It remains unclear what prompted the sudden change of heart after a long intransigence and insistence to not allow the creation of the assembling points or areas for the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA-IO) led by his former first deputy, Riek Machar.

Establishment of cantonment areas for the SPLA-IO was one of the key sticking matters which stalled the implementation of the security arrangements in the country.
Several government officials, including the president, were previously keen to advance narratives that Bahr el Ghazal and Equatoria regions, unlike Upper Nile region, were not active military combat zones during the more than two years, despite the presence of leading politicians and prominent figures with a significant military and political following from the two regions in the movement.

The differences and delays to reach a consensus resulted in the building up of tension which escalated to deadly clashes in Juba after rival forces traded statements depicting the other to have initiated provocative acts against the other.

Observers interpreted the sudden change of heart to mean attempts by Kiir and his military and political confidants to portray opposition leader Machar as the cause for the delay.

South Sudan army spokesman, Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang, told reporters on Friday that four cantonment sites will be established in greater Equatoria region and two others in Bahr el Ghazal.

These cantonment sites, according to the military spokesman, will be used by armed opposition fighters to whom he referred to as “SPLM/A-IO peace wing” under the command and leadership of the newly appointed first vice president, Taban Deng Gai. The military spokesman referred to Machar's group as “warmongers” to be dealt with.

Meanwhile Gen. Augustino S.K. Njoroge, deputy head of the Joint Monitory and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), a body charged with responsibility to overseeing implementation of the peace agreement in South Sudan by the regional leaders, announced on Thursday the two sides have agreed in principle during a two-day workshop in Juba to work out all the requirements set out by the UN Security Council resolution on the deployment of a regional protection force in Juba.

The two-day workshop, he said, brought together politicians and military commanders to review proposals and make recommendations for realignment of transitional security arrangements for Juba, including how to introduce the UN regional protection force and realignment of security arrangements.

Njoroge reaffirmed commitment of the monitoring body to work out details of specific tasks. He described the conduct of the workshop as successful and has achieved all the objectives for which it was organised and conducted for the stakeholders in the peace agreement.

“We have received a joint briefing from the parties on their shared concept of Juba security arrangements whose details can now be fine-tuned and actualized,” Njoroge told reporters.

He commended the parties in Juba for recommitting to the peace process, while appreciating the international community for supporting the people of South Sudan to realize peace and stability.

The peace monitoring official confirmed receiving a detailed briefing and government proposal for the cantonment, verification and demobilization of forces with approval for establishment of cantonment sites in previously contested areas in the Equatoria and Bahr al Ghazal regions.

He also pointed out that the proposal provides a useful starting point and sets out clear steps and challenges to be addressed by the parties in the event of disagreement during the cause of implementation.

Another document they received, he said, was a realignment concept note of operations for United Nations mission in the country and the regional protection force that compliments the JMCC plan.

The deputy head of JMEC revealed that the parties also agreed in principle on the matter of forces required in Juba, redeployment of forces and commitment to jointly working through the technical details of armament types and the numbers at JMCC and UNMISS levels.

The workshop developed a very clear task and timelines for operationalizing the proposed security arrangements to be worked out in future details by JMCC, UNMISS, CTSAMM and Transitional government of national unity to finalize implementation of the UN Security Council resolution.

(ST)

September 23, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The United People's Front for Liberation and Justice(UPFLJ), a group from eastern Sudan has called on the African Union mediation to open a new peace track for one of Sudan's poorest regions.

Zainab Kabashi (ST photo)

The African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) is brokering a peace process with two tracks one for Darfur and the other for the Two Areas. This process also provides to hold national constitutional conference with the participation of all the political forces in Sudan.

The UPFLJ, which is part of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF) led by Malik Agar, said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Thursday they wrote to the AUHIP chief Thabo Mbeki urging him to creating a track within this process to discuss the grievances of the eastern Sudan region which comprises the states of Kassala, Gedaref and Red Sea.

The memorandum, which will be handed over to the chief mediator by its chairwoman Zainab Kabashi, urges the AUHIP to "play a positive role in the establishment of a platform to discuss issues of eastern Sudan on the basis of its mandate in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 2046 and African Union Peace and Security Council decisions no. 456 and 539."

The opposition group further warned that ignoring the cause of eastern Sudan would lead to frustrate the people of the region who may have resort to other options that would not be in the interest of national unity.

Kabashi will take part in a workshop organized in Addis Ababa from 25 to 30 September where the opposition groups will discuss their different positions on the issues they would negotiate with the Sudanese government in the framework of the African Union mediated process.

The UPFLJ is a splinter faction of the Eastern Front that signed a peace agreement with the Sudanese government in October 2006.

The group says Khartoum government didn't implement the Eritrean government brokered agreement which provides to establish a $600 million development fund to be paid over four years.

(ST)

September 23, 2016 (JUBA) - Top ranking regional religious leaders have on Friday called for an end to South Sudan's conflict, saying violence in all its forms does not resolve the differences but “begets violent destruction.”

South Sudan's religious leaders pray for a peace ahead of a referendum in 2011 (Photo: Michael Wagner/File)

The religious leaders, who held closed door meeting with President Salva Kiir, include Archbishops and Primates of Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa, were accompanied by the archbishop of Roman Catholic, Paulino Lukudu Loro, archbishop of episcopal church in Sudan and South Sudan, Daniel Deng Bul, and chairman of the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) and moderator of the Presbyterian church in Sudan and South Sudan, Reverend Peter Gai Lual, among others.

It was not immediately clear what the top religious leaders have told the president and whether or not he accepted their pleas to end the violent conflict which erupted on 8 July and instead implement the peace agreement wholly without reservations.

But in a brief statement issued to journalists after their meeting with the South Sudanese president, the religious leaders said that millions of innocent civilians in the country are victims of war and are pleading for peace, often receiving nothing but the “bitter vinegar of rejection,” their cries silenced “with the same ease with which television channels are changed.”

The indifference to suffering, according to the statement, which it said is a product of war, is a virus “that paralyzes, rendering us lethargic and insensitive, a disease that eats away at the very heart of religious fervor, giving rise to a new and deeply sad paganism.”

“The families whose lives have been shattered by war, the children who've known nothing but violence, the elderly who've been forced to abandon their countries, all of them have a great thirst for peace,” the statement said.

“We appeal to the leadership to put a stop to war and bring peace, a true peace that is not illusory,” they said.

Peace, they advised, has to be built by giving “first place” to those who suffer, fixing conflicts from within, through a consistent goodness and rejecting the “shortcuts offered by evil.”

They said peace means forgiveness; welcome and openness to dialogue; cooperation, and education, which the statement described as a call to learn “the challenging art of communion.”

The top religious leaders further added that victims of war hardly get attention they deserve from the authorities.

“Who listens to them? Who bothers responding to them? Far too often they encounter the deafening silence of indifference, the selfishness of those annoyed at being pestered, the coldness of those who silence their cry for help with the same ease with which television channels are changed,” they lamented.

The statement further stressed that “the lust for power and money, the greed of arms dealers, personal interests and vendettas for past wrongs,” and the underlying causes of conflicts, including “poverty, injustice and inequality, the exploitation of and contempt for human life, are the bad deeds haunting the nation.

(ST)

September 23, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Federal Ministry of Health on Friday announced that Blue Nile State is free of watery diarrhea after dozens of people died of the disease in the state.

A child receives an oral cholera vaccine dose in the South Sudan capital, Juba (Medair Photo)

According to the Under-secretary of the Federal Ministry of Health, Essam al-Din Mohamed, 55 people died from watery diarrhea and 2619 cases have been reported across Sudan, with Blue Nile State is the highest in the number of infections.

State Minister for Health, Sumia Akad said that the reported cases are below the normal average and the number of cases admitted to the 30 centers assigned for the epidemic control were 31 cases on Wednesday, 19 cases on Thursday and 8 cases on Friday.

The federal state minister is visiting the Blue Nile state after media reports and statements by the opposition parties about cholera outbreak in the troubled region where the government forces carry out a counterinsurgency military campaign on the SPLM-N rebels.

In statements to the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA) during her tour to the health centers and dispensaries the minister said that 27 centers did not report any new cases on Friday.

Last week , Federal Ministry of Health acknowledged that hundreds of people in Blue Nile State were infected by watery diarrhea caused by (E. coli) bacteria stressing that the epidemic in not cholera.

“The emergency health room will continue its efforts and more units of water purification would be added,” stressed Akad who also praised the role of youth women and students groups participating actively in the local efforts to raise awareness and prevent the spread of the disease.

The minister pointed that the federal government has provided sprayers, pesticides, drugs and garbage collection vehicles to enhance environment health in two of Blue Nile State localities.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

September 23, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urged the European Union (EU) to closely watch Eritrea over gross human rights violations by the regime which Some of these violations may constitute crimes against humanity.

Eritrean president, Isias Afewerki (AFP Photo)

RSF issued the statement while paying tribute to the 11 Eritrean journalists held indefinitely in inhuman conditions since September 2001.

The 2001 crackdown against journalists in Eritrea came one year after the country ended a bloody war with its larger neighbour, Ethiopia, over border dispute.

On September 2001, some 15 high-ranking officials from the ruling People's Front for Democracy party wrote a protest letter to President Isaias Afwerki calling him for reform, implement the constitution and conduct national elections.
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The open letter further blames the president for going to war with Ethiopia which claimed the lives of 70,000 people.

They said the war was unnecessary and accused the president of taking actions that were “illegal and unconstitutional”.

The protest letter which shortly led to the arrest of the then known as G-15 was widely published by a number of independent Media leading to arrest of editors of all the independent print media.

The government also shut down all independent media in Eritrea.

This month marks 15 year in jail without charge for the 11 journalists.

A report last year by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea said the regime in Asmara is responsible for systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations.

The grave human right violations the report said have created a climate of fear in which dissent is stifled, a large proportion of the population is subjected to forced labour and imprisonment, and hundreds of thousands forced to flee the country.

With this regard RSF urged the European Union, which is trying to normalize its relations with Asmara, to not close its eyes to actions that constitute crimes against humanity and violations of the Eritrean population's fundamental rights.

“We also address this message to the EU governments that are negotiating a return to normal relations with Asmara without asking about political prisoners and human rights,” RSF said.

The rights group said at least 15 journalists are currently detained arbitrarily in Eritrea but the number might be higher because no information emerges from the secretive nation.

Extrajudicial killings, widespread torture, sexual slavery are also among right abuses long been reported by right groups.

Western governments have lately shown a clear interest to normalize relations with the reclusive East African nation as part of their strategy to stem a huge flow of Eritrean refugees to European soil.

“The EU cannot close its eyes to the Eritrean government's countless violations, which a UN Human Rights Council report in June described as ‘crimes against humanity.' The EU cannot adopt a conciliatory position towards the Afeworki regime” it added.

Among the arrested journalists seven are believed to have died in detention.

“We call on President Afeworki to stop persisting in these arbitrary and repressive practices and to free the journalists who are still imprisoned,” RSF said.

“The freedoms of Eritrea's citizens have been constantly flouted for the past 15 years on the grounds of national security and the eternal conflict with Ethiopia”

“The president says his priority is development. You cannot have sustainable development without an open society in which the justice system functions and freedoms are respected,” it added.

Eritrea has been ranked last out of 180 countries in RSF's World Press Freedom Index every year for the past eight years.

Referred by right groups as the North Korea of Africa, the Red Sea nation is one of the world's most repressive states.

Currently there are an estimated 10,000 political prisoners in atrocious conditions in different prison facilities across the country where they remain subjected to different forms of abuses.

(ST)