Sudan Tribune

September 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese government Sunday it would close border with the South Sudan if the government of President Salva Kiir does not implement its pledge to expel Sudanese armed groups waging war in the two Areas and Darfur.

Last August Khartoum and Juba said that First Vice President Taban Deng Gai discussed during his meetings with the Sudanese officials the presence of rebel group in South Sudan and pledged to take tangible measures within three weeks.

Last week, South Sudanese Army Spokesperson, Lul Ruai Koang, told Sudan Tribune that they will expels rebels fighting its northern neighbour once it receives directives from the high command.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kamal Ismail said South Sudan's First Vice President Taban Deng Gai pledged during his recent visit to Khartoum to expel rebel movements from its territory within 21 days.

"Juba's failure to commit itself to this agreement entails stopping the transit of humanitarian aid through Sudanese territory to the South Sudan," he said in statements to the semi-official Sudanese Media Centre (SMC).

The minister further stressed that they are closely monitoring and watching Juba's decision on this respect.

"South Sudanese political authorities have to take a clear decision providing to expel (rebel) movements" and "there is no excuse for those who have been warned." he stressed.

Khartoum and Juba trade accusations of support to rebel groups since the secession of South Sudan in July 2011.

The peace agreement on the resolution of the South Sudanese conflict signed in August 2015 provides that the transitional government in Juba would expel Sudanese armed movement.

However hopes for the implementation of the peace agreement fade and observers say Machar group is preparing for a new war against the government in Juba.

(ST)

September 18, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - A vehicle belonging to the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) had run over a seven-year old girl in Malit town, 60 kilometers north of El-Fasher the capital of North Darfur state.

A UNAMID peacekeeper from from Burkina Fasso and based in Forobaranga, West Darfur, checks a map during a patrol to Tamar village. (Photo UNAMID/Albert González Farran)

Ahmed al-Tijani Adam, the victim's uncle told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that UNAMID's patrol vehicle has run over his niece Marwa al-Tijani Adam Idriss , saying she was killed on the spot.

“They didn't stop after the accident … they fled the scene without helping her … the members of the patrol didn't stop to relief her which led to her immediate death” he said.

“We informed the police and we went to the UNAMID's headquarters and they said the [vehicle] didn't stop because there was no interpreter among the patrol members” he added.

UNAMID officials were not reachable for comment on the incident.

A security source, who spoke to Sudan Tribune on the condition of anonymity, attributed the accident to the over-speeding and reckless driving, pointing that traffic accidents by UNAMID vehicles have lately increased.

“It is noted that UNAMID troops continued to flee after committing car accidents” he said

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.

(ST)

By James Okuk, PhD

As my part-time top boss at University of Juba, I would like to thank the Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Akec for keeping his private hobby of public writing. Many intellectuals of South Sudan and in many other African Countries abandon their hobbies when they become bosses. He needs to be appreciated and encouraged to keep up this consistency and freedom of expression.

What attracted my attention is Prof. Akec's reference to St. Augustine and Thomas Hobbes to justify his apologetic defence of Juba's suspicion and reservation on the awaited Regional Protection Force. I'm saying this because I have been a lecturer of “Comparative Political Thought” in the esteemed University of Juba since 2012, both to Arabic and English patterned students of the Department of Political Science.

The evolution of political thought, some of which are practiced in many countries to date, is an area I have admired with great interest. Thus, I must thank the electronic engineer, Prof. John Akec, for becoming an active participant in the classic political field, though. I would have wished to invite him to attend a special lecture on the context and content on St. Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Hobbes and Jean Bodin who had put forward some rigorous political thinking in the history of human governance, especially in regard to ‘Sovereignty and the Sovereign' in time of ‘Peace' and ‘War'.

Those great thinkers of the middle ages in Europe were concerned much about “Sovereignty of the Monarch”. This political situation was broadened and cemented by the Treaty of Westphalia (October 1648) that legitimised the limited European Nation-States' Systems and Principles between the Holy Roman Emperor and the King of France and their respective Allies.

However, the French Revolution (known also as the people's bread revolution) and the American Declaration of Independence (known also as the people's land revolution) made the Westphalia Treaty irrelevant for constitutional liberalism and democratisation of the modern nation-states. The Centre of 'Sovereignty' shifted from 'I the King for the State' to 'We the People for the Nation'.

The sovereignty as far as St. Augustine and Thomas Hobbes were concerned was about “I the King” only with disregard to the centrality of the people and their dignified livelihood welfare. Is this what Prof. John Akec is trying to argue for South Sudan now?

Even Hobbes conditioned the necessity of the sovereign and the government on “not killing the subjects and also not instilling fear in them”. The Hobbesian Leviathan was for absolute peace and security of the people. Once the sovereign and the government break this condition, then they should immediately lose the value to continue ruling the nation in a state.

St. Augustine has also conditioned the sovereignty on 'Peace and Justice', with permissible 'War of a Just Cause', conducted through right intention, declared by a competent authority with good faith, and using proportional military force while discriminating the non-combatant citizens (i.e women, children, the elderly, the clergy, etc.) from the warriors of the sinful 'City of Man' who are being punished by divine authority to repent and return to goodness of 'City of God' for everlasting eternal grace. Once peace and justice is denied to the citizens, then the sovereign and government should be prayed upon for divine fire of deposition and salvation for a new replacement.

Jean Bodin defined sovereignty as “Absolute”, “Indivisible” and “Complete”, the attributes which are not nearer to the situation of the divided South Sudan on the power of their current government.

Therefore, Prof. Akec shouldn't kindly misquote these intellectual historical giants to mislead the public about ‘sovereignty' and how UN Protection Force is “Trusteeship” in another name. If the Prof. Is not yet aware and informed about the matter, let him now know that the UN Charter since the end if World War II in 1945 doesn't allow ‘UN Trusteeship” for an independent state with full UN and other regional organisations memberships.

The UN Charter and AU Constitutive Act predicate the modern sovereignty on: a)Protection of the population without discrimination, b) Undivided loyalty of the citizens to the state, c) Enforceability of government powers in all the jurisdictional and integral territory, d) Cooperation with the UN and other international and regional bodies based on treaties, mutual recognition and other legitimate obligations, and e) Viability of the state and sustainability of its government among other nations.

Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (December 1933) is what has defined the modern and contemporary state, not necessarily the traditional medieval nation-state any longer. Article (1) defines a state as a person of international law that possesses a) permanent population (i.e, not Refugees or IDPs), b) a defined territory, c) government, and d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

Also the Westphalia principles of equality of states, non intervention of one state in the internal affairs of another state and "forgiving the sins of the past" are no longer practiced in vacuum, especially when the UNSC, in accordance with the UN Charter, defines a situation as ‘threat to international peace and security' as it came out in Resolution Number 2304 (2016) and acts via a "peace-keeping" long-term strategy or "peace-enforcement" emergency response in accordance with the principle of "the Responsibility to Protect".

The Republic of South Sudan should not be made an exception on the evolution of the power of multilateral diplomacy and international relations. The Juba Varsity Prof. Akec has missed the intellectual goal that a professor shouldn't afford to mess up with.

The Regional Protection Force and UNMISS-Plus is not and can't turn into a formal trusteeship force in South Sudan because their mandate is clear and supplementarily limited to restoring the direly needed peace and security environment in the embattled country from all fronts.

That was why Juba signed a Joint Communique on 4th September 2016 with the UNSC Members who came to the country for first hand information and experience of the gravity of the situation.

Dr. James Okuk is a lecturer of politics in University of Juba reachable at okukjimy@hotmail.com.

September 17, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudan People's Liberation Movement -North (SPLM-N) and several doctors unions affiliated to opposition parties have urged the government to declare an outbreak of cholera in the Blue Nile State a national emergency and to allow local and international response.

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

Sudanese government is refusing to declare a suspected outbreak of cholera an epidemic despite the deaths of over 17 people. Health officials are insisting that the disease is acute watery diarrhoea - a symptom of cholera -, pointing it is under control.

The government, nonetheless, has officially admitted 614 cases of " acute watery diarrhoea", while unofficial reports say cholera death toll has risen to over 100 cases.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, SPLM-N Chairman Malik Agar Saturday called on the government to acknowledge cholera outbreak in the Blue Nile state, to take rapid action and provide urgent medical support to people in the areas affected by the epidemic.

Agar said he "contacted a number of specialists and doctors in connection with the deteriorating health situation in the Blue Nile, and beyond reasonable doubt he made sure that the cholera epidemic is spreading quickly, while the government lack of interest rises to the level of criminal negligence".

He further called on the regional and international organizations to pay attention to what is happening in the Blue Nile State , adding that "the government's silence is to be added to the crimes of the regime.".

The SPLM-N rebels are fighting the government of President Omer al-Bashir in South Darfur and Blue Nile states since June 2011.

An African Union mediation team is brokering a process to end the five-year conflict. The ongoing efforts for a cessation of hostilities aim to allow humanitarian access to the war affected areas and to pave the way for an all-parties constitutional conference.

Opposition doctors unions of the Sudanese Communist Party (SCP), Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and the National Umma Party (NUP) released statements about the alarming situation in the Blue Nile State and asserted that all the indicators strongly suggest that the spread of diarrhea is the result of infection with the cholera bacterium.

The practitioners further called on the decision-makers to put aside political "tricks" and to deal in a professional manner with the outbreak in line with preventive medicine and public health rules.

Cholera is an intestinal infection caused by consuming food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The bacteria can cause severe diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to death, so treatment needs to be swift.

(ST)

September 17, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid has accused political and armed opposition of lack of seriousness and stressed that peace and political talks would stop by the end of the national dialogue conference which will start on October 10th.

Last August, after a week of negotiations over a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements, the African Union mediation suspended the discussions between the government and rebels in Sudan's two areas and Darfur region.

On Friday, the rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Gibril Ibrahim disclosed they requested the mediation to dedicate more time for the preparations of the upcoming round of talks, adding no date has been determined yet for its resumption.

Hamid, who addressed the meeting of the Political Parties Affairs Council (PPAC) on Saturday, said the government has been working for years to achieve security, stability and permanent peace.

“However, the opposition forces, driven by foreign agendas, are not serious in their endeavors to achieve the desired peace,” he said.

He underlined that negotiations with all political and armed opposition would stop following the end of the national dialogue.

“No party would be allowed to access power through the force of arms, [they could only do that] by resorting to the ballot boxes that are determined by the Sudanese people,” he said.

Hamid renewed the commitment of the presidency to implement the outcome of the national dialogue in order to strengthen the domestic front and the government institutions and to give all political forces the opportunity to participate in the power by creating a political system that could achieve stability in the country.

In January 2014, President Omer al-Bashir called on political parties and armed groups to engage in a national dialogue to discuss four issues, including ending the civil war, allowing political freedoms, fighting against poverty and revitalising national identity.

Launched on 10 October 2015 for three months, the dialogue process was initially expected to wind up in January 2016 but it was delayed until October 10th.

The opposition groups refuse to join the process and call on the government to implement a number of confidence building measures aimed to create a suitable atmosphere for dialogue. But the government refuses their claims.

The presidential aide accused opposition forces of making poor excuses to stall the talks time and again, saying the government has made a number of concessions during the negotiations on the Roadmap Agreement.

Last month, four groups from the opposition umbrella Sudan Call including the National Umma Party, Sudan People's Liberation Movement /North, Justice and Equality Movement and Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minnawi signed the Roadmap Agreement for peace and dialogue brokered by the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP).

The four groups had initially rejected the peace plan which was signed by the government last March, saying it excludes other opposition groups, and omits important confidence building measures such as political freedoms and release of political detainees and prisoners.

However after five months, they agreed to ink it after receiving reassurance from the head of the AUHIP Thabo Mbeki.

(ST)

September 17, 2016 (JUBA) - A United Nations-mandated human rights commission has expressed “deep concern” over rights violations and the slow implementation of the August 2015 peace agreement between rival political factions in South Sudan.

The delegation which has been on a one-week visit to South Sudan said the implementation of the peace agreement has not been going on well following the 8 July clashes in Juba, coupled with human rights violations.

“We are deeply concerned at the slow progress on the implementation of the provisions of the Peace Agreement which is fundamental to ending the conflict, human rights violations and normalization of the lives of South Sudanese,” Yasmin Sooka, the Chairperson of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, told reporters in the country's capital, Juba on Friday.

The Commission was established in March this year by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council and comprises two other members Kenneth Scott and Godfrey Musila. The Commission has been tasked with, among other mandates, monitoring and reporting on the situation of human rights in South Sudan and make recommendations for its improvement.

According to a statement, the three Commission members travelled throughout South Sudan from 8 to 15 September, holding exchanges with the government officials, the judiciary, the legislative assembly, the diplomatic corps, UN actors, civil society organizations and internally displaced persons (IDPs) taking shelter at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Protection of Civilians Site (PoC).

In early July, close to the fifth anniversary of the country's independence, the youngest nation in the world was plunged into fresh violence due to clashes between rival forces – the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), loyal to President Kiir, and the SPLA in Opposition, backing former First Vice-President Riek Machar. That led to deaths and injuries and a mass displacement of civilians, also undermining the implementation of the peace agreement between the political rivals in August 2015, which formally ended their differences.

An earlier report of the United Nations last week blamed President Salva Kiir and his army's chief, Paul Malong Awan, for ordering the recent renewed fighting in Juba, which has threatened the collapse of the peace deal.

“We travelled to Bentiu and made a stop in Malakal. The visit proved to be extremely useful as we were able to visit the Malakal UNMISS PoC site housing IDPs and obtained an extensive briefing on the human rights situation there,” said the rights delegation's statement.

The Commission said it observed the deplorable conditions under which IDPs live, but it could not visit the PoC site in Juba for security reasons. It however held a meeting with the site's leadership on the human rights situation and the violations and abuses reportedly committed in Juba.

The Commission also said it held two meetings with women in the PoC sites where they were able to hear directly from women on the human rights situation and the human rights violations and abuses they had suffered, including gang rape by armed men in uniform.

In meetings with Government officials, the Commission members touched on critical issues of accountability, particularly in respect of previous and current investigations and inquiries that the government has either conducted, instituted or committed to, the press release said, noting that these issues included the establishment of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, the Bill amending the Penal Code to incorporate international crimes and the establishment of the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing.

“Overall, we remain concerned by the diminishing space for journalists and civil society members who are subject to intimidation and harassment; by the lack of access for UNMISS and humanitarian actors to reach the most vulnerable; the escalation of sexual violence against women and girls,” it said.

“Above all, we are concerned about the ongoing impunity and lack of accountability for serious crimes and human rights violations in South Sudan, without which lasting peace cannot be achieved,” it added.

The three members are currently in Addis Ababa for meetings with high-level officials from the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, and the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission and will later travel to Uganda to interact with South Sudanese refugees and for further meetings in connection with their mandate.

The Commission revealed that it plans to return to South Sudan later this year before reporting to the Human Rights Council in March 2017.

(ST)

September 17, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Federica Mogherini, has appointed ambassador Jean-Michel Dumond as Head of the EU Delegation to Sudan.

EU's ambassador to Sudan Jean-Michel Dumond (EU Photo)

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Saturday, the EU delegation to Sudan said that Dumond has arrived in Khartoum on September 13th, pointing he is expected to present his credentials to the Sudanese government in the coming days.

The French diplomat, who succeeded former Czech envoy Tomas Ulicny, was previously serving as Head of the EU Delegation to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He also served as ambassador of France to Nigeria and had been posted to Germany, Italy and Romania.

“Ambassador Dumond was also Director for Common Foreign and Security Policy and Deputy-Director for Western Europe at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He devoted a part of his career to the Francophonie” said the statement.

The statement added that the role of Dumond is “to represent the EU in Sudan, to ensure the enhancement of bilateral relations, to promote the values and interests of the European Union, notably peace, democracy, and respect for human rights through political dialogue, development cooperation and humanitarian assistance to the people of the Sudan”.

(ST)

September 17, 2016 (BENTIU) - A delegation of 35 members from South Sudan's armed opposition loyal to First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai are in Northern Liech, one of the country's new states on peace deal implementation.

Taban Deng Gai addresses delegates after he was sworn-in as South Sudan FVP inside the Presidential Palace in the capital of Juba, July 26, 2016 (Photo Reuters/ Jok Solomun)

Former Mayom county commissioner, John Bol Mayak, said the visiting team discussed a number of issues on with state officials.

“We are happy to receive the delegations, and we now pledge to the general public that the Northern Liech state is for peace,” said Mayak, now a state security advisor.

Last month, he said, the state received several members of the country's armed forces under the command of Lt. Gen Dor Manjuor as a sign of peace in the country.

Former Unity state security advisor, Manyiew Dak led the delegation, comprising of several senior SPLM-IO members.

Dak separately told Sudan Tribune that he led the over 35-member delegation to Bentiu to spread messages of peace and assure them of the peace implementation.

“Our coming to the state was to assure people and government officials that peace must be implemented in line with Taban Deng Gai's appointment as the first vice president of the republic of South Sudan,” he said.

Dak stressed that the people of Northern Liech state were for peace, which he said must be embraced by all citizens.

“It is time for us to leave Riek Machar alone and his groups. We assure you that through Gen. Taban Deng and President Salva Kiir, peace will be achieved without any obstacle,” he said.

The armed opposition delegation, officials told Sudan Tribune, will move around the counties informing the public about new development for peace in the country.

(ST)

September 17, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Over 2,000 South Sudanese refugees relocated from Khor Omer to Kario camp in Sudan's East Darfur state, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), said in a new report.

The relocation of the refugees reportedly began on 20 August and as of 9 September, 2,173 refugees from Khor Omer camp had been moved to the new camp.

According to UNHCR, Kario camp, which is located about 45km south of Ed Daein, was selected by authorities to host the refugees coming from the Northern Bahr el Ghazal area of South Sudan.

“The relocation will help decongest Khor Omer and ensure better access to basic services including access to water, sanitation and health services and other assistance in Kario,” the agency said.

Those relocated have reportedly also received shelter materials.

As of 31 August, the total number of South Sudanese in Sudan had exceeded 247,000, the refugee agency said, adding that fluctuating figures in some refugee hosting locations is due to the internal movement of refugees within Sudan, particularly in East Darfur and the Kordofan states where refugees have been seeking seasonal labour.

Meanwhile, over 6,000 South Sudanese were moved by local authorities between 18-19 August, from three open areas in Jabrona sites, located in Ombeda locality (Omdurman) to a new site in Nivasha, 15km from the Jabrona, the UN agency said.

UNHCR, however, said it was not consulted on the relocation of the refugees, but added that it was monitoring the situation closely.

The UN refugee agency said it was engaged in dialogue with the Sudanese Federal Civil Registry to promote the issuance of birth certificates for South Sudanese children born in Sudan.

“Authorities in White Nile and South Kordofan States have indicated they are ready to issue certificates, which UNHCR welcomes,” it said, adding it is currently following up with the authorities at state levels.

(ST)

September 17, 2016 (JUBA) - A senior official at South Sudan's information ministry says it has no knowledge about the recent closure of an independent English daily newspaper.

South Sudan's information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, speaks to reporters in Jonglei state capital Bor on 25 December 2014 (ST)

South Sudan's director general of information, Paul Jacob Kumbo, said he was unaware of the decision behind closure of the Nation Mirror newspaper.

"I cannot say anything about this because I am not unaware of the reasons for which the paper you are talking about was closed. So I cannot also comment on when it will resume. It is the responsibility of the national security and they are the ones to decide," he said.

He was reacting days after the Juba-based newspaper was closed by authorities.

The decision by operatives drew a significant attention of the media advocacy group and the international organizations advocating for upholding of freedom of expression as well as right to gathering and disseminating information in the interest of the public.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), in a statement issued on Thursday, called on South Sudan authorities to immediately re-open the paper. The statement was in reaction to reports that security services ordered the independent daily to close.

"The newspaper's editor, Aurelions Simon Cholee says security officials summoned editors and accused them of "engaging in activities that are incompatible with the newspaper's registration status," but did not offer further explanation.

Cholee said that authorities ordered the Nation Mirror closed and did not specify when it would be able to resume publication. The paper's website was last updated on 13 September.

In its most recent edition, the Nation Mirror covered a report by The Sentry, a Washington advocacy group, which alleged that President Salva Kiir and his rival, the former vice president Riek Machar, had amassed enormous wealth and invested it in multimillion dollar properties abroad, while a conflict triggered by a dispute between the pair has left many citizens in South Sudan living in poverty.

"President Salva Kiir's government should immediately allow the Nation Mirror to resume publication," said Murithi Mutiga, CPJ's East Africa representative.

"South Sudan needs more, not fewer, independent and critical voices. Preventing professional journalists from doing their work will not advance efforts to build a democratic and stable South Sudan," he added.

The Nation Mirror was closed before. In February 2015, CPJ documented how National Security Service agents seized a print run and issued a publishing ban after the paper was accused of printing anti-government reports.

The media environment in South Sudan has deteriorated in recent months. CPJ reported in July that the major daily, Juba Monitor, was ordered closed and its editor, Alfred Taban, was arrested after he wrote a column critical of both Kiir and Machar.

(ST)

September 17, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Gibril Ibrahim Friday disclosed they requested the African Union mediation to dedicate more time for the preparations of the upcoming round of talks adding no date has been determined yet for its resumption.

Last August, after a week of negotiations with the government over a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements the mediation suspended the discussions between the warring parties in Sudan's two areas and Darfur region.

Sudanese officials recently expected the resumption of talks soon, and announced a visit by the head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki to Khartoum ahead of the negotiations.

However , JEM leader who is currently visiting the French capital Paris told Sudan Tribune that no date has been yet determined. He further said they informed an AUHIP delegation during a recent meeting held in Kampala they would not join the negotiating table before the good preparations for the short rounds of negotiations the mediation used to hold.

He said together with Minni Minnawi the leader of Sudan Liberation Movement faction, they recommended to not call for a new round of talks without good preparations and making every diplomatic effort to narrow the gaps between the parties.

Ibrahim further told a limited number of journalists and activists that they asked the mediation not to set a deadline for the negotiations. " We told them if there is a problem in the means, the mediation should search further funding."

"So, no specific date has been fixed for the resumption of negotiations," he concluded.

The talks on peace in Darfur between the Sudanese government, JEM and SLM-MM are stalled over four points: the rebel rejection of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD), the determination of the exact location of their sites, release of the prisoners of war and the establishment of a mechanism to monitor the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

JEM leader explained they asked to open the DDPD for negotiations to review some issues but the government refused. Following what they proposed to keep the framework agreement aside and to negotiate new deal but the government also rejected their proposal.

"That means there would be no political or economic discussions and we would only negotiate security arrangements and power sharing protocols," he stressed, pointing they are interested in justice and reforms.

According to Ibrahim the mediation held a separate meeting in Kampala with the Sudan People's Liberation Movement to discuss the differences between them and the Sudanese government on the humanitarian access, as they diverge over the delivery of 20% of the aid from Ethiopia.

He confirmed 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 Sudan revolutionary Front stressed that the good coordination between the opposition forces, which include political and military groups, is needed more than any structural reforms.

He also, the preparatory or the strategic meeting between the government and opposition groups will discuss the other confidence building measures besides the humanitarian truce such as the release of prisoners and ensuring public freedoms through the suspension of the National Security Act of 2010.

The meeting will discuss the participation of the "Call of Sudan" and other opposition forces in a comprehensive and genuine national dialogue and how to enable them to implement its outputs. This requires restructuring the National Congress Party controlled process in Khartoum, he added.

He regretted that some opposition groups decided to boycott the negotiations with the government before too fulfill a number of conditions saying they want to bring these preconditions on the negotiating table.

Some groups of the National Consensus Forces refused to take part in the African Union brokered negotiations before the creation of a conducive environment and the acceptance of Bashir's government to form a transitional cabinet to implement the outcome of the national dialogue.

(ST)

September 16, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan's President, Salva Kiir, has extended an official invitation to the president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, expressing willingness to implement the collapsing peace agreement which he signed with his former first deputy, Riek Machar, in August last year.

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma (R) shakes hands with the visiting South Sudanese President Salva Kiir at his office in Pretoria on 24 October 2015 (Photo Moses Lomayat)

South Africa is one of the countries in the continent which played a supportive role to the regional led mediation to reunite fragmented ruling party in South Sudan, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), and to end the 21 months of civil war.

The invitation was delivered by the new First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, who went to South Africa last week in an attempt to solicit support from the South African government and its ruling African national congress (ANC).

The support-seeking mission was based on the promise to implement the agreement and Arusha reunification of the SPLM.

The newly appointed Minister of Petroleum, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, who acted as spokesperson during the visit to South Sudan, told reporters on Thursday upon arrival at Juba airport that the visit to South Africa was to discuss bilateral issues between the two countries and solicit recognition of the controversial leadership of the new vice president, Gai, who replaced Machar in July.

He said the South African president has accepted the invitation from president Kiir to discuss bilateral issues in Juba.

"The invitation has been accepted and President Zuma will be visiting South Sudan soon to show solidarity with the people of South Sudan and also the implementation of the agreement and all the bilateral issues," announced Gatkuoth.

He said Gai, while in South Africa, met his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, to deliver an invitation from President Kiir to Jacob Zuma.

South Africa, he said, has been training South Sudanese on state and national administration and project implementation and still wants to continue with these trainings as part of its support to the young country.

(ST)

September 16, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Three students were killed and two others injured on Thursday by armed groups in the locality of Kass, 86 km west of South Darfur capital, Nyala.

Hundreds of the victims' relatives have traced the perpetrators while the state's security committee held an emergency meeting to take the legal measures to bring the culprits to justice.

A traditional administration leader in the locality of Kass, who spoke to Sudan Tribune on the condition of anonymity, said 3 armed groups have deliberately shot 5 high schools students in Diginj area, 15 km south of Kass, pointing that 3 of them died immediately and 2 others sustained serious wounds and were transferred to Nyala Teaching Hospital.

He added the students were spending Eid al-Adha vacation with their families.
The same source pointed that the killing incident was carried out by armed groups who have seized homes and lands of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Shattaya area, stressing the same groups had threatened to obstruct the peace and social coexistence conference which was recently held in the area.

“The armed groups have bluntly said they don't recognize the Shattaya conference even if [its recommendations] are signed by the President of the republic” said the source.

He pointed the negative activities of the armed groups have significantly increased following the signing of the social and peaceful conference recommendations in clear defiance of the state government.

The same source said they submitted a formal complaint to the governor's office in Nyala demanding him to put an end to the outlaws who prevent the return of the IDPs to their original villages and undermine security, stressing the need to deploy troops to protect the residents according to the recommendations of the Shattaya conference.

Last August, the Shattaya conference for peaceful coexistence was held under the auspices of the Sudanese Presidency in order to encourage voluntary return of the IDPs in South Darfur.

The conference called for the need to end control of the armed militias and new settlers and hand over lands and villages to the IDPs.

On Wednesday, Governor of South Darfur state Adam al-Faki said that arrangements are underway for the visit of President Omer al-Bashir to the locality of Shattaya to attend the social peace conference.

Al-Faki pointed that 113 IDPs have received their original homes and lands in the locality of Shattaya, vowing to reinstate all residents' rights in the locality.

He accused those who seek to achieve personal interests of obstructing peace efforts, stressing they would deal with them decisively.

UN agencies estimate that over 300,000 people were killed in Darfur conflict since 2003, and over 2.5 million were displaced.

(ST)

September 16, 2016 (JUBA) – Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in South Sudan has introduced new measures which restrict medical referrals abroad due to the ongoing economic crisis in the young country.

South Sudan minister Stephen Dhieu Dau (Getty photo)

Minister of Finance, Stephen Dhieu Dau, in an order issued on Wednesday, said there is no budget allocated for medical referrals this year. He said any claims of payment for the referrals has therefore been cancelled.

“All requests for payments and claims from all public institutions, meant for treatment of public officials outside the country are hereby cancelled by this order until the approval of 2016/2017 Financial Year Budget,” Minister Dau wrote in the statement dated 14 September.

“Any public institution or agency that intends to budget for medical referrals must also be done in controlled and verifiably admissible cases,” he further directed in the order seen by Sudan Tribune.

The country has been spending hundreds of thousands of US dollars every year to refer abroad some of its officials for medical treatments. The new order instead suggested the need to improve on the existing hospitals in the country which can be used for the referrals instead of to abroad.

Dau said the ministry together with the ministry of health were working on mechanisms for future referrals.

It remains unclear how the country, hit by economic crisis, plans to secure funds for upgrading of the existing poorly equipped hospitals.

(ST)

September 16, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday said the number of South Sudanese refugees living in neighbouring countries “has this week passed the one million mark”.

South Sudanese refugees perform a traditional dance as President Omer Hassan al-Bashir addresses a crowd a rally held in Ed Daein, East Darfur, April 5, 2016. April 5, 2016. (Photo Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

UNHCR spokesperson Leo Dobbs told reporters in Geneva on Friday that South Sudan, with this milestone, joins Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia as countries which have produced more than a million refugees.

“Most of those fleeing South Sudan are women and children. They include survivors of violent attacks, sexual assault, children that have been separated from their parents or travelled alone, the disabled, the elderly and people in need of urgent medical care,” he said.

According to the UNCHR, more than 185,000 people have fled South Sudan since fresh violence erupted in the country in Juba on July 8.

Dobbs noted that “more than three quarters of the recent arrivals have crossed into Uganda, but a growing number of people have entered Ethiopia's western Gambella region in the past week and others have been heading to Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Central African Republic (CAR)”.

According to the UNHCR, “Uganda is hosting the lion's share of South Sudanese refugees, with 373,626, more than a third of them arriving since early July. They keep coming; over the past week more than 20,000 new arrivals were recorded, primarily through the Oraba crossing in the northwest”.

SUDAN SAYS RECEIVED HALF OF SOUTH SUDAN'S REFUGEES

Meanwhile, Sudan's refugee commission has put the number of South Sudanese refugees who arrived in Sudan at 500,000, saying most of them are living in the White Nile, East Darfur, West and South Kordofan states.

The Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS) on Friday said that 82,000 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in the gathering points in the localities of Al-Gabalain and Al-Salam since 2014.

SRCS executive director Osama Osman Talha pointed that 40 to 50 South Sudanese families arrive in Sudan daily through three crossing points in the White Nile state including Al-Migaines, Al-Kowaik and Joddah.

He added the refugees are received at eight gathering points, stressing the health conditions in these points are stable.

Talha further said that government organs, UN agencies and civil society groups provide all food and health services for the refugees.

In December 2013, Sudan's President Omer al-Bashir decided to treat South Sudanese refugees as citizens and refused establishing refugee camps for them, saying they can live and work all over Sudan.

However, earlier this month, Sudan decided to treat South Sudanese that fled the conflict in their country as refugees, enabling United Nations to provide assistance and raise funds for aid operations.

(ST)

September 16, 2016 (JUBA) – The top leadership of the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) under the leadership of the former First Vice President, Riek Machar, will meet in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, in the next few days, opposition officials have confirmed.

South Sudan's former FVP Riek Machar, speaking to visitors at his residence in Khartoum, on 1 September 2016 (courtesy photo of SPLM-IO)

“Yes, our leadership will meet in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum. It will take place in the next few days,” confirmed James Gatdet Dak, opposition leader's spokesperson.

The gathering will be the first since 8 July when fighting erupted in the South Sudan's capital, Juba, between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and bodyguards of Machar.

Dak said the meeting will review the situation following the violence “which was ordered by Salva Kiir in an attempt to kill Dr. Riek Machar.”

The renewed war has threatened the collapse of the peace deal signed in August 2015 to end 21 months of the civil war that started in December 2013.

The opposition leader's spokesman said members of the political bureau and the national liberation council of the SPLM-IO have travelled from Juba, Kampala, Nairobi and Addis Ababa to take part in the Khartoum's consultative meeting.

He said the meeting may begin on Sunday or Monday.

Machar was transferred to Khartoum from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) after he was extracted by the United Nations at the South Sudan-DRC border.

He fled Juba during the July fighting and walked for 40 days to the neighbouring nation.

He was hospitalized in both DRC and Khartoum on "humanitarian grounds" due to swollen legs and extreme exhaustion.

His health has however stabilized and has been released from hospital weeks ago.

(ST)

By Eric Reeves

In both the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns, the Darfur region of western Sudan was an unlikely but entirely appropriate topic. After all, the U.S. Congress had—in a remarkable bipartisan, bicameral vote in July 2004—declared that what was occurring in Darfur at the hands of the Khartoum regime was “genocide.” So too did President George W. Bush, as did then-Secretary of State Colin Powell in a speech to the UN, citing a detailed and rigorous assessment by a nongovernmental human rights groups. The 2004 campaign of then-Senator John Kerry asked me to vet closely their own statement on Darfur.

In 2008 candidate Obama's campaign made much of Darfur and the continuing rape, slaughter, and displacement of civilians belonging to Darfur's African (non-Arab) tribal groups, a brutal counter-insurgency campaign conducted by Khartoum's regular and militia forces. At one moment in his campaign, Obama declared that Darfur was a “stain on our souls,” and vowed that as president, he did not “intend to abandon people or turn a blind eye to slaughter.” Candidate Hillary Clinton in 2008 also made strong statements about genocide in Darfur, and the issue actually emerged in one question posed in the final presidential debates of that year between John McCain and Obama.

In the campaign of 2016 there has been no mention of Darfur, hardly surprising for Donald Trump, given his vast deficit in knowledge of foreign policy issues. But there is nothing on the Clinton website, no public statement, no indication that she understands the current realities in Darfur are every bit as bad as when she was making her own unctuous declarations in 2008.

There are two reasons for this. The Darfur civil society movement in this country—as remarkable as any since the time of apartheid-era South Africa—had largely disappeared by the 2008 – 2009. The reasons for this are many, but central was the decision by the Obama administration to “de-couple” Darfur from the key bilateral issues between Washington and Khartoum, namely (1) the U.S. intelligence community's desire for counter-terrorism from a regime that remains one of three countries on the State Department's annual list of “State Sponsors of Terrorism”; (2) Khartoum's desperate desire to be removed from that list and to see the lifting of comprehensive economic sanctions first imposed during the presidency of Bill Clinton.

“De-couple” is not my word choice: it is that of a “senior administration official” referred to as such in a background interview given in November 2010 (for which there is an official State Department transcript). And though articulated explicitly only two years after Obama's election, it reflected policy priorities articulated by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Obama's first, disastrous choice for the role of Special Envoy for Sudan, Air Force Major-General (ret.) Scott Gration.

Gration had no diplomatic experience, no significant knowledge of Sudan or its history, or any relevant language other than English. His policy views were animated by the absurdly naïve belief, as reported by the Washington Post, that a regime of hardened génocidaires could be appealed to with “cookies”: “We've got to think about giving out cookies… Kids, countries—they react to gold stars, smiley faces, handshakes, agreements, talk, engagement."

Obama's Sudan policies have ensured that there is little interest in Darfur within his administration that is not guided by the lust for counter-terrorism intelligence. And yet the carnage continues, indeed has escalated significantly over the past four years, culminating this year in a savage assault on the civilians in the last rebel redoubt in the Jebel Marra mountains of central Darfur.

Reports from the past thirteen years of ethnically-targeted conflict strongly suggest that in excess of 500,000 people have been killed, directly or indirectly, by violence; more than 3 million Darfuris have been displaced from their homes—some 300,000 as refugees in the harsh environs of neighboring eastern Chad; tens of thousands of girls and women have been raped, often gang-raped, while those assaulting them hurl hateful racial epithets.

The violent expropriation of farmland that has also accelerated, ensuring that peace will be much more difficult to achieve than when Obama assumed office, despite his soaring campaign rhetoric of 2008. We hear nothing of this. Hillary Clinton is unlikely to speak about Sudan since she was Secretary of State when Darfur began to tip into greater violence. Donald Trump probably couldn't locate Darfur on a map, and all indications are that he would take no interest in Darfur [see “Political Postscript” below]. And debate moderators have either themselves forgotten Darfur or can't imagine it of interest to television viewers. Syria will serve as a surrogate for all “troubled regions.”

The brutal men in Khartoum will watch all this with the keenest interest as they contemplate their next offensive in Darfur, which—coincidentally—will begin in November, when the seasonal rains have ended. They will conclude that genocide is simply no longer a political issue of interest for the American people.

Political Postscript:

In almost eighteen years of committed research and advocacy for a just peace in greater Sudan, I have tried assiduously not to allow my work to be determined or influenced by American political issues unrelated to Sudan. The same is true for issues elsewhere in Africa and the Middle East, if unrelated to Sudan—this despite many requests for broadcast interviews. My view has been simple: I should speak about what I have come to know well over these years, and that partisanship cannot help advance the cause of Sudan in the United States, where Sudan has traditionally bi-partisan issue. I have at times been sharply critical of the Clinton administration, the George W. Bush administration, and most fiercely of the Obama administration.

But the candidacy of Donald Trump does not permit me to stay silent, given my primary concern at present for the people of Darfur—people who are universally Muslim; who are all “African” in the broadest sense, and “dark-skinned”; and who offer nothing of interest to a a Trump administration, should it be our great misfortune to see this “national disgrace” (to borrow the word's of Colin Powell, Secretary of State during a Republican administration) become president.

Trump's racism, his xenophobia—extending to a virulently anti-Muslim campaign rhetoric—and his stunning ignorance of world affairs (declaring, for example, in an ABC Television news interview that he would prevent Russian troop from entering Ukraine, despite the fact they are have been present since 2014)…all suggest that Darfur and Sudan as a whole would suffer greatly from policies guided by ignorance and hatred. Caring for the innocent civilians of Darfur and other marginalized regions of Sudan is a compelling reason not to vote for Donald Trump.

Eric Reeves has written extensively on Sudan for almost two decades; he is a Senior Fellow at Harvard University's François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights

September 15, 2016 (TORIT) - The assembly in Namorunyang, one of South Sudan's new states has re-opened for its second session after a three-month recess.

Namorunyang state governor Louis Lobong Lojore (ST)

Majority of lawmakers who spoke at the occasion agitated for institutional reforms.

The assembly speaker, Peter Bosco specifically urged lawmakers to cooperate with line ministries so that a policy statement can drafted as soon as possible.

Government institutions works when there is policy guideline to help them run their activities smoothly with progress in the states institutions, Bosco told the lawmakers.

He specifically appealed to lawmakers to pass resolution allowing the executive to perform.

“There can be no activities done by the executive without resolution passed in the parliament,” he stressed.

Meanwhile the state governor, Louis Lobong Lojore appealed to the country's lawmakers to work hard towards the development of new state by promoting peace and reconciliation.

“Now that we have been given a state of our own, I wholeheartedly want to inform the people of Namorunyang state that you have been given it with its responsibility”, said the governor.

He appreciated the work of humanitarian agencies for supporting vulnerable people with basic needs especially at a time when the young nation was faces a political and economic crisis.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

September 15, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – The Eritrean government has dismissed recent reports alleging that Saudi Arabia has transferred some 5,000 Yemeni militants to Eritrea for training in the Red Sea country.

A Houthi Shiite rebel carries his weapon as he joins others to protest against Saudi-led airstrikes at a rally in Sanaa, Yemen on 1 April 2015 (Photo: AP/Hani Mohamed)

The report released by the Fars news agency (FNA), an Iranian news agency, says that Riyadh is transferring the militants from Aden to Eritrea's Assab port to go under military trainings and then be sent to the Saudi provinces bordering Yemen.

“The terrorists, some of whom are from the Al-Qaeda, will be dispatched to Najran, Jizzan and Asir provinces to fight against the Yemeni army and popular forces and prevent their further advances in Southern Saudi Arabia,” the FNA said.

In reaction, the Eritrean government said the report is “a preposterous lie”.

“The allegation by Farsi News Agency represents a preposterous lie peddled for some ulterior motives,” said a statement issued by Asmara.

“Those who are familiar with the dynamics of the Horn of Africa/Middle East region know full well that Eritrea has been at the forefront – if not a pioneer – in the fight against Al-Qaeda and all the variants and off-shoots of this terrorist scourge,” the statement added.

The Eritrea government said as early as 1996, when imminent threat of Al-Qaeda was posed, Eritrea was locked in the fight against emerging plots and designs of the Ben-Laden group which was operating from the region at that point in time.

“Eritrea's unremitting and long-standing stance against terrorism is thus a matter of historical record,” it said..

The Saudi-led war against the Iranian- backed Shi'ite Houthi fighters in Yemen begun in 2015, after the internationally recognized President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi asked Arab countries for military assistance.

The request was made after an offensive by the Houthis who joined the former President Ali Saleh - ousted by Arab Spring protests in 2011 - and attacked the Hadi government at its provisional capital of Aden in March 2015.

(ST)

September 13, 2016 (JUBA) – The number of South Sudan's armed opposition fighters so far extracted from neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has reached over 750, according to the United Nations spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric.

“In addition to information we shared with you on Friday, the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), has continued to extract this group of individuals from the Garamba National Park in the DRC. Yesterday the Peacekeeping Mission extracted an additional 118 persons on humanitarian grounds,” Dujarric said in a statement.

“To date 752 individuals affiliated with the SPLM/A-IO have been extracted,” he added.

Among those extracted, he explained, 631 are in UN-run facilities in three locations inside the DRC, with some receiving medical treatment while others recovering from exhaustion.

“Security arrangements are in place in all locations,” Dujarric said.

He said the UN has continued to engage with both the DRC and the South Sudan authorities as well as regional actors to encourage them to find a solution to the presence of South Sudanese armed individuals in the territory of the DRC.

“Authorities of both countries are regularly informed of actions taken on the ground,” said Dujarric.

"All of those extracted were disarmed before boarding UN helicopters and the UN mission has those weapons secured," he further stressed.

The UN, however, reiterated that its operations were conducted on humanitarian grounds and within the role of contributing to stability in the DRC. It said authorities in South Sudan and of the DRC were all notified the UN's actions on the ground.

"The UN continues to engage with both DRC and South Sudan authorities to find a solution to the presence of South Sudan fighters within the territory of the DRC," said the UN official.

Meanwhile, the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) has confirmed that dozens of their officers who were extracted together with its leader Riek Machar in the DRC have already arrived in Pagak, the General Headquarters, at the Ethiopian border.

“Yes, some of our officers who were accompanying our leader from Juba to the DR Congo have already arrived in Pagak,” Machar's spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, told Sudan Tribune Tuesday.

He said officers who arrived in Pagak last week included military spokesman, Colonel William Gatjiath Deng, extracted together with Machar at DRC border on 17 August.

(ST)