Africa

The United Nations mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Monday paid tribute to the Tanzanian peacekeepers killed on 7 December in the worst attack on UN &#39blue helmets&#39 in recent history.

The armed conflict in Somalia continues to exact a heavy toll on civilians, damaging infrastructure and livelihoods, displacing millions of people, and impeding access to humanitarian relief for communities in need, according to a United Nations report launched today in the country&#39s capital, Mogadishu.

At least 14 United Nations &#39blue helmets&#39 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been killed and many more injured, in what the Secretary-General António Guterres described as the &#8220worst attack&#8221 on UN peacekeepers in recent history.

Mabel and Steven are now safely back in Nigeria after falling in love in a Libyan detention centre.

Teachers have quietly disappeared amid the fighting in CAR so parents step in to learn to lead classes.

The United Nations Security Council today adopted a resolution clarifying the ways in which the international community, including the UN mission Mali – known by its French acronym MINUSMA – is expected to provide support to a multi-country joint military force conducting counter-terrorist operations in the Sahel.

Nacalas International Airport in Mozambique operates at only 4% of its capacity.

December 7, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The rebel Sudan Liberation Movement Transitional Council (SLM-TC) called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to ensure the safety and security of prisoners of war from Darfur armed groups.

SLM Minni Minnawi (L) and Nimir Abdel Rahman sign a political agreement on 20 February 2015 (ST Photo)

Following coordinated attacks last May in North and South Darfur by the SLM TC and SLM-Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM), the Sudanese government have detained several commanders from the two group including the SLM-TC leader Nimir Abdel Rahman and SLM-MM spokesperson Mustafa Adroub.

"We call on the International Committee of the Red Cross and human rights organisations to intervene urgently to protect the rights of the prisoners from the Sudan Liberation Movement led by Minni Minnawi and the Transitional Council," said a statement extended to Sudan Tribune by the SLM-TC spokesperson Dreig Adam.

Adam further said their comrades who have been moved the detention centre of the national security service to Omdurman prison, are very affected by the torture and bad treatment they received during the past six months.

The rebel official further disclosed they handed over a letter to the ICRC on 30 November where they accused the government of "using banned chemical weapons".

The SLM-TC said the prisoners were subjected to various forms of torture by the government security services during the past six months. It further said that two prisoners had been killed under torture: Mohamed Suleiman (Rakona) and Zakaria Musa Mohamed, as others were wounded and have serious diseases.

The SLM-TC broke away of the SLM Abdel Wahid al-Nur two years ago. Recently, it signed a joint declaration of unilateral cessation of hostilities with the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and SLM-MM.

(ST)

December 7, 2017 (JUBA) - Goethe Institut, a German-based institute, has donated 200 books to the Aggrey Jaden Cultural Centre, which develops children through arts and music creativity.

Goethe Institut in Berlin (Getty)

At the center, children aged 5 to 13 years are taught art and craft, drawing and molding, formal education, music and tree planting.

“To keep children out of trouble or doing bad things after they come back from school or when they are on holidays, the after school program with music, African drum beating lessons for boys and girls keeps them busy till they go home in the evening,” the center said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

Lack of funds run these activities at the cultural center attracted the German embassy that saw Goethe Institut donate childrens' books.

Also, through the German embassy's small scale project fund, the cultural center had been earmarked to receive a simple solar backup system and a water tank, which will facilities its activities.

“Now, the centre can offer a new activity for the kids: 200 kids' books age 2 up to 15 are given by German Goethe Institut to the center. Story reading and self-reading time will be the new activity to encourage the children to read and learn”, the center further noted.

The Aggrey Jaden Cultural Center is a community-based non-profit cultural organization located in Juba. It was founded by a former administrator in the old Sudan in 1924, who passed on in 1985.

The centre was established with the aim and vision of changing peoples' lives by giving back to the community through art and music.

(ST)

December 7, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese opposition Thursday called for an international investigation into the recent clashes in North Darfur state between the government troops and the tribal militia of the Border Brigades Forces (BBF) led by Musa Hilal.

Within the framework of a weapons collection campaign, the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed Hilal headquarters in Mistiriyha after the killing of a commander of the government militia by the BBF on 27 November 2017.

As a result of the operation, Hilal, his sons and several senior BBF and tribal officials were arrested and transferred to Khartoum where they are held in the army detention centre. There were also reports of attacks human rights abuses against the civilians in Mistiriyha.

"The Sudan Call forces condemn the recent attacks by the government militias in Mistiriyha, and call for an immediate end of the war," said the opposition alliance which gathers the political parties and armed groups including those of Darfur region.

The alliance further called for a "transparent investigation carried out by the (hybrid peacekeeping operation) UNAMID and UN officials on the violations against unarmed civilians, children, elderly and women".

Hilal is accused of actively participating in the counterinsurgency operations led by the government forces during the first years of Darfur conflicts. However, the government now accuses him of colliding with the rebel groups to destabilize the region.

He refused to merge the BBF militia with the RSF which is part of the Sudanese army. The Mahameed leader is opposed to the appointment of another cousin as the RSF general commander considering it endangers his tribal leadership.

The opposition alliance which is a signatory of the Roadmap Agreement brokered by the African Union mediation to end the war and achieve democratic reforms also condemned the recent crackdown on the Sudanese newspapers.

They further called to release political detainees and expressed concern over the arbitrary detention of Naser Eldin Mukhtar a university student from Darfur region detained arrested by the security four months ago. Also, they condemned the political trial of Asim Omer, a university student accused of killing a police officer during a student demonstration in April 2016.

The opposition alliance called on the other "political partners" to "step up the resistance" adding they would propose a political platform for a joint action "to achieve the uprising of our people and overthrow the regime".

The African Union-mediated peace process between the government and the Sudan Call forces has been stalled for more than a year.

After the end of the national dialogue process in October 2016, the government proposes that the opposition join the constitutional process after the signing of a peace agreement.

The opposition remains divided over the move forward. Some are supportive to a proposition by the SPLM-N Agar to participate in the general elections of 2020 while others are doubtful saying they do not believe that the regime will accept a democratic transition and call for a popular uprising.

(ST)

December 7, 2017 (JUBA) – A senior United Nations official has urged peacekeepers and staffs to closely work with the vulnerable people in South Sudan if they were to gain the mutual trust and confidence.

The Victims' Rights Advocate for the United Nations, Jane Connors, speaking at a press conference in Juba, the capital of South Sudan (UN Photo/Isaac Billy)

Jane Connors, the UN Victims' Rights Advocate, said cases of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN personnel not only breaks down a relationship, but also destroys the trust communities have in the world body.

“It is conduct which is absolutely abhorrent and a conduct which is extraordinarily painful to its victims and undermines the UN itself and, of course, dents the trust that communities should have in the UN,” said Connors, at the end of her visit to the war-torn nation.

“It is about dignity for the victims, compassion, a real feeling of empathy, a feeling that they are not forgotten, that victims feel they can tell their story to someone like myself and, if they're lucky, to the Secretary-General as some have been able to do,” she added.

The senior UN official visited South Sudan to promote the importance of the “no excuses, zero tolerance” approach to UN personnel.

During her visit, Connors met victims and local authorities and spent time listening to the concerns of internally displaced persons residing at the UN Mission in South Sudan protection of civilians' sites.

“There should be no victims. Women and girls should not feel pain,” she told crowds of people at the Malakal camp in Upper Nile region.

“All I can say is the UN entities, funds, programmes, agencies and the Mission stand with you but you are in the lead to say no and act,” she added.

Last year, there were 103 allegations made against UN staff world over, with four them in South Sudan, according to the world body.

The low number, the UN said, could be due to reluctance on part of victims to report abuse because of the stigma attached, but it encourages reporting to that perpetrators are held accountable.

“Many victims are focused on their lives, as you know, legal processes take a long time and many victims wish to move on. They are interested in justice, but at the same time, they wish to rebuild their lives, move into a scenario whereby they feel valued, they are not stigmatized, and that is the approach we need to take,” said Connors.

“We need to ask the victim what she or he wants and not substitute our judgement, not say you need to do this, you need to do the other,” she added.

Three in five women at the UN-run protection of civilian sites around the South Sudan capital, Juba experienced rape or sexual assault, according to a 2016 UN report.

(ST)

December 7, 2017 (JUBA) - South Sudan president, Salva Kiir is not opposed to his main political rival and former Vice President, Riek Machar's participation in the revitalization forum, an aide said.

South Sudan's opposition leader Riek Machar speaks during a briefing in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa April 9, 2016 (Photo Reuters/ Tiksa Negeri)

Daniel Awet Akot, Kiir's advisor on military affairs, said the president is committed to bringing peace and ending the country's civil war.

“Because of his [Kiir] desire to stop the war, he has had to undertake numerous initiatives. He has declared unilateral ceasefire and released political prisoners, launched national dialogue; commit himself to reunification of the SPLM [Sudan People's Liberation Movement] and accept to participate in the IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] proposed revitalization forum without conditions, presidential adviser on military affairs”, he told Sudan Tribune Thursday.

Awet, a senior member of the ruling party's political bureau, also cited President Kiir's recent directives, which called for unhindered movement of humanitarian organisations to conflict areas, as a demonstration of his commitment to remove obstacles to peace.

“If there are people who think president Kiir is opposed to the participation of Riek Machar in the revitalization, let them tell you where he said it and to whom. For me, I am not aware”, he said.

Although the Juba government says it accepts Machar's participation in the revitalization forum, it is still unclear if the rebel leader will attend launch scheduled for 15 December in Ethiopia.

Government and opposition sources, in a series of interviews, said discussions were undergoing at higher levels to resolve how Machar will participate in the process.

Analysts say Machar participation at the forum in person is a divisive matter and this issue has been left to the IGAD heads of state to decide. Heads of states, they say, will either allow the rebel leader go to Ethiopia for the launch and participate in the revitalization like any other stakeholders and return to South Africa where he has been placed under house arrest for months or allow him stay in Ethiopia.

“This option is possible, the other option is to allow him choose his representatives and can participate in the revitalization forum through them,” a source with direct knowledge of out of public discussions on the matter, told Sudan Tribune Thursday.

“These options are the subject of the discussions at higher levels. The foreign ministers are now briefing their individual heads of state and getting responses”, he stressed.

In June, a summit of IGAD heads of state and government decided to convene a meeting of the signatories of the South Sudan peace agreement to discuss ways to revitalize the peace implementation. During the June summit, it was agreed that all groups be included in the discussion aimed at restoring a permanent ceasefire.

IGAD unveiled the timetable for the revitalization forum with South Sudanese leaders and the citizens, which ended on 17 October.

The South Sudanese government earlier warned that the revitalization forum by the regional bloc, which mediated the 2015 peace deal, should not be another platform for negotiations of the peace accord between the two factions to the conflict.

Over a million people have fled South Sudan since conflict erupted in December 2013 when President Kiir sacked Machar from the vice-presidency. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly two million displaced in South Sudan's worst violence since it seceded from Sudan in July 2011.

(ST)

December 7, 2017 (JUBA) - South Sudan president Salva Kiir has instructed all ministries and other public institutions to ensure all civil servants and the armed forces are paid before Christmas.

President Salva Kiir addresses the nation at the South Sudan National Parliament in Juba, November 18, 2015. (Photo Reuters/Jok Solomon)

Civil servants in South Sudan have not been paid for months, with the coalition government attributing this to lack of cash in the national treasury.

Sources knowledgeable about government operations say the little that comes from the oil exports have been channeled directly for security maintenance and peace mobilization efforts.

This money, they further claimed, ends up in the office of the President, First Vice President, Vice-President as well as in the hands of the few other influential ministers and officials in the country.

South Sudan's finance minister, Stephen Dhieu Dau said Thursday that the ministry was making preparations to implement the president's order before Christmas, but could not say when payments would be made and whether it would extend to states or only civil servants under the jurisdiction of the national government.

The country's petroleum minister, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth separately told Sudan Tribune that the South Sudanese leader indeed instructed the relevant ministries to pay civil servants before Christmas.

“We have received instructions from President Salva Kiir Mayardit. He [Kiir] has instructed me, the minister of petroleum and also the minister of finance Stephen Dhieu Dau to make sure that the salaries of civil servants are paid before Christmas,” said Gatkuoth.

“I wanted to inform the people of South Sudan that the instruction of the president will be implemented and the people of South Sudan will be paid their salaries before Christmas, so starting from next week they will be getting their salaries,” he added.

However, both the South Sudanese finance and oil ministers did not elaborate on the cause for delaying paying salaries of civil servants, who spent more than six working without being paid in spite of the rising living conditions.

In June, South Sudan recorded inflation of more than 800%, a situation which made the Juba government increasingly unable to pay civil servants and military forces.

(ST)

December 7, 2017 (KAMPALA) - Unknown gunmen shot and killed a South Sudanese lawmaker who was in Uganda to consult on the country's national dialogue initiative.

Officials said Jacob Kuwinsuk Gale, a member of parliament for Yei River state, died while being driven to a referral hospital in northern Uganda.

The state minister for information and culture, Alfred Kenneth Duku, said the deceased lawmaker was in the company of other people making consultations as part of the national dialogue for South Sudanese refugees in Uganda.

The incident, Duku said in a statement, occured on Wednesday evening.

South Sudan formed a National Peace Committee that regularly visits the refugee camps in northern Uganda as part of efforts to reach an agreement for repatriation.

The regional police spokesperson, Josephine Angucia confirmed the MP's death.

"It is true that he was shot on the head", she stated, adding that "The incident occured at around 7:00pm in Mijale sub-county in Yumbe district".

Angucia said a cartridge from the gun was recovered, but no arrests have been made.

"We advise that even the refugees should be conscious of the security and report cases of people having illegal guns. The body will be taken and buried by the relatives who stay in Yumbe," she stressed.

Gale, a lawmaker in Yei River state Transitional Legislative Assembly, served as the chairperson for members' affairs, gender and human rights committee.

No rebel group or individual has claimed responsibility for the lawmaker's killing.

Last week, two South Sudanese were beheaded in the northern Ugandan district of Moyo.

(ST)

A selection of the best photos from across and about Africa this week.

December 7, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese parliament has called on the Arab and Islamic countries to recognise the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital amid calls by some lawmaker to expel the U.S. chargé d'affaires.

A general view shows members of the Sudanese National Assembly holding an emergency meeting in Khartoum, July 2008 (file photo)

The upper and lower chambers of the Sudanese parliament held a joint meeting on Thursday to discuss the decision of President Trump to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel to the disputed town.

Palestine is not recognized as a state by the United Nations Security Council. But in 2015, 136 of the 193 member states of the United Nations and two non-member states have recognised the State of Palestine during the meeting of the General Assembly.

In an emergency session chaired by Ibrahim Ahmed Omar, the parliament called on all the Islamic parliaments to demand to their governments to recognize the existence of a state of Palestine with Jerusalem as the capital where they would establish their embassies.

The National Legislature also voiced its rejection to the recognition by the U.S. President Donald Trump of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, demanding that the Sudanese government and all Arab and Islamic governments take appropriate and strong measures to defeat the decision.

The call comes as the Turkish President and head of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a summit in Istanbul on December 13 to discuss Trump's decision.

Some Members of Parliament who are not from the ruling National Congress Party, however, called on the Sudanese government to take immediate tough measures against the United States including the expulsion of the U.S. chargé d'affaires.

Among the MPs who called to expel the U.S. envoy Kamal Omer a prominent member Popular Congress Party (PCP) which participates in the Sudanese coalition government. However, he was keen to underline that this call is his personal position.

Hassan Abdel Hamid of the Muslim Brotherhood group called to resist Trump's decision, by all means, to boycott U.S. goods, and to expel U.S. chargé d'affaires from the country.

Also, MP Abla Mahdi called on all the governments of the Arab and Islamic countries to expel U.S. ambassadors from their countries.

Deputy Speaker of the Council of State and PCP figure Mohamed al-Amin Khalifa called on the Sudanese government to impose "a political, diplomatic, and commercial boycott on all countries supporting the decision of President Trump".

Speaking at the extraordinary session, Sudanese top diplomat Ibrahim Ghandour admitted that Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital will lead to serious repercussions in the Middle East and the world at large.

Ghandour also pointed out that the decision would increase terror attacks worldwide.

Also, Khartoum didn't witness any popular protests in response to the decision but some expect that protests would take place the Friday prayer.

(ST)

Defending the vulnerable from attack is one of the important duties of a UN peacekeeper, but what do you do when you come across a secret safe that may contain weapons, hidden away in a camp designed to protect civilians?

The relationship between United Nations peacekeepers and civilian staff and the vulnerable people in South Sudan they are working for must be one of mutual trust and confidence, said a senior UN official, noting that instances of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN personnel not only breaks down that relationship, it also destroys the trust communities have in the Organization.

With the conflict in South Sudan entering its fifth year, senior United Nations officials on Thursday expressed concern about the precarious security situation and bleak humanitarian conditions in the world’s youngest country.

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