Africa

April 19 2017 (YAMBIO) – Police in Gbudue, one of South Sudan's newly-created states, have arrested a man accused of burning to death his wife and a child in a residential area within Yambio town.

The incident reportedly followed a domestic brawl on Sunday night.

James Monday, the area Police commissioner, confirmed the arrest of the suspect in the wake of the killing of a woman and her child.

The official, however, said they still treated the man as a suspect, based on information provided by neighbours regarding the killing.

Police will continue to interrogate the suspect in custody, he said.

State authorities have preferred the incident as an isolated one and this comes weeks the government deployed over 100 organised forces to provide security during the Easter celebrations in Yambio.

(ST)

April 19, 2017 (WAU) - The head of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in South Sudan (UNOCHA), Ian Ridley is “greatly” concerned about the humanitarian situation in Wau state, a week after violent clashes occurred in its main town.

South Sudan head of Office OCHA , Ian Ridley, 19, April 2017 (ST)

Ridley made these remarks after meeting the Wau state governor, Andrea Mayar Acho on the humanitarian concerns on Wednesday.

“We are very concern about the deteriorating situation in Wau, the increasing needs and of course the security for the humanitarian workers,” the head of UNOCHA told reporters in Wau town.

“We have come here to discuss with the authority in Wau in order to make sure that we can have the security for our staffs and our suppliers because we need to increase the humanitarian assistance we are giving to main needed people in Wau,” he added.

The official said his visit to Wau aimed at reaching out to as well as making sure that the population affected by the recent violence in Wau town, are able to access the humanitarian assistance needed.

Ridley, accompanied by the country's director for World Food Programme, Joyce Kanyangwa Luma, urged the governor to ensure a conducive to enable humanitarian workers carry out their duties.

“We have a basic agreement with the government as U.N agencies on protection of humanitarian workers across the country, therefore, government need to protect the agencies staffs,” said Luma.

The governor of Wau state, however, vowed to ensure that all U.N staffs are protected by state authorities working under his mandate.
“We in the state government are concerned about the protection of all U.N staffs, whether national or international staffs working in Wau,” said Acho.

“We are concerned to facilitate their operations within the state and weather an area controlled by the rebels, we can allow them to go into it for humanitarian access,” assured the governor, reiterating that all U.N staffs in the state were under his government protection.

(ST)

April 19, 2017 (JUBA) - At least 74 people were killed when armed opposition forces allied to South Sudan rebel leader, Riek Machar attacked Raja, the Lol state administrative headquarter, last week.

Rizik Zachariah Hassan, Governor of Lol state (UN photo)

Officials say three civilians and a number of government forces were wounded. Several properties were also destroyed, as the town was looted by rival forces when each side claimed to be in control.

In a statement issued Monday, Lol state information ministry commended government forces for having stood their ground when the town was attacked from three different directions.

“On behalf of the government of Lol state, we are grateful and thankful to our gallant SPLA forces of division five (5) under the command of Col. Albino Akol Mayuol. Their strong stand by repulsing and destroyed the enemy fully and control situation”, it read in part.

The armed attackers, it claimed, suffered heavy casualties during last week's clashes.

“On the enemy side, 44 soldiers were killed in action at the barrack and 15 were killed in the attack on the state house. The total of those killed in action on enemy side is 59. On the government side, 4 soldiers were killed in action during a battle for control of the military barrack and another killed in the state house. 10 civilians were killed and 3 others wounded in the crossfire”, further noted the statement.

According to the ministry's statement, the attacking forces launched came from three different directions and that while one group targeted the military barrack, the other aimed at the governor's residence, whereas the third group planned to attack the market.

“The enemy size was about a battalion under command of Lt Col Mach Tap, who was a corporal in division five (5) and joined the rebels SPLM/A-IO in 2013,” the government said in its statement.

Sudan Tribune could not independently verify the authenticity of the statement from the government while the armed opposition faction remained tight-lipped on the matter.

Residents and observers told Sudan Tribune that several government officials lost their lives when the town came under attack, expressing fear that those killed on the government side could be higher than on the opposition side.

Meanwhile, the United Nations mission in South Sudan has urged the warring parties to silence guns and demonstrate responsibility as violence escalates.

(ST)

April 19, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has arrived in Khartoum on Wednesday for a bilateral meeting of the joint Sudanese-Egyptian political consultation committee.

Sudan's FM Ibrahim Ghandour (L) meets with his Egyptian counterpart Samih Shoukri in Cairo on January 9, 2016 (Photo released by the Sudanese FM)

The visiting minister was received at Khartoum Airport by his Sudanese counterpart, Ibrahim Ghandour. Last week Shoukry cancelled his visit to Khartoum due to bad weather conditions.

The meeting is expected to discuss contentious issues between the two countries besides the implementation of agreements signed during the high-level presidential summit between President Omer al-Bashir and President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in October last year.

In a press conference ahead of the meeting, Egypt's consul in Khartoum Wiam Sweilem Wednesday urged media outlets in both countries to abort all attempts “to spread false news that could harm relations and ignites sedition between the two countries and peoples”.

He called on “officials, media and social media users to verify the accuracy of news reports published and circulated especially with regard to statements attributed to officials in the two nations”.

Sweilem further stressed “importance of the Sudanese-Egyptian relations on all political, economic, cultural and social fields”, underscoring deep ties between the peoples of the two nations.

The political consultation committee is a sub-committee of the Egyptian-Sudanese high committee, which also includes sub-committees for military affairs, security, economics and finance, transportation, education, culture, health, water resources and agriculture.

Tensions between Khartoum and Cairo have escalated following the former's decision to restrict imports of Egyptian farming products which was reciprocated by Cairo's decision to raise residency fees for Sudanese living in Egypt.

Also, senior Sudanese border demarcation official last month disclosed that Sudan's foreign ministry has instructed the concerned bodies to develop a roadmap to end the Egyptian presence in the disputed area of Halayeb triangle.

Some Egyptian media outlets have recently launched a campaign ridiculing Sudan's cultural monuments and in particular the 4,600 years old Meroe Pyramids following the visit of the Queen Mother of Qatar Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser Al-Missned to the Sudanese pyramids.

Earlier this month, Sudan issued a decision requiring Egyptian nationals seeking to enter its territory to obtain entry visas, saying the measure aims to reduce the threat of terrorist attacks and it was taken in coordination with the Egyptian authorities.

(ST)

April 19, 2017 (EL-FASHER) - The National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Wednesday has dispersed a protest pause by the former local staff of the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) in North Darfur capital, El-Fasher.

More than 50 ex-workers have protested for two days in front of the UNAMID's headquarters in El-Fasher for non-payment of financial dues owed to them since 2010.

Chairman of the Dismissed Staff Committee, Hafiz Abiad, told Sudan Tribune on Wednesday that they protested peacefully to demand their rights, saying his committee represents 263 Sudanese staff who were dismissed and their financial rights denied in Nayla, Zalngei, El-Geniena and El-Fasher.

“We started a three-day protest since Tuesday to demand our rights,” he said.

He added the mission shut down on Tuesday and the staff didn't practice their regular work from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm (local time), saying on Wednesday they engaged in a protest pause in front of the mission's premises.

“However, the mission tried to provoke us by a show of force from the Indonesian riot police but we did not respond to those provocations,” he said.

Abiad pointed that UNAMID's officials have notified the NISS, saying the latter dispersed the protest and took the workers to the NISS office in El-Fasher.

“We informed the NISS that our protest is peaceful and they told us that they are responsible for protecting the mission and they asked us to resort to the court and hire lawyers to defend our case,” he said.

However, Abiad stressed that they will continue their protest on Thursday.
Last December, 263 former UNAMID workers protested in front of the mission's premises in four capitals in Darfur for non-payment of financial dues owed to them since 2010.

At the time, UNAMID issued a statement expressing serious concern over the protests by some of its former staff members saying they are “not peaceful in nature” and are “based on unfounded accusations and demand for payments that are not in line with the rules and regulations of the United Nations”.

The mission stressed that “all national staff that separated from the Organisation on 31 December 2015 have received all benefits owed to them for the period of their service with UNAMID, except for a relatively small group whose pension entitlements are being processed”.

“UNAMID is working closely with the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, the body solely responsible for administering pension benefits, to finalise this category of payments,” added the statement.

It is noteworthy that the former staff members protested seven times during 2016 in four Darfur states to demand overtime pay.

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)

April 19, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudan rival parties must silence the guns in order to alleviate the humanitarian suffering crisis in the young nation, the United Nations relief coordinator warned on Wednesday.

Deputy head of UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Eugene Owusu (YouTube Photo)

Addressing reporters in the capital, Juba, Eugene Owusu, listed several violations against humanitarian work, including the killing of 82 workers over the last three years and impediment to delivery of assistance to the displaced persons as some challenges, alongside the armed conflict in the young nation.

According to Owusu, for U.N humanitarian agencies to assist the 3.5 million people displaced by the conflict that started in 2013, “the guns have to fall silent and the cessation of hostilities must hold.”

“While humanitarians [agencies] will continue to do all that is possible to alleviate suffering, the fact remains that unless the guns fall silent, the humanitarian situation will continue to deteriorate,” he said.

At least 7.5 million of the estimated 12 million South Sudanese will need assistance in 2017, the U.N humanitarian respond plan showed.

The U.N relief chief said the new clashes in different parts of the country including Wau Shilluk in Upper Nile Region, Wau in Western Bahr El Ghazal and Kajo-Keji in Central Equatoria have triggered new waves of thousands of displaced persons and food insecurity.

STARVATION

“Food insecurity and malnutrition is a serious challenge and have reached unprecedented levels in this country,” said Owusu, adding that “hundreds of thousands of people are facing starvation and a million more are on the brink of famine across the country.”

Famine was declared in Unity State's Mayendit and Leer countries in February. At least 100,000 people in the home region of Former First Vice President and leader of the armed SPLM in Opposition (IO), Riek Machar, could starve to death due to lack of food. UN agencies said some food was delivered in March to the area.

But in some parts of the country, however, humanitarian workers reportedly had to withdraw due to difficult and dangerous environment and humanitarian workers are “paying with their lives”.

82 aid workers, the U.N said, have been killed since December 2013, including the three humanitarian contractors killed in Wau last week.

“Aid workers are often harassed across the country and humanitarian compounds and supplies have been looted and vandalized, and most recently in Jonglei, in Kajo-Keji, Yei, Wau Shilluk and in Mayendit – all these happened between February and March,” the U.N humanitarian coordinator told reporters in Juba.

The senior U.N official, however, said these challenges were discussed by U.N and government officials to avert future harassment to aid workers, stressing that local governments have not being forthcoming in ending the violence against aid agencies.

Owusu said no amount of humanitarian assistance even if unimpeded access is granted, will end the “long suffering” South Sudanese have endured, without a political solution to the conflict.

“The humanitarian challenges that we are dealing with are the consequences of the failure of politics to reconcile differences and to address grievances. We must fix the politics, all parties must step up efforts towards the political solution to help lessen the humanitarian case-load,” he further observed.

Conflict broke out in December 2013 following months of internal wrangling in the ruling SPLM party over leadership, vision of the party, reforms and democracy. The three-year-old war has killed thousands of people and displaced 1.6 million people as refugees to neighboring countries. Also, an estimated 1.9 million others are internally displaced in the country, with about 200,000 civilians sheltering at the U.N protection of civilians' sites situated in government-controlled towns.

(ST)

It is more important than ever to forge unity within Libya, the United Nations envoy for the country told the Security Council today, while he called on Libyan stakeholders to regain the optimism generated by the 2015 Political Agreement, which has faded and is being replaced by “frustration and disappointment.”

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and the Chairperson of the African Union, Moussa Faki Mahamat, today signed a new landmark framework to strengthen partnership between the two organizations on peace and security pillars and better respond to the changing dimensions and evolving challenges of peace operations.

The United Nations General Assembly today confirmed the appointment of Germany’s Achim Steiner as the head of the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan has done “significant work” to more effectively protect civilians and respond in case of a crisis, Secretary-General António Guterres has said in a letter to the President of the UN Security Council.

Without peace in South Sudan, millions of people will go hungry and millions of women and girls could be raped as they try to go about their daily lives, including as they search for food, a senior United Nations official today warned.

Raising alarm over increasing reports of serious human rights violations in the Kasai Central and Kasai Oriental provinces of Democratic Republic of the Congo, the United Nations human rights chief underscored that the scale and nature of the allegations could warrant an investigation by an international mechanism, such as the International Criminal Court.

Millions of people are facing the peril of famine in Somalia and South Sudan, and the situation is expected to worsen as the drought and violence fuelling the crises widen, cautioned senior United Nations officials who have just returned from the area.

In our series of letters from African journalist Yousra Elbagir looks at how Sudanese are using social media to celebrate and express their African identity.

Are smartphones empowering poor Kenyans or simply causing more problems than they solve?

(Nairobi) – Government soldiers and allied militias deliberately killed at least 16 civilians in South Sudan’s western town of Wau on April 10, 2017, in what appears to be an act of collective punishment, Human Rights Watch said today. The attacks were against people presumed to support the opposition because of their ethnicity.

Expand

Christine Elia, 27, holds her twin sons at a displaced persons camp protected by U.N. peacekeepers in Wau, South Sudan, September 4, 2016. 2016. 

© 2016 Reuters

The killings followed weeks of tensions in the area, where South Sudan’s government has carried out an abusive counterinsurgency operation since late 2015. When the UN Security Council meets to discuss South Sudan later in April, it should condemn these crimes and ask the peacekeeping mission in South Sudan what steps it intends to take to deter further revenge killings in Wau and the surrounding area.

“The pattern of abuses by government forces against civilians in Wau has become predictable, with soldiers taking revenge against unarmed civilians based on their ethnicity,” said Daniel Bekele, senior director for Africa advocacy at Human Rights Watch. “The South Sudan authorities need to call a halt to the killings, investigate, and bring those responsible to justice.”

In November, a special investigation commissioned by the UN recommended that peacekeepers should move around in armored vehicles rather than remaining in their bases to better identify threats to civilian lives and prevent rapes on their doorstep. The UN is expected to release an update on steps it has taken to carry out those recommendations on April 17.

Hostilities erupted on April 8, outside of Wau, when government forces opened an offensive on opposition-controlled areas and opposition groups counter-attacked. The opposition killed two high-ranking government officers, including a prominent member of the Dinka tribe from the neighboring Lakes region.

On April 10, government soldiers and Dinka militiamen went from house to house in ethnic Fertit and Luo neighbourhoods on the southwest side of Wau, and killed at least 16 civilians, apparently in retaliation for the killing of the two men. Government authorities prevented UN peacekeepers from moving freely around the town, limiting their access to areas where the violence occurred.

The recent violence displaced nearly 8,000 people, about 3,800 of who sought safety in the Catholic church. Others have moved to a site adjacent to the United Nations’ Mission to South Sudan base, where more than 25,000 people had already gathered under UN protection.

A 26-year-old Fertit, mother-of-four, who is married to a Luo and was living in the Nazareth neighbourhood, said she was at home preparing a fire when she heard gunshots in the morning of April 10: “The attackers came over to my house. They wore civilian clothes, had their faces whitened with ashes, and carried spears and guns. I lied and told them that my husband was a Dinka and they said they would not kill me because I am their wife. They said: ‘don’t go out in the streets because we are killing people.’ When it calmed down, I went to my neighbor’s house. She had been shot in the eye. Her four children, between 3 and 15, were hiding under the bed. They were killed too. I saw their bodies.”

Human Rights Watch expressed concern about the possibility of further attacks on civilians, and urged the peacekeeping mission, UNMISS, to increase the number of troops stationed in Wau and to ensure adequate patrols of sensitive areas, such as around the Catholic church and southwest of the city. After Kenyan troops withdrew from the peacekeeping mission in 2016, the contingent in Wau has been short staffed. The UN’s response to the deteriorating situation in Wau will be an important test of the mission’s ability to improve protection of civilians in hostile environments, especially following attacks on bases in Malakal and Juba last year, Human Rights Watch said.

In Wau, the abuses have followed a familiar pattern in recent years, with hostilities between government soldiers and opposition forces followed by retaliatory attacks by mostly Dinka government forces and militias against ethnic Fertit and Luo civilians.

In May 2016, Human Rights Watch documented a surge in government abuses against civilians in Wau and surrounding villages beginning in late December 2015, after the government deployed a large numbers of new soldiers, mostly Dinka from the former states of Northern Bahr el-Ghazal and Warrap, to the area. Government soldiers were responsible for a spate of targeted killings and arbitrary detentions and abuse of ethnic Fertit and Luo civilians in February and again in June. The violence and abuses in June forced more than 70,000 to flee.

South Sudan’s government has taken little action to stop these attacks on civilians. Following each round of violence in 2016, president Salva Kiir appointed investigation committees. The first one visited Wau in March and the second in in early July. A report submitted to president Kiir on August 1 found that at least 50 civilians had been killed on June 24 and 25, more than 100 shops were looted, and tens of thousands of civilians were displaced; but no further criminal investigations or prosecutions were carried out. While the media reported that the army executed two soldiers on July 22 who had been convicted by a military court for the murder of two civilians in a residential area of Wau, no other steps were taken.

On April 12, President Kiir announced an investigation of the most recent killings. But the government’s track record of investigating these kinds of incidents in Wau and its weak judicial system raise questions about its credibility. Credible criminal investigations and transparent judicial procedures against those responsible are urgently needed, Human Rights Watch said.

The government forces’ continuing crimes against civilians in Wau and the lack of accountability underscore the urgent need for the hybrid court envisioned in the 2015 peace agreement. Despite the agreement, government soldiers have committed widespread violence against civilians, not just in Wau, but also in Juba, Malakal and the Equatorias, Human Rights Watch researchers found.

Human Rights Watch has also repeatedly called on the United Nations Security Council to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on South Sudan to reduce harm to civilians by increasing the cost of weapons used to attack them. In December 2016, an attempt to pass an arms embargo at the Security Council failed when eights members abstained. They included Egypt and Japan, which still sit on the Security Council.

“South Sudan’s military commanders have once again shown they won’t stop the abuse or hold anyone to account, and instead they obstruct peacekeepers from doing their jobs to protect civilians,” Bekele said. “The UN Security Council should make it clear that there will be a price to pay for this kind of obstruction.”

April 13, 2017

Mr. Ange Rodrigue DADJE
Ms. Habiba TOURE

Dear Mr. Dadje and Ms. Touré,

We write in response to your press release, issued on April 4, 2017, regarding the March 28 acquittal of Simone Gbagbo in Côte d’Ivoire’s Cour d’Assises.

Human Rights Watch documented the terrible crimes committed by both pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara forces during the 2010-11 post-election crisis, and we have consistently advocated for investigations and prosecutions for those most responsible from both sides.

The trial of Simone Gbagbo for war crimes and crimes against humanity did little to advance the cause of justice. The inadequacy of the investigation and the prosecution’s decision to try her in isolation from other leaders from the Gbagbo camp denied the court the opportunity to fully explore her role in the post-election crisis. At the same time, fundamental due process concerns, such as the failure to disclose prosecution evidence in a timely manner, denied Simone Gbagbo a fair trial. While the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) outstanding case against her may offer another avenue for victims, there has so far been insufficient progress—at the ICC and in Côte d’Ivoire —to deliver justice to victims of grave abuses committed by pro-Ouattara forces.

In the months leading up to Simone Gbagbo’s trial for crimes against humanity and war crimes, human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, warned the Ivorian government about the risk of an unfair and incomplete hearing into her role in the crimes alleged. We expressed concern that the trial risked replicating Simone Gbagbo’s prior March 2015 conviction and 20-year sentence for crimes against the state. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) stated in March 2015 that that conviction was obtained “on the basis of little credible evidence,” while Human Rights Watch said that the 2015 trial was “not conducted in accordance with international fair trial standards.”

In May 2016, on the eve of her trial for crimes against humanity and war crimes, the Ivorian government’s failure to address concerns regarding the completeness of the investigation into Simone Gbagbo, as well as the decision to try Gbagbo in isolation from other officials, led FIDH and its Ivorian partner organizations, MIDH and LIDHO, to withdraw their participation as civil parties in the trial. In explaining the decision to withdraw, FIDH expressed its belief that the trial “will not satisfy fair trial standards and will not do justice to victims.” The ultimate conduct of the trial demonstrates that these concerns were well-founded.

Simone Gbagbo’s acquittal is not necessarily a bar to prosecution at the ICC. As you know, in 2012 the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Simone Gbagbo for four counts of crimes against humanity committed during the 2010-2011 post-election crisis. The Ivorian government in 2013 challenged the admissibility of the case against her, arguing that she was being investigated domestically for similar crimes. ICC judges, however, rejected the request, stating that the investigative steps in Côte d’Ivoire into Simone Gbagbo’s responsibility were “scarce in quantity and lacking in progression.” The Ivorian government, and Simone Gbagbo herself, may now wish to again challenge her case before the ICC, arguing that she has now been tried for the same charges in Côte d’Ivoire.

However, under article 20(3) of the Rome Statute, the ICC may try an individual for the same conduct if the prior proceedings were for the purpose of “shielding the person concerned from criminal responsibility” or were “not conducted independently or impartially in accordance with the norms of due process recognized by international law and were conducted in a manner which, in the circumstances, was inconsistent with an intent to bring the person concerned to justice.” It is now for ICC judges to determine if Simone Gbagbo’s case remains admissible before the court. The incompleteness of the investigation undertaken in Côte d’Ivoire, and the resulting quality of her trial, may be relevant factors that they consider in making their decision.       

Finally, we share your concern that the proceedings against Simone Gbagbo, as well as the ongoing ICC trial of her husband, underscore the Ivorian government’s failure to hold pro-Ouattara commanders accountable for their role in human rights abuses during the post-election crisis.

At the time of the post-election crisis, Human Rights Watch documented hundreds of extrajudicial killings by pro-Ouattara forces, both in the west of Côte d’Ivoire during the Republican Forces’ offensive and during the battle for Abidjan. Human Rights Watch’s October 2011 report on abuses committed by both sides listed the names of the pro-Ouattara commanders, who, based on our research, merited further criminal investigation as key players in the abuses we had documented. Since the post-election crisis, Human Rights Watch has regularly denounced the Ivorian justice system’s failure, and that of the ICC, to hold pro-Ouattara commanders accountable in court, including in major reports published in 2013 and 2016. 

We understand that, as lawyers for Simone Gbagbo, your role is to advance your clients’ best interests where possible. As a human rights organization committed to the independence and impartiality of the justice process, we will continue to work with victims of Côte d’Ivoire’s devastating post-election crisis to ensure that those responsible for human rights violations from all sides are held accountable.

Yours sincerely,

Corinne Dufka
Director, West Africa
Human Rights Watch

Param-Preet Singh
Associate Director
International Justice Program
Human Rights Watch

Tunisia's CS Sfaxien become the first team to reach the group phase of this year's African Confederation Cup, ousting Rail Kadiogo of Burkina Faso.

Islamist suicide bombers killed 45 people at two churches on Palm Sunday - the start of Easter Week.

The last regular US soldiers left after the "Black Hawk Down" killings of special forces personnel.