Africa

A Kenyan rights group says police have killed more than 80 mainly Muslims in extrajudicial killings over four years.

An Egyptian woman, said to weigh 500kg, is to be airlifted to India for weight reduction surgery.

Voters in northern Ghana have a special way of reserving their place in polling station queues.

A correspondent working in South Sudan says he has been deported for being too critical of the government.

Nigeria's women's team insist they will not end their sit-in at a hotel in Abuja until they are paid outstanding bonuses of US$23,650 per player.

By Bangasi Joseph Bakosoro

On 22 December 2015, at around 12pm, I received a call from the National Security Service (NSS) summoning me to their headquarters for a meeting. I drove to the office and, when I arrived, Akol Kuur, the Director General of internal security, informed me that I would be detained. I spent the next four months and five days living in a cell on the top floor of a two-story prison, located in the back left corner of the NSS Jebel headquarters. I was never charged or presented in court. I was released on 27 April 2016, but left over 30 other men behind, many of whom are still there. I write this public appeal on their behalf.

The men I lived with at the NSS were mostly from the Equatorias and Western Bahr el Ghazal and were arrested arbitrarily at different times and places in 2014 and 2015. I interacted with them one by one and asked them why they were there, but most did not know. They were all suspected of supporting the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO) in one way or another—the illiterate warden in charge of the prison called us all “political detainees.”

I believe that some of them are as innocent as any villager who does not even know what government is. A person who was picked from a remote village, who cannot speak English or Arabic, who was not caught with gun in hand, who had never before even seen Juba, how can such a person be a “political detainee”?

Even if some were IO supporters, none among them had been charged or taken to court. In reality, many of them are there because they happened to offend someone who has a friend in the NSS. I can confirm that there is nepotism, sectarianism and discrimination in the detention process.

I am afraid to think of how many of my fellow detainees might have now died. We were fed beans with posho, sometimes rice, sometimes lentils, every day and only once a day. The prison building was like a container made of concrete—there were no windows, and no ventilation. Some nights, they would lock the metal doors and we would suffocate.

The warden had a very terrible leather whip—one lash would make you bleed. When new detainees arrived, I heard them cry. Some nights, detainees would be taken away and not brought back. One detainee tried to hang himself with his sheet in the toilet because the frustration of being arbitrarily detained was too much. Some suffered from high blood pressure or had other illnesses, but did not receive treatment. In that prison, I witnessed a lot of things that I still can't understand.

When the Peace Agreement was signed between the South Sudan government and the IO in August 2015, these young men thought they were going to be released as the agreement called for the release of all those “detained in relation to the conflict.” They all waited. But even after the IO arrived in Juba in April 2016 to form the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), these prisoners were not freed.

The day of my release, Akol Kuur and his team warned me to keep quiet and not talk too much, because they would be following me. I told them that I was not taught to lie; that I cannot keep quiet when I see things going wrong.

This is why I am appealing to the government of South Sudan to either release these young men in detention or charge them and take them to a court of law so that justice is seen to be done. I urge Taban Deng to insist on the release of the detainees whose liberty has been taken away in the name of IO.

The author is a former Governor of South Sudan's Western Equatoria state

December 6, 2016(BOR) – Five people were killed and two children abducted in separate attacks within South Sudan's Jonglei state, despite the peace accord signed between the Dinka and Murle ethinic tribes.

Jonglei state governor, Phillip Aguer speaks during the independence occassion July 9, 2016 (ST)

Local authorities in Twic county on Monday reported a brief confrontation between Dinka herders and suspected Murle cattle raiders in the village of Baping, where three Murle men died.

Two other people were also killed in Kongor village and another child abducted in the Monday night attack. All these were carried by suspected Murle criminals, officials told Sudan Tribune.

Two women were also killed in another attack in Bor North county.

Kuol Bol Ayom, the area member of parliament, said the attack, which occurred at 11pm (local time), was perpetrated by suspected Murle criminals who went away with a child after killing the mother.

“The attack took place at around 11pm, in which the mother Abiar Ruk was killed, with one other woman inside the same house. The criminals abducted a 10-year-old-girl, Awuoi Achieu Thon”, said Ayom.

This incident occurred just two days after the peace conference began in Boma state capital of Pibor, to bring the two ethnic communities to live in peace and forgive one another.

Bol said the criminals who normally abduct children usually do it for profit making, saying they should be brought to face justice.

Boma and Jonglei states government witnessed the signing of the local peace deal brokered by the government with support from the United Nations to bring together Dinka Bor and Nuer ethnic tribes.

(ST)

December 6, 2016 (JUBA) – The government of South Sudan on Tuesday ordered immediate deportation of Justin Lynch, an American scribe working for the Associated Press (AP).

Lynch was reportedly taken to Juba airport and put on a Uganda-bound plane.

The journalist, known for his extensive coverage of human rights violations in the young nation, was told he was being deported for his work, which never pleased South Sudanese authorities.

According to the AP, prior to Lynch's deportation, South Sudanese security agents seized his mobile phones and allowed him to pack his bag.

Top executives from the agency defended the journalist, saying they will ask for explanation from South Sudan government on the American scribe was deported.

"Any move to suppress legitimate journalism and truthful reporting shedding light on humanitarian crimes is wrong and should be condemned. We hope that the government of South Sudan will reconsider its actions," Ian Phillips, AP's vice president for international news told the agency Tuesday.

When contacted, however, South Sudan's Minister of Information Michael Makuei reportedly said he had no knowledge of the deportation, but will look into the matter.

South Sudan is ranked 140th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders 2016 World Press Freedom Index, falling 26 places since the start of its civil war in 2013.

(ST)

December 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) – Armed pastoralists Monday closed the road linking Nyala and El-Fasher the capital towns of South and North Darfur states and seized passenger buses in Darbat area, in East Jebel Mara locality , 160 kilometers west of Nyala.

The nomad said they intend to protest against the theft of 250 camels by an armed gang in Kator area on the border between North and South Darfur. The unknown armed robbers drove the stolen camels to the mountainous areas of Jebel Marra.

On Tuesday, eyewitnesses told Sudan Tribune that a group of armed pastoralists Monday had ambushed a convoy of passenger buses in Darabt area and seized 25 commercial trucks coming from Nyala.

The armed militia refused to release the passengers until they get back their stolen camels and threatened to permanently close the road if armed robbery continues in the area, according to the eye witnesses.

The security committee in East Jebel Marra headed by Commissioner Hassan Adam, met pastoralists representatives and secured the release of passengers and the trucks.

But the armed men refused to open the strategic road to Darbat for traffic, forcing the trucks coming from Nyala to return to Al-Wihada locality and the trucks coming from El-Fasher and Khartoum to go back to El-Fasher.

The security committee in East Jebel Marra County has contacted the commissioner of Tawilla distric in North Darfur and discussed ways to return the stolen camels and secure the joint borders between the two localities.

A local merchant in Darabt, Mohamed Yagoub, told Sudan Tribune that some 65 trucks usually arrive to the weekly Monday market in the area from Nyala, El-Fasher and Omdurman to transport the local products especially fruits. He added that the road closure caused them severe financial damage.

Darfur has been a flashpoint for lawlessness and violence since t2033 when armed groups took up arms against the Khartoum government. The government says it forces pacified the region, but armed gangs continue to carry out criminal activities.

Sudanese authorities vowed to protect civilians and to collect arms but its plans to disarm militias are not yet implemented.

The United Nations estimates as many as 300,000 people have been killed and almost 3 million people have been displaced during the ongoing conflict. According to the UN Human Rights Council, 400,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced.

(ST)

Welcoming the announcement of the continuation of the mediation led by the Conférence épiscopale des églises du Congo to achieve a more inclusive consensus on the upcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on all political actors in the country to recommit themselves to this dialogue.

Following the worst El Niño-induced drought in decades in southern Africa, United Nations humanitarian agencies and partners today launched a revised Action Plan to outlining their response to the needs of an estimated 13.8 million people as the region enters the peak of the lean season with largely depleted food stocks due to poor and failed harvests.

Forced to make a new round of cuts in food rations for refugees in Kenya, the World Food Programme (WFP) has appealed urgently for nearly $14 million to feed the 434,000 refugees living in Kenya&#39s Dadaab and Kakuma camps and in the new Kalobeyei settlement.

The United Nations and its partner non-governmental organizations today launched an appeal for $2.66 billion to provide emergency assistance across eight countries in the Sahel region, where &#8220millions of people still live in conditions of deplorable human suffering.&#8221

Despite a peaceful and successful transition in the Central African Republic (CAR) earlier in 2016, the recent outbreak of violence there had demonstrated the extremely fragile situation in the country, the Secretary-General&#39s Acting Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA), told the Security Council today.

December 6, 2016 (JUBA) - China has sent 120 troops to South Sudan as part of a 700-member U.N peacekeeping force, the Associated Press reported.

The second battalion pf peacekeepers are in South Sudan to protect civilians, humanitarian workers, conduct patrols and provide security escorts.

South Sudan experienced renewed violence in July this year when its rival armies clashed in the capital, Juba killing hundreds and displacing thousand of the population.

This is despite a peace deal agreed upon by leaders from both rival factions.

The world's youngest nation has seen continuous fighting since its civil war broke out in mid-December 2013. Also, the more than 12,000 U.N. peacekeepers already operating in the country have often been criticized for failing to protect civilians.

During the July violence, two Chinese peacekeepers died and five others were wounded after their vehicle was struck as fighting intensified in the capital, Juba.

China is reportedly the biggest contributor of peacekeepers among the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, with 2,639 currently deployed.

(ST)

December 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) on Tuesday said it has conducted the largest military exercises in its history in the presence of President Omer al-Bashir and senior army commanders.

SAF troops march during the concluding ceremony of Northern Thunder in Saudi Arabia on March 12, 2016 (ST Photo)

The military maneuvers “Knights' Challenge” were conducted at Al-Ma'aqil military area in the River Nile state as part of SAF's 2016 training program.

SAF's Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Emad al-Din Mustafa Adawi said the exercise was the largest in the history of the Sudanese army, pointing the new strategy of the exercises involves the largest war formation from all military units.

Adawi, who addressed the military units participating in the ““Knights' Challenge” maneuvers, pointed that the training programme aims to raise combat efficiency and readiness in order to enable SAF face regional and international challenges and threats.

He said this year's training programme is considered a model in terms of the preparation and performance, adding that SAF remained faithful to its command and the Sudanese people.

Adawi underscored SAF's readiness not only to fight the rebel movements but also to secure the borders effectively.

The Sudanese army has been fighting the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

For his part, al-Bashir expressed commitment to provide all military needs and equipments for SAF in order to achieve security and stability in the country, stressing importance to build a strong army through continued training.

He hailed SAF's sacrifices at all battle fronts, expressing appreciation to all participants and organizers of this year's training programme.

(ST)

December 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Tuesday has said that his country will receive a $500 million central bank deposit from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir (C) flanked by Abu Dhabi crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) and UAE vice-president Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (R) in Abu Dhabi on 22 February 2015

On Thursday, al-Bashir and his accompanying delegation concluded a four-day visit to the rich Gulf state where he discussed bilateral ties between the two countries.

In a meeting that lasted until the early morning hours of Tuesday, al-Bashir briefed the leadership office of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) on the outcome of his visit to the UAE.

Following the meeting, NCP deputy chairman for party affairs and presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid said that al-Bashir informed the meeting that the UAE has agreed to deposit a $500 million with Sudan's central bank (CBoS).

According to Hamid, al-Bashir also said the UAE has pledged to cover Sudan's gasoline consumption for 6 month and to build a solar power plant that produces 1000 megawatts through the Build Operate Transfer (BOT).

The NCP deputy chairman further described the outcome of al-Bashir's visit to the UAE as real support for the national economy and efforts to increase production.

It is noteworthy that al-Bashir's visit to the UAE came amid popular unrest and civil disobedience following the government decision to lift oil, electricity and drug subsidy.

Sudan's economy was hit hard since the southern part of the country declared independence in July 2011, taking with it about 75% of the country's oil output.

In its latest consultation report on Sudan in October, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Sudan's already low foreign exchange reserves dropped to 1½ month of imports.

Last month, CBoS introduced an incentive policy and increased the exchange rate in commercial banks and exchanges by 131%. As a result, the U.S. dollar exchange rate went up in banks to 15.8 SDG in comparison with to the official rate of 6.5 SDG.

As a result, the U.S. dollar hit another historic high against the pound on the black market settling at 18.8 Sudanese pounds.

(ST)

December 6, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan army (SPLA) on Tuesday said it repulsed attempts by the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) fighters to take control of Yei town, the administrative headquarters of South Sudan's newly-created Yei state.

Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang, SPLA spokesperson, is seen at a containment site outside of the capital Juba on April 14, 2016. (AFP Photo)

The army's spokesman, Lul Koang Ruai said the rebels "unsuccessfully" attacked government-held positions around Yei town over the weekend.

“It is not true. This is a white lie. There are no rebels I know operating in Equatoria state. What happened is that some "armed criminals attacked positions held by our forces around Yei over the weekend”, explained Koang.

"And they (SPLA) responded overwhelmingly with a deadly firepower. Our special forces were involved in ground attack and they were given very good air support by the SPLA Airforce”, he added.

The military spokesman said armed men engaged by their forces attacked Kargulu, Lasu, and Umbasi areas near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), adding that government had sent more troops aided with the Airforce cover.

Local officials and residents confirmed, in a series of interviews, the new offensives.

Government forces, according to multiple sources, were using ground and air strikes.

South Sudan government is waging an offensive war to recapture all areas held by armed opposition fighters in the area in preparation for dry season offensives.

The United States on Monday accused South Sudan government of deploying thousands of troops to Equatoria region, increasing prospects of violence escalation.

Fighting between government forces and the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO) escalated to Central Equatoria state when violence erupted in Juba last July.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced from their homes to neighboring countries after their villages were also destroyed during intense fighting between the rival forces in violation of an initially-agreed upon ceasefire.

The United Nations has warned of possible genocide in South Sudan which the U.S said needed to be averted by holding leaders accountable and imposing arms embargo.

(ST)

December 6, 2016 (JUBA) – Armed men abducted a local South Sudan leader in the troubled Yei River state over the weekend, officials said on Tuesday.

Julius Tabule, the Commissioner of newly created Kangapo County in Kajo-Keji, Yei River State was taken at gunpoint while attending a funeral services in Bori, a village close to South Sudan – Uganda border on Sunday.

Yei River Governor David Lokonga Moses told a local radio station in Juba on Tuesday that Commissioner Tabule was kidnapped by “unknown gunmen.”

“In fact, he went for prayers of funeral, then he ended up in the hands of these unknown gunmen who abducted him and we don't know [his whereabouts now]. I am still not getting details, but I am trying to establish contacts,” Lokongo told Juba's based Eye Radio.

A resident of Kajo-Keji told Sudan Tribune that two armed men stormed the funeral services on Sunday and led away the commissioner.

“The gunmen cocked their guns and asked the mourners ‘who is the commissioner here?'. The commissioner identified himself and they led him into his own car and ordered the driver to drive all of them away,” said the source who preferred to keep anonymity.

Many civilians fled the area to Uganda following the kidnapping of the local administrator.

Government sources have blamed the armed SPLM In Opposition for the abduction though this has not been independently confirmed.

Last Sunday SPLM-Io rebels who are active in the area said they captured Lasu\Lonbongo in Yei River State.

(ST)

Research has cast doubt on a UN-backed project to reduce pollution-induced illness in the world's poorest children by providing 100 million homes with a smoke-free stove.