Africa

During a campaign rally, US presidential candidate Donald Trump accuses US-based Somalis of spreading extremism.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the deadly attack yesterday in northern Mali that claimed the life of two Malian civilians and killing one peacekeeper from Togo while injuring seven others.

Liverpool's emphatic victory over Watford sends them top of the Premier League for the first time under manager Jurgen Klopp.

DR Congo's TP Mazembe are crowned the 2016 African Confederation Cup winners after a resounding victory over Mouloudia Bejaia of Algeria in Lubumbashi.

A gunman fires into a crowd watching the English Premier League, killing 11 and injuring 16.

One of the Nigerian schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram has been found with a baby, the military says.

Egypt raises energy prices by nearly 50% per cent, a day after floating the country's currency.

November 4, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - A group of thirty two U.S. lawmakers have urged Secretary of State John Kerry to ask the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use by the Sudanese army in Darfur.

US secretary of state John Kerry (Photo: Daniel Getachew/EPA)

Late last month, Amnesty International reported that over 200 people had been killed in Darfur Jebel Marra area by banned chemical weapons since January 2016. But the government denied the claims.

In a letter to Kerry, the lawmakers expressed serious concern about “increased civilian displacement in Darfur and the recent allegations that the Sudanese government has used chemical weapons against its citizens”.

“We find the use of such measures against innocent men, women, and children appalling and urge you to take every appropriate step to ensure unfettered humanitarian access to the Jebel Marra region so that the victims of these attacks can receive the medical attention they require,” said the lawmakers.

The letter also called on the Secretary of State to ask the OPCW to investigate these allegations in Sudan, “and to strongly encourage Sudan to cooperate with such an investigation”.

“Sudan has acceded to the Chemical Weapons Convention, and as such has a legal responsibility not to use, produce or stockpile chemical weapons” read the letter.
“If OPCW is not granted access to conduct its investigation, we will have to assume that the government is hiding its complicity in these atrocities” it added.

Following the release of Amnesty's report on the use of chemical weapons in Darfur last September, OPCW Director-General Rogelio Pfirter requested the Sudanese government to provide “its official position and any other relevant information on the matter”.

Sudan in its response to the request reiterated its commitment to the convention and denied the allegations reported by the international human rights group, says the OPCW in a statement released on 8 October.

“Sudan would not act in any way to undermine its obligations and responsibilities towards the Convention and Organisation and emphasized that the position of the Sudanese Government on this matter had been publicly expressed and confirmed” said the Sudan's ambassador in his letter to the Hague based organization.

It is noteworthy that the letter was co-signed by House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer, Chairman Edward R. Royce, along with Reps. McGovern, Rooney, Lee, McCaul, Capuano, and Pitts of the Sudan and South Sudan Issues Caucus and 24 other Members of Congress.

The U.S. congressmen also underscored importance to support “a peaceful Sudan in which its citizens can enjoy increased stability, civil liberties, and economic growth”.

“However, we remain deeply concerned that peace talks have failed to bring security for the people of Darfur. We thank you for your sustained work towards these ends and await your response on this important issue” they added.

The Sudanese army and its allied militias have been fighting a number of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

Last August, direct peace talks in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, between Sudanese government and Darfur rebel movements under the auspices of the African Union have collapsed after rebels throw out government requests to disclose fighters' locations.

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

(ST)

November 4, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese opposition has rejected the government decision to raise fuel and electricity prices and called for resisting it by all civil means.

Khaled Omer Youssef, deputy head of the Sudanese Congress Party speaks in a spontaneous meeting Al-Diam neighbourhood in Khartoum on 4 Nov 2016. He was arrested by the security service in his home in the afternoon. (ST Photo)

On Thursday, Sudanese government scrapped fuel subsidies and increased electricity price in a bid to stop the surge in inflation and control the fall of Sudanese pound in the black market.

Accordingly, the price of gasoline went up to 6.17 pounds per litre, (27.5 per gallon) while the litre of diesel reached 4.11 pounds (18.8 pounds per gallon).

Also, electricity tariff for consumers of more than 400 kilowatts has increased, in order to not affect low-income households who are classified as low energy users.

The move, which took effect at midnight local time on Thursday, comes as part of a series of austerity measures to reduce the trade deficit following the collapse of oil prices and as the economy of east African country is already affected by the U.S. economic sanctions.

The opposition National Umma Party (NUP) on Friday has declared the “civil Jihad” to resist the price increase, calling on the Sudanese people to organize general protests, strikes and sit-ins.

“We would resist these unjust policies by all means of civil Jihad”, said the NUP in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Friday.

It pointed out that the country's crises could only be overcome by establishing a new regime, describing the government decision to raise fuel and electricity prices as a “declaration of war against the citizens”.

The statement called for unifying efforts to overthrow the regime, saying the raised police preparedness level to 100 percent in concurrent with the declaration of the austerity measures in order to violently repress protests as occurred in 2013.

In September 2013 following the government's decision to lift fuel subsidies, demonstrations broke out in several Sudanese states. Rights groups said that at least 200 people were killed but the government put the death toll at 85.

NUP further described the government economic policies as unjust, failed and blundering, calling for holding a genuine national economic conference to develop alternative policies.

It added that the economic problem would only be resolved within a wider framework that addresses the entire Sudanese crises, describing the regime as bloody, corrupt and failed.

For its part, the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP) has called on the Sudanese people to take to streets to protest against the price increase and to change the regime.
In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Friday, SCoP said the Sudanese has no option but to build momentum to achieve change and overcome the troubled reality.

It added that the government policies would only further poverty and suffering of the Sudanese people, calling for public mobilization to confront the corrupt regime and its flabby security organs and political apparatus.

The statement pointed that deteriorating economic situation is a natural consequence of the lack of strategic and scientific planning; saying government policies are only driven by unruly lust for wealth and power.

Meanwhile, the Arab Ba'ath Party (ABP) on Friday said the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) has arrested its member Akram Abdel-Wahab and took him to an unknown destination.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune Friday, ABP said Abdel-Wahab was arrested for distributing leaflets denouncing regime policies.

Sudan has been reclassified by the IMF in 2012 from a net exporter to a net importer after the oil-rich south became an independent state, taking with it 75% of the petroleum reserves that existed in the united Sudan.

Price of the US dollar witnessed significant increase in the black market in Khartoum since last April settling at 16, 00 pounds (SDG).

(ST)

November 4, 2016 (JUBA)- South Sudanese armed opposition leader and the former First Vice President Riek Machar has regretted a decision taken by the Kenyan government Kenya to deport his spokesperson James Gadet Dak.

A Kenyan official for the first time admitted that Dak was deported over a Facebook posting where he applauded a decision by United Nations chief firing a Kenyan general commanding the UN peacekeeping forces in South Sudan.

" (Dak) became an inadmissible person, so we cancelled his visa and he was taken to his country of origin," Kenyan government spokesman Eric Kiraithe told The Associated Press.

Machar, according to several armed opposition figures, who spoke to Sudan tribune on Friday, called the Deputy Kenyan President William Ruto by phone on Thursday to plead with him not to deport his spokesperson to Juba, “due to profound fear for his life.”

“This was unfortunate decision. All attempts were made at the highest level. Our chairman, Dr. Riek Machar himself reached out personally to top authorities in the Kenyan government. He spoke to officials at the ministry of foreign affairs. He spoke to Kenya ambassador in South Africa. He also spoke to Deputy President William Ruto appealing to him in person that Gatdet not be deported to Juba. Unfortunately all these efforts and appeals were ignored. It appears that the Kenyan government decided to take side and abandon their role in the peace process”, a high ranking armed opposition figure told Sudan Tribune when reached on Friday to comment on the matter.

He expressed fear that decision of the Kenyan government to deport SPLM-IO official from Nairobi could have an impact on the peace agreement, given that Kenya was one of the countries which played a key role in the negotiation of the peace agreement which Machar and President Salva Kiir signed last year.

While government supporters were jubilant and appears in celebratory mood, supporters and sympathizers of armed opposition reacted with fury to the news of Gatdet's arrest and deportation.

SPLM-IO Youth League leader Puot Kang wrote, “The illegal kidnapping of James Gatdet will never and ever silence any SPLM-IO supporter instead it shall radicalize them”. He added Gatdet's deportation “shall always define the relation between the two nations for the next century.”

Machar, reacting from South Africa, described Kenya as a guarantor to the peace agreement signed in August 2015 and “we do not expect that it would put in danger the life of an innocent person.”

James Dak, who studied in the United States of America returned to South Sudan after the 2005 peace agreement where he joined the office of Riek Machar as spokesperson of the Vice President of the semi-autonomous Southern Sudan.

After the eruption of South Sudanese crisis, he moved to Nairobi from where continued to exercise his duties as Machar spokesperson. After Machar return to Juba in April 2016 , he remained in Nairobi and didn't return to Juba.

Kenya was seen as safe and secure country for opponents from different east African countries who reside there.

However, human rights activists and workers say Kenya has violated international law when it deported Dak who is a UN registered refugee.

By deporting Dak "Kenya has exposed him to a serious risk of persecution," said Gerry Simpson, senior refugee researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"Kenya is steadily shredding any of respect for its fundamental refugee protection obligations," Simpson further told The Associated Press..

South Sudan researcher at Amnesty International Elizabeth Deng pointed in a statement to The Associated Press. that "(Dak) is now at risk of arbitrary detention and torture" by the South Sudanese authorities

(ST)

November 4, 2016 (JUBA) - The head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operation (DPKO) of the United Nations said the world body respects the sovereign position of the Kenyan government to pull its peacekeeping troops from South Sudan.

The head of the UN peacekeeping mission, Herve Ladsous speaking in Juba (UNMISS photo)

"It is their sovereign decision but I respect that but of course I regret it and we are assessing what consequences this will have on the regional protection force that was recently decided upon by the UN Security Council that we are trying into existence as soon as possible,” said Hervé Ladsous,

Ladsous was speaking to the media at a press conference on Thursday evening at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York. He was reacting to Kenya's rejection of the UN Secretary General's decision in which he recommended the sacking of the force commander, who hails from Kenya, from the UN mission in South Sudan.

Kenya argued that failure of the mission was systemic to the individual commander.

The UN chief, Ban Ki-moon asked for the sacking of General Johnson Ondieki, after an internal investigation found that the mission failed to protect civilians in Juba in July.

The UN, Ladsous said, has established a task force to carry out the recommendations of the report, which include ensuring greater accountability of the mission's leadership.

He said the recommendation of the internal report has already been approved for implementation and the world's body will just continue with the implementation.

“The Secretary-General has approved these recommendations, so we will try to move things forward as quickly as possible,” he said, further stressing that the world body was also assessing what consequences the Kenyan government decision will have on the regional protection force its 15-member Security Council approved in September.

“That of course is something we are the first to regret very much because Kenya has been a solid contributor of troops and police to the peace keeping operations,” he added.

(ST)

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

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Armed security officials watch as protesters stage a protest against government during the Irreechaa cultural festival in Bishoftu, Ethiopia on October 02, 2016.

© 2016 Getty Images

November 4, 2016

Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
P.O. Box 393
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia

Re: Human Rights Watch Reporting on Ethiopia

Dear Minister,

Human Rights Watch notes the October 22, 2016 blog post of Dr. Tedros Adhanom, then minister of foreign affairs, on the Ministry’s website about our recent presentation to the European Parliament’s subcommittee on human rights and committee on development and concerns for our research into security force abuses.

Human Rights Watch’s research and recommendations are grounded in international human rights law, including regional human rights treaties. This applies to our research on Ethiopia and the other 90 countries where we work globally. As with all countries, we welcome engaging with Ethiopian government officials regarding our research and recommendations prior to and after we publish findings. Before any major report on Ethiopia is published, we provide a summary of our findings to the government for comment and seek to meet to discuss our findings and recommendations. Our letters and responses received are included in the report or on our website. To date there has rarely been a direct response from the Ethiopian government to our communications.

Because we have not received a response to our research queries or requests for meetings, we cannot exchange information that may illuminate our conclusions, or explain to government officials how we reached our conclusions.

We go to great lengths to corroborate victim accounts and other research findings. As a general practice we make corrections to our reporting when clear and corroborated information contravening our findings comes to light. For your information, our corrections page is at: https://www.hrw.org/corrections.

In most of the contexts in which Human Rights Watch works, we do not make our sources public or reveal identifying details, because those interviewed have genuine fear of reprisals or other security concerns. The safety of those we interview is a primary consideration in everything we do.

In Ethiopia, the government’s harassment and arbitrary detention of individuals providing information to civil society has effectively been codified in the state of emergency directive, underscoring the need for those sources to remain confidential. Detention of individuals providing information to journalists, both domestic and international, has also been previously documented by Human Rights Watch and others.

The decreasing space available for independent voices to express a range of views and to have those voices be heard by the government has contributed to the current human rights crisis in Ethiopia. Recent statements directed toward international organizations who conduct independent, corroborated research is illustrative of this growing intolerance for divergent opinions and perspectives. Nevertheless, Human Rights Watch will continue to encourage the government’s feedback on the substance of our research.

Need for an independent investigation

Recent calls for an international investigation reflect the gravity of human rights violations that we and others have documented, but also the lack of a credible, transparent, and impartial national investigation into the abuses that have occurred since November 2015. The June 2016 Human Rights Commission oral report to parliament that largely exonerated the state security forces did not meet basic international standards. No one, including several parliamentarians who have spoken to Human Rights Watch, has seen a written version of the report, which reaches conclusions very different from those of all other organizations who have documented abuses. If a written version of this report exists we urge you to publicly release it. We remain concerned that an impartial international investigation is needed and those implicated in serious abuses be held to account. We have called for such investigations in other contexts, most recently Burundi, South Sudan, and Eritrea - some of which your government was quick to support. The thousands of victims of human rights violations deserve justice and accountability.

The inquiry board set up by parliament to monitor abuses under the state of emergency provides another opportunity to demonstrate impartiality. While the lack of opposition voices on that board raises concerns, it still presents an opportunity to willfully monitor abuses and show that those responsible for serious abuses will be held to account.

We reiterate our desire to meet with representatives of the government in Ethiopia or elsewhere to discuss our research findings, and welcome specific information on your efforts to meaningfully investigate allegations of abuses, hold perpetrators to account, and provide redress for victims.

Sincerely,

Lotte Leicht
EU Director
Human Rights Watch

A team of United Nations human rights experts are calling on authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo to lift a ban on public political meetings in the capital, Kinshasa.

The “unjustified” ban is a sign that “democratic space is rapidly dissipating in the DRC, with human rights organizations and opposition parties bearing the brunt of the repression,” the experts said in statement today.

Since early 2015, Congolese authorities have systematically repressed the growing coalition calling for a peaceful transition of power. The Kinshasa ban was announced just after security forces responded to protests in Kinshasa with lethal force, killing at least 56 people during the week of September 19, the day presidential elections were meant to be announced. Since then, at least four planned protests have been canceled after authorities said they were prohibited. Similar bans have been announced in Kalemie and Lubumbashi as well, cities home to several leading opposition figures.

The experts said peaceful protest can only be restricted in “very specific and narrowly defined circumstances” – conditions that have not been met in Congo. “Given that the country is in a hotly disputed election period people should be given more space, not less, to express their democratic freedoms.”

The experts expressed concern over the recently concluded “national dialogue” agreement.

“The protest ban and the restrictive tone of the National Dialogue agreement are both disturbing signs that democratic space is rapidly dissipating in the DRC with human rights organizations and opposition parties bearing the brunt of the repression.”

The experts’ statement comes two days before the opposition coalition known as the “Rassemblement” is due to hold a public meeting in Kinshasa. “In view of forthcoming demonstrations, in particular those planned for 5 November we urge the Congolese authorities to revoke its decision to ban demonstrations,” the experts said.

Their call echoes statements made by a number of Congolese human rights organizations, including the African Association for the Defense of Human Rights (ASADHO), the Voice of the Voiceless (VSV), and a coalition of civil society organizations and political parties that have all denounced the ban on political meetings as an illegal measure in violation of the country’s own laws and constitution.

 

November 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Head of the African Union United Nations Mission In Darfur (UNAMID) Thursday welcomed the extension of unilateral cession of hostilities by armed groups in Darfur and called for the signing of a comprehensive truce.

The Sudan Liberation Movement of Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM), Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) extended on 31 October an unilateral truce to 30 April 2017.

"UNAMID's Joint Special Representative, Martin Uhomoibhi, commended the declaration and used the opportunity to, once again, call upon Abdel Wahid al Nur, leader of the Sudan Liberation Army- Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW), “to make a similar declaration to signal a genuine intent that peace is a strategic choice for him and his movement,” reads a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

“Each other party to the conflict has made gestures to indicate willingness to engage in peace; now is the time for Mr. al-Nur to make such a gesture,” emphasised Uhomoibhi who is also the joint chief mediator for peace in Darfur.

The SLM-MM and JEM, two groups of Darfur region, are part of a peace process brokered by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP). They also signed a Roadmap Agreement with the government in order to end the conflict and participate in an inclusive constitutional conference.

The SLM-AW refuses to join the negotiating table before to disarm the government militias, return of displaced population to their home villages and to end land grabbing. Also clashes between the rebel fighters and the government forces displaced thousands of people from Jebel Marra area.

Earlier this year, Uhomoibhi and U.S. Special Envoy, Donald Booth met with Abdel Wahid in Paris in a bid to persuade him to join the AUHIP process.

International officials say his refusal hampers the negotiations with the other armed groups, as his attitude encourages them to adopt a tough stance in the discussions with the government.

(ST)