Africa

October 15, 2016 (JUBA) – Representatives of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Troika (United States, United Kingdom and Norway), and European Union (EU) in the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) have condemned calls by opposition leaders for a renewal of armed conflict in South Sudan.

The body which was supposed to monitor the implementation of the peace agreement, but weakened by the renewal of violence from 8 July, however called on the parties led by President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, the ousted First Vice President, to resort to dialogue rather than violence.

In a joint statement issued on Friday, JMEC partners said further fighting will not solve South Sudan's pressing political and economic challenges, arguing that it will only increase the suffering of South Sudan's people, “worsen a grave humanitarian crisis, and further inflame ethnic tensions.”

“Both the government and armed opposition groups bear responsibility for renewed hostilities since July's clashes in Juba. We are deeply concerned by heavy fighting around the country in recent weeks, including near Yei, Wau, Bentiu, and Nassir. We are particularly alarmed by reports of widespread violence against civilians. As a result of this violence, more civilians have been internally displaced and more than one million South Sudanese have now sought refuge in neighboring countries,” partly reads the statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

“Continued conflict in South Sudan threatens the peace and security of its neighbors and the region. In line with the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan, we call on the government and armed opposition groups to immediately adhere to the permanent ceasefire,” the statement said.

Resolving South Sudan's conflicts, it said, requires genuine and inclusive dialogue representing the viewpoints of all South Sudanese people.

“We therefore call on the Transitional Government of National Unity and leaders of opposition groups alike to recommit themselves, consistent with the peace agreement, to peaceful dialogue based on the following principles,” it further said.

It added that the parties must agree to resolve their differences through a political process rather than through armed conflict, saying “The political process must be inclusive of all parties, communities, factions, and voices.”

“The parties must agree to undertake implementation of the reforms outlined in the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan,” it added.

JMEC's partners admitted that returning to dialogue after the violence was a “difficult” one, but said they would support the process without indicating how the process would entail and how the ousted First Vice President, Machar, would assume his position.

“We fully understand that the process of rebuilding trust and undertaking necessary compromises will [be] a difficult one, and are prepared to support that process. We firmly believe that South Sudan's leaders must finally act to meet the demands of their people and end this senseless conflict,” the statement said.

The statement was endorsed and signed by representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Republic of Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, the European Union, Kingdom of Norway, United Kingdom and the United States of America.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

October 15, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – An Eritrean opposition group on Friday alleged that scores of Ethnic Afar Eritrean civilians in small vessels have been Killed by Saudi-led coalition off the Coast of Yemen.

Citing to several reliable sources the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organization (RSADO) affirmed to Sudan Tribune that the Saudi -led coalition planes have “indiscriminately” and “deliberately” hit Eritrean Afar small fishers' boats near the Mokha port of Bab Al-Mandab strait off Yemen.

According to opposition officials the fishing boats were carrying livestock and civilians.

The boats had left for Yemen from the Dankalia Region of Eritrea to import basic food commodities, household items, clothing and footwear to meet their basic needs.

“At least 5 civilians were indiscriminately killed and 10 other people injured, including women, children and elderly people,” said Ibrahim Haron, leader of RSADO, an armed opposition movement based in Ethiopia.

This type of air attack against a civilian boat the opposition leader said is "a serious violation of international humanitarian law".

RSADO deplored the attacks by the coalition forces saying it was indiscriminate air strikes with foreknowledge of their indiscriminate effect.

“RSADO unequivocally condemns in the strongest terms possible this indiscriminate air strike attack directed at the Eritrean Afar civilian population by the Arab Coalition Forces” said the rebel group.

Sudan Tribune could not independently confirm this account and a spokesman for the Saudi-led coalition forces could not immediately be reached for comment.

In October 2015, Yemeni fishermen accused the coalition helicopters and warships of killing 40 people, including several fishermen during an attack on military locations belonging to the Houthis and forces loyal to Saleh on Aqban and Kadman islands on 24 October 2015.

Since March 2015, Saudi Arabia has been leading an military coalition to restore Yemen's President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his government, forced into exile by an advance of Houthi fighters allied to Iran.

Reports last month revealed that Saudi Arabia has transferred some 5,000 Yemeni militants to Eritrea for military training in the Red Sea country.

According to the report, Riyadh was transferring the militants from Aden to Eritrea's Assab port to go under military trainings and then be sent to the Saudi provinces bordering Yemen.

The Eritrean government at the time dismissed the report saying “a preposterous lie”.

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

However, RSADO Friday confirmed that the Arab Coalitions Forces were stationed in Eritrea's Dankalia region since November 2, 2015.

Since their deployment, RSADO said thousands of Afar families have been made homeless, forcibly evicted from their traditional land and homes.
“Internally displaced, children and families are deliberately kept in destitute or unhealthy conditions by the regime” Ibrahim said.

He added that “They [Afars] were forced from their homes and off their grazing lands and fishing areas violently, without compensation and without Free, Prior and Informed consent (FPIC) in order to make Afar land available for the Saudi Arabia-led Alliance”

According to the opposition official, on November 2, 2015 the State of Eritrea leased the Port of Assab to the UAE for 30 years and it has allowed the Saudi Arabia-led Gulf Alliance to use the Hanish islands to conduct military operations against Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf Allies have established their military presence in Afar Land in Eritrea in return for financial aid and fuel supplies for the Eritrean government, the group calimed.

Eritrean right groups say, the military base of the Saudi -led alliance in Dankalia (Afar Land) has already had a devastating impact on the indigenous Afar because their economic, social and cultural survival is deeply linked to their traditional land, fishing, and commercial and business activities between Eritrea and Yemen.

RSADO alleges the Eritrean regime is responsible for committing crimes and human rights violations against Afar people.

The group accused Isaias Afewerki regime in Asmara of deliberately leasing Afar lands to the Saudi coalition forces in order to systematically remove the Afars from their traditional lands in the name of development.

“We may otherwise suppose that the Eritrean regime hopes that the solution to the 'Afar Problem' is to allow Saudi-led coalition forces and Houthi rebels-Salih Forces to collaterally eradicate the Afar people in the crossfire”.

“We think that equating or nullifying this incident with fighting international terrorism which were targeting the International Maritime Routes in the Bab-el-Mandeb route is an additional insult to injury,” the group said.

RSADO urged the Saudi-led coalition forces to immediately withdraw from their traditional territory (Dankalia) and to allow the Afar people live in their land peacefully.

It also called upon the international community, U.S., EU, UK, Russa, and human rights groups to urge and pressure the Saudi–led coalition to abide and comply with international humanitarian and human rights laws, and to immediately halt targeting innocent Eritrean Afar fishermen and civilians in Eritrean and international waters near the Bab al-Mandab strait off Yemen.

(ST)

October 14, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Finance Minister Badr el-Din Mahmoud has expected a decision from the United States easing restrictions on of spare parts of planes and trains, from sanctions on Sudan.

Sudanese finance minister Badr al-Din Mahmoud

Sudan is under economic and trade sanctions since 1997, initially in connection with alleged support to terrorist groups. However in 2007, it strengthened the embargo, citing abuses in Darfur which it labelled as "genocide".

Speaking to the press at Khartoum Airport after his returning from the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group (WBG) in Washington on Thursday, Minister Mahmoud said U.S. will soon allow the import of spare parts for planes and trains, adding there is a remarkable improvement on the Sudanese-US relations.

He further said he discussed with officials at the U.S. Department of the Treasury the sanctions imposed on his country and the flow of refugees from neighbouring countries, pointing out that the American side responded positively and expressed neediness to support Sudanese efforts to shelter refugees, and to combat human trafficking.

The efforts exerted by the Sudanese government have led to "ease sanctions on the banking sector and the lift sanctions in the future, precisely next December will witness the lift of economic sanctions on Sudan," he further said.

U. S. Department of State last September praised Sudanese government efforts in the fight against terrorism. However, it ruled out the removal of sanctions on the east African country as long as there is no improvement in Darfur conditions.

"While countering terrorism is an important objective for the United States, we continue to engage the Government of Sudan on protecting human rights, resolving internal conflicts, addressing humanitarian needs, improving regional stability, and advancing political freedoms, accountability and reconciliation," said a statement issued on 21 September.

Minister Mahmoud stated that he met with several international financial officials on the sidelines of the IMF meetings, including a meeting with the chairman of the World Bank where they tackled the economic situation in Sudan and ways to support the basic education, electricity, agricultural sectors.

He said he explained that the refugees' issue puts pressure on the country's economy, pointing out that Sudan provides assistance to those refugees on behalf of the international community without any support from it.

He also said he met with the UNHCR officials to assist Sudan to monitor and assess refugees.

Sudan hosts refugees from the Horn of Africa countries particularly Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia besides the increasing number of South Sudanese during the last three years.

(ST)

October 14, 2016 (JUBA) – Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni last week met in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, with Riek Machar leader of the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) and Lam Akol, leader of the rebel National Democratic Movement (NDM), Sudan Tribune has learnt.

South Sudanese opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar meets Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni in Khartoum, Sept. 16, 2015 (ST Photo)

The meeting which took place on Tuesday, 11 October, after Museveni participation in the closing session of the National Dialogue Conference in Khartoum, disclosed the spokesperson of SPLM-IO leader, James Gatdet Dak .

He told Sudan Tribune that the meeting, which was initiated by President Museveni, discussed a lot of issues pertaining to how to correct the ongoing political and security situations in the country.

“Our Chairman and Commander-in-Chief, H.E. Dr. Riek Machar, met with President Yoweri Museveni in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Tuesday, 11 October. Dr. Lam Akol also took part in the meeting. The three leaders discussed a way forward to correct the current mess in the country that has resulted from the attack on July 8, 2016, which attempted to assassinate our leader,” said Dak.

He said President Museveni admitted that the political power sharing and the security arrangements in South Sudan should be reviewed following the collapse of both the August 2015 peace agreement and the transitional government of national unity.

“The trio discussed President Museveni's initiative on how to review the political power sharing and the security arrangements, including future elections,” Dak said, without giving details.

He added that Machar had told the Ugandan leader that he would discuss the initiative with the leadership of the SPLM-IO.

On 25 September, South Sudan's former Minister of Agriculture, Lam Akol, announced the formation of new rebel group, NDM. He said that his new faction will closely work with the SPLM-IO of Riek Machar.

The former leader of the parliamentary opposition Democratic Change Party (DCP) said he resigned and left the party in August because the its leadership refuses the armed struggle and believe in peaceful dialogue and non-violence to bring about change in South Sudan.

Dak reiterated that the SPLM-IO's leadership was committed to a peaceful political settlement of the civil war, but has been forced to opt for an armed resistance against President Kiir's regime after the 8 July incident.

He said without an initiative to correct the situation and resuscitate the peace agreement, the armed opposition will have no other option than to stage an armed resistance which will lead to the “overthrow of President Kiir's regime” in Juba.

Earlier, the opposition faction blamed IGAD-Plus member states for allowing President Kiir to violate the peace agreement when he allegedly attempted to assassinate Machar at the Republican Palace (J1) on 8 July, and also attacked his residence, forcing him out of the capital and the country.

(ST)

October 14, 2016 (JUBA) – International human rights bodies have called for establishment of a Hybrid Court in the war-ravaged South Sudan in accordance with the August 2015 peace deal and the resolution of the African Union, saying the ongoing fighting in the new country should not be used as an excuse to delay trials for those who have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in a joint briefing on Thursday, said continued fighting in South Sudan which erupted again on 8 July must not derail justice for crimes committed during the deadly conflict that began in December 2013.

The organizations are calling on the African Union (AU) Commission and the South Sudan government to urgently establish the proposed Hybrid Court for South Sudan (HCSS).

“Thousands have been killed, women raped, entire villages destroyed, and humanitarian personnel attacked. But as world attention has focused on ending the fighting, accountability for violations that could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity has been put on the back burner,” said Netsanet Belay, Amnesty International's Africa Director for Research and Advocacy, in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Thursday.

“Justice must not be delayed any further. Fresh violations should give added impetus to efforts to form the Hybrid Court,” the statement said.

The peace agreement signed by both parties in August 2015 provides for the formation of the court to investigate and prosecute those bearing criminal responsibility for the atrocities, but little progress has been made towards setting it up.

They said the Hybrid Court – which will combine elements of both domestic and international law and be composed of personnel from South Sudan and abroad – currently represents the most viable option for ensuring accountability for crimes committed during the conflict, as well as for deterring further abuses.

In the briefing, the organizations make 17 recommendations to ensure the court effectively achieves accountability in accordance with international fair trial standards. The recommended priorities include: “Establishing an investigative branch to ensure evidence is collected and preserved in an appropriate manner; Establishing an independent victims and witness protection unit; Ensuring that victims' rights to participate in the proceedings are guaranteed, the inclusion of South Sudanese judges and staff on the court and exclusion of the death penalty as a possible sentence.”

The human rights bodies also recommended that if security concerns prevent the court from being based in South Sudan, it should at least be located within the region.

They said the crimes should not go unpunished, adding that bringing the criminals to justice will help in ensuring sustainable peace in South Sudan.

“Atrocities endured by civilians in South Sudan, which the African Union has documented, must not go unpunished. The establishment of the Hybrid Court is necessary, not only to address human rights violations and abuses and crimes under international law, but also as a pillar to achieving sustainable peace,” said Arnold Tsunga, FIDH Vice President.

“The AU should build on its experience of the recent trial of former Chadian President Hissène Habré in Senegal to set up the Hybrid Court for South Sudan,” the statement said.

South Sudan became an independent country on 9 July 2011 after decades of war, lengthy negotiations and a referendum to secede from Sudan. Two and a half years later, in December 2013, armed conflict broke out between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those allied to his deputy, Riek Machar.

In August 2015, the two parties agreed a peace deal and later formed a transitional unity government with President Kiir at the helm and Machar as first of his two deputies.

Renewed fighting broke out on 8 July, 2016, with heavy clashes in the capital, Juba, and other parts of the country. Machar has since been replaced as First Vice President and fled the country after his residence was attacked.

About 2.6 million South Sudanese have fled their homes since the outbreak of fighting in 2013, with some 1.6 million internally displaced and another one million living as refugees in neighbouring countries.

(ST)

October 14, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Imam (prayer leader) of Khartoum's Grand Mosque Kamal Rizq on Friday has criticized the Sudan's school curriculum saying it glorifies Shi'ite Islam.

In September 2014, Sudan ordered the closure of Iranian cultural centre in the capital Khartoum, and its branches in other states. Also the Iranian cultural attaché and the staff of the centre were asked to leave the country within 72 hours.

At the time the government didn't issue any official explanation for the abrupt decision.

However, the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir later said they realized that government of the Islamic Republic of Iran sought actively through its diplomatic mission to spread its religious ideology.

During his Friday cermon, Rizq vehemently attacked Sudan's Ministry of Education, saying “it doesn't exist in reality”.

He stressed that schools books propagate the Shi'ite ideology, wondering why the Iranian cultural centres were shut down while “grade tenth curriculum glorifies the Shi'ite poetry and hails it as original and a product of strong creed”.

Following the closure of the Iranian cultural centres, a number of Imams demanded the government to take further measures against Shi'ism.

At the time, the head of the Fiqh (jurisprudence) Academy Isam Ahmed al-Bashir, vowed to review the curriculum of private schools which are believed to be propagating Shi'ite ideology, saying any school that doesn't adhere to the government's official curriculum would be shut down.

In January 2016, Sudan severed ties with Iran after an attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran amid a row over the execution of a Shi'ite Muslim cleric.

Sudanese troops are deployed in Yemen since October 2014 within an Arab coalition against the Iran-backed Shi'ite Houthi militants.

(ST)

October 13, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's monthly inflation rate climbed for the sixth consecutive month reaching 18.32 percent in September compared to 18.15 percent in August, said the official Central Bureau of Statistics (CBoS) on Thursday.

A vendor sells vegetables during Ramadan at a local market in north Khartoum August 3, 2012 (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

Up to March the inflation rate was declining slowly and reached 11.70 percent while the government was trying to curb inflation rate to stabilize commodities and services prices.

According to the CBoS's monthly bulletin, the monthly inflation rate has risen to 18,32 percent due to the general increase in price of goods and services.

Prices and services have soared in Sudan since South Sudan seceded in 2011, taking with it three quarters of the country's oil output, the main source of foreign currency used to support the Sudanese pound.

The government decision to lift fuel and basic commodities subsidies in September 2013 pushed up the inflation. Also, prices of gasoline and diesel increased by almost 100%.

Also, price of the US dollar has witnessed sharp increase in the black market in Khartoum since last April settling at 15,5 pounds (SDG) while the official exchange rate still stands at 6.4 pounds. The dollar is needed for food and other essential imports.

In its latest report on Sudan earlier this month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) called on the government to tighten monetary policy to keep inflation in check.

“This would require continued adherence to limits on central bank advances to the government, limiting quasi-fiscal activities to levels consistent with monetary targets, and developing liquidity management instruments” said the report.

(ST)

October 14, 2016 (JUBA) - A leader of an armed factions who did not join the 2015 peace agreement, is advocating two solutions to end disputes resulting from a unilateral presidential decree expanding the number of administrative units to 28 states from the constitutionally recognised 10 states .

Gabriel Changson Chang (ST)

South Sudan's former Youth and Sports Minister Gabriel Changson Chang, now a Chairman and Commander in Chief of the Federal Democratic Party, proposed two options to resolving land disputes between communities resulting from the contested presidential order.

President Salva Kiir, on 2 October 2015, issued presidential order dissolving state government and legislatures and expanded the number of states from a previously constitutionally recognised 10 state to 28 states in violation of the peace agreement which recognises 10 states.

"This presidential order created land disputes between communities and made it impossible to enshrine the agreement into the current transitional constitution”, said Changson, according to a proposal extended to Sudan Tribune.

The proposal, which is dated on 16 September, advocates freezing the presidential order creating 28 states and revert to 10 states as the first option or creating 36 states as the last option to address land disputes. The proposal, however, fell short of how it would address concerns that the presidential decree itself divided some communities and annexed their lands to others.

It also did not address economic and political issues as many are concerned with how a large local government structure could economically be sustainable and socially cohesive amid declining resources.

The proposal divides the Upper Nile State into five states and leave Malakal town with a municipality status. It does not mention under which state it would fall if given municipality status. It further divides the Unity State into four separate states and leave Abiemnom with the status of municipality, without clarifying under which state it would fall.

Jonglei state, according to the proposal, should be divided into six separate states. It spilt Eastern Equatoria into two states and gives Raja County the status of a state separate from Wau and counties in Aweil to which it has been annexed, according to the presidential order. The proposal, however, did not split Tonj, Western and Eastern Lakes, Gok, Terekeka, Gbudue, Yei, Jubek, Aweil and Aweil East states into new more states.

All the opposition groups have rejected the creation of 28 states but agree on the need to review the 10 states. In the peace agreement it was agreed to discuss the matter and to reach a consensus to be endorsed in the new constitution.

(ST)

(ST)

Expressing “deep concern” over the political situation in Burundi, the United Nations Security Council reiterated its demand that all stakeholders to refrain from any action that could threaten peace and stability in the country or undermine the East African Community-led inter-Burundian dialogue.

In our series of letters from African journalists, Joseph Warungu, a former high-school teacher, examines the measures the Kenyan government has put in place to tackle cheating in national exams.

A United Nations report released today documents the high incidence of rape in Liberia and the widespread impunity enjoyed by perpetrators, and provides a number of recommendations to the Government, other national and international stakeholders, including the UN, to urgently combat the scourge.

OPEN LETTER TO US GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND UN PERSONNEL: URGENT ACTION IN RELATION TO THE CHEMICAL ATTACKS IN DARFUR

October 14, 2016

To: President Barack Obama;

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon;

Prince Zied, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

The Special Advisors on the Prevention of Genocide (Mr. Adama Dieng) and Crimes Against Humanity (Dr. Jennifer Welsh) to the UN Secretary General, respectively;

Key UN Personnel Dealing with Human Rights Issues;

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee; and,

U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR); U.S. Congressman McGovern (D-MA); and, U.S. House of Foreign Affairs Committee Ranking Member Eliot Engel (D-NY).

From: Scholars of Genocide Studies from Across the Globe, Human Rights Activists, Anti-genocide Activists, and People of the Cloth

Re., Actions That Must Be Taken Immediately in Regard to the Chemical Attacks on Darfur

As most of you are no doubt aware of, this past week Amnesty International issued a report in which it decried and spelled out in great detail how the Government of Sudan has recently carried out chemical attacks against civilians in Darfur. In part, the report asserts that “horrific evidence,” including satellite imagery and more than 200 in-depth interviews with survivors, along with the analysis of dozens of images, suggest “at least 30 chemical attacks between January and September took place in the Jebel Marra region.” AI estimates that between 200 and 250 people were killed as a result of these attacks, “with many or most of them being children.” Whether you deem it a continuation of the genocidal actions against the Darfurians, a case of crimes against humanity, or war crimes, it is an outrage.

And the horror for the civilians of Darfur does not end there. Tellingly, AI cited satellite imagery that indicated that over 170 black villages had been damaged or destroyed between January and September, “the overwhelming majority” of which had no formal relationship with the rebel forces in the region.

What is it going to take to move the international community (the UN, the United States, the European Union, the African Union, etc.) to once and for all quell the violence in Darfur against the civilian population and then guarantee the million plus internal displaced persons and half a million (and rising) refugees are able to safely return to the land and villages from which they were forced off and out of as a result of the GoS's scorched earth actions between 2003 and today? Can anyone say? Will anyone say?

As you know, on September 9, 2004, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell announced to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, “The Government of Sudan had committed genocide, and was possibly still doing so.” As it was allowed to do under the UN Charter, the U.S. Government then referred the matter to the United Nations. The United Nations then chose to carry out its own commission of inquiry (UN Commission of Inquiry into Darfur). And while tens of thousands of innocent people (women, children, infants, the elderly) were shot and killed, sliced open and left to die where they dropped, not to mention burned to death, the UN took the rest of the month of September and all of October to complete the plans for its inquiry and then took all of November and part of December 2004 and January 2005 to carry it out. In late January, the UN issued a detailed and scathing report in which it declared that the GoS and its militia, the Janjaweed, had carried out crimes against humanity against the people of Darfur. The UN then referred the matter to the International Criminal Court (the ICC). The then ICC carried out its multi-year investigation into the mass destruction and death in Darfur at the hands of the GoS and Janjaweed.

An African Union peacekeeping mission was established in Darfur in 2004, followed by a hybrid AU/UN Mission in July 2007, when the AU found that it did not have the wherewithal to handle the crisis on its own. In light of the large number of civilians either forced from their homes between 2004 and today and/or killed, it is patently obvious that neither mission was effective as some had hoped they would be. And actually, if one could muster the will to place him/herself in the Darfuris' shoes then one is likely to agree with them that both missions were complete and utter failures. That must change, and it must change now! The time for talk, talk and more talk is not when innocents are crying and dying. The time for handling President Omar al Bashir and his regime with kid gloves should have been over long ago. The time for dithering (or, like Nero, playing the fiddle), while parts of Darfur (like Rome) are being poisoned to death must end — and now.

All of the eloquent words and promises of “Never Again” ring hollow in the face of what the black Africans of Darfur have been subjected to by both the GoS, the Janjaweed, and, yes, the international community (with the exception of those who have provided humanitarian aid) over the past thirteen plus years (2003-2016). Indeed, all of the promises have yielded nothing but more pain for the Darfuris, more gain for the GoS, and more pathetic examples of hypocrisy by the collective members of the international community. Shame on all bystanders. Shame on all of us!

It is not enough for one official or another, let alone the UN Security Council, to simply, solely, and lamely decry and denounce the latest atrocities perpetrated by the Government of Sudan. Words only go so far. Words have a tendency to evaporate into thin air. What is needed now is action: concrete action that is efficient, effective and sustained.

One has to ask: Where is the impact of the Responsibility to Protect? Why didn't the UN Special Advisors on Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity to the Secretary General, speak up about the critical need for concrete and effective action to stanch the use of chemical weapons back in January? And when none was coming, why did the Special Advisors continue to not only allow, but to take part in, bureaucratic games? Are they truly serious about stanching crimes against humanity and genocide? People are dying, people! Nice sounding speeches and policy papers don't do them one bit of good if they are not followed by solid action.

Where has President Obama's Atrocity Prevention Board been while all of these atrocities have been unfolding? And now that it is surely aware of the chemical attacks against the Darfurians, what is it doing? Or is the APB, to use colloquial phrase, more show than go? That is, is it more cosmetic than anything else?

Where has the UN Security Council been in upholding the UN Charter in this regard? Silence in the face of cases such as this constitutes, in its own and inimitable (and inimical) way, complicity. If organizations, agencies and individuals are not actively involved in attempting to stanch such horrors, then they are bystanders watching it unfold before their very eyes, as if they have nary a worry in the world.

This is not the time for excuses by the international community, individual nations, and politicians — excuses such as we are over stretched, we are already dealing with a nightmare in Syria, we are dealing with hundreds of thousands of refugees on the front doorstep of Europe, we are dealing with ISIS, etc.! We know all of that! We also know that for all of the promises that have been made to the civilians of Darfur and all of the inept actions that have been carried out at the costs of hundreds of millions of dollars, the people of Dafur are no safer today than they were at the height of the killing back in 2004 and 2005.

The following is what we urge the UN Security Council and individual nation states, including the United States, Australia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Kenya, Tanzania, and New Zealand, etc., to do immediately, and without fail:

1. Pass a resolution at the UN Security Council, which thoroughly condemns — and in no uncertain words — the latest round of atrocities perpetrated by the Government of Sudan;

2. Significantly ratchet up the UN sanctions against Sudan, which Sudan has largely ignored and been breaching on a regular basis;

3. Significantly ratchet up targeted sanctions against individuals and other entities in Sudan contributing to the conflict in the Darfur region — to the point just before the sanctions begin to cripple the aforementioned groups; and,

4. Significantly increase the number of AU/UN military forces on the ground, and implement a rigorous evaluation policy to determine whether the individual forces are actually carrying out their duties efficiently, effectively, and consistently.

5. Provide the latest and best health care for those Darfurians who have been burned and sickened as a result of the chemicals dumped on them by the Government of Sudan.

6. Once and for all, establish a no-fly zone over Darfur. It need not consist of a constant presence in the sky but rather a presence that makes itself known to the Government of Sudan.

Further, we support the following recommendations/call for actions issued this past week by the Darfur Women Action Group:

• We urgently call on the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to investigate the use of chemical weapons;

• We trust that the International Criminal Court (ICC) will also investigate and prosecute the latest crimes committed by the al-Bashir government and forces;

• We call on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to implement its existing resolutions condemning serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law by the government of Sudan, and to ensure that the Sudanese Government and its officials are held accountable and brought to justice immediately;

• We call on President Barack Obama and all world leaders of good conscience to condemn the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to lead the international community in calling for an immediate stop to all violence against civilians in Darfur and to impose more effective sanctions to prevent further atrocities by the Sudanese Government; and,

• The United States and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) must pressure the Sudanese Government to allow humanitarian aid organizations and the United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) to deliver much needed aid and support to all affected communities in Darfur.?We call on all governments and intergovernmental organizations alike to match their resolutions with meaningful action to hold the government of Sudan and its officials accountable and to demand that these cruel acts of horror are immediately stopped and punished.

As the sage Hillel asked, “If not now, when?” Clearly, it is an admonition to postpone no responsibility. If what the civilians of Darfur have been facing and continue to face is not a situation that calls for moral responsibility on the part of the international community then what is? Truly, what is?

We, scholars of genocide studies, human rights activists, anti-crimes against humanity and genocide activists, and religious figures, concerned citizens all from across the globe, beseech you to act and act now on the behalf of the Darfurian civilians.

We would not only appreciate an acknowledgement of this letter but a response in regard to the substantive issues raised. Please email it to samstertotten@gmail.com

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

Signed:

Dr. SAMUEL TOTTEN

Professor Emeritus

University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

Author of Genocide by Attrition: Nuba Mountains of Sudan, and compiler/editor of An Oral and Documentary History of the Darfur Genocide

Baroness Caroline Cox

Cross Bench Member of the British House of Lords, and Founder of the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART)

London, England

Professor Ben Kiernan,

A. Whitney Griswold Professor of History and

Founding Director (1994-2015), Genocide Studies Program,

Yale University

New Haven, CT

Author of Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur

Dr Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe

Researcher

Dakar, Sénégal

Author of Readings from Reading: Essays on African Politics, Genocide, Literature

Dr. Israel Charny

Professor Emeritus, and Director of the Institute of Holocaust And Genocide Studies

Department of Psychology

Hebrew University

Jerusalem, Israel

Author of The Genocide Contagion

Dr. Michiel Leezenberg

Professor

Department of Philosophy

University of Amsterdam

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Author of “The Anfal Operations in Iraqi Kurdistan.” In S. Totten & W.S. Parsons (Eds.), Centuries of Genocide: Essays and Eyewitness Accounts.

Dr. Eric Reeves

Senior Fellow

François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights

Harvard University

Cambridge, MA

Author of A Long Day's Dying: Critical Moments in the Darfur Genocide

Dr. Helen Fein

Institute for the Study of Genocide

New York, NY

Author of Accounting for Genocide

Dr. Colin Tatz

Visiting Fellow, Political and International Relations

Australian National University

Canberra, Australia

Author of With Intent to Destroy: Reflecting on Genocide

Dr. Herb Hirsch

Department of Political Science

Virginia Commonwealth University

Richmond, VA

Author of Genocide and the Politics of Memory: Studying Death to Preserve Life, and Co-editor of Genocide Studies International

Dr. Maureen S. Hiebert

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Military, Security & Strategic Studies

University of Calgary

Author of Constructing Genocide and Mass Violence: Society, Crisis, Identity (forthcoming)

Dr. Victoria Sanford

Professor & Chair, and Director, Center for Human Rights & Peace Studies

Department of Anthropology

Lehman College

New York, New York

Author of Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala

Ms. Gillian Lusk

Writer on Sudan and South Sudan

London, UK

Dr. Rouben Adalian

Director, Armenian National Institute

Washington, DC

Editor of The Armenian Genocide in the U.S. Archives

Dr. Yair Auron

Historian

Open University

Ra'anana, Israel

Author of The Armenian Genocide: Forgotten and Denied

Dr. Henry C. Theriault

Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department

Worcester State University

Worcester, MA

Co-editor of Genocide Studies International

Dr. Elihu D. Richter, MD MPH

Director and Researcher

Jerusalem Center for Genocide Prevention and Hebrew-University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine

Jerusalem, Israel

Dr. Rubina Peroomian
Research Associate

Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

University of California, Los Angeles

Dr. Taner Ackam

Professor of History?

Robert Aram, Marianne Kaloosdian and Stephen and Marian Mugar Chair in Armenian Genocide Studies

Department of History?

Clark University?

Worcester, MA

Author of The Young Turks' Crime Against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire

Dr. Kimberley Ducey

Associate Professor

Department of Sociology

University of Winnipeg

Winnipeg, MB

Dr. Peter Balakian

Rebar Professor of the Humanities

Colgate University

Hamilton, New York

Author of The Burning Tigris: The Armenian Genocide and America's Response

Dr. John H. Weiss

Professor, and Founder, Caceres-Neuffer Genocide Action Group

Department of History

Cornell University

Ithaca, New York

Dr. Rick Halperin

Professor, Director of the Embrey Human Rights Program, and past Chair of the Board of Directors of Amnesty International, US

Southern Methodist University

Dallas, Texas

Dr. Salim Mansur

Associate Professor

Department of Political Science

Western University

London, Ontario, Canada

Dr. Paul Slovic

University of Oregon

Department of Psychology

Eugene, Oregon

Author of "If I Look at the Mass I Will Never Act: Psychic Numbing and Genocide.”

Professor Michael Bazyler ?

Professor of Law and The 1939 Society Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies

Dale E. Fowler School of Law

Chapman University

?Orange, CA

Dr. Linda M. Woolf

Professor

Psychology and International Human Rights

Webster University

St. Louis, MO

Dr. Waitman Wade Beorn

Lecturer

Corcoran Department of History

University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA

Dr. Jan Colijn

Professor and Dean Emeritus

Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Galloway Township, NJ

Author of Ruin's Wheel: A Father on War, A Son on Genocide

Dr. Jason J. Campbell

Assistant Professor

Departments of Conflict Resolution and Philosophy

Nova Southeastern University

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Author of Planning a Catastrophe: On the Nature of Genocidal Intent.

Dr. Yael Stein MD

Co-founder, the Jerusalem Center for Genocide Prevention, Jerusalem , Israel

Jerusalem, Israel

The Rev. Heidi McGinness

Presbyterian Clergy (PC-USA)

Denver, Colorado

(Twelve year witness of Khartoum's genocide and enslavement of

Sudanese citizens.)

Dr Kevin Simpson

Professor of Psychology

John Brown University

Siloam Springs, AR

Author of Soccer under the Swastika: Stories of Survival and Resistance during the Holocaust

Dr. Robert Skloot

Professor Emeritus

Department of Theatre

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Sister Deirdre Byrne

The Little Workers of the Sacred Heart

Washington, DC

Alexander Ramadan Tarjan

Member

End Nuba Genocide

Nuba Mountains, Sudan

Dr. Paul Mojzes

Professor emeritus

Rosemont College

Rosemont, PA

Author: Balkan Genocides: Holocaust and Ethnic Cleansing in the Twentieth Century

Slater Armstrong

Founder/Director

Joining Our Voices & co-leader of End Nuba Genocide

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

John Jefferson

Co-founder

End Nuba Genocide

United States

Dr. Michael Minch

Professor of Philosophy and Peace and Justice Studies

Utah Valley University

Orem, Utah

Dr. C. Louis Perrinjaquet, MD, MPH

Vice President and Medical Director

Doctors to the World

Breckinridge, Colorado

Dr. Dick Bennett,

Professor Emeritus, and Founder, OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology

University of Arkansas

Fayetteville, AR

Compiler, Peace Movement Directory

Dr. Gagik Aroutiunian

Associate Professor,

Department of Art, Media & Design,

DePaul University,

Chicago, IL

Dr. John K. Roth

Edward J. Sexton Professor Emeritus of Philosophy

Claremont McKenna College

Claremont, California

Author of The Failures of Ethics: Confronting the Holocaust, Genocide, and Other Mass Atrocities

Dr. Edward Kissi

Associate Professor

University of South Florida

Tampa, FL

Author of “Obligation to Prevent (O2P): Proposal for Enhanced Community Approach to Genocide

Prevention in Africa,” African Security Review

Dr. Debórah Dwork

Rose Professor of Holocaust History and Founding Director of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies

Clark University

Worcester, MA

Author of Flight from the Reich

Dr. Michael Berenbaum

Former Director of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's Holocaust Research Institute (1993–1997); currently, Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute: Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust

American Jewish University

Los Angeles, CA

Author of Witness to the Holocaust, and The World Must Know: The History of the Holocaust as Told in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Dr. Khatchik Der Ghougassian

Professor

Universidad de San Andres

Victoria, Buenos Aires, Argentina

“Genocide and Identity (Geo)Politics: Bridging State Reasoning and Diaspora Activism” in Genocide Studies International

Dr. Alejandro Baer?

Associate Professor and Stephen C. Feinstein Chair & Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies

Department of Sociology

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, MN

Dr. Deborah Mayersen

Historian

University of Wollongong

Wollongong NSW

Australia

Author of On the Path to Genocide: Armenia and Rwanda Reexamined

Dr. Norman Naimark

Department of History

Stanford University

Stanford, CA

Author of Stalin's Genocides

Dr. Yehuda Bauer

Professor Emeritus of History and Holocaust Studies

The Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry

Hebrew University

Jerusalem, Israel

Author of Rethinking the Holocaust

Dr. Kjell Anderson

University of Amsterdam/NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust, and Genocide Studies

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Author of A Criminology of Genocide: Killing Without Consequence (forthcoming)

Dr. Eric D. Weitz

Distinguished Professor of History

The City College of New York

New York, NY

Author of Century of Genocide: Utopias of Race and Nation

Dr. Alex Alvarez

Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Northern Arizona University

Flagstaff, AZ

Author of Genocidal Crimes

Dr. Gregory Stanton

Research Professor in Genocide Studies and Prevention

School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution

George Mason University

Arlington, VA

Ms. Rebecca Tinsley

Journalist and Human Rights Activist

London, England

Author of When the Stars Fell to Earth

Dr. Tetsushi Ogata, Ph.D.

Lecturer

Peace and Conflict Studies — International & Area Studies Academic Program

University of California, Berkeley

Dr. Ervin Staub

Professor Emeritus

Founding Director of the Doctoral program in the Psychology of Peace and Violence

University of Massachusetts at Amherst

Author of The Roots of Goodness and Resistance to Evil: Inclusive Caring, Moral Courage, Altruism Born of Suffering, Active Bystandership and Heroism

Dr. Mukesh Kapila CBE

Professor of Global Health and Humanitarian Affairs

University of Manchester

Manchester, England
Author of Against a Tide of Evil: How One Man Became the Whistleblower of the Twenty-First Century

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the reported release of 21 Chibok schoolgirls, who were abducted by the Boko Haram insurgent group more than two years ago, while expressing deep concern about the safety and well-being of the remaining schoolgirls and other victims still in captivity.

Nigeria's president responds to criticism of his government from his wife by saying she belongs in his kitchen, living room and "the other room".

In the wake of a number of killings and attacks on civilians in the Central African Republic (CAR), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has called on all actors in the country to exercise restraint and prevent any further escalation in violence.

Fishermen in Mauritania are complaining that huge trawlers are taking too many fish, putting their livelihoods at risk.

The London High Court dismisses a $1.2bn (£840m) claim against US investment bank Goldman Sachs brought by Libya's sovereign fund.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari responds to criticism of his leadership by his wife Aisha Buhari by saying that she "belongs to my kitchen".

The BBC's Karen Allen reports on the work of public protector Thuli Madonsela, whose fight against corruption has inspired a South African public yearning for better services.

A corruption investigation expected to contain damning allegations against South African President Jacob Zuma is delayed, pending a court order.