Africa

October 3, 2016 (JUBA) - At least 12 South Sudanese cattle keepers from the Dinka Bor tribe were killed in the outskirts of the capital, Juba over the weekend, officials said.

Young men herd cattle through the mud-caked streets of Pibor, South Sudan (AP)

Eight others were reportedly wounded in the weekend attack.

The incident, involving a Land Cruiser car, occurred less than 200 meters from the last army located south-west of Juba, survivors and the police said.

“The passengers were returning to cattle camp in Kajo-Keji County of Yei River State but they were ambushed and their car sprayed with bullets,” said David Mamer, who lost a cousin during the weekend attack.

Mamer said the bodies were retrieved from the forest by relatives, an hour after the incident occurred.

“Most of the bodies had bullets in their heads – a sign that the victims were shot at close-range when the driver had to abandon the car,” he added.

Most of the victims were from Bor county in Jonglei state.

Attacks on highways in South Sudan between Juba and neighboring towns are common – but not close to the city as witnessed last week.

The attackers, eyewitnesses said, spoke in the Nuer dialect, a claim Sudan Tribune could not verify.

A woman whose husband was killed said one of the alleged gunmen called her using the stolen phone and mocked her.

“He told me ‘we have killed your husband and you must look for another man,'” she said as tears rolled down her face.

Police said investigations are underway to establish the motive of the attack and bring the suspects to book.

“We heard the incident and we are still investigating,” said Police Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Daniel Justin Boula, adding that no suspects had so far been arrested over the attack.

The attack provoked criticism on social media – with users questioning government's ability to maintain the rule of law in the war-torn country.

(ST)

October 3, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on Monday has confiscated print runs of Al-Saiha daily newspaper from the printing house without giving any reasons.

A Sudanese man reads a newspaper as he waits to pay at a kiosk in the capital Khartoum, on July 31, 2011 (AFP)

A number of journalists working for Al-Saiha said the NISS didn't inform the editorial board of the reasons for the seizure of the newspaper's copies.

However, a journalist told Sudan Tribune on the condition of anonymity the newspaper was likely confiscated for publishing a series of Op-eds entitled “Notes in Politics and Good Governance” by former presidential advisor and chairman of the opposition Reform Now Movement (RNM) Ghazi Salah al-Din.

He said that Salah al-Din discussed in the last article the absence of democracy, transparency and good governance and its adverse impact on freedoms in the country.

Salah al-Din went on to say that the current political leadership in Sudan came to power by mistake, pointing to the leadership misuse of power and the missing opportunities of the Sudanese people.

Meanwhile, the Sudanese non-governmental Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) network has denounced the seizure of Al-Saiha, pointing that both pro-government and independent press are suffering continued violations by the NISS.

Al-Saiha is owned by the chairman of the Just Peace Forum (JPF) party and president Omer Hassan al-Bashir's maternal uncle Al-Tayeb Mustafa.

Sudan's constitution guarantees freedom of expression but laws subordinate to the constitution such as the National Security Forces Act of 2010 contains articles that can be potentially used to curtail press freedom and instigate legal proceedings against newspapers and individual journalists.

The NISS routinely confiscates newspapers either to prevent circulation of certain stories or to punish them retroactively on previous issues.

It uses seizures of print copies of newspapers, not only to censor the media but also to weaken them economically.

(ST)

October 3, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudanese army (SPLA) denied having fought with the opposition forces of the SPLA-IO in Morobo county of Central Equatoria state, but admitted they fought with armed local youth in the area.

South Sudanese SPLA soldiers are pictured in Pageri in Eastern Equatoria state on August 20, 2015 (Photo AFP/Samir Bol)

The SPLA spokesperson, Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang, said reports by the armed opposition that fighting took place and they captured Morobo last week were not true.

“Those were the youths who have disagreed on social issues and start the fight there are between two to three-four youths and you know whenever two-three people fight and then it breaks into mass fighting others will just join it without knowing the motive,” Brigadier General Koang told Sudan Tribune over phone interview.

He blamed the spokesman for the opposition leader, Riek Machar, for allegedly “politicizing” the conflict between the civilian armed local youth and the government's forces in Morobo county.

“What I know is that it was mass fighting youths, it was not a political agenda but it was being politicized by James Gatdet who has been fanning flames of war from Nairobi,” claimed the SPLA spokesperson, who insisted the SPLA forces are in full control of Morobo and neighboring villages.

Brig. Koang denied that Morobo once fell under the control of the opposition or the local youth. This comes four days after he said his office did not receive any information about the situation in Morobo.

“SPLA is in full control of Morobo and it has not fallen into opposition fighters. They have no presence around that area and social disagreements are everywhere and it is good that fighting did not involve any weapons,” he said.

Earlier, opposition leader's spokesman, James Gatdet Dak, told Sudan Tribune that their forces captured Morobo last week. He did not however confirm whether their fighters have withdrawn from the town.

However, area residents who fled to neighboring Uganda over the weekend said they saw opposition forces in Morobo town. Eye witnesses said there are currently no civilians in Morobo because the area has been occupied by rebels.

In recent weeks, aid agencies and local leaders have reported clashes between government soldiers and forces loyal to former First Vice President, Machar, in several places, including Lainya in Yei River counties of the former Central Equatoria state.

Similar clashes between government and SPLA-IO forces were reported last week near Bentiu and Rubkotna, in Unity state, forcing nearly 30 humanitarian aid workers to withdraw from the areas of Nhialdiu, Jazeera, and Boaw.

(ST)

Female dandy Barbara Yves shows there is no need to be a man to join the sapeur fashion movement in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, Kinshasa.

October 2, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese government and Sudan People's Liberation Movement -North (SPLM-N) Sunday wrapped up informal consultations meeting in Addis Ababa without any breakthrough on the humanitarian access file.

SPLM-N Yasir Arman (L) in a private discussion on the contentious issues with government chief negotiators Amin Hassan Omer (R) and Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid at the venue of the talks in Addis Ababa,on November 22, 2015 (ST Photo)

Last August, the government and rebels in the Two Areas finalized a draft cessation of hostilities agreement but failed to agree on the humanitarian access as Khartoum refuses SPLM-N demand to deliver 20% of the aid through the Ethiopian town of Assossa on the Sudanese border.

The meeting, which was brokered by the Ugandan government in support of the African mediation team led by President Thabo Mbeki, raised hope that the involvement of President Museveni in Sudan's peace talks may help to narrow the gaps.

However the two negotiating teams on Sunday evening issued statements accusing each other of lacking seriousness to end the conflict in Blue Nile and South Kordofan, and said they are sticking to their previous positions.

In a press statement issued after the meeting, the government delegation headed by the Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Ahmed Mohamed Adam, said they put forward new initiative to deliver humanitarian aid in the rebel controlled areas.

The statement said that Khartoum purpose of the initiative is "to break the deadlock that characterized previous negotiations."

The new initiative calls for the formation of a joint mechanism involving the government, the SPLM-N, the United Nations, the African Union and representatives of national and international aid groups.

The proposed joint mechanism will assess the needs, and develop plans for humanitarian interventions. Also, the initiative will adopt a fast-track policy to accelerate and facilitate the access of humanitarian aid to the needy in the affected areas."

In return, the SPLM-N said the consultations were a failure, and blamed Khartoum for only sending "unmandated delegation" because it has no intention to make any concessions, while the movement had made several concessions in the past rounds.

The SPLM-N further said they stick to their demand for a humanitarian corridor through Assossa to deliver 20% of the humanitarian aid to the rebel controlled areas. It further said the new initiative is an attempt to mask its rejection of Assoss crossing point.

Last June, Sudanese rebel groups called on President Museveni to participate in the ongoing efforts to bring peace in Sudan. Following, what he met with delegations from the Sudanese government, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Sudan Liberation movement - Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM), and SPLM-N.

Museveni who reconciled with Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir agreed with the two parties to organize informal talks in Addis Ababa to support the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) in its efforts for a comprehensive peace and democratic reforms in Sudan.

The government accused the SPLM-N of seeking to distract attention from its intransigent positions through accusations and false allegations. Khartoum further said the SPLM-N behaviour reinforces its doubts about rebels' intention to use the aid for "non-humanitarian purposes".

The SPLM-N pointed to the recent accusations by Amnesty International about the use of chemical weapons in Darfur and the Two Areas, and underlined that consultations are underway within the rebel group on the "cessation of contacts" with the government until the investigations over this claims.

JEM and SLM-MM are also holding talks with a government delegation in Addis Ababa but none of the parties issued any statement until Sunday evening.

(ST)

October 2, 2016 (JUBA) -Urgent humanitarian assistance is needed for some 100,000 people trapped in the South Sudanese town of Yei, where the security situation deteriorated rapidly after renewed conflict broke out in the capital, Juba in July, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

Leaders of South Sudanese refugees address a rally at Bweyale camp, April 30, 2016 (ST)

“Until now, Yei has been largely spared from the violence and attacks that have plagued the country since December 2013,” William Spindler, a spokesperson of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said Friday.

“This is the first time that the population in Yei – primarily farmers living on commercial and subsistence agriculture – has become a direct target of violence, and on suspicion of their belonging to opposition groups. They urgently need humanitarian assistance,” he added.

Yei is situated in Central Equatoria state, close to South Sudan's borders with neighbouring Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Sources say more than 30,000 people have been displaced into Yei from surrounding areas, following deadly attacks on civilians and looting of private property on 11 and 13 September. They reportedly joined several thousand others displaced from Lainya county since mid-July, and up to 60,000 town residents who remain in Yei with no means to leave and who are now in as much need as those displaced by the conflict.

UNHCR's presence there has been limited to providing protection activities and assistance to refugees from neighbouring DRC who live in Yei town and nearby Lasu settlement.

“The security situation in Yei deteriorated rapidly after renewed conflict broke out in Juba in early July and came to a head earlier this month, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes,” Spindler said.

Deteriorating security in South Sudan has forced over 200,000 people to flee the country since a fresh fighting broke out around Juba, the capital, on 8 July 2016, bringing the number of South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring nations to over 1 million.

In South Sudan, more than 1.61 million people are reportedly internally displaced and another 261,000 are refugees from Sudan, DRC, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic (CAR).

(ST)

October 2, 2016 (KAMPALA) – Members of South Sudan's armed opposition (SPLM-IO) youth league allied to the country's former vice president, Riek Machar in Uganda have disowned a group that recently abandoned the faction led by the latter.

South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar addresses a news conference in Uganda's capital Kampala January 26, 2016 (Reuters photo)

The armed opposition youth league head, Omojok Obac, said those who declared support for Machar's successor Taban Deng Gai are not genuine.

“[The] SPLM-IO youth league would like to inform you that the group who are using fake and ghost names are government supporters of Salva Kiir who want to create confusion in Uganda the way their tribal government created confusion in South Sudan,” he told Sudan Tribune from Kampala, Uganda.

According to the official, over 50,000 members currently make up the armed opposition youth league in Uganda, further stressing that those who declared allegiance to South Sudan's newly appointed first vice president were “fake”.

He said the entire youth league association still stood firm in support of Machar.

“We are warning the group of opportunists who are using the name of SPLM-IO for their own benefit [that] this is a great party with a great vision and many have died and sacrificed their lives to defend the name and dignity of this party,” said Obac.

The youth league secretary for information, Gai Bona, also described the defectors as self-seeking individuals who acted mainly for personal benefits.

“This is the time to say no to the corrupted and tribal regime of Salva Kiir whose motive is to spoil the generation from their welfare. We call on youth across the different continent that we have to liberate ourselves from power and corrupted system,” said Bona.

Machar fled the country in July after his forces clashed with those loyal to President Kiir, leaving over 200 soldiers dead in the national capital, Juba. He vowed never to return to Juba unless an intervention force, approved by the African Union, are deployed in the capital to restore stability.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

October 2, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – Dozens of people have been killed on Sunday after a glamorous religious festival in Ethiopia's Oromia region turned into a violent anti-government protest scene.

The incident took place as an estimated three million Ethnic Oromos converge to Bishoftu town, 40 Kilometres South of the capital, to celebrate Irrecha, a popular thanksgiving day, celebrated among the Oromo's annually.

Since early hours of Sunday Sudan Tribune has witnessed that thousands of Oromo protesters had been chanting anti-government slogans and their arms crossed above their heads across the streets of Bishoftu.

However the religious event shortly came into chaos after a crowd of angry protesters assume towards the stage where prominent religious leaders had been addressing the gathering.

Protesters begun throwing rocks and plastic bottles and scuffle with security forces who had been blocking them from further pushing towards the stage.

But not too long, Police responded by firing tear-gas in a bid to disperse the protesters.

Police reaction led to a deadly stampede as panicked people try to flee the shocking scene with many falling and crushing into a deep ditch.

Eyewitness told Sudan Tribune that several dozens of protesters were taken to hospital after they were sprayed with tear-gas.

The Ethiopian government, later on the day acknowledged deaths during the event.

In a televised address to the public later Sunday, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn confirmed that 52 people have died and many more injured during the Stampede at Irrecha Celebration.

However some opposition officials told Sudan Tribune that the death toll given by the government is far less and put the figure between 150-200.

The premier extended his condolences to the families of victims.

He promised to bring perpetrators of this tragic incident to justice and called on the Ethiopian people to stand by the government to realize the journey of Ethiopian renaissance.

The Oromia region, home for some 40 million of Ethiopia's total 94 million populations had long been a scene of large-scale anti-government protests.

The Oromos say they are protesting against Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn government's decades long political and economic marginalization against them.

According to Human Rights Watch report issued in June, Ethiopian security forces have killed more than 400 protesters and arrested tens of thousands more during widespread protests in the Oromia region since November 2015.

The rights group then urged on the Ethiopian government to support a credible, independent investigation into the killings, arbitrary arrests, and other forms of right abuses.

(ST)

October 2, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese miners said they would submit a memo to President Omer al-Bashir demanding him to deal with the issue of their confiscated items and property as a priority during his upcoming talks with the Egyptian President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi.

Workers break rocks at the Wad Bushara gold mine near Abu Delelq in Gadarif State, Wad Bushara on 27 April 2013 (Photo: Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

In August 2015, Egyptian authorities released 37 miners after being held for 5 five months on charges of cross-border infiltration. But their properties estimated at eight million dollars are still held by the Egyptian Army.

Suleiman Ahmed Markaz, the head of the committee of the Sudanese miners told Sudan Tribune that members of his committee on will head to the presidential palace in Khartoum to hand over a memo to al-Bashir.

According to the memo seen by Sudan Tribune on Sunday, the miners demanded al-Bashir to deal with their issue as a top priority during his meeting with al-Sisi which will take place from 5 to 6 October in Cairo.

The memo pointed to the extreme suffering of the miners, saying some of them have been jailed due to failure to pay installments of the cars and gold scanning machines that were seized by the Egyptian authorities.

It added that the miners are counting on al-Bashir's meeting with al-Sisi and believe it resolve their problem.

The Sudanese miners were released after an amnesty issued by the Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in response to Sudan's decision to pardon 101 Egyptian fishermen detained by Sudanese authorities since April 2015, on charges of crossing the territorial waters.

Although Khartoum has released the Egyptian fishermen with their boats, Egypt still holds the properties of the Sudanese miners for more than 10 months.

During Sudanese Egyptian consultative and consular meetings in Khartoum on February 28, the Egyptian delegation has committed to release the properties of the Sudanese miners but the pledges have not been fulfilled.

Earlier in June, the Sudanese foreign ministry said it would seek the support of the defence ministry to secure the release of the traditional miners properties held by the Egyptian army.

(ST)

October 02, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan on Sunday said that five African leaders and chiefs of regional organizations will attend the National Dialogue Conference on Monday 10 October .

Sudan's President Omer al-Bashir and his Chadian counterpart Idriss Deby (L) listen to the national anthem during opening session of Sudan National Dialogue conference in Khartoum October 10, 2015. (Photo SUNA)

Sudan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ibrahim Ghandour, told reporters that Chadian President Idriss Déby, Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and the Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni would attend the National Dialogue Conference.

According to the minister, the meeting will be attended also by the Islamic Cooperation Organization and Arab League Secretary Generals, African Union Chairperson and delegations from Russia and China.

He said that United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon confirmed UN participation without specifying the level of participation.

In January 2014, al-Bashir launched the national dialogue initiative in which he urged opposition parties and rebels alike to join the dialogue table to discuss all the pressing issues.

But the initiative faced serious setbacks after the government's refusal to create suitable atmosphere before the process, leading several opposition forces to pull out.

The foreign minister further who returned to Khartoum after participating in the Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Venezuela and the UN General Assembly meetings in New York briefed President Omer al-Bashir about his trip and stressed on the progress in the dialogue with Washington on bilateral relations.

“On Sunday I have briefed President Al-Bashir on Sudan's participation in the UN's 71st general assembly meeting,” said Ghandour pointing that he met the Chadian President Idriss Déby and discussed with him the regional issues.

He pointed that he has met 23 foreign ministers during the UN General Assembly meeting in New York, and discussed with them bilateral relations, regional and international relations.

Further Ghandour said that he discussed the Sudanese –U.S relations. on the sidelines of the UN meetings,

The minister went to say that Washington reiterated that sanctions on Sudan do not include private remittance and humanitarian aid.

“The is a very important step for banking transactions as international banks fear dealing with Sudan since long time,” he said.

Last week, U.S. officials said that sanctions on Sudan do not include private remittance and humanitarian aid to the eastern African country and encouraged transactions with Khartoum within the framework of many authorizations and licenses.

(ST)

October 2, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The internal groups of the opposition umbrella Sudan Call have discussed ways to support and activate the outcome of the Leadership Council of the alliance which was held in Addis Ababa from 25 to 30 September.

Leaders and delegates of the Sudan Call forces pose in a collective picture at the end of their meeting outside Paris on November 13 2015 (ST Photo)

Political and armed groups of the Sudan Call on Friday wrapped up a five-day workshop in the Ethiopian capital where it discussed the different positions of its members and selected its delegation for a meeting with the ruling National Congress Party and allied parties on the confidence building measures ahead of a national dialogue meeting inside the country.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Sunday, the internal groups of the Sudan Call said they discussed ways to activate the outcome of the Addis Ababa meeting particularly with regard to the pre-dialogue meeting and the national constitutional dialogue.

The statement endorsed the leadership council's decision that the preparatory meeting should take place in Addis Ababa after the signing of a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements between the government and the armed groups in Darfur and the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

According to the statement, the meeting also discussed ways to expand the Sudan Call in order to create the broadest resistance front against the regime besides approving the criteria for joining political alliances and forums.

It stressed the need to escalate mass actions against the government, demanding the government to release the political detainees and convicts, stop the vexatious litigations against political activists and readmit dismissed university students.

The statement also called to conduct an impartial and transparent international inquiry on Amnesty International's report regarding the use of chemical weapons by Sudanese army in Darfur.

It further announced that the National Unionist Party (NUP) has joined the internal groups of the Sudan Call, pointing the NUP's leader Youssef Mohamed Zain and its secretary general Mohamed Hamad Saeed took part in the meeting of the alliance.

Last week, the opposition alliance National Consensus Forces (NCF) suspended membership of five Sudan Call groups including the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Sudanese Baath Party (SBP), Center Alliance Party (CAP), Sudanese National Party (SNP) and Sudanese National Alliance (SNA) following mounting differences over participation in the African Union-led peace process.

On Wednesday, the five groups decided to pull out of the NCF.

The Sudan Call, which was established in Addis Ababa on 3 December 2014, includes the National Umma Party (NUP) and rebel umbrella of Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), the Civil Society Initiative (CSI).

October 2, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan's opposition forces of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA-IO), have said that their troops are in full control of Morobo town in Central Equatoria. They added they have been in the town for five days after dislodging government forces.

South Sudanese SPLA soldiers in Pageri in Eastern Equatoria state on August 20, 2015 (Photo AFP/Samir Bol)

Officials of the South Sudanese army this week could not deny or confirm whether fighting took place in the area and who was in control, with the military spokesman, Brig. Lul Ruai Koang saying he did not receive any official report about the fate of Morobo.

The opposition faction under the leadership of Riek Machar, former First Vice President, however said they have been in control of the town, adding the government only shied away from admitting that they have lost the town to their forces.

“It is five days since our forces captured Morobo. They have been in full control of the town,” James Gatdet Dak, opposition leader's spokesperson, told Sudan Tribune.

He also said fighting erupted in Eastern Equatoria's Magwi county between the rival forces this week.

Other fierce clashes have been reported around Bentiu, the capital of the oil rich Unity state, between forces loyal to President Kiir and those loyal to Machar.

Dak said the process of resisting the regime under the leadership of President Salve Kiir is gaining momentum in freeing the people of South Sudan, adding that the forces had been reorganizing for a full scale armed resistance due to the collapse of the August 2015 peace deal.

He said that Kiir has the choice of resuscitating the peace deal as it was signed or face a “determined resistance” that will see him exit from power.

The SPLA-IO, he claimed, are getting stronger in Equatoria region more than ever before and it was a matter of time before the situation will be made to change in Juba.

War has erupted again on 8 July when rival forces clashed at the presidential palace and the subsequent attack on Machar's residence.

The former First Vice President, who was replaced after he escaped from Juba, has declared an armed resistance against the government.

If independently confirmed, the capture of Morobo, a town south of Juba in the newly created Yei River state of Central Equatoria, where the seat of the national government is situated, would be seen as a threat to the capital.

(ST)

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October 1, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Opposition coalition's Sudan Call has endorsed its position paper for the national dialogue preparatory meeting and reiterated its support for the demands of the armed groups for a humanitarian cessation of hostilities .

Political and armed groups of the Sudan Call on Friday wrapped up a five-day workshop in the Ethiopian capital where it discussed the different positions of its members and selected its delegation for a meeting with the ruling National Congress Party and allied parties on the confidence building measures ahead of a national dialogue meeting inside the country.

This preparatory meeting should take place in Addis Ababa after the signing of a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements between the government and the armed groups in Darfur and the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states known as the "Two Areas."

The Sudan Call Leadership Council approved (the negotiating position paper on the preparatory meeting for the national constitutional dialogue), including the vision of the Alliance its principles, objectives and confidence building measures," said a statement released after the end of the workshop on Friday.

"This negotiating position paper will serve as the main guidance document to determine the course of action of its negotiating delegation headed by Eng. Omer Youssef al-Digair," the statement stressed.

The opposition coalition further said they will no longer be committed to the Roadmap Agreement, if the government continues to show lack of seriousness to reach a cessation of hostilities and holding the preparatory meeting.

"The Sudan Call will directly call for an alternative national constitutional dialogue that includes the Future Forces of Change (FFC) and excludes the regime. At the same time it will escalate the resistance in all its forms until it reaches its ultimate goals through regime change and achieves a just peace and well-established democracy," the opposition groups said.

The Sudanese government dispatched Saturday a high level delegation led by Presidential Assistant Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid and State Minister Amin Hassan Omer for informal talks with the armed groups over the truce and humanitarian access agreement.

On the Two Areas, the parties finalized a cessation of hostilities agreement but still diverge on the humanitarian access. The government during the last round of talks refused to accept the SPLM-N demand to allow the delivery through Ethiopia of only 20% of the humanitarian assistance to the rebel-held areas in the Blue Nile State.

On Darfur, the parties failed to achieve any progress in the negotiations. Khartoum demands the rebels to sign the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) and rejects their demand for political talks. Also, the government demands the rebels to disclose their position in Darfur and refuse their demand to be associated to the distribution of humanitarian aid.

The Sudan Call groups decided to represent the displaced persons in Darfur and refugees in its organs and to organize a workshop for their representatives to achieve this task.

It also decided to support the claims of eastern and northern Sudan for separate tracks to discuss issues of peace , security, decentralization, culture and development.

(ST)

October 1, 2016 (JUBA) – United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has warned of grave humanitarian situation in the newly established Yei River state of South Sudan due to the renewed fierce fighting between rival forces and continued attacks by government forces on civilians in the area.

Non-food items distributing to IDPS by the UNHCR workers in Maridi on 4 March 2016 (ST Photo)

UNHCR in its report released on Friday said it is increasingly concerned for the safety and well-being of over 100,000 people trapped in Yei – a town situated in the mother Central Equatoria state, and is located about 150 kilometres south-west of the national capital, Juba.

According to the report, more than 30,000 people have been displaced into Yei from surrounding areas, following deadly attacks on civilians and looting of private property on 11 and 13 September. They joined several thousand others displaced from nearby Lainya County since mid-July, and up to 60,000 town residents who remain in Yei with no means to leave and who are now in as much need as those displaced by the conflict.

It said the populations in Yei have been targeted by the government forces under the leadership of President Salva Kiir with the suspicion that they are loyal to the deposed First Vice President, Riek Machar, who leads an armed opposition faction.

“The security situation in Yei deteriorated rapidly after renewed conflict broke out in Juba in early July and came to a head earlier this month, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. This is the first time that the population in Yei – primarily farmers living on commercial and subsistence agriculture – has become a direct target of violence, and on suspicion of their belonging to opposition groups,” partly reads the report.

“They urgently need humanitarian assistance,” it added.

An inter-agency mission to Yei, led by UNHCR on Tuesday, 27 September, observed that tens of thousands of displaced people are sheltering in abandoned houses and smaller numbers in church compounds and are facing a serious shortage of food and medicine.

“Terrorized men and women spoke of horrific violence against civilians before and during their flight, including assault, targeted killing, mutilation, looting and burning of property. Several civilians have been hacked to death, including women and infants. There are reports that many young men, aged between 17 and 30, have been arrested on suspicion of siding with the opposition,” UNHCR report further reveals.

The displaced people, it said, need food, household items, medicines and the children need access to schools. Food prices are skyrocketing, with basic commodities quickly disappearing from the market.

“Many internally displaced people have reported that their food stocks have been looted. Two local hospitals are functioning at reduced capacity. Lack of high-energy food for malnourished children and breastfeeding mothers is becoming critical. As information continues to be gathered, there are indications of increasing sexual and gender-based violence, and unaccompanied and separated children.”

The population, the report added, is unable to leave the town due to limited freedom of movement and lack of resources.

“With farmers unable to reach their fields, harvests are rotting and the risk of missing the upcoming planting season is very high. This means that people may have no crops next year,” it observed.

However, in Juba, humanitarian partners are mobilizing to respond to the situation in Yei, including provision of food, non-food items and drugs, the report further informed.

The deteriorating security situation in South Sudan has forced more than 200,000 people to flee the country since 8 July 2016, bringing the number of South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries to over 1 million.

In South Sudan, more than 1.61 million people are internally displaced and another 261,000 are refugees from Sudan, DRC, Ethiopia, and Central African Republic.

(ST)

September 30, 2016 (NYALA) - A group of armed men on Thursday night shot dead the former commissioner of Baida locality of West Darfur State and the chief of Dago tribe in front of his house in Nayla, the capital of South Darfur State.

RSF troops in camouflage and draped with ammunition show off the spoils from a major clash with the rebel (JEM), in Nyala 13 May 2015 (Photo AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

The perpetrators managed to flee the crime scene in the third incident of its kind in Nyala within a week.

A relative of the murdered man, called Ahmed Saleh told Sudan Tribune that three armed men shot the tribal leader Gamal Ahmed several times while he was sitting in front of his house around 9 pm on Thursday after he refused to give them his mobile phone.

“The perpetrators escaped the crime scene using a vehicle which had no registration plates waiting them 60 meters away from the deceased's house,” said Saleh.

Saleh went to say that the tribal leader died while being transported to the hospital.

Hundreds of people have gathered outside the house of the tribal dignitary to protest the lack of security in Nyala.

During the week an armed group killed the accountant Az al-Dein Saad when they attacked the municipal salary office of Al-Radoom area staff in central Nyala.

Also armed groups looted Al-Whihda neighborhood in southern Nyala where 12 people have been injured after being beaten with gun stocks.

A police officer said that 17 people from Al-Whihda neighborhood filled criminal complaint accusing the perpetrators of armed robbery, causing serious harm and terrorism.

On Friday, an official source told Sudan Tribune that the security situation in Nyala is deteriorating as a result of gross negligence by the security committee in the application of imposed security measures that include banning vehicles without number plates and covering faces with turbans.

“Traffic police cannot stop vehicles that have no plates as often the drivers are members of regular forces and government militias mainly belonging to the Rapid Support Force,” pointed the source.

In July 2014, governor Adam Mahmoud Jar al-Nabi, declared an indefinite emergency situation in South Darfur state, including a curfew from 7pm to 7am (local time) in the capital Nyala.

The decision also banned riding of motorcycles by more than one person, holding weapons while wearing civilian clothes, vehicles driving around without license plates, and wearing a kadamool (turban which covers the face).

The source pointed that crime has increased in the state, adding that over 2000 vehicles without registration plates are circulating in Nyala.

The official went to say that more unlicensed vehicles are imported from the neighbouring countries after Custom Authorities in South Darfur State promised to cancel the ban imposed on importing old vehicles.

(ST)

September 30, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan's Riek Machar, former First Vice President and leader of the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), brought the independence of the young country, his spokesperson has said, adding that those who do not want to recognize his historical great achievements are “dishonest individuals.”

South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar attends the 28th extraordinary summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) for heads of state and government in Addis Ababa on 6 November 2014 (Photo: Reuters/Tiksa Negeri)

“Who doesn't know in South Sudan and in the region and beyond that Dr. Riek Machar was the first South Sudanese political leader in the history of the Sudan who signed with Khartoum's government a peace agreement on April 21, 1997, based on the right to self-determination for the people of South Sudan? And who doesn't know that after his Movement merged with the Movement of late Dr. John Garang in Nairobi on January 6, 2002, where the two leaders finally agreed to pursue the right to self-determination as a twin objective competing side by side with the secular democratic united Sudan, the “first” protocol in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in Machakos, Kenya, on July 20, 2002, was the same clause on the right to self-determination copied from the Khartoum Peace Agreement. And who doesn't know that it is this self-determination which has finally culminated in the independence of South Sudan on July 9, 2011, through a referendum conducted on January 9 2011, as Dr. Riek Machar had been preaching nonstop since 1991?” James Gatdet Dak, official spokesman for the opposition leader, Riek Machar, told Sudan Tribune on Friday.

The opposition leader's spokesperson was responding to accusations published on Sudan Tribune against Machar by the South Sudanese presidency which depicted him as a troublemaker.

President Salva Kiir's spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny, on Thursday, said Machar “will never” be a peacemaker, accusing him of threatening to wage an armed resistance as the August 2015 peace agreement has collapsed.

“Riek Machar will never be a peacemaker. Indeed, he has a long history of turning to war to force his demands on the peoples of South Sudan,” said the presidential spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny,

Meanwhile Machar's replacement, Taban Deng Gai, in a separate accusation described Machar as a violent man, enumerating a number of years he had rebelled against some leaders.

“Anybody who is a peace lover has a great future ahead of him, but Riek Machar has been a violent man from 1991, 1998, 2013, and 2016. I think he should have a new approach now. If he denounces violence and becomes a peaceful person like me, like Salva Kiir, there is a role for him," said Gai at a roundtable discussion hosted by the Council's Africa Center in the United States.

But Dak said the “false accusations” show that there are people who do not want to give the deserved credit to leaders who have brought them freedom and independence.

“Well, without Dr. Riek Machar's peaceful approach and championing of independence, these individuals denying his historical great achievements would not be sitting in Juba in an independent nation. It is sad that now instead of enjoying the fruits of Dr. Riek Machar, they are even abusing the independence, the sovereignty, by resorting to violence and corruption and making the people to suffer more,” he claimed.

He claimed that even President Kiir who in the past used to be against self-determination in favour of a united democratic secular Sudan, was finally “made” to sign the first Machakos protocol on the very self-determination in 2002 after the merger of the two factions of Machar and late Garang.

Dak narrated that it was in the Khartoum Peace Agreement (KPA), signed on April 21, 1997, that the clause for “the right to self-determination for the people of South Sudan” was subsequently enshrined in the Sudanese constitution of 1998 for the “first time ever” in the history of the Sudan.

“These are well documented historical facts that Dr. Riek Machar championed the right to self-determination which finally brought the independence of South Sudan through the exercise of the referendum. His office, as Vice President, was also directly supervising it as documented in the Council of Ministers' resolutions in 2010 when he was given the responsibility to oversee the implementation of the self-determination that he personally spearheaded,” Dak further explained.

He said Machar was also the reason Salva Kiir was elected in 2010, saying Kiir would not have won the elections if Machar did not campaign for him across the country.

Dak accused Kiir of breaking the understanding between him and Machar in 2010 when he resorted to violence on 15 December 2013 and announced a false attempted coup in order to prevent Machar from contesting for the ruling party's chairmanship in 2013 party national convention and for the office of the president.

Machar, he added, is committed to setting a good foundation for peace and stability, democracy, federalism, development and prosperity for the people of South Sudan as he was equally committed to ensuring that the right to self-determination resulted to independence for the people of South Sudan.

He further defended the recent decision by the SPLM-IO leadership to resist the regime in Juba, saying it was a result of the collapse of the peace agreement which Machar signed with President Kiir in August last year.

“You cannot attempt to assassinate your peace partner and deputy in government, bombed his residence and smashed it to the ground, replace him illegally, chase him in the bushes and across the borders and continuously attacking his forces and then expect him not to resist you by all means available. This is ridiculous!” he said.

(ST)