Africa

Spectacular landscape and wildlife provide some stunning images from Botswana.

September 7, 2016 (BENTIU) - Civilians fleeing from southern Unity state have accused South Sudanese officials of allegedly recruiting young boys as they head to the United Nations camp in Bentiu.

Children in South Sudan. (Photo UNMISS/Ilya Medvedev)

Residents interviewed by Sudan Tribune claim most of the young boys recruited were below 18 and detained by the South Sudanese army.

A resident, only identified as Isaac, said he was among those detained after being blocked from a UN camp north of Guit county.

He, however, said many of his friends were still under detention by the army around Guit county and other parts of Rubkotna county.

“It was at night we decided to risk our lives and escape from the hand of the SPLA. We were about five of us and at midnight we broke up the Tukul [hut] and walked the whole night and arrived safely in the morning at the UN camp,” narrated Isaac.

The army, he said, allowed women who came with them from Leer to cross into Bentiu and seek shelter, while the boys were detained.

A woman from Mayom county, who preferred anonymity, confirmed there was mass recruitment by government forces ongoing in the state.

She told Sudan Tribune she saw some boys being picked out of a car, but they never returned to join the group of civilians fleeing towards Bentiu.

“Well what is going on cannot be described as we see small boys recruited into the army and these boys are very young and couldn't hold guns on their shoulders,” she said.

Recent hostilities between government forces and the armed opposition allied to South Sudan former's first vice president Riek Machar have displaced thousands of people south of Unity state.

(ST)

September 7, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - President Omer al-Bashir Wednesday said that his government would no longer give ministerial positions to rebel groups in Darfur region if they sign a peace agreement.

He was speaking to a group of journalists aboard his presidential plane during his fight to Khartoum from El-Fasher where he attended the celebration marking the completion of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD).

"The door is open to anyone who joins the peace process through the (DDPD)," he said adding "but the government would not sign an agreement with the remaining leaders of the armed groups in exchange for ministerial positions".

Bashir further stressed that Jobs ended with the dissolution of Darfur Regional Authority. However he reiterated that a transitional national unity government will be formed after the end of the national dialogue process which should include opposition groups.

The presidential statements come after unconfirmed reports speaking about secret meeting between the government and armed groups in Kampala facilitated by the Ugandan government in support of the African Union led efforts to end armed conflicts in Sudan.

The Sudanese president said his government is ready to sign a security arrangements agreement with the rebel groups in accordance with the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) mechanism.

He further said that the convictions of the international community have changed a lot as "they believe in the rightness" of Sudan's (government) positions".

Two armed groups in Darfur, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement - Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM); are negotiating with the Sudanese government on a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements.

However, the parties failed to conclude the deals as JEM and SLM-MM demand to open the DDPD to renegotiate some items related to the security situation and the protection of displaced civilians.

(ST)

September 7, 2016 (TORIT) - The assembly in Imatong, one of South Sudan's newly created states, re-opened Tuesday with calls for efficiency and institutional reforms.

Governor Nartisio Loluke Manir

The assembly speaker, Ben Loki urged lawmakers to foster peace and reconciliation by fully engaging in church-driven peace initiatives.

He urged the youth and some of the citizens in the state to lay down arms.

The issue of dialogue both with armed opposition elements and other armed groups should be priorities and effectively operationalized in the state, said Loki.

He advised lawmakers to disseminate peace messages in all constituencies to facilitate the smooth implementation of the compromise peace agreement.

“For this initiative to succeed, all roads within the state should be made safe for travels,” said Loki, while urging all armed youth to embrace peace initiatives.

Meanwhile, the Imatong state governor, Nartisio Loluke Manir urged the legislative assembly members to quickly work on ministries' policy statements.

“This time around will focus on allowing reform implementation to end corruption and boost service delivery,” Manir told the state assembly members.

He further urged lawmakers to join hands with his government to ease efficiency.

“We will not succeed if we don't have a strong and an efficient system in our institutions. This is why the government of Imatong state is implementing institutional and structural reforms,” stressed the governor.

Manir wowed to tackle corruption by employing competent people in government, adding “democracy rule of law hard work productivity and good governance shall be observed and exercised across institutions in the state”.

The governor also lauded the various communities in the state for ending communal fighting and cattle rustling, which caused many deaths in the state.

(ST)

Expressing concern at reports of harassment and intimidation against some civil society members who met with a United Nations Security Council delegation during the latter&#39s most recent visit to the country, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has stressed that any attempt to supress fundamental human rights must be condemned in no uncertain terms.

September 7, 2016 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese army will expels rebels fighting its northern neighbour once it receives directives from the high command, the military spokesperson, Lul Ruai Koang said.

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

Speaking exclusively to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday, Koang said the army implements whatever orders came from its top leadership.

“We are waiting for the commands before we as the army can take drastic measures. We are an army, we do implement what the top leadership decides,” observed the SPLA spokesperson.

He said the visit, last month, by the South Sudanese First Vice President, Taban Deng Gai, to the Sudanese capital Khartoum aimed at strengthening bilateral ties between the two former war foes.

Sudan, according to Koang, requested Juba to expel members of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) fighters from its territories.

As part of the recent agreement between the two countries, the SPLA armies are on standby to respond to any orders made by its top leadership to expel Sudanese rebels from South Sudan, he stressed.

Juba had, in the past, been accused by Khartoum of harbouring rebels fighting the Sudanese regime, allegations the latter dismissed.

Series of accusations between the two nations forced Sudan to close its borders with South Sudan in the aftermath of the latter's secession from the former following the January 2011 referendum.

In 2012, North and South Sudan agreed that neither country would host rebel groups considered hostile to each other's establishments.

The Sudanese government recently said it had received assurances from South Sudan's First Vice President that all rebels opposed to Khartoum will be expelled from South Sudan's territory within 21 days.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

September 7, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudan's Gajaak Nuer community on Tuesday welcomed the decision by President Salva Kiir's government to accept the deployment of regional forces in a bid to restore peace and security in the war-torn East African nation.

U.S. Ambassador Samanta Power speaks to the press following a closed door meeting with President Kiir, announcing an agreement on the deployement of protection force on 4 September 2016 (UNMISS Photo)

The South Sudanese government on Monday finally accepted the deployment of the strong 4,000 regional protection force, agreed by the East African regional bloc (IGAD) and authorized by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Juba's decision was announced after the UNSC delegation held a meeting with President Kiir during a recent visit to the capital, Juba.

The South Sudanese government has unexpectedly set preconditions with regarding the deployment of regional forces less than 24 hours after reaching a consensus with members of the UNSC.

Juba insists that only one African country, preferably one that does not share with it a common border, be allowed to send troops.

The leader of the Gajaak community in Ethiopia, Kunen Nyak Bol, told Sudan Tribune that their community in Ethiopia and those exiled in the western world welcomed the approval of the regional forces.

He, however, said they want South Sudan's former vice-president Riek Machar reinstated and recognized as a legitimate leader, if a durable peace is to be realized in the troubled East African nation.

“We are very much concerned as a community about the suffering of our people who have been residing in United Nations protection camps in Juba, Malakal and Jonglei states,” stressed Bol.

“These people choose to live in the UN protection camps because of fear,” he added.
A communiqué issued by the community condemned a move by some armed opposition members to succeed rebel leader Machar.

“We would like to assure the international community that these politicians will not bring any progress on peace agreement instead they will aggravate the crises that will possibly fuel the civilians' bloodshed and suffering,” partly reads the communiqué.

The Gajaak Nuer community further urged the international community and IGAD-Plus to immediately deploy the third party force and reinstate Machar to that a peaceful transitional interim period is assured and national elections conducted as scheduled.

“This would stop the suffering of innocent citizens who fled war for other countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Sudan and Ethiopia,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Gaak Nuer community strongly denounced the recent move by one of the armed opposition diplomats to join the President Kiir-led government saying it was an unwise decision.

David Dang, who had been serving as the deputy representative of the SPLM-IO mission office in Ethiopia said he had resigned from his position, arguing that Machar had failed the opposition movement.

"Machar has no vision, he is running the SPLM-IO like his own property, and as a result I am no longer supporter of Dr. Riek Machar," Dang told Sudan Tribune last week.

The Gajaak Nuer community said they were strongly dismayed by Dang's statement, which described Machar as man with no vision.

“This is an insane statement that we didn't expect from David Dang whose relatives or friends were murdered by Juba regime in 2013,” Bol told Sudan Tribune.

“We would further like to inform the public that some of you have been questioning Machar's health. We are happy to announce to you that Machar is healthy and highly committed to bring peace to our young nation as our conversation with him today after our resolution,” he added.

Meanwhile, armed opposition officials in Addis Ababa told Sudan Tribune that Machar, currently in Khartoum, would soon be relocated to the Horn of Africa nation.

(ST)

September 7, 2016 (JUBA) - At least 10 people have been confirmed dead after a deadly road traffic accident involving two commercial vehicles traveling in opposite directions along Juba-Nimule highway on Tuesday.

General view of Juba Nimule road leading to Nimule Park and neighbouring Uganda (Pinterest photo)

South Sudan police spokesperson, Daniel Justin, told reporters after the incident in the national capital, Juba, that the incident took place in Pageri area resulting in the death of 10 people and injuring 34 others.

“Yes, I just received report of this unfortunate incident on the Juba- Nimule high way. I am told by our traffic colleagues who visited the scene that it was a head on collision which claimed the lives of all the 10 passengers in the bus,” he said.

“We have not yet identified the bodies of the people that have died. What we did as the authority was to expedite recovery process so that those injured are brought to the Juba teaching hospital where they are getting medical care. For those who have died, we are trying to trace their family members and relatives to pass on them this unfortunate information,” he further explained.

The accident, he said, occurred at around 10am after buses leaving for neighbouring Uganda left the station.

Eye witnesses who spoke to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday from Pageri said some of those who sustained injuries are in critical conditions and the death toll may rise.

One bus was going to Uganda and the other was coming from Uganda to Juba when the accident occurred. The buses belonged to Gateway Company.

The injured passengers have been evacuated to Juba Teaching Hospital where they are receiving treatment. The circumstances under which the two drivers lost control remain unclear.

Police authorities are yet to conduct detailed inspection to establish the actual cause of such deadly head on collision in an area with no corridors to be suspected as the major cause of collision.

Juba-Nimule highway, the only tarmacked road in South Sudan with over 200kms and has had dozens of traffic accidents for the past few years.

(ST)

September 7, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) has announced the release of all detainees and Prisoners of War (POWs) from government forces in response to appeals from religious leaders, civil society organizations and prestigious national figures.

JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim talks to reporters in Addis Ababa on 13 August 2016 (ST Photo)

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday, JEM spokesperson Gibril Adam Bilal said the decision to release the detainees and the POWs is an attempt to contribute to the creation of a climate conducive for peace and a genuine national dialogue.

He said that JEM has embarked on making the administrative arrangements and contacts with the mediators to secure the transfer of the detainees and POWs to Khartoum.

Bilal added the decision coincides with the celebration of Eid al-Adha “Festival of the Sacrifice”, saying this is not the first time the JEM releases POWs or granting amnesty to convicts.

Late last month, JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim promised to release POWs from government forces at the request of a Sufi Islamic cleric.

On 10 August, the leader of the Kabashi Sufi sect Abdel-Wahab al-Khalifa al-Hibir al-Kabashi sent a letter to JEM's leader appealing to him to release government POWs.

In a letter he wrote in response to al-Kbashi's message, Ibrahim said he appreciates the latter's request, pointing the religious leader and the POWs families would soon hear good news in this regard.

JEM's decision came hours ahead of an announcement made by the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir to release child soldiers from rebel groups and to consider the release of all POWs.

Political advisor of the (JEM-Dabago), a breakaway group from JEM, Nahar Osman Nahar, had earlier told Sudan Tribune that more than 100 POWs and detainees are currently being held in JEM's prisons including former members of the executive office and commanders from the movement such as Hashim Haroun besides other civilian detainees.

He said that nine detainees from JEM-Dabago are still detained by JEM after 9 others managed to flee from the movement's prisons in Deim Zubeir Camp in Western Bahr el Ghazal region, South Sudan.

(ST)

September 7, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudanese former minister for peace and ex-Secretary General of the ruling party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), has called on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to prepare for Plan B as President Salva Kiir's government appears to renege on this week's agreement on deployment of regional troops to the country.

Former SPLM secretary general Pagan Amum (AFP/Getty)

UN Security Council's members visited the South Sudanese capital, Juba, from Thursday last week and agreed with the government on the deployment of 4,000 strong peacekeepers from the region. The troops would provide protection to civilians, humanitarian aid workers as well as vital installations of the government.

Upon departure of the UN officials, the government came out with a contradicting statement, saying it only “consented” to but not “accepted” the 4,000 number.

The government also said it was yet to agree on the number of the troops to be deployed, the type of weapons they will carry and to also decide from which countries the troops will be contributed.

Former SPLM Secretary General, Pagan Amum, who is currently residing in the United States, however said to consent and to accept meant the same thing, adding that the “regime” was instead “embarrassing” itself by playing with the words.

“The Regime's spokesperson [Michael Makuei Lueth] engaged in obscure semantics, claiming the government “consented” to the deployment of the Regional Protection Force, but did not “accept” its deployment. In a classic rope-a-dope the government embarrassed itself by stating the long accepted number of troops, 4,000, was only a “ceiling” and that the number could be as low as 10,” Amum said in a statement released on Wednesday.

“The Kiir spokesperson also said his government had to approve the type of arms the troops were carrying, the countries they would come from and a range of other issues already long settled. To the Kiir Conspiracy, the hard and fast September 15 deadline for agreement set by the Secretary General of the United Nations, will be nothing but a routine bell ringing, signaling the end of an early round in a lengthy and indecisive match,” the statement, extended to Sudan Tribune, further reads.

Meanwhile, Kiir and his “palace guards” continue to systematically loot South Sudan, he argued, the same people are causing the armed conflict in the country to continue and then sending “ill prepared and poorly led troops out to kill or be killed for no defendable cause.”

He said the UN Security Council should not waste time to play the games with the government, but to prepare for Plan B.

“The Security Council's Plan A appeared seriously threatened even before the delegation's plane had cleared South Sudanese air space. They cannot be blamed for trying. However, trying too long plays into the hands of Kiir's rope-a-dope strategy,” Amum said.

“September 15 must be the deadline for the Government of South Sudan's unconditional acceptance of the 4,000 troops. Otherwise, for the sake of the people of South Sudan, IGAD-Plus, AU and the UNSC will have to prepare quickly for Plan B,” he said.

(ST)

September 7, 2016 (JUBA) - The United Nations Commission of Human Rights in South Sudan started, on 7 September, a 19-day mission that will involve visiting South Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda.

A general view of participants during the 29th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva on 3 July 2015 - (UN Photo)

The team will, during their visit to the three East African nations, reportedly meet political and community leaders, refugees and internally displaced people as well as members of the international community regarding the human rights situation in South Sudan.

The three commissioners were, in March this year, mandated by the UN Human Rights Council to monitor and report on the human rights situation in South Sudan, establish a factual basis for transitional justice and to provide guidance to the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) of South Sudan on transitional justice.

Commissioners, Yasmin Sooka, Ken Scott and Godfrey Musila, are scheduled to meet a number of ministers, parliamentarians, police, judicial officers, military officials and have requested a meeting with President Salva Kiir during their mission to South Sudan, the UN said.

“They [commissioners] will also conduct a number of visits to camps in Juba and Bentiu,” it added.

The commissioners are also scheduled to meet leaders of the African Union, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) as well as other members of the international community and civil society when they visit Ethiopia before proceeding Uganda to visit the refugee camps housing South Sudanese refugees.

The commission is due to present a comprehensive written report to the Human Rights Council at its 34th regular session in March 2017.

(ST)

September 7, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir on Wednesday announced the release of child soldiers from rebel groups and promised to consider the release of all Prisoners of War (POWs).

President Omer al-Bashir speaks in a rally held in Zalingei on 3 April 2016 (ST Photo)

An unofficial estimate by the national dialogue mechanism known as 7+7 has put the number of convicts from the armed movements to 93 convict as well as hundreds of POWs including 340 fighters from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) who were captured during the Gouz Dango battle in South Darfur in April 2014.

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

On Wednesday, Al-Bashir attended the celebration marking the completion of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) in North Darfur capital, El-Fasher in the presence of the Emir of Qatae , Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Chadian President, Idriss Déby and Central African Republic (CAR)'s President Faustin Archange Touadéra.

Speaking to the large crowed during the celebration, al-Bashir announced the release the child soldiers who were apprehended during the Gouz Dango battle today, saying they would be handed over to the Ministry of Social Welfare.

“Those [child soldiers] who want to go to schools, we would help them to do so and those who want to return to their families they are allowed to go,” he said.

Regarding the release of the PWOs from the armed movements, al-Bashir said they would consider the issue, stressing that rebel groups would only be granted amnesty if they laid down arms.

He renewed the call for what he described as “the remaining” armed movements to lay down arms and resort to peace, pointing the presence of Darfur rebels is now confined to South Sudan where the government there intends to evict them as well as in Libya where they serve as mercenaries.

Al-Bashir further warned both rebel groups, who are present in Libya and South Sudan, against attempting to enter the Sudanese territory with their weapons, saying they would be “taught a lesson that they will never forget” as it occurred during the Gouz Dango battle when the JEM sought to enter from South Sudan.

For his part, the Chadian President Idriss Déby, in his capacity as chairperson of the African Union (AU), renewed call for holdout rebels to join the Doha forum as soon as possible, urging the international community to contribute to the completion of the DDPD, which according to him, brought the Darfur conflict to an end.

“We should move forward and take further step to promote the gains and achieve permanent peace,” he said.

Head of the Darfur Regional Authority al-Tijani al-Sissi, for his part, said the “war in Darfur has ended”, pointing the region is now free of armed movements.

He pointed that %89 of the DDPD has been implemented so far; saying only one item out of the six items included in the document has not been implemented without naming that item.

The DDPD was signed on 14th July 2011 between the government and the Liberation and Justice (LJM). Also, a splinter faction of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) led by Mohamed Bashar and Bakheit Dabajo after his death joined the framework agreement on 6 April 2013.

(ST)

A former United Nations peacekeeper from Niger has been presented with the inaugural UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award for her work in integrating gender perspectives into peacekeeping activities while serving in Mali.

The United Nations agricultural agency today signed a $15 million agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to boosting the capacity of developing countries to track key agricultural data – information considered essential to good policy-making and that will help track progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Zimbabwe's high court overturns a two-week ban by police on demonstrations in the capital Harare, despite a stern warning by President Robert Mugabe.

A new mayor in South Africa's Tshwane, an area that includes the capital Pretoria, rejects a fleet of luxury cars bought by his predecessors.

Why isn't more being done to prevent a repeat of last year's flooding in Malawi?