Africa

(Nairobi) – Soldiers killed and raped civilians and extensively looted civilian property, including humanitarian goods, during and after clashes between government and opposition forces in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, in July, 2016, Human Rights Watch said today. In many cases, government forces appeared to target non-Dinka civilians.

As a result of indiscriminate attacks, including shooting and shelling, shells landed in camps for displaced people inside United Nations bases, and in other densely populated areas in the city, killing and wounding civilians. Human Rights Watch researchers visiting Juba in July after the clashes documented multiple crimes, most committed by government soldiers from the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).
 

Stop weapons to South Sudan!

Join us and call on President Obama's advisors to lead on imposing an arms embargo on South Sudan.

#HaltArms

“A year after South Sudan’s leaders signed a peace deal, civilians are dying, women are being raped, and millions of people are afraid to go home,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “On August 12, the UN decided to send more peacekeepers to Juba but put off a long-overdue arms embargo. The continued supply of arms only helps fuel the abuses on a larger scale.”

The UN and member countries should also impose targeted sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, on those responsible for serious human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said. The African Union Commission and donors should proceed without delay with preparations for a hybrid court to investigate and try the most serious crimes committed since the start of South Sudan’s new war in December 2013 – including during the recent fighting.

Launch Gallery

Under a peace agreement signed one year ago, on August 15, 2015, the two sides agreed to form a national unity government, integrate their forces, and establish the hybrid court, among other steps. Under the agreement, the African Union Commission was to set up the court, with South Sudanese and other African judges and staff. Key steps to create the court are to be completed by October 2016, but concrete progress has yet to occur.

On July 8, 2016 fighting started between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and those of his first vice-president, Riek Machar, a Nuer, during a cabinet meeting at the presidential compound. The violent gun battle was preceded by weeks of heightened tensions between the forces in the capital surrounding lingering delays in implementing the peace agreement.

Over a four-day period, the two sides battled in several locations around Juba. Human Rights Watch researchers in Juba heard accounts of soldiers firing indiscriminately, hitting densely populated areas or displaced people’s camps inside UN bases. At least a dozen civilians who had sought safety in the UN camps died and scores were wounded.

Researchers also documented targeted killings, rapes and gang rapes, beatings, looting, and harassment, often along ethnic lines, in several areas of Juba. The Thongpiny, Munuki, Mangaten, Gudele, and Jebel neighborhoods were particularly affected. Due to security restrictions to some affected areas, researchers could not establish the full scale of abuse. Soldiers, operating under the formal command of General Paul Malong and President Kiir committed most of the crimes.

 

 

Human Rights Watch also received reports of abuses committed by the SPLA-in-Opposition (IO), Machar’s forces, but could not independently verify them.

In the fighting at least 73 civilians were killed according to the UN, and 36,000 people sought refuge at UN and aid group compounds during or directly after the fighting. A July 11 ceasefire halted the fighting in Juba but the government’s army, SPLA, and the armed opposition, IO, continued to fight around Juba and elsewhere in South Sudan.

In some cases, government forces directly targeted civilians on the basis of their ethnicity. A 35-year-old man said that two SPLA pick-ups full of soldiers surrounded the Bedale hotel in the Atlabara neighborhood where he hid with 27 other Nuer men shortly before the ceasefire on July 11:

The soldiers knocked at the door and asked whether any Nuer were staying at the hotel. “We urged the guard not to open. They asked, ‘Why are you hiding the Nuer!’ and then they started to shoot with their heavy machine guns through the doors and wall. That’s how my friend Mading Chan was killed.”

On the same day, a large number of soldiers belonging to contingents of government forces overran a compound that housed a number of international organizations’ staff. During their rampage, the soldiers executed a Nuer journalist, raped and gang raped several women, beat and assaulted dozens of staff, and ransacked and looted the entire compound.

Soldiers continued to attack civilians and commit other crimes after the July 11 ceasefire. Human Rights Watch documented repeated incidents in which government soldiers stopped women who ventured out of protection of civilians (POC) camps inside UN bases to get food, confiscating their goods, and raping them. In several cases, researchers heard that soldiers made statements about the victims’ ethnicity or perceived allegiance to the IO. The UN reported more than 200 cases of sexual violence by opposition and government forces during and after the recent fighting in Juba.

A 27-year-old woman returning to her POC site on July 18 with food from town said five soldiers stopped her: “They said: ‘you are carrying bullets to Riek Machar,’ and then they took me to a compound but I resisted. They beat me in the head, and in the chest. As I was in pain, they raped me. I was two months pregnant, but I lost that baby after what happened.”

Peacekeepers guarding the UN base did not do enough to protect women from rape in surrounding areas. In one example reported by media, on July 17 soldiers dragged a woman away. Peacekeepers saw what was happening but did not take action. Increased patrolling or stationary patrols in key areas could have prevented some rapes. On July 18, an aid worker managed to rescue a woman who had just been raped.

The SPLA restricted the movement of UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), leading peacekeepers to stay in their bases during the fighting. On July 12, the mission urged government security forces to lift the restrictions, but it took several days before the peacekeepers began any movement or patrols. UNMISS promised to investigate its response to sexual violence, and should also investigate why it was so unprepared and ineffectual in protecting civilians when fighting broke out, fix the problems, and make the results of such investigation public, Human Rights Watch said.

During and after the fighting, as people tried to flee, government forces restricted movement of civilians by road and air, increasing tension and fear. Security forces also beat up an opposition minister in Juba on July 12, and on July 16 national security officers (NSS) detained the editor of Juba Monitor, Alfred Taban, after he published editorials criticizing both sides, and calling on Kiir and Machar to step down. He was released on grounds of ill heath on July 29 and is awaiting trial.

On August 12, the UN Security Council authorized a new Regional Protection Force as a part of UNMISS. These 4,000 new troops are mandated to protect the airport and other key installations and “engage any actor that is preparing attacks or engages in attacks against United Nations protection of civilians sites, other United Nations premises, United Nations personnel, international and national humanitarian actors, or civilians.” Better and improved protection of civilians should remain the primary task of the peacekeeping mission as a whole, Human Rights Watch said.

“South Sudanese leaders have time and again failed to end abuses against civilians, been unwilling to rein in abusive forces or ensure justice for crimes by those under their command,” Bekele said. “There is no more excuse for delay: top leaders need to be sanctioned and an arms embargo imposed. The UN has to be more effective in protecting civilians and the AU should move ahead with the hybrid court.”

For additional information and accounts from eyewitnesses and victims, please see below.

Human Rights Watch researchers visited Juba between July 14 and 27 and interviewed more than 85 victims and witnesses of the recent violence, as well as aid and government officials. Researchers met with the South Sudan Human Rights Commission, the president’s spokesperson, and SPLA officials. Because of ongoing insecurity, researchers were unable to reach some of the neighborhoods most affected by the fighting but were able to interview residents who had fled the areas.

Tenuous Peace and Failed Security Arrangements

South Sudan’s current civil war began in December 2013 amid rumors that Vice President Machar was attempting a coup. Fighting and abuses quickly spread along ethnic lines.

Despite the August 2015 peace deal, fighting and abuses continued, including in previously peaceful parts of the country. The parties disagreed over a number of key issues, such as Kiir’s unilateral creation, in December 2015, of 28 new states and the government’s refusal to allocate cantonment sites for opposition fighters in parts of the country outside the greater Upper Nile region. The government submitted a number of reservations on several points of the agreement.

However, diplomats and the UN supported the deal. Machar returned to Juba on April 26, welcomed by hundreds of SPLA-in-Opposition (IO) fighters who had been ferried there on UN planes and by the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the international body in charge of monitoring the peace deal.

Both sides flouted the agreement from the start. Under the transitional security arrangements, the IO and government would respectively be allowed 1,470 and 3,420 soldiers in Juba, and would have to move all other forces 25 kilometers out of Juba. Yet as of early July, about 10,000 to 12,000 SPLA soldiers were estimated to be in Juba, many hiding in residential areas dressed as civilians, credible sources told Human Rights Watch. The opposition may also have received reinforcements from various sympathizers and fighters in and around Juba.

In addition, the parties agreed to position the IO bases close to civilian areas, including UNMISS headquarters and its protection of civilians (POC) sites. Locating a military base there clearly put the civilians at risk.

On July 2, government forces killed a senior opposition military intelligence officer, and on July 7, five SPLA soldiers were killed in a skirmish at a checkpoint. On the afternoon of July 8, a large-scale firefight between Kiir and Machar’s bodyguards in the presidential complex J-1 led to further clashes near the IO bases and the airport, which continued despite a lull on July 9, until a ceasefire on the evening of July 11.

On July 23, Kiir dismissed Machar and replaced him with another Nuer politician, Taban Deng Gai, despite objections from Machar and his allies. Fighting has continued in areas outside Juba and the fate of the peace deal is unclear.

Abuses against Civilians by Government Forces

Targeting of Non-Dinka

Many of the people Human Rights Watch interviewed said that government soldiers in various neighborhoods of Juba arbitrarily arrested, beat, and killed civilians and destroyed and looted property. Some civilian Nuer men said that uniformed Dinka security forces from either the army, police, or national security stopped them as they fled areas surrounding the presidential compound after the gun battle the evening of July 8, and demanded their identification cards, or spoke to them in Dinka to determine if they understood the language. Then the men tried to steal the Nuer men’s money and phones, sometimes attempting to kill them.

“When the incident happened at J-1, I was near Juba University with colleagues of mine,” said a man in his 30s. “I tried to run, but soldiers stopped me on the street and asked something in Dinka language. I was unable to answer. They said ‘Are you Nuer?’ in Arabic. I said yes and then they started to shoot me, I had seven bullets in my body. The soldiers left me for dead but I survived.”

Others were luckier. A journalist said: “When we heard the gunshots on July 8, I was at my office near the national security headquarters. As I tried to flee with colleagues, I was stopped by national security officers who asked me for my ID. I think they knew I was a Nuer. I was arguing with them when the car of a general pulled over and told them to leave me alone.”

On July 10, tanks and a large group of soldiers attacked and shelled the undefended house of the Shilluk king – a traditional leader who is not officially affiliated with either side – in the Munuki neighborhood.

“The tank shot three times towards our house, where we hosted about 100 Shilluk civilians, but missed,” a relative of the king said. “Then they used their heavy machine guns and started to spray bullets on the house. One of the rooms caught on fire. From inside the compound, I could hear them shout: ‘We need to destroy this house!’”

SPLA soldiers also targeted the house of Joseph Monytuel, the Bul Nuer governor of Bentiu – another non-Dinka government ally living in Munuki – where hundreds of Nuer civilians from the area had sought refuge. The governor’s bodyguards fended off the attackers a relative who fled to a UN base said.

In other areas known to be populated by non-Dinka such as Thongpiny and Mangaten, government forces on foot and in vehicles also attacked civilians, arrested men, and looted homes. Fighting and fear of abuses led at least 2,500 civilians to flee into a nearby UN base between July 8 and 12.

On the morning of July 10, in Thongpiny, soldiers killed a policeman and rounded up other men who looked or spoke Nuer. A 25-year-old Nuer woman who witnessed the events said: “They were deployed throughout my street. Some wore SPLA uniforms; others wore the fatigues of the Wildlife Guards. They killed a policeman in front of my eyes and I saw them arresting people who looked Nuer. They were putting them in the back of their pick-ups. When we saw this, we decided to flee.”

Another young displaced Nuer woman said that four Dinka soldiers forced their way into her family house in Thongpiny on July 10 and looted their belongings: “They put a gun to my head and asked: ‘Is your husband home?’ My husband was hiding under the bed but I said no. They said, ‘Whatever you have you give us, or we will kill you.’”

Some members of the security forces helped rescue civilians endangered by government troops. Witnesses, including staff at a nongovernmental group’s compound that was attacked, said national security officers rescued them from areas deemed unsafe, or from direct SPLA aggression. In one instance, national security officers hid about 40 Nuer in the office of Thomas Duoth, a senior Nuer officer commanding the NSS’ external security bureau.

Government forces also restricted the movement of non-Dinka men. As nongovernmental organizations and expatriates evacuated Juba following the ceasefire, authorities stopped non-Dinka men from leaving the country. On July 13, a Nuer worker for an organization had to pay a US$100 bribe to a security official to be allowed to enter the airport and was then refused permission to board the evacuation plane his organization had chartered.

“As I stood in the line for the customs, a national security officer pulled me aside and took my passport away,” he said. “He led me to the NSS’ airport office and there they took my name off the plane’s manifest. They would not explain why.”

Sexual Violence and Rape

Human Rights Watch found a clear pattern of rape against civilian women and girls by government soldiers during and after the fighting. Some government soldiers repeatedly gang raped or raped women and girls in areas surrounding the main UN base at Jebel, where the victims had taken shelter, during and after the fighting. In many of the cases, victims told Human Rights Watch that their attackers made statements suggested they were targeting the women for rape because of their ethnicity or presumed allegiance to Machar.

On August 4, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported that UNMISS had received reports of “widespread sexual violence, including rape and gang rape by soldiers in uniform and men in plain clothes,” and noted more than 200 alleged cases since July 8 at various locations in Juba, including near the UN House. The Office of the High Commissioner noted that both SLPA and IO soldiers raped women and girls.

Human Rights Watch also found evidence that government soldiers stationed in an area known as “Checkpoint” along the road to Yei raped dozens of women sheltering at a protection of civilians camp at the UN base at Jebel who ventured out of the camp in search of food – in some cases raping them just a few hundred meters away from the UN peacekeepers’ base.

“I was walking with a group of 10 women when soldiers in green uniforms and red berets stopped us,” a 20-year-old woman said. “They took phones and money from some, and then took four women away to a store and raped them.”

In other cases, soldiers transported women to compounds they occupied and raped them there. Two survivors in their twenties said that a group of several dozen soldiers stopped them in the checkpoint area on July 21, and beat, abducted, and raped them, along with a third woman. One said:

“They cut our clothes with knives. They beat us using rifle butts. They were talking about Riek Machar, they said things in Dinka language. Then they took us by car to another compound. They raped us there, in front of everybody. I’m sorry to say this, but this is what happened. They even raped her [the other survivor], who is pregnant,”

One 24-year-old woman said that government soldiers raped her on July 18 when she left the camp for town to look for food: “When I reached Checkpoint on my way back, there was a large group of soldiers who stopped me. Half of them wanted to rape me, the others wanted to kill me. Four of them raped me. Then they took my things and told me to go.”

Health authorities and aid groups should ensure that post-rape care for victims meets at least minimum standards, including post-exposure prophylactics to help prevent HIV infection, emergency contraception, and access to psychosocial services or other mental health care services.

Gang rapes in the Yei Road Compound

On July 11, fighting moved toward Jebel, where SPLA soldiers fought to capture the IO base near UN House. That afternoon, a large number of government forces attacked the Yei Road compound, which housed about 50 employees of several international organizations.

Witnesses said the soldiers arrived around 3 p.m., divided into groups, and immediately began breaking into structures, looting supplies, and entering residential areas and an apartment building, where they killed a prominent journalist, raped or gang raped several international and national staff of organizations, and destroyed, and extensively looted property.

They killed the journalist, 32-year-old John Gatluak, in front of the apartments, presumably because of his Nuer ethnicity, visible from his scarification. Witnesses said that the soldiers shot him in front of his colleagues, at close range. His body was seen lying face up, hands above his head, as if in surrender.

The soldiers also raped or gang raped several foreign women. “He told me I had to have sex with him or else I would have to have sex with all the other soldiers – so I didn’t have a choice,” said one survivor of multiple rapes. Another woman said: “He beat me and ordered me to take off my pants,” then raped her in front of other people.

Some witnesses said soldiers cheered as they took turns raping a woman or two women in a room. Soldiers often threatened the women with death if they did not comply. In one case of attempted rape, a soldier beat the woman with the butt of his gun, then another shot a bullet next to her head.

During the first day of the attack, which lasted until about 7 p.m., soldiers also beat many of the compound residents, sometimes demanding to know their nationalities or affiliations, broke into apartments, destroyed property and looted goods including satellite dishes, televisions, money, clothes, food, computers, and alcohol.

Many residents were not rescued for several hours, despite repeated calls to various organizations and security forces. During and after the rescues, the soldiers continued to ransack and loot the compound leaving nothing intact. Gatluak’s body was not retrieved for several days.

Other Looting

Starting after the ceasefire, large groups of government soldiers stationed near UN House, later joined by Dinka civilians looted the entire contents of the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warehouses located in the vicinity, witnesses said. At the WFP warehouse alone, they stole 4,500 metric tons of food – enough to feed 220,000 people – as well as generators, air-conditioning, and other equipment.

Soldiers also looted the markets at Jebel and “Checkpoint” in the hours following the ceasefire.

Indiscriminate Attacks in Densely Populated Areas

During the four-day fight, both forces used a variety of weapons, including mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and, in the case of government troops, helicopter gunships acquired from Ukraine equipped with unguided rockets, and battle tanks. Ukrainian contractors also maintain the helicopters in Juba. Both forces used artillery in densely populated areas and in close proximity to poorly fortified UN bases and civilian protection sites.

International humanitarian law prohibits the use of indiscriminate force in densely populated civilian areas as the risk of harm to civilians outweighs any anticipated military advantage gained from the attack.

Human Rights Watch researchers found evidence that fighters fired mortars and artillery at or over POC sites. The use of these weapons in such circumstances is at least reckless and probably indiscriminate. Witnesses and humanitarian sources told Human Rights Watch that at least five shells hit the POC site 1 at the main UN base in Jebel on July 11.

One shell hit and damaged a medical clinic run by the international non-governmental medical organization International Medical Corps (IMC) at the site. Another killed two Chinese peacekeepers and prompted the retreat of all UN police and soldiers from the outer fences of the site, causing residents to panic and flee. Shells also fell into the adjacent and larger POC site 3, where about 30,000 mostly Nuer displaced civilians were taking shelter.

At least a dozen civilians who had sought safety in the protection of civilians sites at the main UN base in Jebel died from the injuries caused by shooting at and shelling inside the camps. Many dozens more were wounded.

On July 10, a stray bullet killed a 10-year-old boy in site 3. “He was hiding inside the ditch with other people, and the bullet came,” his aunt said. “He was shot inside the camp, “A 3-year-old boy was also hit by a stray bullet well inside the site. “He was hiding under the bed when the bullet hit him,” his mother said. “He’s now in the hospital.”

Soldiers also fought around another UN base at Thongpiny, near Juba international airport. At least one shell also hit an impromptu POC site inside the UN base at Thongpiny on July 11. Although the UN had closed the site in December 2014, people started seeking refuge from the fighting there on July 8 and by July 11 about 2,500 were inside the base, mostly displaced Nuer and Shilluk.”

A 22-year-old displaced woman said she witnessed a shell explode in the Thongpiny UN base: “I saw so many people wounded, bleeding, they were taken to the hospital. I saw one woman injured in the back. Another person was hit on the head, one on the leg.”

Ten civilians, including six children, were also wounded well inside the displaced persons’ site at the UN base at Thongpiny by bullets shot on the morning of July 11 from a nearby building, under construction, that had been occupied by soldiers and changed hands over the course of the fighting. Human Rights Watch received reports that the building was under control of government forces at the time of the shootings.

While Human Rights Watch was unable to establish with certainty whether the soldiers shot at civilians intentionally, some civilians said government forces aimed at them, with no clear military target nearby. A 28-year-old woman who witnessed the incidents said the shooters could see them: “The soldiers were on the roof of the building 300 meters away and they could see us. They were shooting at us. There were no other soldiers for them to shoot at, just us.”

Government forces also used helicopter gunships armed with unguided rockets against opposition positions, and tanks in some densely populated neighborhoods such as Gudele and Jebel, near the IO bases, and in Thongpiny, Munuki, and Mangaten near the airport and known to host sizable Nuer and Shilluk populations. The use of tanks by government forces in densely populated civilian areas significantly endangered civilian lives and structures.

Although it’s not the only factor, the ability to purchase arms and ammunition as well as the maintenance of military equipment by other countries since the conflict began are enabling both sides to continue to commit abuses in South Sudan, Human Rights Watch said. An arms embargo should help reduce these ongoing and unlawful attacks on civilians.

UN Response

At the onset of the fighting, the army ordered UNMISS staff and peacekeepers to stay inside their bases. The mission stated that its peacekeepers were seriously hampered in protecting civilians inside and outside its bases as a result. Nevertheless, UNMISS responses to the fighting were often inadequate or delayed.

At the Thongpiny base, UNMISS peacekeepers took more than six hours to open their doors to civilians who had fled the violence on July 10. “We were many people hiding in the sewage canals outside to the base because they would not open the doors,” said a 25-year-old woman resident of Thongpiny. “I was dirty but I was so afraid of the sound of the guns.”

The peacekeepers did not venture out of the bases to protect civilians under imminent threat even after the ceasefire. On July 17 peacekeepers guarding a POC site did not intervene when SPLA soldiers meters away abducted a woman. Although rapes took place in their line of sight, they did not increase patrols for several days.

On July 11, UNMISS did not respond to direct calls for protection by aid workers at the Yei Road compound, a kilometer from their base, where Gatluak was killed and several women were raped or gang raped. Witnesses said the UN’s rapid response team abandoned their rescue mission after learning NSS would rescue the residents.

While the South Sudanese government has accepted the idea of a Regional Protection Force, as outlined in an August 5 communiqué of the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development group working on South Sudan, known as IGAD Plus, it is imperative for the mission to address existing concerns regarding the efficiency of its current troops. The UN Security Council authorized a Regional Protection Force on August 12, but increased numbers are unlikely to make the mission more effective on its own, without improvements in other areas.

Under the Status of Forces Agreement between UNMISS and the government, peacekeeping forces have a right to patrol and move throughout the country, as well as to use lethal force to protect civilians, regardless of whether they have prior SPLA or government approval. UNMISS has promised to investigate its response to sexual and gender-based violence during the recent crisis, but the UN needs to investigate and effectively identify the factors that are incapacitating their response to threats against civilians, limiting their operational effectiveness, and causing a crisis of faith in the mission.

The UN mission should also increase its public reporting of abuses including attacks on the UN and international agencies. The lack of public reporting on attacks against UNMISS bases and personnel may have contributed to more violations of the status of forces agreement and decreased the mission’s capacity to act on its mandate.

Hold Abusers Accountable

Those responsible for the abuses documented, including commanders, should be held to account, either through hybrid, international, or national prosecutions. More immediately, and with the objective of compelling leaders to bring abuses to an end, individual UN sanctions such as travel bans and asset freezes should be imposed on top civilian and military leaders.

The SPLA’s chain of command appears to be heavily divided along ethnic lines, with ethnic Dinka commanders in charge of most decisions. Nonetheless, the coordinated manner in which the SPLA was able to deploy helicopters and tanks indicates an efficient command structure, and the success of the ceasefire declared by chief of staff Paul Malong on July 11 also indicates that he is substantially in control and command of the numerous troops active on the ground.

Malong, as well as Kiir and Machar, who formally are the commanders-in-chief of their respective forces, should be among those investigated for their role in these abuses. Military and civilian leaders both bear responsibility to ensure that operations are conducted in a manner that limits risks to civilians. When military and civilian leaders decide to use poorly trained and undisciplined troops with a poor human rights record, they may bear a responsibility for abuses.

Government commanders may be responsible for knowingly deploying abusive soldiers. Human Rights Watch researchers found that some of the government soldiers deployed at “Checkpoint” and involved in rapes were from SPLA Division 4, which has been singled out by Human Rights Watch and UN reports for committing grave human rights abuses, including rapes, during a 2015 offensive in Unity state.

South Sudan’s government has publicly announced that it would investigate the recent events and, on July 29, the council of ministers announced a court martial to try suspected offenders. But the government has a dismal track record for ensuring justice for human rights abuses or fair, public processes, or effective mechanisms for civilians to file complaints. Researchers were told that commanders would be expected to report soldiers who had committed crimes. Twenty-four soldiers have been charged with random shooting and looting, a UN source reported. None were accused of rape or killing.

South Sudanese authorities should also cooperate with the African Union to create the hybrid court envisioned in the 2015 peace agreement, to investigate and try the most serious crimes since the start of the conflict.

Finally, the UN should impose more targeted sanctions on individuals. Members of the UN Security Council have in the past been urged to sanction Malong, Kiir, and Machar. The two top leaders have yet to be added to the list of those proposed for sanctioning. Malong and Johnson Olony – an IO commander – were proposed by the United States in September 2015 but Russia, Angola and China objected.

As anti-government protests spread across Ethiopia’s Amhara and Oromia regions last weekend, state security forces once again used lethal force to break them up – killing as many as 100 unarmed protesters.

Expand

Protesters chant slogans during a demonstration over what they say is unfair distribution of wealth in the country at Meskel Square in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa, August 6, 2016.

© 2016 Reuters

More than 500 demonstrators are now estimated to have been killed by security forces in largely peaceful protests since November 2015. Demonstrators are protesting against alleged abuses and discrimination by the government.

The authorities have detained thousands during the demonstrations, and charged opposition political leaders with terrorism. The government’s heavy-handed response is likely to fuel growing anger and frustration.

On Wednesday, the United Nations’ top human rights official stressed the need for an international investigation into the killings. Ethiopia’s government immediately rejected this, stating to Al Jazeera that it would be responsible for the safety of its own people.

Some governments, including the United Kingdom, have decided to wait for the outcome of an investigation by Ethiopia’s national Human Rights Commission into the government’s response to protests in the Oromia and Amhara regions before deciding how to act. In its oral report to parliament in June, however, the commission concluded that the level of force used by security forces in Oromia was proportionate to the risk they faced from protesters.

Days earlier, Human Rights Watch had reported that excessive use of force resulted in the killing of an estimated 400 people during the protests in Oromia – and that the response was anything but proportionate.

The Human Rights Commission has a history of close ties to the government.

That combined with the well-established absence of accountability for security forces underscores the need for an international investigation.

One now-former federal police officer involved in quelling the protests laughed when I asked him in May if he knew of any officers held to account. “We can do whatever we want to stop the protests,” he said. “It is only our families and communities who shame us and make us feel guilty for how we act against our people.”

Ethiopia has been hostile to outside scrutiny of its rights record. Despite its June election to the UN Security Council and its membership of the Human Rights Council, it has refused entry to all UN special rapporteurs since 2007 – including the UN special rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.

The United Nations and allied governments should press Ethiopia to stop using excessive force against protesters, and to hold those responsible to account, regardless of rank. They should press the Ethiopian government to allow international observers to investigate abuses before Ethiopia slides into an even more dangerous and irreversible political and human rights crisis.

Expand

Some of the more than 600 houses demolished by the government in the Zango II area of Luanda, Angola since July 31, 2016.

© 2016 Ampe Rogério/Rede Angola

(Johannesburg) – Angolan authorities should promptly and impartially investigate the shooting death of a 14-year-old boy during a peaceful protest in Luanda on August 6, 2016. The government’s deployment of military police during a demonstration against the demolition of homes for a development project raises serious concerns about the security forces’ unnecessary use of lethal force.

“Angolan soldiers fired live ammunition during a peaceful protest and the unsurprising result is the death of a teenage boy,” said Daniel Bekele, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The authorities need to promptly investigate why the soldiers opened fire, prosecute those responsible for any wrongdoing, and take steps to avoid such bloodshed in the future.”

By about 3 p.m. on August 6, military police had arrived to help demolish homes for a commercial project in the Walale, Zango II neighborhood of the capital, Luanda, according to two witnesses and media reports. The soldiers were met by a group of residents peacefully demonstrating against the demolitions. Without warning, the witnesses said, the soldiers fired live ammunition in the air and at protesters’ feet to disperse the crowd.

“I think they [the military police] got irritated by the number of people who were waiting for them,” said one of the protesters, Dinho, whose surname is not being used for his security. “They loaded the guns and started firing at our feet. We ran away.”

One bullet fatally struck 14-year-old Rufino Antonio in his neck. No other demonstrators were reported injured by gunfire.

“One of the soldiers was listening to us as we begged them not to demolish the houses,” said Lucas, another protester. “Then, this other soldier just pointed his gun at me. The boy was right behind me and I told him to run. We ran to hide behind a mango tree. That shot was directed at me. It missed me, it missed the mango tree, and unfortunately struck the boy.”

Expand

Student card of Rufino Antonio, 14, who was killed by gunfire from the military police during a peaceful protest against home demolitions on August 6, 2016 in Zango II, Luanda, Angola.

© 2016 Human Rights Watch

Rufino’s uncle, Rui Domingos, told Human Rights Watch that his nephew was playing with other children when the military police arrived, and that Rufino went to join the demonstration. Domingos said that neighbors who witnessed the shooting called him and Rufino’s parents to the scene at about 5 p.m. When they arrived, Rufino was already dead.

“The neighbors told us that a military officer had shot him.” Domingos said. “We immediately called the soba (local chief) and police.”

Domingos said that minutes after the local police came, army officials arrived, threatening the police commander and removing Rufino’s body without explanation. The family located the boy’s body in the morgue of Maria Pia Hospital the following day.

A graphic video taken just after the shooting and posted on social media by Angolan activists shows Rufino lying on the ground under a mango tree with blood flowing behind his head or neck. A crowd is gathered around, and a man says, “Get their mother, get their mother.” Shortly thereafter a shot is heard but no security forces are visible.

The protest was organized by local residents against the planned demolition of about 625 houses in the neighborhood for a commercial, industrial, and agriculture development project by the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone.

An activist from OMUNGA, an organization that monitors forced evictions in Angola, told Human Rights Watch that the demolitions began on July 31, and were met by repeated protests, none of which involved violence. The law enforcement operation was being conducted by a military unit of the Posto Comando Unificado (PCU), a new force consisting of construction inspectors, army soldiers, and the police, tasked with protecting government infrastructure and land.

Expand

A man in the Zango II area of Luanda, Angola after security forces demolished his house.

© 2016 Ampe Rogério/Rede Angola

A lieutenant-general leading the PCU operations, Simão Carlitos Wala, told Voice of America that the incident was under investigation, but he declined to provide details.

“The Angolan authorities should be using police, not soldiers, for law enforcement during demonstrations,” Bekele said. “Soldiers, including military police, are trained to use their guns first.”

The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials state that nonviolent means should be used as far as possible before resorting to the use of force. Whenever the lawful use of force is unavoidable, the authorities should use restraint and act in proportion to the seriousness of the offense. Law enforcement officials should not use firearms against people except in self-defense or defense of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury.

Angolan law permits security forces to use lethal force only as a last resort to counter a threat to life or serious injury. However, Human Rights Watch and other groups have documented many cases in which security forces have unjustifiably killed or injured protesters.

In April, police gunfire wounded at least three people during a student demonstration against an increase in school fees in Caluquembe, Huila province. The police initially denied firing live ammunition but later admitted that one officer had opened fire and said he would be punished. It is not known what steps were taken to punish this officer or others for their role in the incident.

“Angolan authorities should demonstrate that they are serious about curtailing excessive use of force by fully investigating the death of Rufino Antonio and bringing those responsible to justice,” Bekele said. “The government should ensure that its security forces abide by international standards and respond nonviolently to peaceful protests.”

August 15, 2016 (JUBA) – One person was killed and four others injures when unidentified gunmen ambushed a vehicle along Torit-Kapoeta road, officials said Monday.

The map of Eastern Equatoria state in red

The incident reportedly took place at Okuma Mafi in Hiyala payam of Torit county in South Sudan's Eastern Equatoria state on Sunday.

The state information minister, Josephine Nakuru said those ambushed were national security personal traveling from Torit to Kapoeta county of Eastern Equatoria state.

“The aim of this people were to make sure they got these boys in hand or get the ammunition and the vehicles that these boys were using,” said Nakuru.

One of the security operative, she added, escaped with injuries and was brought at Kapoeta hospital for treatment.

The minister condemned the attacks that frequently occur along the Torit-Kapoeta road, urging bandits to halt the act. Daniel Jino, a trader in Kapoeta, said security in the area mainly worsened after the state was split into two provinces.

He called on neighbouring communities to put aside their differences and work to improve the insecurity that innocent civilians often face on major roads leading to the capital.

"Security in the state was under full control during [Governor Louis] Lobong's time, but am very worried about what is happening now. Things are now running out of hand", said Jino.

(ST)

August 15, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on Monday has seized print runs of Al-Saiha, Al-Mijher Al-Siyasi and Al-Ahram Al-Youm newspapers from the printing house without giving reasons.

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

The confiscations come one day after the National Council for Press and Publications (NCPP) indefinitely suspended four newspapers including Al-Watan, Awal Al-Nahar, Elaph and Al-Mustaqilla for administrative reasons.

In a press release on Monday, the Sudanese non-governmental Journalists for Human Rights (JHR) network said the NISS imposes both pre-print and after-print censorship on newspapers, pointing it verbally instructed papers not to publish news reports pertaining to rebel groups.

Several newspapers have published interviews with rebel leaders during the recent round of peace talks between the government and armed groups that has ended on Sunday in Addis Ababa.

NISS has recently intensified its crackdown on the newspapers and confiscated copies of Al-Taghyeer, Al-Youm Al-Tali and Al-Saiha newspapers several times.

Last week, Al-Taghyeer newspaper decided to suspend publishing and started to lay off its staff following the large financial loss it incurred due to repeated confiscations.

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.

It accuses the newspapers of crossing the red lines through publishing reports which adversely impact the national security.

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.

(ST)

August 15, 2016 (KHARTOUM). Sudanese government on Monday said that armed groups have only signed the Roadmap Agreement to avoid international pressure, claiming they bear the prime responsibility for the collapse of the 12th round of peace talks.

Presidential Assistant, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid (SUNA Photo)

On Sunday, Sudanese government and rebels have failed to reach a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access agreements in Darfur region, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, following what the African Union mediation decided to suspend the talks indefinitely.

In a press conference held at Khartoum airport upon his return from Addis Ababa, the government chief negotiator for the talks on the Two Areas, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid, said they went to the negotiations with a strong political will and determined to make progress in the road to peace and national dialogue, citin the government approval of the Roadmap Agreement since five month ago

Hamid reiterated the government's commitment to the unilateral cessation of hostilities announced earlier by President Omer al Bashir, adding that it was willing to translate the declaration into a written agreement, “however the (SPLM-) does not want to have a binding agreement,” he stressed.

He accused SPLM-N of trying to drag out peace talks, saying “the rebel chief negotiator Yasir Arman even before the start of negotiations held a press conference where he charged the government and kept issuing statements before the end of the talks to poison the atmosphere and create unconducive environment”.

The government's top negotiator said the SPLM-N delegation focused on the transportation of the humanitarian assistance from Lokichoggio, in northern Kenya, Juba in South Sudan and Asosa in Western Ethiopia. "These are impossible conditions intended to thwart the negotiations,” he added.

On the other hand, “The government proposed that the humanitarian aid arrives to Kadugli and Damazain airports to be checked by Sudanese authorities before to distribute it to the needy in the war affected areas,” he said. The SPLM-N refused the proposal arguing they “do not trust the government,” he added.

He also said they proposed to form a committee including the United Naions and African Union besides the two parties to ensure unhindered access of humanitarian assistance to civilians in the affected areas. But, the SPLM-N didn't want to discuss the matter and called to postpone the issue to the next round of talks, he said..

Hamid said the SPLM-N's refusal proofs that it has a previous agreement with Darfur groups to sign the Roadmap Agreement without implementing its terms, stressing that SPLM-N raised 13 new points during the 12th round of talks.

"My message to the Sudanese people that they do not want peace, but circumvent the (international) pressure on them by signing the Roadmap," he said.

In a press conference on Sunday in Addis Ababa, SPLM-N Chief negotiator Yasir Arman said the Sudanese government has missed “the greatest opportunity” to achieve peace, holding it responsible for the collapse of this round of talks.

The SPLM-N said the government wanted to prioritize the discussion of the security arrangements at the negotiation table while it had previously agreed to focus on the humanitarian access.

Also, when the discussions came to the humanitarian issue, the parties stuck to their position on from where the humanitarian relief should be transported to the affected areas.

On this respect, Arman said the government didn't make any concessions despite the huge efforts exerted by the Chief Mediator Mbeki.

He pointed that during the past four years the government continued to say that it would only allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid from inside Sudan, while the SPLM-N made some concessions and calls now for mixed tracks.

“SPLM-N delegation conceded and accepted mixed tracks from inside Sudan and abroad, we accepted that 80% of the relief comes through Khartoum and 20% from outside. We also gave another concession by determining [the type of assistance] needed from inside and abroad,” he said.

The parties are supposed to sign a humanitarian truce in the Two Areas and Darfur. The agreement would be followed by strategic meeting between the opposition groups and government ad national dialogue committee to discuss additional confidence building measures before to return to the country for an inclusive constitutional conference.

Also, the peace talks on Darfur region, with the Justice and Equality Movement and Sudan Liberation Movement – Minni Minnawi have been suspended. The parties failed to agree on how to determine the sites of the rebel fighters.

Last week, U.S. Special Envoy Donald Booth the strategic meeting would be held within three months. But mediation adjourned the talks sine die, and it is not clear when the parties would resume negotiations.

The Sudanese army has been fighting SPLM-N rebels in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states since 2011 and the armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

(ST)

August 15, 2016 (YAMBIO) – The commissioner of Ezo county in South Sudan western Equatoria has refuted allegations that armed youth captured the county headquarters last week after fighting between the army and armed elements.

The map of Western Equatoria in red

Commissioner Arkangelo Bakinde described the ongoing rumour as unfounded lies and that they were in still in control of the area.

“The information going around in Western Equatoria and on social media is a total lie and it has no basis because the people in Ezo county are okay and I am getting information from there daily,” said Bakinde.

He said the road connecting his county was still insecure for those traveling by road and there is no airstrip.

Last week, heavy fighting occurred in Ezo county between government forces and the armed youth groups in the area, after the latter allegedly attacked an army base. Also roads connecting Ezo county was closed by the armed groups by cutting big trees on the roads, laying ambushes on roads, looting and blocking government officials or non-governmental organizations from accessing their area.

A citizen from Ezo, who spoke to Sudan Tribune on anonymity said, soldiers attempted to open the road between Yambio and Ezo, but were blocked by the youth.

Last week, the governor Gbudue, of South Sudan's newly created states was ambushed in his way back from Tombura. Three of the governor's bodyguards were wounded.

(ST)

August 15, 2016 (JUBA) – Former South Sudan's national minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, Mabior Garang de Mabior, has lashed out at President Salva Kiir's faction, accusing it of the responsibility in the collapse of the August 2015 peace deal the president signed with his former first deputy, Riek Machar.

Mabior John Garang de Mabior (File photo MC Clatchy Newspapers)

In a 9-page long elaborative press statement he issued on Tuesday, Mabior, who is also the chairperson for information and public relations national committee in the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), said the violence which erupted at the palace on 8 July and the replacement of Machar on 24 July was an act of conspiracy to destroy the peace agreement.

“The leadership of the SPLM/SPLA (In Opposition) would like to set the record straight regarding the return to armed conflict in South Sudan. The SPLM/SPLA - In Opposition (IO) is deeply disappointed in the lack of political will exhibited by the SPLM/SPLA (In Government), which has led to the collapse of the peace process and a return to armed conflict in the Republic of South Sudan. This resumption of conflict started on July 8th, 2016; with the Transitional Government of National Unity effectively being overthrown,” Mabior wrote.

He continued with chronology of the events that occurred leading to the return of violence as well as the “illegal” attempt to replace the SPLM-IO's “legitimate” leadership of Machar, also blaming the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) for pushing Machar to return to Juba despite President Kiir's lack of implementation of the security arrangements in Juba.

“The SPLM/SPLA (IG) led by President Salva Kiir continued to show this lack of political will during the implementation process. This is why the Mediators had to suggest the provisions of the ARCISS be circumvented; in order to prevent the Agreement from premature collapse. The SPLM (IO) was forced to go to Juba to implement the ARCISS, despite the fact that Juba had not been demilitarized in accordance to the provisions of the Agreement, a central part to the security arrangements. The IG even tried to humiliate the First Vice President (FVP) Dr. Riek Machar by refusing to give him an office…,” he said.

He said the SPLM/SPLA (IO) was forced to go to Juba without its demilitarization, which led to the incidences of harassment at illegal SPLA (IG) check points.

Mabior, who is currently in Nairobi, Kenya, said President Kiir's forces started the shooting at Machar's bodyguards at the J1 palace, adding this was a day after Kiir's soldiers also attempted to arrest Machar's bodyguards on Gudele road, which led to clashes that killed at least 4 soldiers on President Kiir's side.

He said President Kiir wanted to kill Machar and that his chief of general staff has ordered his forces to hunt for him in the bushes where he has been hiding.

“The SPLM/SPLA IO has since been fighting a war of self-defense as the Chief of General Staff of the IG has ordered his militias to hunt down and assassinate the legitimate FVP of the TGONU,” he added.

“The failure of the warring parties to implement the security arrangements, the attack of SPLM/SPLA IO Cantonment areas across the country, culminating on the Juba attack which included the residence of the FVP; has led the leadership of the SPLM/SPLA IO to either flee Juba, or seek refuge in the UNMISS PoC's.”

Mabior accused the newly appointed first vice president, Taban Deng Gai, of planning to assassinate Machar prior to the palace shoot out, saying Machar dismissed him from the party after the conspiracy became clear.

“His [Taban] dismissal came after he proved through the state owned (SSTV) showing that the current plot to topple the TGoNU was his idea as well as conspiring to assassinated Dr. Machar, the FVP so that the whole agreement is abrogated. And that was an adequate ground for a member of the SPLM/SPLA IO to lose his/her membership when he or she is found to be engaged in activities that undermine the objectives and policies of the movement, contrary to this Constitution, Code of Conduct, Internal Rules and Regulations. And as such, he was dismissed from SPLM/SPLA IO on 22/07/2016 before he completed his plot to illegally take over the leadership of SPLM/SPLA IO,” he said.

“Therefore, whatever, he and his anti-peace group have done will remain null and void as long as it is inconsistent with the Peace Agreement. This provision is read together with rule 1.4.7 of the same Internal Rules.”

He also said under Article 6.5 of the peace agreement, it was Machar who “may” delegate someone to act on his behalf in his absence and not an imposed person.

“Under Clause 6.5 of the same Chapter: “In the event of temporary absence of the First Vice President, the First Vice President may delegate a senior South Sudan Armed Opposition Minister to carry out functions and duties as stipulated in this Agreement,” Mabior further argued.

“This temporary absence for example, is like a foreign trip to which the FVP may spend some days, so in that case he has a prerogative or discretion power to delegate his functions and powers to a senior South Sudan Armed Opposition. This situation is not applicable to Gen. Taban Deng Gai - as he was dismissed before being crowned in Crown Hotel in Juba,” he added.

THE WAY FORWARD

Machar said the leadership of the SPLM/SPLA-IO under Machar is calling on the region and international community not to recognize the “coup” against TGoNU.

“The leadership of the SPLM/SPLA IO further urge the region and international community to expedite interventional forces under the UN revised mandate such that Peace Agreement does not derail into a full scale of war in the country,” he said.

“The SPLM/SPLA IO leadership welcomes the decisions of the IGAD, AU and the UNSC (Draft) Resolution 2304; which is in line with the call of the FVP. The FVP will only return to Juba to commence the true implementation of the ARCISS when the conducive security environment is guaranteed. This will also create a conducive security environment that will facilitate the smooth implementation of the Agreement, as the warring parties have failed to implement the security arrangements.”

He further added that the opposition faction believes in the spirit of the ARCISS as the only solution to the conflict in South Sudan.

“The Movement calls on the region and the world, to expedite this process of intervention/protection so that we can rescue the suffering people of South Sudan; who's suffering is compounded by a complete breakdown of law and order all over the country,” he said.

KIIR AGAINST IMPOSED DECISION

Meanwhile South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, has warned on Monday that a hasty decision to deploy foreign forces to Juba could result in dire consequences if consultations are ignored.

“The consequences of hasty and imposed decision may be dire, for good intentions are not necessarily always reflected by the decisions made thereon,” warned president Kiir in a speech at the inauguration function of the transitional national legislative assembly.

The head of state affirmed the commitment of himself and his administration to implementing the peace agreement which he signed with his ousted deputy in unity government, Riek Machar.

“We are fully committed to the peace agreement of August 2015 and its continued implementation. We call on all the parties and opposition groups to be part of this most cherished commitment. This is our country. We built it from scratch after prolonged, bloody and heroic struggle. Let us work together to preserve its present and guarantee its future”, said president Kiir.

He said his government welcomed assistance and listens to advices carefully but which should not be imposed to undermine his authority to govern effectively and compromise national sovereignty.

“We welcome assistance. We are attentive to advice. But assistance requires dialogue. It should not be turned in an imposition that becomes intervention in which our sovereignty is compromised and our ability to govern effectively diminishes rather than increases. More and better could and should be achieved through consultation and dialogue,” he said.

He said the government has serious issues about decision made by the IGAD on 5 August and the renewal of the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), but added he “will discussion details with the leadership of the United Nations.”

“Already there are people who are accusing the transitional government of national unity of refusing and fighting the UN. I want to confirm on this great day that this is not accurate appraisal. If there are voices out there expressing their views on the subject, these are individuals who do not represent the transitional government of national unity and have certainly not been mandated to speak on behalf of the transitional government of national unity,” he added.

(ST)

August 15, 2016 (WAU) – Leader of the People's Liberal Party (PLP) in South Sudan, Peter Mayen Majongdit, said the current Transitional National Legislative Assembly cannot guarantee institutional and legislation reforms to enforce democracy in the country, saying its decisions have been influenced negatively by the executive.

People's Liberal Party (PLP) leader Peter Mayen Majongdit (ST)

Majongdit said the parliament will continue as a shadow of the executive branch instead of holding the executive accountable for bad policies and actions.

“This current legislature does not guarantee the needed reforms anymore but it is a continuation of the old systems. If the future of legislature is determined by the executive then how will the legislature hold executive accountable when it is the very one appointing [its members]?” he questioned.

Majongdit added: “democracy is under threat because [there] nothing to grantee the principles of separation of powers.”

He also blamed IGAD members states for allegedly brokering a weak peace deal in August 2015, saying that the strategies designed as peace agreement centered on and invested powers in the interest of individuals leaving common citizens hostage by the leaders which “pay no respect to human rights, democracy and nationalism”.

He said “South Sudanese are more patriotic more than leaders and deserve a better democratic leader.”

The opposition leader was making the comments as President Salva Kiir opened the transitional national legislative assembly on Tuesday.

He was speaking to Sudan Tribune on phone from Johannesburg, South Africa, where he is attending an international conference on “Challenges to Democracy in Africa.”

(ST)

August 15, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has distanced himself from rhetoric rejecting the United Nations Security Council resolution authorizing additional 4,000 foreign soldiers to his country saying anyone speaking against does not act on behalf of his government.

President adresses a joint press conference on 9 July 2016 (Reuters Photo)

Speaking at the official opening of the Transitional National Legislative Assembly on Monday, President Kiir said he had reservations on the mandate of the force that will be drawn from regional countries, but required further consultations.

"I am neither against nor for the UNSC resolution on South Sudan. Be patient, after wider consultation with my constituency, I will submit my reservations to the UNSC [United Nations Security Council] resolution on the 4,000 regional forces for South Sudan,” Kiir told the assembly.

In an address to guest at a dinner organized by new First Vice President Taban Deng Gai and broadcast on Sunday by state-owned SSBC TV, President Kiir said the UN decision is meant to satisfy the demands of peace monitors and UN mission in the country who want to “continue receive money” for their presence in South Sudan.

He warned of confronting any troops “interfering” in internal affairs.

“For us [South Sudanese], we don't do anything bad to anybody, but if somebody has interfered into our right, I don't think we will allow them to go without us touching them,” he said in reference to UNSC resolution number (2304).

Kiir, known for changing stance under international pressure, backtracked in a speech he delivered before parliament.

“This is not a rejection of the UNSC resolution, it is simply a call for dialogue and understanding on the better way forward in resolving the conflict in South Sudan,” he said.

“Please bear with me and remember that anyone speaking against the UN, IGAD, and AU etc. is not speaking on behalf of my government," said the South Sudanese leader.

"There are people who are accusing the transitional government of refusing and fighting the U.N. but this is not accurate," he added as ruling party lawmakers cheered.

He said a final decision was not reached on the UNSC decision to send more troops mandate to fight rival faction forces should they dishonor the permanent ceasefire.

"The transitional government has not met to declare its final position. Deliberations will come later on a final position,” said Kiir.

(ST)

August 15, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Foreign Ministry has ruled out that the joint Sudanese-Libyan troops would carry out evacuation operations for Sudanese nationals who were caught under fire in several areas of the Libyan city of Benghazi particularly in Qunfudah.

Fighters from the Fajr Libya (Libya Dawn) militia hold their positions during clashes with forces loyal to Libya's internationally recognised government near the Wetia military air base, west of the capital Tripoli, on 29 December 2014 (Photo: AFP/Mahmud Turkia)

Last Friday, five Sudanese nationals were killed in Qunfudah during a military operation while the fate of 100 others remained unknown.

In press statements on Monday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir said the trapped Sudanese nationals could only be evacuated by the Libyan army and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as the civil society organizations and not via any Sudanese aviation.

He pointed that a team from the Sudanese consulate in Benghazi has met with the Libyan Foreign Ministry office in Al-Baida town to urge them to speed up the evacuation operation.

Khidir didn't name capitals through which the Sudanese nationals would be transferred; saying what is crucial now is to evacuate them to safety.

Benghazi has been the focus of fighting between Islamist militias and troops loyal to Libya's government.

Libya has become increasingly divided since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with competing governments and rival militias seeking to gain territory and influence.

The government began an offensive against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Sirte in May and said recently that it had made its largest gains to date.

August 15, 2016 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese government has referred the recent United Nations Security Council Resolution that authorized sending extra 4,000 troops to boost UN peacekeepers in country with a mandate to fight rival forces, to its national assembly for further consultations.

South Sudanese MPs stand during a parliamentary session in Juba on 31 August 2011 (AFP)

The decision from the Transitional Government of National Unity was reached during the Council of Ministers meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir.

The First Vice President Taban Deng Gai, Vice President James Wani Igga plus the cabinet ministers also attended the extraordinary meeting.

“It's clear that this document has some pros and cons,” information minister, Michael Makuei told reporters in Juba.

“And as such, it is decided that this process be taken to the parliament so that it becomes public and a clear stand and decision taken by the whole government of the Republic of South Sudan,” he added.

President Kiir addressed the Transitional National Legislative Assembly on Monday for the first time since it was reconstituted under the terms of the peace agreement.

In his speech to lawmakers, the president criticized the UN resolution, but gave lawmakers opportunity to deliberate.

Makuei said MPs will consult civil society groups, South Sudanese citizens and other political parties on the UNSC Resolution number 2304 (2016), which was adopted Friday.

The South Sudan leader described the Security Council resolution as a prelude of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) chairman, Festus Mogae and UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), head Magrette Leoj during a dinner organized by the First Vice President.

“Of course this has become a business and these people want the kind of work that will enable them to continue to receive money,” Kiir told the state-owned SBBC TV.

It is not clear how long parliament will take to deliberate the resolution, but the UN is keen to avoid further after Juba made its intention to reject the UN resolution public.

(ST)

August 15, 2016 (JUBA) – A number of officials of the newly created Yei River state have been killed with some in critical conditions after sustaining serious gunshot wounded after falling into ambush laid by suspected SPLA-IO troops on Yei-Morobo on Saturday and Sunday.

Governor David Lokonga Moses speaks to the press in Yei May 31, 2016 (ST)

Sources in Yei told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that among the confirmed dead include private secretary of the education minister who died on the spot and the office manager of the Yei town mayor who later died in Yei hospital.

“Many of our state government officials have been wounded when they were attacked on the road between Yei and Morobo by rebels. They are now being treated in the hospital for serious gunshot wounds,” an eye witness in Yei town told Sudan Tribune.

The source added that a number of senior government officials have been seriously wounded and are in critical conditions in Yei Civil Hospital. These seriously wounded state officials include Morobo county commissioner, Jacob Toti, Education minister, Mary Apayi Ayiga and state advisor on political affairs, Jackson Abugo.

The state governor, David Lokonga, was also reported to be missing and was on the run towards Uganda border.

Morobo, south of Yei town, has been captured since last week by the opposition forces loyal to former First Vice President, Riek Machar, who also reportedly control Juba-Yei road, cutting off Yei town from the national capital.

Also gunshots were reported inside Yei town, but it was not clear what sparked the situation amidst fears among the residents for imminent violent clashes in case the opposition forces attack the town.

Meanwhile, opposition forces loyal to Machar said they killed 25 soldiers and destroyed two military trucks between Torit and Kapoeta in Eastern Equatoria on Sunday after clashes with forces loyal to President Salva Kiir.

The government forces were said to be composed of national security personnel.

(ST)

August 15, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The United States has expressed deep concern over Sudan's government continued detention of at least 15 Darfurians including one Sudanese national working for the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

U.S. Special Envoy Donald Booth and his team members pose for a picture with Darfur IDPs on 2 August 2016 (Photo US Embassy Khartoum Facebook page)

On July 26, the United States Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan, Donald Booth, started a visit to Darfur states to assess the security and humanitarian situation on the ground particularly in Jebel Marra area.

Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on August 1st, arrested 15 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) leaders in Nertiti town, Central Darfur following a meeting with Booth.

Director of the office of press relations at the US States Department, Elizabeth Trudeau, in a press release on Friday said the detentions followed a visit by Booth to North and Central Darfur states as well as IDPs camps at Sortoni and Nertiti in the Jebel Marra region of Darfur from July 26-28, 2016.

“Many others who were not detained were nonetheless questioned by security officials about the nature of their contact with the Special Envoy” read the statement.

It pointed that the US immediately expressed its concern about the reported detentions to senior Sudanese officials, calling on the Sudanese government to immediately release all of those detained.

“These actions are particularly unfortunate as they undercut the Government of Sudan initially granting permission for the Special Envoy's fact-finding visit and allowing him to travel to areas and speak with individuals of his choosing” it added.

The statement further urged the Sudanese government “to respect its citizens' rights to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association, including by the press”, saying they are vital elements “for an environment conducive to an inclusive national dialogue for which all continue to work”.

UN agencies estimate that more than 120,000 people have been displaced by the fierce clashes which occurred since last January between the government army and the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-AW) led by Abel-Wahid al-Nur.

Jebel Marra, which spans over three states including North, Central and South Darfur, is located at a water-rich area that is characterized by mild climate.
On 12 April, the Sudanese army declared Darfur a region free of rebellion following the capture of Srounq area, the last SLM-AW stronghold in Jebel Marra.

(ST)

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has congratulated the people of Zambia for the peaceful and orderly presidential, parliamentary and local elections, as well as the referendum on the Bill of Rights, held on 11 August.

Madagascar's conservationists work in secrecy to protect one of the world's most beautiful tortoises from poachers, writes journalist Martin Vogl.

A mother whose daughter escaped from the Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram tells the BBC what life was like for her daughter.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined his envoys from the Great Lakes Region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) today in strongly condemning the killing of dozens of civilians during an overnight attack in Beni, located in restive eastern part of the country, where the UN mission and national authorities have now deployed forces in the wake if the incident.

Egyptian judoka Islam El Shehaby is sent home after he refused to shake the hand of Israeli opponent Or Sasson at the end of their bout.