Africa

Preliminary United Nations investigations into the recent fighting in South Sudan reveal Government security forces carried out killings and rapes, and looted and destroyed properties, the UN human rights chief said today, calling on the Security Council to take stronger action.

In our series of letters from African journalists, film-maker and columnist Farai Sevenzo looks at those most in danger in the battle against poachers in Africa.

A look at the young entrepreneurs trying to boost the economy and employment in South Africa's townships.

United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O’Brien concluded today his three-day mission to crisis-torn South Sudan, voicing serious concern at the humanitarian situation in the country and in particular the violence against civilians, as well as attacks against aid workers, which is hampering efforts to respond to the needs of the people affected by the fighting.

The United Nations food relief agency today started a fundraising campaign, using a smartphone application, to provide school meals in a southern district of Malawi, where El Niño-induced drought has reduced crop yields.

Somalia - the nation that produced double Olympic champion Mo Farah - has sent only two athletes to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Twenty years after Nigeria became the first African nation to win Olympic football gold, Taribo West recalls a "fantastic" experience.

August 3, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan President Salva Kiir has sacked four armed opposition ministers suspected still loyal to the former vice president, Riek Machar and replace them with new faces loyal to the new first vice president, Taban Deng Gai.

South Sudanese president Salva Kiir (Photo: Reuters)

President Kiir, according to the order, broadcast by the state owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC) removed Mary Alfonse Nadio Lodira, Mabior Garang, Dak Duop Bishok and Peter Adwok Nyaba. These officials were replaced with officials who included Ezekiel Lol, a former ambassador to the United States, who was one of the officials detained in 2013 when conflict erupted in the South Sudan capital, Juba.

Lol, initially seen as close to Machar, turned a foe after failing to secure a ministerial position and became an ally of Gai who failed to be appointed the petroleum minister.

The new officials, according to the presidential decree, were appointed on the basis of recommendations from the armed opposition leadership allied to the first vice president.

Michael Tiangjiek Mut is the new Minister of Interior, Ezekiel Lul (Minister of Petroleum Minister), Gabriel Duop Lam (Minister of Labour), Gabriel Thok Deng (Minister of Mining), Yien Tut (Minister of Higher Education) and Sofia Gai (Minister of Water Resources).

Alfred Lado Gore is one of the old faces who has been removed from the Ministry of Interior and appointed the new minister of Land and Housing. His other Colleagues, Richard K. Mulla and Dhieu Mathok Diing Wol, the secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation in Opposition (SPLM-IO) returned their positions as the minister of federal affairs and minister of imagery and dams respectively.

The Humanitarian Affairs Ministers, Hussein Nyot Maar has retained his position. Rieu Gatliek Gai has been appointed the new deputy Interior Minister and Natake Allan as Deputy Minister of Labour. A separate order was issued appointing Gabriel Yol Dok as advisor on Social Service Delivery, Michael Mario Dhuor as advisor for Reforms Evaluation and Ramadhan Laku for Good Governance.

Kiir relieved 50 MPs appointed by Machar, replacing them with the ones Gai nominated.

Parliament is expected to hold it first sitting on Thursday to formally select the new speaker for the transitional national legislative assembly, sources told Sudan Tribune.

(ST)

August 2, 2016 (JUBA) - The command of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a co-national army with ‘SPLA in Opposition' in South Sudan, has issued a statement downplaying reports that it has been engaged in an active combat with its rival army, the SPLA-IO under the leadership of former First Vice President, Riek Machar.

Brigadier General Lul Ruai Koang, who speaks for the government forces denied on Tuesday that there was major offensive over the weekend, but admitted there was "small fighting" between rival forces. This is contrary to the reports from the opposition faction and the United Nations.

“There was no heavy fighting around Juba. This is a physiological warfare being waged by anti-peace elements and to scare civilians. The reality is that our forces met reconnaissance and engaged them. They tried to put up some resistance, but at the end they were overcome and they fled to different locations," said Koang in a statement also broadcast by the state owned South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC).

Koang also accused the armed opposition forces of shelling the government military positions in Nasir town in Upper Nile, a claim the opposition denied and instead accused the government forces of initiating the attack on their position on the other side of the Sobat River.

The military spokesperson said the situation in Nasir was now calm on Tuesday and that the government was still in full control of Nasir town. He denied a loss of “even one centimeter to the anti-peace elements."

Government's Latjor state information minister, Peter Hoth Tuach, told Sudan Tribune in a separate interview on Monday that the position of the government forces in Nasir came under sustained shelling for two days from across the Sobat River, adding the SPLA forces in the area responded in self-defense.

He added that the limited attack which the rebels tried across the river was repulsed describing it as "mere skirmishes."

“War is not the interest of anybody and we call [on] all our people to disregard the rumours from the internet. The government is committed to implementing peace and the SPLA-IO forces should also demonstrate the same commitment by giving out clear instructions to their field commanders to observe the ceasefire. On our side, the ceasefire which the president declared on July 11, 2016, is being observed by our gallant SPLA forces wherever they are deployed in the state,” explained minister Tuach.

Machar's spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, on Tuesday said heavy fighting has been going on in the bushes on Juba-Yei road, Juba-Mundri road and in the northwest of the capital in Katigiri area, as the opposition forces were fighting back in self-defence against over 10,000 President Kiir's forces who were on offensive trying to hunt for Machar.

He said “several hundreds” of President Kiir's forces have been already killed in the forests, but the government did not want to tell the truth about what was really happening in the bushes in order not to demoralize its soldiers and to deceive the citizens in Juba.

He warned that should the offensive continue, the opposition forces will be forced to move on Juba, a claim which President Kiir's faction dismissed as unachievable.

The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the highest body which monitors the peace agreement signed in August last year, has issued a statement calling on President Kiir to stop deploying forces to hunt for Machar in the bushes around Juba. United Nations has also called on the two warring parties to stop the ongoing fighting “around Juba.”

Hundreds of wounded soldiers have been seen in hospitals in the capital brought from the frontlines, an indication that there is fighting going on somewhere.

Also, hundreds of soldiers belonging to the government, mainly from the Dinka ethnic group, have fled to the United Nations protection of civilian's site at Jebel's PoC2 in Juba, including a number of senior army officers who retreated from the frontlines.

A senior military official loyal to President Kiir told Sudan Tribune on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal that heavy fighting had been taking place over the weekend around Juba. He also revealed that the government incurred heavy losses, adding that recently “police forces including wildlife and national security forces have been deployed to the frontlines to back up the troops.”

South Sudan's government has rejected any deployment of additional third party force despite the opposition's acceptance in order to separate the two forces and guarantee protection of the rival leaderships, their officials and the citizens always caught in crossfire or targeted.

(ST)

August 2, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan has declined a proposal by some international partners to conduct a solo mediation between the warring parties in South Sudan, a diplomat said on Tuesday.

The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) Partners Group, the body overseeing the implementation of South Sudan peace agreement signed in August last year, which includes senior international members, convened in Khartoum on Sunday and discussed the developments in South Sudan and the role of the international committee to convince the conflicting parties to abide by ceasefire agreement.

Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Garib Allah Khidir, told reporters that some international partners have urged Sudan to take a direct sole role beside its role within IGAD to solve the conflict in South Sudan.

Khidir stressed that Sudan turned down the request to avoid creating any sensitivities with the conflicting parties in South Sudan.

“Sudan is sticking to its role within the IGAD only,” said Khidir.

Khartoum relationship with Juba since the independence has been instable and tainted by suspicion.

The government of President Kiir accused the Sudanese government of supporting the rebels several months after the beginning of the conflict. Also, Khartoum accuses Juba of supporting the rebel groups in the Two Areas and Darfur.

JMEC Chairman, former President of Botswana Festus Mogae, told reporters on Monday in Khartoum that IGAD leaders will meet on Friday in Addis Ababa to call on the international leaders to intervene to put an end to the conflict in South Sudan.

Following a meeting with President Omer al-Bashir along with the Chinese Special Envoy Zhong Jianhua, Mogae told reporters, that he briefed the Sudanese president on JMEC views on the developments in South Sudan.

He further said JMEC partners accepted a proposals during calling for high level intervention,( heads of state or government) to deal with the situation in South Sudan.

The international partners have called, at the end of their meeting in Khartoum on Sunday, on South Sudan President Silva Kiir to stop the hunt for his former First Vice President Riek Machar and his forces, to put the peace process back on track and to conduct comprehensive investigation to bring those involved in ceasefire violations to justice.

(ST)

August 2, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan has dismissed as false allegations by its former agriculture minister that the August 2015 peace agreement had virtually collapsed.

South Sudan's information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, speaks to reporters in Jonglei state capital Bor on 25 December 2014 (ST)

Lam Akol resigned from the transitional government of national unity (TGoNU) on Monday over alleged failure by President Salva Kiir to respect the terms of security arrangements and the removal of former first Vice President Riek Machar as final blows to the peace accord.

He also said the peace accord was "dead", adding he had joined "other like-minded compatriots" in quest for changes in governance.

But the country's information minister dismissed claims by his agriculture counterpart.

"Lam Akol and Riek Machar are birds of the same feathers, opportunists and always follow each other," Michael Makuei Lueth told reporters in the South Sudan capital, Juba on Tuesday.

He also described Akol's decision to quit as "unilateral and anti-peace."

"All the parties remain committed to the agreement and so Dr. Lam Akol should realize that he is the odd man out," stressed Leuth.

Meanwhile, a national alliance of 18 political parties on Tuesday selected Kornelio Kon Ngu as its new chairman. Ngu served as deputy minister of agriculture in the new TGoNU.

(ST).

August 2, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Salih has called on the residents of South Kordofan state to engage in contacts with the rebels to convince them to join the peace process.

SPLA-N rebel soldiers train in South Kordofan on April 25. 2012 (Reuters)

The Sudanese army has been fighting Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011.

Salih, who addressed a crowed in South Kordofan's town of Diling Tuesday, called upon rebels to lay down their arms, saying that Sudan “is wide enough to accommodate all of us”.

He pointed that war has hindered development in the state, saying the Roadmap Agreement proposed by the African Union would resolve all Sudan's problem.

The Vice-President added that the national dialogue would end last next month, expressing hope that holdout opposition and the arms bearers would join the process.

He called upon the residents to grow every single inch of the land in the state, saying “he who produces his food would be able determine his own fate”.

For his part, South Kordofan governor Issa Adam Abakar said the state authorities allow rebels to watch football games in Kadougli, pointing also some residents visit their relatives in the rebel-held areas.

He stressed they would welcome the return of any rebel without accountability, saying more than 450 soldiers and officers have returned during the past period.

In June, Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir declared a four-month unilateral cessation of hostilities in the Two Areas, saying it came as goodwill gesture to give an opportunity for the rebels to lay down arms and to join the peace process in Sudan.

However, SPLM-N has brushed off al-Bashir's announcement as “merely a ploy”, saying he seeks to buy time to reorganize his troops in the Two Areas.

Last December, negotiations between Khartoum the SPLM-N stalled after the government delegation insisted that the objective of talks is to settle the conflict in the Two Areas, while the SPLM-N team has called for a holistic approach to resolve ongoing conflicts across Sudan.

(ST)

August 2, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, has declared total rejection to deployment of a regional force, backtracking on the earlier reported assurance he gave to the chairman of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), Festus Mogae, on 25 July and in a meeting with the Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni.

He and his officials argued that countries which have experienced foreign forces intervention have never regained peace and stability.

“I have heard some people have resigned. Okay let them go but if it is connected to pressure on the government to implement their agenda that will not work. South Sudan is a sovereign state and we will not allow foreign troops to come here no matter the amount of pressure and noise they will make. We don't need foreign troops. Already we have enough of them here,” President Kiir told confidants on Monday after learning of the resignation of the minister of agriculture and food security, Lam Akol.

President Kiir, according to a presidential aide who spoke to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, was commenting while in a meeting with the Chief of General Staff of the South Sudanese army, Paul Malong Awan, and the Minister of National Security, Isaac Mamur Mate.

Minister Mate later gave a statement in which he rejected a regime change agenda, citing a political and security situation in Somalia, Libya and Iraq as the basis of rejecting foreign intervention force.

“They want to destabilize this country to go the Somalia way. They intervened in Somalia, did they succeed. Has Somalia become a country now? What happened in Libya has Libya become a country? And Iraq what happened there? Did they succeed? We don't want this regime change. A change must be peaceful and we have a legal and democratically elected government that should be consulted before making such decisions”, explained Minister Mate in a statement broadcast by the state owned South Sudan on Monday evening.

The top security official declared that any unilateral deployment of a foreign force will not be accepted.

Information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, also issued a statement on Tuesday denying clashes have taken place around Juba and that the government was not aware of the rapes carried out by its soldiers.

“The media has been abuzz with news of fighting throughout the country, however, we want to assure the region and the whole world that the ceasefire, which was recently ordered by the president, is firmly holding, and that all those reports are false and baseless. They are concocted to justify the demands of intervention force by the enemies of peace who are usually delighted in anarchy and perpetual unrest in the republic of South Sudan,” the 2 August, 2016 president's statement reads in part.

Lueth reiterated rejection of the government to welcome deployment of foreign troops in the country.

“The TGoNU [Transitional Government of National Unity] would like to urgently call on IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] member states to be cognizant of the fact South Sudan may slide into anarchy if the region military meddles in its internal affairs and that the repercussions of such a hasty undertaking will negatively impact the overall security of the region,” said Makuei, speaking to reporters at the ministry headquarters.

“The transitional government of national unity would like to reiterate its vehement objection to such counterproductive approach, and calls on the member states to stand firm with the transitional government of national unity in the implementation of the agreement as the only basis upon which peace and stability could be maintained in South Sudan.”

IGAD countries and African Union (AU) have approved request by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon to send extra-troops to boost the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Juba with a new mandate to militarily fight the warring SPLM factions under President Salva Kiir and former First Vice President, Riek Machar, following outbreak of clashes early last month.

The UN Security Council is deliberating the possible intervention force – a move opposed by President Kiir and supported by Machar. SPLM In Opposition faction in Juba has replaced Machar with Taban Deng Gai – a move dismissed by Machar's supporters as illegal.

Minister Lueth said the government has not succumbed to regional and international pressure as reported by the media.

Lueth also dismissed claims by SPLM-IO faction loyal to Machar that the government was spearheading Taban Deng's appointment.

“Dr. Riek Machar is neither the SPLM/A IO nor the Agreement and therefore we are moving forward with the implementation of the agreement for the overall interest of the people of South Sudan,” he said.

He claimed the path to democracy is only through peace implementation.

(ST)

August 2, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - A Sudanese member of the Islamic State (ISIS) who is believed to be the mastermind behind the escape of killers of a U.S. diplomat in Khartoum, has died in mysterious circumstances in Libya amid conflicting reports on whether he was killed in military clashes or passed a way of natural causes.

Four Sudanese convicts raise their handcuffs as they are escorted out of the courtroom in the capital Khartoum, 24 June 2009. (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah)

John Granville, who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), was shot with his driver Abdelrahman Abbas in their car as they returned from a New Year's Eve celebration in Khartoum in 2008.

Four Jihadists were convicted of the killings in 2009 and sentenced to death but they escaped from the Kober prison North Khartoum the following year.

Qusai al-Jaili , who is believed to be the mastermind behind the escape operation , was released last April on a presidential pardon after spending six years in prison. He then left to Libya to join ISIS.

Sources close to the family of al-Jaili told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday that he was killed during an aerial bombardment against one of ISIS strongholds in Libya, saying his family set up a mourning tent in Khartoum's eastern suburb of Um Dom to receive condolences.

“The family learnt from an anonymous caller that al-Jaili has been injured before they were later told that he was killed,” added the source.

However, Al-Mijhar Al-Siyassi daily newspaper on Monday quoted other sources as saying that al-Jaili was complaining from fatigue few days before his family was informed that their son was killed.

Experts on Islamic groups say the total number of Sudanese elements within ISIS is estimated at 150 fighters, pointing that 56 of them had travelled to join the extremist organization from countries other than Sudan.

(ST)

August 2, 2016 (JUBA) – United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has condemned rape and sexual violence in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, adding that it has intensified its patrols in and around the Protection of Civilians (PoCs) site as well as in the wider Juba city area, following reports of sexual violence, including rape.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, UNMISS also reportsed that as an enhanced protection measure, it is working with community leaders and partners to coordinate the peacekeepers escorts of women and young girls leaving protection sites to collect food and other items.

The Mission said it takes very seriously recent allegations that peacekeepers may not have rendered aid to civilians in distress, and it is looking into the specific allegations, in line with established protocols.

“UNMISS has reinforced the message to all peacekeepers that if these incidents of abuse are committed in areas for which they have responsibility, they have the individual and joint duty to act, to prevent harm to innocent civilians,” it said.

The UN condemned unequivocally the actions of sexual violence, and reminds all combatants and parties to the conflict in South Sudan, their commanders, and responsible leaders, that the acts of sexual violence constitute grave violations of international human rights law and may be regarded as war crimes as well as crimes against humanity.

It blamed government soldiers for the rapes and other forms of sexual violence in the capital.

ESCALATING FIGHTING

Also the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) said that fighting has escalated around Juba between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to former First Vice President, Riek Machar, saying the situation in South Sudan as a whole has been getting increasingly tense.

Refugee flows from South Sudan into Uganda have doubled in the past ten days, according to UNHCR. It said it is helping some 52,000 people who have fled to Uganda, including an increasing number of severely malnourished children.

The refugees say armed groups on roads to Uganda were preventing more people from fleeing South Sudan in anticipation of a renewed conflict between rebel and government forces. The armed groups were looting villages, murdering civilians and forcibly recruiting young men and boys into their ranks.

The WHO (World Health Organization) said that inside South Sudan an outbreak of cholera had caused 21 deaths by the end of July. Some 586 cases have been reported, with an average of 35 new hospital admissions per day.

Stephen O'Brien, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA), is in South Sudan to visit some of the affected people and renew his call for funding.

The humanitarian response plan inside South Sudan has asked for almost $1.3 billion, but it is only 40 per cent funded.

There are 1.61 million internally displaced people inside the country and another 4.8 million people there are food insecure. Mr. O'Brien is scheduled to give a press briefing in Juba tomorrow on Wednesday.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

August 2, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – The Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) held a media training for journalists drawn from four of the Nile Basin countries.

The Grand Renaissance Dam is under construction on the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia. (Photo AFP/William Lloyd-George)

26 scribes from Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan and South Sudan participated in the five-day training which took place in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.

Organizers said the objective of the training was to contribute to the emergence and consolidation of constructive media reporting about the Eastern Nile basin.

During the training, presentations were given on ways how journalists should cover on Nile issues including on how they could use the media to promote cooperation to support national and regional politicians could reach in a consensus on disputes or issues related with the Nile water resource.

It was emphasized that journalists must promote and disseminate an up-to-date and accurate reports regarding developments on political, economic and environmental issues related to the River Nile.

The training also intended to promote wider awareness and enhance knowledge and expand understanding on cooperation opportunities and the reward could be gained out of joint collaboration on water management and development.

Participants interacted with a number of experts on areas that covered on Ethiopian Nile dam's technical, legal, economic perspectives, on the dam's trilateral process as well as on opportunities and challenges on sub-basin cooperation.

A number of participants from different countries told Sudan Tribune that the training was incredibly helpful.

They said the training has facilitated an improved understanding among the journalists on the challenges and opportunities of water cooperation.

Trained Journalists vow to report in a responsible way and to further provide the public in their respective countries factual information to clear long-standing confusion regarding Ethiopia's massive dam project.

The journalists vow to use their respective media to promote the benefits of multi-lateral cooperation in the various Nile water related sectors.

The Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) recognizes media engagement as a strategic partner in fostering Nile cooperation for the sustainable management and equitable utilization of the shared Nile Basin water resources.

NBI says it has registered remarkable achievements in fostering mutual understanding and appreciation among basin states and non-governmental stakeholders, of the fragility, sensitivity and hydro-politics of the River Nile since its launch in February 1999.

VISIT TO GERD

The Group of journalists has also paid a visit to the construction site of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) where they spent a night.

Up on arrival the journalists were briefed on the over all view of the giant structure by project manager, engineer Simegnew Bekele.

The regional media team which also comprises 9 journalists from Egypt took over a half-day long tour at the site where they witnessed the current progress of the major construction development works undergoing.

This the first time for a team of Egyptian journalists to pay a visit in GERD since it's launch in 2011.

Most of the journalists told Sudan Tribune the visit has helped them witness the reality on ground and further obtain first-hand information on the dam's current status.

Haitham Mohamed, an Egyptian journalist said he had misconception on the project and the visit had helped him to open his eyes to fix the fallacy.

Before the visit Mohamed said he used to consider the dam project as an absolute threat to Egypt's water security.

“I thought the construction of the dam would hurt Egypt but now I discover that is not the case” he told Sudan Tribune.

“After I talked to the experts and engineers including the project manager, I have come to believe it is a crucial project which Nile basin countries should rather cooperate in order to enhance their development efforts” he added.

When completed, the $4.1 billion dam project, which is being built along the Nile in Benishangul Gumuz region near the Sudanese border, will have a power generation capacity of 6,000 megawatts.

The dam project according to project manager, Engineer Simegenw Bekele, is little over 50% completed but experts told Sudan Tribune that it will soon reach 70% completion mark when turbines that are needed to generate power are installed.

Ethiopia which is investing billions of dollars on building a number of hydro-power plants, aims to become a renewable energy hub of the region.

It plans to export large amounts of clean and cheap hydro-power-processed electricity to its neighbors, other African countries and even to the Middle East and beyond.

The ambitious plan is part of the horn of Africa nation's efforts to propel in becoming a middle-income country by 2025.

Although construction of the GERD is seen by Ethiopians as having a vital role in transforming the economy of the country and alleviate poverty, Egyptians however view the project as a potential threat to their water security.

The Nile River is a lifeline to some 80% of Egyptians and the desert North African nation fears Ethiopia's huge dam project will ultimately diminish its historic water rights.

In 2013, Ethiopia and Egypt have been locked in a bitter war of wards after Egyptian politicians were caught on camera proposing sabotage, including an air strike to halt the project.

However, tensions eased after Cairo and Addis Ababa engaged in a number of positive discussions along with Sudan which led to a cooperation deal signed in March 2015 in Khartoum. Ethiopia insists the dam will not harm the interests of Sudan and Egypt rather provide economic benefits.

Ethiopia's Nile dam will be Africa's largest and the world's 8th biggest if finalised. Ethiopia is constructing the mega project from its own coffers to be completed in 2017.

(ST)

August 2, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Head of the African Union Office in Khartoum, Mahmoud Kan, revealed that the African mediation will meet with the opposition umbrella Sudan Call in Addis Ababa next week saying peace talks between the Sudanese government and rebel groups on Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile would be resumed subsequently.

Mbeki speaks to participants at the inaugral session of Strategic Consultations Meeting in Addis Ababa on 18 March 2016 (AUHIP Photo)

On Tuesday, Kan officially conveyed to Sudan's Foreign Ministry Under-Secretary Abdel-Ghani al-Naem acceptance of the Sudan Call leaders to sign the Roadmap on August 8th and to participate in the peace talks on Darfur and the Two Areas.

In press statements following the meeting, Kan said the African Union High Implementation Panel (AUHIP) chief Thabo Mbeki has extended an invitation to the Sudanese government and the Sudan Call forces to participate in the Addis Ababa meeting from 8 to 11 August.

He pointed that the AUHIP would meet with the Sudan Call forces on August 8th to sign the Roadmap Agreement, saying talks on the cessation of hostilities and the humanitarian assistance would take place from 9 to 11 August.

Last March, the AUHIP proposed a Roadmap Agreement to the Sudanese government and some Sudan Call groups including the National Umma Party (NUP), Sudan People's Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N), Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), and Sudan Liberation Movement of Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM).

However, only Khartoum government signed the text while the four groups declined the text saying it would reproduce the regime. They later proposed a supplemental text to the peace plan including their demands.

For his part, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Gharib Allah Khidir said that Kan has briefed al-Naem of the outcome of the AUHIP chief contacts with the Sudan Call leaders, saying the latter have agreed to come to Addis Ababa to sign the Roadmap and then resume peace talks on Darfur and the Two Areas.

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

According to Khidir, Mbeki has expressed optimism on the upcoming developments which would speed up the political settlement in Sudan.

Also, following a meeting of the Leadership Council of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) on Monday, NCP deputy chairman and presidential aide Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamid told reporters that a government delegation would travel to Addis Ababa from 9 to 10 August upon an invitation from the AUHIP.

He pointed to what he described as “positive signals” that the opposition would sign the Roadmap, saying the AUHIP would meet with the Sudan Call leaders on August 8th.

On Saturday, leader of the NUP) al-Sadiq al-Mahdi said Mbeki will meet the Sudan call forces on the 7th of August in Addis Ababa to discuss the Roadmap.

From 18 to 22 July, the Sudan Call forces tasked al-Mahdi to write a letter to Mbeki demanding to meet him in order to discuss their reservations on the Roadmap Agreement before its eventual signing.

According to the opposition umbrella, the chief mediator in a letter he sent on 23 June had explained that their demands for an inclusive national dialogue preparatory meeting and additional confidence building measures will be taken into account.

(ST)

August 2, 2016 (RUMBEK) - Authorities in Eastern Lakes said they started rehabilitating the 83-miles road linking Greater Yirol to Terekeka in Central Equatoria state.

Rumbek to Yirol road during rainy season (sosanews)

Rehabilitation involves installation of culverts and leveling potholes.

The state minister for physical infrastructure, Agok Manyiel said work on the road linking greater Bhar El Ghzal region to Central Equatoria state was agreed upon during the sixth governor's forum in Rumbek.

“During the sixth governors meeting in Rumbek, Yirol was given 100 miles of road to maintain starting from Yirol to inside Terekeka state. Now we have completed 83 miles and about 17 miles is remaining and will be completed within seven days to come,” said Agok.

About 300 heavy trucks loaded with several items are reportedly stranded between Kalthok and Tombek due to terrible road connection linking the two areas to Terekeka.

Meanwhile, work on the western part of Yirol to Rumbek reportedly started at a slow pace, with several traders complaining about swamps and potholes, which make it inaccessible by big trucks.

Last month, The governor of South Sudan's Tonj state, Akec Tong Aleu started the construction of the 110 kilometers roads which links Gok and Wau town.

Inaccessible roads hinder the delivery of basic goods and services to the people of Greater Bhar El Ghazal region and surrounding places of the disputed Abyei area.

(ST)

In response to the human rights crisis in Burundi, the UN Committee Against Torture held a special session last week to review allegations of torture and other abuses in the country. But the Burundian government shocked everyone in the room by failing to turn up for the review’s second day – apparently the first country ever to do so.

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A Burundian artist’s drawing of a fictional case of policemen and an intelligence agent torturing a detainee.

© 2016 Private

On July 28, a government delegation, headed by Justice Minister Aimée Laurentine Kanyana, had attended the first part of the UN Committee Against Torture’s (CAT) review. In her opening speech, she stated that Burundian law prohibits torture and that anyone responsible for torture would be prosecuted. She attempted to discredit “tendentious” reports based on anonymous sources or originating from political opponents, and asked the CAT to disqualify reports to which the Burundian government had not had the opportunity to react.

She then listened as CAT members raised serious concerns – including torture, extrajudicial executions, disappearances, rape, and crackdowns on human rights defenders and opposition party members – and asked numerous, precise questions about the Burundian government’s actions. CAT members spoke scathingly about the Burundian justice system’s lack of independence and the authorities’ failure to end impunity.

It was clear Burundi’s minister would have a hard time answering their questions.

When the CAT reconvened on July 29, the Burundian delegation was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, the chair announced that the delegation had sent a written statement, asking for more time to respond. In the statement, the Burundian delegation complained that the CAT had raised questions which allegedly went beyond the issues it had set out beforehand. It also claimed the CAT was largely basing its questions on an alternative report, submitted by Burundian civil society organizations, which, it said, had not shared the report with the government.

In fact, the CAT had submitted its concerns well in advance. Furthermore, reports by Burundian and international human rights organizations documenting torture were already in the public domain. In July 2016 alone, Human Rights Watch published two reports, one on torture of suspected government opponents by the Burundian intelligence services and police and another on rape by members of the youth league of the ruling party. The concerns documented go to the core of the CAT’s review, and the Burundian government should not have been surprised by the issues raised.

The CAT decided to proceed to its concluding observations and not reward the Burundian government’s non-cooperation by delaying the hearing.

The Burundian government’s message last week was clear: it prefers to duck tough questions rather than engage with the UN on human rights, or take meaningful action to prevent torture. 

An official inquiry into clashes between members of a Shia minority group and the Nigerian military has stated the Nigerian Army’s response to altercations in Zaria, Kaduna State, between December 12 and 14, 2015 was “disproportionate”.

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Members of Islamic Movement of Nigeria, a Shia group, demand the release of the group’s leader, Sheik Ibrahim Zakzaky, who was arrested on December 14, 2015. 

© AP Photo/Muhammed Giginyu

The report of the Kaduna State Judicial Commission of Inquiry, which was released on July 31, found that 349 members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) were killed during the clashes. This confirms earlier findings by Human Rights Watch that more than 300 IMN members were killed by soldiers in a heavy-handed, unjustifiable use of lethal force.

While the Commission criticized the IMN for “widespread and habitual acts of lawlessness and defiance of constituted authorities across the nation”, it condemned the army’s response as excessive. Soldiers, it found, had “shot their way through the blockade” set up by IMN members along the road to the group’s Hussainniya Baqiyyatullah mosque complex, killing seven IMN members, and injuring 11.

At least 342 IMN members were killed during violent clashes that followed the deployment of soldiers to other IMN sites in Kaduna over the course of the next three days. A soldier, Corporal Dan Kaduna Yakubu, was also killed during those clashes.

Contrary to the army’s claims, the report states that no large cache of arms was found at any the five properties belonging to the IMN and its leader Sheik Ibrahim El Zakzaky. According to the report, what was found were bows and arrows, catapults, sticks, and a few dane (local hunting) guns.

The Commission recommended that members of the military involved in unlawful killings and IMN members who participated in the soldier’s death should be brought to trial.

So far, only IMN members have been arrested and prosecuted for causing the killing of Corporal Yakubu during the December events. The group’s leader, Sheik El Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat were arrested on December 14, 2015, and are still being held in what the secret police describe as “protective custody” in Abuja.

Political and military authorities in Nigeria should heed the Commission’s recommendations and take immediate steps to hold those responsible for the illegal use of lethal force to account and to pay compensation to the victims. The authorities should release El Zakzaky and Zeenat from detention, or bring credible charges against the couple in a properly constituted court.