Africa

July 25, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan President, Salva Kiir, has not indicated willingness to heed an appeal by the head of Roman Catholic, whom he personally met and held talks aimed at ending conflict in 2015 in Kampala, capital of neighbouring Uganda and who later had to send a special envoy to deliver peace message.

Pope Francis dispatched a special message of peace to president Kiir and his former first deputy in government, Riek Machar, but whose letter could not be given to him after he went into hiding following the outbreak of the violence clashes between the rival forces at the presidential palace in Juba.

President Kiir received his letter from Cardinal, Peter Kodwo Turkson, an envoy of the Roman Catholic Church to South Sudan, who arrived in Juba recently for a solidarity visit during which he was to deliver the pope's message to president Kiir and the first vice president Riek Machar.

The Vatican special envoy told media last week his visit was a special gesture on the Pope's part and he has been following developments in the country's peace efforts with keen interest.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the UN sponsored Radio Miraya Cardinal Turkson said he was in the country on a solidarity visit to deliver the pope's message.

“The pope knows that I am coming here and so he decided to send a message to the president and the [First] Vice president. It is not up to me to talk about the content of the message but I will find time to deliver the message to the president and the vice president,” he said.

Cardinal Turkson celebrated Sunday Mass at St Theresa's Cathedral Kator on arrival at which he urged the people not to give up on hope, despite the recent events that have left a trail of destruction in the country.

The religious leader called on the leaders to unite and work for the common good of the people and help the country heal from its past.

“The big and the crucial thing is that South Sudan must heal, it must take up all and develop and grow in peace and that is what must be ensured and assured for the people and anything that we can do to help and facilitate the realization of that, that's what I think we can do as a church,” he added.

South Sudan has been trying to come out of the civil war caused by political rivalry between the First Vice President and the President. Violent clashes across the city have left tens of thousands of people dead since December 2013 and a recent flare-up of fighting has caused more casualties, scores of displaced people and a serious humanitarian crisis.

Although a cease-fire is currently in effect in Juba, the threat of more violence continues to loom large.

“It's conflict that breaks up among the military forces and always with a lot of deaths and the result is always that there is spill over in terms of the civilian population who are scared and leave their homes and are looted when they try to get back sometime they find somebody has lived in the home,” the Pope's special noted.

He also observed that a lot of the women and children have sought refuge in churches and in schools and that is where they live and the priests, brothers and nuns are trying to take care of them as best as they can.

He expressed hope that upon his return to Rome later this week it will be possible to send some concrete aid back to the archbishop as a help from the side of the Holy See.

A devoted catholic, president Kiir received his letter and assured the special envoy of his commitment to peace but observers say nothing has changed since he met and held talks about peace with the special envoy.

He has instead threatened to wage a war against regional force to protection civilians. Kiir also stopped going to the church on regular basis in protest of religious preaching touching hard on the performance of his administration and how he has failed to manage the affairs of the country.

(ST)

July 25, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on Monday banned a symposium organized by the opposition Reform Now Movement (RNM) led by Ghazi al-Attabani on the attempted military coup in Turkey.

Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan (Reuters)

On 15 July 2016, a putsch was attempted in Turkey against the government but ultimately failed. The attempt was performed by a faction within the Turkish Armed Forces that was organized under a council called the Peace at Home Council.

Reform Now Movement spokesperson, Osama Tawfeeg, told Sudan Tribune that the symposium was organized in one of the hotels in Khartoum by Al Gaser Media Center under the title “Turkey after the failed military coup” but NISS cancelled it saying it was held without the needed permission.

“This is quite strange as activities organized in hotels do not need permission,” said Tawfeeg pointing that the Turkish Ambassador to Khartoum Cemalettin Aydan and other interested people were invited to attend the symposium.

Tawfeeg further stressed that despite their contacts with senior security officers, the security agents did not allow the solidarity event with the constitutional government in Ankara.

He accused the that security agents of abusing authority, pointing that the incident might affect relation with Turkey.

“If NISS restricts freedom of expression without a political guidance this is a disaster, and if the ban is a political one then the situation is even worse,” said Tawfeeg in statement to media stressing that banning the symposium would have a negative impact on the national dialogue.

On the same day, the Sudanese authorities allowed a pro-ruling party organization, National Media Production Center, to organize a debate on the same topic. The group also invited Turkish ambassador to Khartoum .

According to the official Sudan News Agency the symposium is titled “Turkey between conspiracy and people's will”. The head of Al Jazeera TV office in Khartoum, al-Moslami Khabashi, and a political science professor Suhair Ahmed spoke at the event besides the Turkish envoy.

Sudan's President Omer al-Bashir denounced the aborted military coup in Turkey and expressed support to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

(ST)

July 25, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Leader of the National Umma Party (NUP) al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and secretary general of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) Yasir Arman have explained the reasons behind the Sudan Call's new position toward the Roadmap Agreement.

NUP Sadiq al-Mahdi (C) received at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris by SPLM-N SG and SRF external relations secretary Yasir Arman, (L) NUP deputy president Meriam al-Mahdi (R), deputy chairmen of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Ahmed Adam Bakheit (2d R) and SRF secretary for humanitarian affairs and a leading member of the Sudan Liberation Movement- Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM) Trayo Ahmed Ali (2d L) on 6 August 2014 (ST)

Last March, the Sudanese opposition groups rejected the Roadmap Agreement which proposes a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access to civilians in the conflict affected areas, before to engage in the government proposed national dialogue process.

In a letter sent to the head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) on behalf of the holdout groups last June, al-Mahdi called to add a supplemental document to the Roadmap Agreement before to sign it.

AUHIP chief, Thabo Mbeki, in a first time, declined the proposal of supplemental document. However, in a second letter on 23 June, he reassured the opposition groups that all their concerns have already their answers in the roadmap.

In his second correspondence to al-Mahdi, Mbeki said the meeting proposed in the roadmap is actually the preparatory meeting the opposition calls for. He further said that their delegation to the meeting can include other political forces in a way to be inclusive. Also he said they can propose additional items to the agenda of the meeting to address all their concerns.

Following a five-day meeting in Paris last week, the Sudan Call forces decided to meet the mediation over the roadmap.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Monday, al-Mahdi said the Roadmap is not actually “an agreement but a mechanism that would lead to an agreement”, saying if the requirements of the preparatory national dialogue were met, the opposition would sign the Roadmap.

He stressed that the Sudan Call forces had previously refused to sign the peace plan because it was flawed in several respects, saying however that they were assured that the intended preparatory meeting is not a mere extension of the internal government-led dialogue but would be an inclusive meeting.

Al-Mahdi added that the opposition would have the right to choose its delegation for the preparatory meeting while the other side would be represented by a delegation consisting of the government and the dialogue mechanism known as 7+7 in order to ensure the commitment of all parties to the outcome of the meeting.

He pointed that the confidence-building measures including the ceasefire, delivering humanitarian relief to the needy population in war areas, allowing basic freedoms, releasing political prisoners and convicts would be applied prior to the intended internal dialogue, saying any additional topics would be included in dialogue agenda.

On the other hand, the NUP leader lashed those who criticized the decision of the Sudan Call forces to meet with the mediation over the Roadmap, saying they are either not aware of the internal, regional and international reality, misguided by others or acting on behalf of the regime's security services.

He added that the popular uprising option will always remain in place and would only be discarded if the national dialogue managed to achieve its objective in a peaceful manner.

For his part, the secretary general of the SPLM-N Yasser Arman said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune on Monday his movement is ready to sign the Roadmap within the framework of the Sudan Call in order to launch a new negotiations process that would determine the confidence-building measures, the terms of the transition and how to engage in an equal dialogue.

He pointed that the regime is now aware that the dialogue process became a regional and international issue contrary to its original plan.

“Our refusal to sign the Roadmap has put the Sudan Call forces in confrontation with the mediation and the regional and international community but it was an essential move to prevent [them from forcing us to join] the internal dialogue” he said

“Now this phase has ended after we reached understandings with those forces [the mediation and the regional and international community]” he added

Arman added the regime's attempt to use the mediation and the regional and international community against the opposition has made them part of the dialogue, saying the regime would soon realize that it has made a mistake by involving them in the dialogue.

The rebel leader pointed that the confidence-building demands of the Sudan Call forces would constitute the agenda for reaching an equal dialogue, describing the regime's failure to force them to join the internal dialogue as “major achievement”.

He said the mediation has accepted that the opposition should determine its delegation on collective rather than individual bases, saying the preparatory meeting will be conducted differently but we work to maintain its essence and put our demands on the negotiating table.

Arman acknowledged that the opposition work suffers from many ills and needs to be reorganized according to clear priorities, accusing unnamed opposition parties of seeking to sharpen contradictions among opposition forces.

He stressed the SPLM-N would take clear stance against those parties and will seek to unify the opposition work according to strict and objective terms and foundations.

The rebel leader underscored that his movement would not hand over its weapons until a national professional army was formed, renewing the movement's demand for establishing autonomous rule in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

South Kordofan and neighbouring Blue Nile state have been the scene of violent conflict between the SPLM-N and Sudanese army since 2011.

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)

The United Nations refugee agency today appealed to donors for an additional $115.4 million to fund the voluntary return and reintegration of Somali refugees from Kenya&#39s Dadaab refugee camp.

Recent fighting in South Sudan has forced 37,491 people to flee to Uganda in the past three weeks, averaging more than 4,000 a day in the past week, the United Nations refugee agency warned today.

The United Nations chief and his envoy for Somalia have denounced today&#39s terrorist attack in the vicinity of Mogadishu International Airport that killed at least a dozen people.

Mangroves are rare and vital ecosystems that help to protect coastlines and mitigate the effects of climate change, but their survival is being jeopardized, the United Nations cultural agency said today, calling for greater preservation efforts as the international community marks the first ever International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem.

July 25, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudanese people, particularly the Darfurians, would celebrate after few days the completion of the Doha Document for Peace in Darfur (DDPD) with the participation of all those who put efforts to sealing the peace deal except the former Joint Chief AU-UN mediator Darfur Djibril Bassolé, who is currently detained in a military prison in the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou.

Djibril Bassolé (Reuters Photo)

Bassolé, Burkina Faso's Minister of Foreign Affairs under the regime of former President Blaise Compaore, was arrested in September 2015 for allegedly supporting a coup against the interim government ahead of scheduled elections.

In November 2015; appeared in the social media recorded phone conversations Bassolé allegedly had with the president of Ivory Coast's National Assembly, Guillaume Soro, in connection with the failed coup. The source of the recording is unknown but this didn't prevent the government to claim that it represents the needed evidence for his involvement. The French Le Monde daily newspaper last February published an analysis of the recording by the acoustics expert Norbert Pheulpin who formally denied the authenticity of the recording.

Since, regional and international circles are exerting intensive efforts to convince the transitional government to release Bassolé or put him on trial.

The renowned diplomat has contributed to the efforts to resolve several regional conflicts in Africa and he enjoys prestigious regional and international status and wide popularity in his country which sparked jealousy among his political rivals.

During his tenure as Joint Chief AU-UN mediator for Darfur, Bassolé has earned respect and appreciation of all parties to the conflict, including those who weren't party to the Doha peace document, who acknowledged his relentless efforts to reach a just and satisfactory solution for all.

The former Sudanese Presidential adviser who was in charge of Darfur peace file, Ghazi Salah al-Din has expressed surprise over Bassolé's arrest, saying the man he knew closely during their joint work on Darfur peace wouldn't seek to gain access to power through a military coup.

Speaking to Sudan Tribune, he pointed that he watched Bassolé closely and learnt about his manners and professional commitment as well as his belief in democracy and reform in African. He said "the man was an honest broker who demonstrated willingness for collective work to achieve joint goals".

“I noticed his apparent enthusiasm to the establish good governance and democracy as basic elements to resolve the problems in the African continent” he further said

“I strongly urge the authorities in Burkina Faso to not only release him [Bassolé] but to make use of his rich experiences and abilities in multiple domains,” he added

Salah al-Din further described Bassolé as one of Africa's wise men, saying it is our duty as Africans to stand by his side and provide him with our support.

In separate statements to Sudan Tribune, the chairman of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Gibril Ibrahim has urged “the leaders of Burkina Faso to immediately free Bassolé and let him serve Africa and the international community”.

“I was honoured to work with Djibril Bassolé throughout his tenure as Joint Chief Mediator for Darfur representing both the African Union and the United Nations. Mr. Bassolé proved to be an outstanding African and international leader with unique qualities,” he said.

“He [Bassolé] travelled hundreds of thousands of miles in Sudan, the region and over the oceans in search of peace for Darfur and contributed immensely to the saving of a lot of lives. The Sudanese and the people of Darfur owe him direly,” Gibril added.

According to Ibrahim, Bassolé has brilliantly managed to maintain sound relations with both a government and its armed opponents and “succeeded in steering his ship in the troubled rocky waters of mediation without antagonizing any of the parties or humiliating himself”.

A court in Ouagadougou had earlier this year denied Bassolé's basic right to choose his lawyers by refusing the access of foreign lawyers despite the fact the Burkina Faso has signed international and regional agreements in this regard.

However, the Court of Cassation has later annulled the military court's ruling to refuse the foreign lawyers.

Also, on the first of this month of July, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has brushed off the decision to prevent Bassolé from hiring foreign lawyers as illegal.

On Thursday, Sudan Tribune learnt that Ouagadougou's government has allowed the foreign lawyers to take part in Bassolé's defence but not date has been determined for his trial.

(ST)

July 25, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - Police has re-established presence in the locality of Ambro, 350 km. north west of North Darfur capital, El-Fasher for the first time since the armed conflict erupted in the restive region.

The Sudanese army has been fighting several armed movements in Darfur since 2003. Following three months of fierce fighting in Jebel Marra, last April the army declared Darfur free of rebels. However, the different rebel groups dismissed these statements.

Commissioner of Ambro locality Ali Ahmed al-Tahir told Sudan Tribune that the return of the police to the locality after 13 years underscores that the situation in the area is stable, praising efforts exerted by police to maintain security across the state.

He added the deployment of police to the various administrative units in the locality is underway, pointing the police presence would allow the residents to return to normal life.

The commissioner added that the locality faced considerable problems and the residents suffered from clashes between farmers and herders in the absence of the police.

He hailed the efforts of the North Darfur governor, police director and the other security organs in establishing security and returning the police force to Ambro, saying they would make every possible effort maintain security and deploy police across the locality.

Al-Tahir further pointed that the North Darfur police director promised to send further police officers to cover all administrative units in the locality.

Last month, North Darfur state governor Abdel-Wahid Youssef acknowledged existence of security problems in the state particularly in the capital, El-Fasher.

He accused unnamed parties of seeking to keep the “insecurity and instability” situation in Darfur, and pointed to “hidden hands that prompt the security chaos in all Darfur's five states not only North Darfur”.

(ST)

July 25, 2016 (JUBA) – The editor of an Arabic newspaper has been detained and the paper shutdown by South Sudan security forces after it published inaccurate information.

Information minister Michael Makuei Lueth (R) speaks at a media forum as presidential press secretary Ateny Wek Ateny looks on in Juba on 7 September 2014 (ST)

The editor of Al-Watan newspaper, Michael Christopher was arrested on Saturday by security operatives and his whereabouts remain unknown.

Al-Watan newspaper was ordered to cease publication after it quoted Information Minister, Michael Makuei, as having confirmed the arrival of additional peacekeepers from neighbouring countries.

The paper said the troops from Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) would arrive Monday 25 July. But that turn out to be untrue and the paper apologized for the mistake, which it attributed to poor translation from English to the Arabic dialect.

“All these are our mistakes. The right information is that the government has formed a committee to receive a team of African Union Security Council which is expected to arrive today [Monday], Faisal Hassan Lado, the acting editor for the newspaper.

“We apologize for this inaccurate information that came as a result of translation,” he added.

Al-Watan's lead story on Saturday with headline “Arrival of African Union soldiers on Monday” has a quote attributed to the minister.

Lueth, the newspaper reported, said a committee had been constituted to receive the visiting members AU Peace and Security Council on Monday. The government committee, he added, would be headed by his cabinet affairs counterpart, Martin Lomoro.

The Arabic newspaper later published an apology to the information minister he was wrongly quoted in Juba Monitor newspaper, which has remained closed and its chief editor, Alfred Taban still in detention.

Meanwhile, Bol Deng Mayen has been appointed the new editor of Al-Watan, the newspaper's management announced on Monday. He replaces the embattled Michael.

(ST)

July 25, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudan President Salva Kiir's removal of the armed opposition leader, Riek Machar and appointing Taban Deng Gai as the country's first vice-president could ignite a “full-scale war”, an advocacy group warned on Monday.

Arms and light weapons have been used by both warring parties in South Sudan to commit abuses (Photo courtesy of SSANSA)

“This move represents another marker in the South Sudan's slow motion political suicide,” said Enough Project's Founding Director, John Prendergast.

“It unnecessarily brings South Sudan a step closer to full-scale war, shutting another door to dialogue and trampling on democratic processes espoused by both South Sudan's government and opposition SPLA-IO [Sudan People Liberation Army in Opposition],” he added.

A section of South Sudan's former rebels on Sunday announced they had replaced Machar with Gai, who was the mining minister in the recently established transitional national unity government.

Gai was the rebel's lead negotiator for a peace accord signed last year between Machar, President Kiir, religious groups as well as several other political groups, to end nearly two years of violence.

The deal created a transitional government to last for 30 months in which Kiir was to remain President and Machar as first vice president.

But Machar's allies say the move to substitute him with Gai, was illegal since he had already defected to President Kiir-led faction.

Brian Adeba, an Associate Director of Policy at the Enough Project said if President Kiir's action to remove the former rebel leader and replace him with Deng proves to be part of an elite pact without grassroots support, it could undermine the peace accord.

“It is imperative that South Sudan's leaders adhere to implementing the peace agreement and not allow inner-circle power plays to bring forth more violence and destabilisation,” he observed.

During the formation of the transitional government in late April, both Kiir and Machar agreed to implement the peace deal, which halted nearly two years of a bloody civil which took an ethnic dimension.

Both rival factions, according to the peace agreement, were to retain control of their respective armies until a merge is concluded.

Machar fled the capital, Juba when his forces clashed with those loyal to Kiir, killing over 270 soldiers and displacing 40,000 civilians.

The former rebel leader instead asked for a buffer between his forces and those loyal to Kiir as an assurance of his security in the capital.

Last week, President Kiir gave Machar a 48-hour ultimatum to return to Juba to continue as First Vice President or risk being replaced.

Machar failed to comply and a group of SPLM-IO officials including Gai, Secretary-General Dhieu Diing and Deputy Chairman Alfred Gore met in Juba and nominated Gai as Machar's replacement.

Machar said Friday that he had fired Gai as mining minister, removed him from the SPLM-IO Political Bureau and withdrew his chairmanship of National Committee on Reconciliation and Healing.

“This is to declare to all members of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) that Taban Deng Gai has defected to the SPLM-IG (in Government) under President Salva Kiir Mayardit,” Machar wrote to SPLM-IO members.

“By this, Taban Deng Gai is dismissed and no more a member of the SPLM/SPLA (IO),” adds the letter.

The Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), a body charged with supervising the implementation of the peace agreement, said changes within the Machar-led opposition movement depends on the leadership of the movement itself.

“A change to the leadership depends on the Opposition itself and we are not here to speculate on such changes,” JMEC said Sunday.

“We do not see any value in speculating when the people and friends of South Sudan are working hard to ensure a return to the implementation of the Peace Agreement,” it added.

According South Sudan's peace agreement, each of the parties to the accord can either nominate or withdraw its respective minister.

(ST)

July 26, 2016 (JUBA) – In response to the Monday development in South Sudan in which President Salva Kiir issued a republican decree relieving his peace partner, First Vice President, Riek Machar, opposition's officials said the “illegal” action was a long time planned conspiracy to destroy the August 2015 peace agreement signed by the two top factional leaders.

Riek Machar, left, first vice president of the Republic of South Sudan, and Salva Kiir, the president, at the first meeting of the new transitional coalition government in Juba, South Sudan, in April, 2016 (Jason Patinkin/AP)

Machar's spokesperson said the situation had been suspected for a long time only that his leadership thought President Kiir and Taban Deng Gai, the newly appointed First Vice President, were going to abandon their conspiracy for the sake of peace in the country.

“This illegal action by President Salva Kiir to dismiss his peace partner, Dr. Riek Machar, who chairs the SPLM (IO) party and commands its army, the SPLA (IO), does not only violate the August 2015 peace agreement, but is also a long time planned conspiracy to put the last nail on the coffin of the peace agreement itself,” James Gatdet Dak, Machar's spokesperson, told Sudan Tribune on Monday evening in response to the event.

He said since February 2016, the plan came to surface while Machar was still in Pagak, his headquarters before returning to Juba in April, adding that President Kiir with the Jieng [Dinka] Council of Elders (JCE), a tribal group from President Kiir's ethnic Dinka, designed this plot to destroy the peace deal using Taban Deng Gai.

Dak said he had to cover up for Taban Deng when this accusation came out, in order not to expose him at the time, with the hope that he was going to change and not allow himself to be used by President Kiir and JCE to return the country to war.

“I had to cover up for Honourable Taban Deng Gai. I had to dismiss his suspected conspiracy as baseless in the media many times because I did not want him exposed. I thought he was going to change,” he added.

He said President Kiir and JCE are implementing their “reservations” in the agreement using Gai and that the peace agreement is currently in “very serious danger.”

Dak said the newly appointed First Vice President does not command the opposition army, adding that they disliked him and wanted him removed long time ago, but Machar could not act. He also said over 95% of the political leadership of the SPLM-IO are with Machar.

The opposition's spokesperson added that President Kiir was aware of the fact that Gai is never popular in the SPLM-IO political and military establishments, but liked his unpopularity so that the peace agreement can die.

KIIR'S FORCES ON OFFENSIVE

Dak also accused President Kiir's forces of carrying out offensive on Monday as he was appointing Gai to hunt down Machar around Juba with the aim to kill him.

“As we speak, thousands of President Salva Kiir's forces are on the move towards the areas where they suspected Dr. Riek Machar to be situated. Also their helicopter gunships have been bombing randomly in the forests, trying to locate him. Their aim is to kill him so that he never returns to Juba,” he said.

“But this will never happen. Dr. Riek Machar will someday return to Juba whether they like it or not, whether they will be there in Juba to receive him or not,” Dak added.

The opposition's spokesman also accused some members of IGAD of being behind the President Kiir's conspiracy to destroy the peace agreement using the “illegal” and “forced” replacement of transitional leadership of the government and the party.

He said even the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), which is supposed to monitor and safeguard the peace agreement has been “dumb founded” and could not know what to do.

He said Machar did not flee Juba out of his own will but was forced out after he nearly got killed at J1 palace by President Kiir's forces, adding that only that they could not get chance to murder him inside the palace as his close bodyguards would have also killed president Kiir.

Machar, he said, due to the incidents at the palace and the attack on his base where his house was also bombed, was simply asking for a third party force to be deployed in Juba to guarantee his safety so that he would return to Juba.

“What Dr. Machar was simply asking was for the deployment of a third party force before he would return to Juba. This is what IGAD and AU have also endorsed. So why replace him with the unconvincing pretext that he was away from Juba when all knew why he has been away from Juba?” he asked.

He also said the agreement did not allow for temporary appointment of an acting First Vice President by the President, but instead Machar should have been the one to delegate one of his officials to act if need be.

Dak said he believed that some players in the region and in the international community have taken part in the conspiracy to make South Sudan ungovernable by supporting President Kiir's illegal actions so that the situation can be used as a pretext for the country to be taken over by the United Nations under a trusteeship.

He said under the current situation where SPLM-IO and SPLA-IO are no longer part of the peace agreement, coupled with the ongoing military offensive by President Kiir's forces, it would be difficult for Machar to return to Juba any time soon.

He said President Kiir's faction and their ally led by Taban Deng Gai have been busy trying to track Machar down by monitoring phone conversations and its GPS and bombing his suspected locations around Juba.

It is the second time that Machar has been forced out of Juba by President Kiir's forces, fleeing for his life. He also fled Juba on 15 December 2013 and his house was bombed.

(ST)

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir removes Riek Machar as first vice president, two weeks after the rival leaders' forces clashed in the capital.

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By Editor, The Manila Times, Philippines
MUNICH, Germany, Jul 25 2016 (Manila Times)

Social networks were both a curse and a blessing in the deadly shopping mall shooting in Munich, as police sometimes found themselves chasing fictitious leads and false alarms.

The 18-year-old gunman, a German-Iranian named David Ali Sonboly, also used the internet to plan and carry out his crime, in which he killed nine people and wounded 16 others.

Nevertheless, the social networks provided a valuable source of information and solidarity for the city’s frightened population during the long lockdown while the incident was going on.

As soon as the terrifying events started to unfold late on Friday afternoon, Munich’s police were quick to take to Twitter to try to keep the public informed about the confusing and fast-evolving situation.

“We’re working as fast as we can to apprehend the attackers,” they tweeted in German, English and French. “The suspects are still on the run. Please avoid public places. #munich #gunfire”. “Unconfirmed reports of more violence and possible #gunfire in the city center. Situation is unclear. Please avoid public areas.”

False alarms
But as social network users began to tweet and re-tweet their own experiences and versions of events, it rapidly became difficult for the police to retain an overview and in some cases differentiate between fact and fiction.

At one point, for example, there was a flurry of reports of another shooting in the city center, on the pedestrianized square called the Stachus not far from the main station.

But those reports turned out to be false.

Another headache for police were eyewitness accounts, photos and videos that were rapidly being uploaded onto the web.

Police were concerned that the attackers—at that point, they erroneously believed there might have been more than one—could track where officers were being deployed and in what numbers, thereby making them easier to evade.

In the end, the police desperately tweeted: “Please don’t take fotos or video of police action in order to avoid any helpful information for the suspects.”

Police chief Hubertus Andrae told ZDF public television late Saturday that the speed and volume of information, which needed to be verified was “challenging.”

The official Twitter account proved useful in keeping the public informed about the latest confirmed facts, such as the number of victims or the time and place of the next press conference.

But police themselves inadvertently helped fan some of the speculation by tweeting, for example, that the theory of a possible terrorist act was being looked at.

At one point, police felt compelled to publish a plea, “Please restrain any speculations—that would help us a lot!”

Lured via the internet
“Nowadays, in the age of social networks, it is no longer the police who have control over the quantity and timing of the release of information, but everyone,” said Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere.

“There are sometimes advantages in that, as can be seen in the number of investigations that have been brought to a successful conclusion thanks to photos and videos taken by private individuals,” he told a news conference.

In the United States, for example, the investigation into the Boston Marathon attacks in 2013 was able to progress quickly as a result of such information.

“But it’s clear that rumors can spread rapidly and that isn’t always conducive to an accurate evaluation of the situation,” the minister said.

He praised the “fair” and “comprehensive” way in which police had communicated the recent attacks in Europe.

According to the interior ministry, the Munich gunman may have hacked a Facebook account to lure some of the victims to the McDonald’s fast-food outlet where the shooting began by offering them special discounts.

“I will give you whatever you want, for not a lot of money,” the online invite read, according to German media reports.

AFP

This story was originally published by The Manila Times, Philippines

Domestic migrant workers from South and South-East Asia are now considered Oman's "modern-day slaves". Credit: Zofeen Ebrahim/IPS

By Dominique Von Rohr
ROME, Jul 25 2016 (IPS)

In order to escape poverty and support their families back home, thousands of domestic workers from South and South-East Asia migrate to Oman with the promise of stable employment in local households.

Once they arrive in Oman, new employers often seize their passports so that they cannot depart when they want, ultimately, denying them their freedom of movement.

They are made subject to excessive working hours, sleep deprivation and starvation. Many suffer from verbal or sexual abuse.

All too often, the money they work so hard for is denied to them. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, a great number of female migrant domestic workers fall prey to such abusive employment, and become Oman’s modern-day slaves.

The country’s visa sponsorship system, known as kafala, as well as the absence of labour law protections for domestic workers make migrant workers highly vulnerable to exploitation.

The kafala creates an “unbreakable” tie between the migrant worker and their employer, which means that the migrant worker’s visa is directly conditioned by the employer.

This prohibits migrant workers from switching jobs, even if they face abuse at their workplace. At least 130’000 migrant domestic workers are affected by the kafala system.

Families in Oman acquire their services through recruitment companies, employing them to take care of their children, cook meals, and clean their homes.

The recruitment companies typically ask for a fee to be paid for the mediation, and several migrant workers interviewed by Human Rights Watch said that their employers demanded they pay them back the recruitment fee in order to be released from their service.

“Employers can force domestic workers to work without rest, pay, or food, knowing they can be punished if they escape, while the employers rarely face penalties for abuse”, Rothna Begum, a Middle East women’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch, confirms.

A report from Human Rights Watch also stated that women who decide to escape their abusive employment often face legal penalties.

Asma K., a domestic worker from Bangladesh, told Human Rights Watch that she was not only “sold” to a man, her passport had also been taken away from her, and she was forced to work 21 hours a day tending to the needs of 15 people.

Asma was both sexually and verbally abused, denied of her right to a fair wage in addition to being deprived of food. Many other female domestic workers share Asma K.’s story.

Once a migrant worker has escaped an abusive employer, very few options remain. If the women go back to the agencies that recruited them, the agents often beat them and forcefully place them into new families.

The Omani police offers little help, usually dismisses the domestic workers’ claim, and returns them to the family they came from, where in several cases, the workers are assaulted by their employers, Human Rights Watch says.

Some women risk getting reported as “absconded”, an offense which can lead to their deportation or even a criminal complaint against them.

While several Omani lawyers confirm that they have no confidence in Oman’s labour dispute settlement procedure or courts for redress for domestic workers, some embassy officials dissuade domestic workers from even fighting for their case, due to the lengthy process and the high probability of facing defeat.

This process eventually leads to workers returning to their home countries without pay, with the dream of providing for their families shattered and no hope for justice.

In order to protect its nationals from abusive employment, Indonesia has banned migration to Oman, as well as other countries with a similar history of migrant labour abuse.

However, such bans often have an opposite effect, leaving those most desperate for work vulnerable to traffickers or forced labour as they try to sidestep their own country’s restrictions.

Human Rights Watch states that several countries do not protect their nationals against abusive employment, nor do they provide help to those who fall victim to trafficking, abuse and mistreatment living abroad.

In 2012, Oman promised the United Nations Human Rights Council to look for alternatives to the kafala system, however, Human Rights Watch states that no concrete proposal has since been made, and up until now, Oman’s labour law does not protect domestic workers.

In April 2016, a Ministry of Manpower official stated in the Times of Oman that Oman is considering protecting domestic workers under its labour law, however, when requested for information on possible law reforms or other measures to protect domestic workers, the Omani government remained silent.

Human Rights Watch states that Oman was further criticized by the United States government for not demonstrating increased efforts to address human trafficking.

In 2015, there were only five prosecutions on sex trafficking, with no prosecutions on forced labour at all.

In order to provide protection for domestic workers, Human Rights Watch urges Oman to revise the kafala system, and advises it to cooperate with the countries of origin to help prevent exploitation.

Instead of punishing migrant domestic workers for escaping their appalling conditions, they should be granted justice by means of fair prosecutions against those who manipulated, scorned and abused them.

By Michael Krepon
Jul 25 2016 (Dawn, Pakistan)

Members of Congress have embarrassed themselves, this time by a joint subcommittee hearing on whether Pakistan is a friend or foe. Framing a congressional hearing in this binary way reflects the sad state of political discourse on Capitol Hill, where complex issues are boiled down to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers. Members of Congress dress themselves in righteous indignation and confuse leadership with generating headlines.

The United States, like Pakistan, is prisoner to a repetitive news cycle loop filled with hot air, loose talk and the constant drip of poisonous insinuation. The demise of civic culture continues apace. Echo chambers are not conducive to learning. Capitol Hill has devolved into competing echo chambers.

Without learning, we repeat mistakes. This is true on a personal level and on a national level. Some in the US repeat the mistake of insisting that other countries are implacable enemies, disregarding common interests. Taking refuge in this default position has cost America dearly. To repeat it again with Pakistan would be an act of pure folly. India reliably repeats its painful mistakes in Indian Kashmir. Pakistan has its own costly repetitive behaviours.

The US has been insensitive in its dealings with Pakistan.

Pakistan’s national security interests are defined mostly by men in uniform who jealously defend this prerogative from civilian prime ministers and the foreign ministry. Pakistan’s prime minister — a man not known for his attention to detail and zealous work habits — has made these circumstances worse by not having a foreign minister.

Some within Pakistan argue for a greater sense of urgency and energy on the civilian side to reverse the drift in Pakistan’s relations with the US and its neighbours. More energy would be welcome, but it will come to naught unless Pakistan sheds talking points that have long ago lost their persuasiveness. The ‘trust deficit’ argument has no weight when the reasons for the deficit are papered over. The promise that violent extremist groups that have ruined Pakistan’s reputation will be tackled in due course has worn thin because it has been repeated for so long.

The US has been heavy-handed and insensitive in its dealings with Pakistan. It’s easy for the US embassy to lose touch when it operates behind walls and razor wire. Members of Congress have short memories. They forget that Pakistan played a central role in the US diplomatic opening to China and in expelling Soviet troops from Afghanistan.

Bilateral ties will always be complicated. The US and Pakistan are on the same side of some issues but not others. Pakistan would like a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, but it wants to retain influence there. Pakistan is concerned about violent extremist groups that carry out explosions in India, but not enough to clamp down on them. These straddles have left Pakistan on a tightrope without the means to engineer outcomes in Afghanistan or to ramp up economic growth, which depends on normal ties with neighbours.

Washington’s mix of carrots and sticks hasn’t helped Pakistan down from its tightrope, and now US incentives are diminishing. If Pakistan changes course, more help will come, but the relationship is no longer transactional. Pakistan will do what it thinks it must.

Perceptions of Pakistan are now deeply grooved. They won’t change unless Islamabad is able to take steps that clarify new thinking towards India and Afghanistan. Mikhail Gorbachev called this strategy one of destroying the ‘enemy image’. Gorbachev destroyed the Soviet Union’s enemy image in the US, but the Soviet economy was also destroyed because it was incapable of reform. Pakistan can change its enemy image and grow its economy by improving ties with neighbours. In doing so, Pakistan can maintain decent relations with the United States as it improves ties with China. Islama¬bad achieved this significant feat in the past; it can do so again.

On Capitol Hill, it would be helpful if serious legislators convened serious hearings on how best to stabilise and improve US-Pakistan relations. The easy way for legislators to weigh in is to get on soapboxes — an old American colloquialism recalling a time when men with megaphones gained elevation on street corners. Television is the new soapbox. Denunciations make cheap headlines while making hard problems worse. Congressional hearings where learning takes place have become rare on Capitol Hill. Pakistan deserves better treatment, but the same policies will produce the same results.

US-Pakistan relations are worth salvaging. Both countries have been through hard times together, and have accomplished much together. Pakistan has a long list of grievances towards the US. The US has a long list of grievances towards Pakistan. Grievances don’t solve problems; they make problems worse.

This relationship can no longer rest on the resupply of US troops in Afghanistan, or on Pakistan’s role as a selective bulwark against violent extremist groups. A new relationship has to be forged; otherwise, enemy images will only harden.

The writer is the co-founder of the Stimson Centre.
Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2016

This story was originally published by Dawn, Pakistan

By M. Adil Khan
Jul 25 2016 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

The ‘coup’ of July 15 in Turkey failed within hours of its start, and given that it enlisted very limited support within the army itself, some called it not a coup but a ‘mutiny’.

In recent times, there have been many reports, mainly in the West, of unhappiness with Erdogan’s Islamism and authoritarian style of governing, but no one thought that this would translate into a coup. After all, it was not that long ago when the world cheered “The Rise of Turkey”. Under Erdogan’s leadership and with a mix of liberal democracy and neoliberal economic policy, Turkey marched ahead economically. Turkey looked like the poster boy of the Muslim world – modern, progressing and yet Muslim.

However, while the economy was growing, Islamist nationalism also surged unnoticed in the beginning. Islamist nationalism was hailed as Islam’s democratic answer to ‘terrorism’ that in recent times has become the scourge of most Muslim majority nations.

But all of a sudden, the scene changed and the tone became very different – to some, Turkey is now a “failed model” and this is because Erdogan “changed the Constitution for his own benefit and restarted his wicked conflict with the Kurds” (Independent, July 16, 2016) , and yet others argue that “the successful liberalisation in Turkey during the last three decades itself paved the way for Islam’s later authoritarian and conservative incarnations” (The Fall of the Turkish Model: How the Arab Uprisings Brought Down Islamic Liberalism, Cihan Tugal).

So which one of these views is correct?

It is not easy to answer that, but one thing is clear: the way millions poured into the streets at the call of Erdogan to repel the ‘mutiny’, the answer is not the disapproval of Erdogan by his people as their leader nor does it seem to be his governance style, not at this stage at least. Notwithstanding, the fact that there has been a ‘mutiny’ (not coup) indicates that not everything is hunky dory in Turkey these days.

Since its inception as a ‘modern’ state in 1923 under Kemal Ataturk, a post-colonial invention of the West which was built on the ashes of the defeated, humiliated and dismantled Ottoman monarchy, Turkey has rotated between booms and busts, democracy and coups, secularism and Islamism, and this largely depended on the not-so-apparent changing mood of its benefactors. It is no surprise that any effort by Turkey – regardless of whether this is done through a democratic or an authoritarian polity – that pursues nationalistic aspirations at the cost of the hegemon’s agenda in the region is to invite trouble. Like many previous coups, the July 15, 2016 ‘mutiny ‘is no exception and thus, needed to be seen in this context.

Indeed, this ‘mutiny’ is nothing but a culmination of several policy clashes that manifested themselves through Turkey’s resurgent sovereign Islamist nationalist identity that challenged the diktats of geopolitics at different levels, and on many occasions has put Erdogan at odds with the West’s idea of ‘modern’ Tukey – a secularised, de-cultured, de-Islamised ‘lackey’.

In the context of these complex and conflated dynamics, it is difficult to say which of the factors, Erdogan’s authoritarianism or the West’s diminishing control over Turkey, has prompted the mutiny but the picture that emerges – and given that millions poured on the street at the call of Erdogan to foil the mutiny – is that the West’s script that the mutiny has been caused by deficits of democracy is anything but true. The answer lies somewhere else.

Erdogan blames his nemesis, the US based self-exiled cleric Gulen for the mutiny and accordingly, asked the US government to extradite him to face trial in Turkey. In response, the Obama administration asked for evidence of Gulen’s involvement in the mutiny.

Erdogan’s woes started with a number of policy shifts, some good and some terrible, that he initiated lately. Firstly, his move to severe diplomatic ties with Israel in 2013, in the aftermath of the latter’s attack on a Turkish Gaza peace ship, a principled decision, earned him the wrath of a powerful and dangerous foe that many believe to be behind the numerous political and economic unrests that have been plaguing Turkey lately. Secondly, his clash with Russia was unnecessary and proved costly. Most importantly, his government’s alleged patronisation of ISIS has proved to be a grave mistake, and Erdogan has been paying for it since. Thirdly, encouraged by NATO and inspired by his reported personal hatred, Erdogan’s dogged determination to evict Assad in Syria cost Turkey dearly.

However, it is his recent reversals of some of these policies, especially cementing of relationships with Russia and peace overtures to Syria, that have put him at extreme odds with the Zionist/NATO conglomerate, Turkey’s post-colonial ‘nurturer’. Indeed, a delayed and somewhat less-than-strong disapproval of the coup by the NATO is instructive and has prompted speculations that they might have expected a different outcome.

Nevertheless, Erdogan be warned, his adversaries have noted one thing quite clearly that more than the support or non-participation of the loyal faction of his army, it is the people who have foiled the mutiny. They are his main strength and therefore, to ensure that the next coup or ‘revolution’ does not fail, many believe that is quite possible that the hegemon’s nexus will make sure to weaken Erdogan’s support base, the people, by alienating them through the engineering of a false economic crisis (remember Iran’s Mosaddek, Chilli’s Allende!).

Therefore, for Erdogan, the journey ahead is fraught and as he has found out already, a stricter form of authoritarianism and purging of critics is not the solution. The people are his answer and thus the way forward is not to shrink that base but expand it by engaging people to build a Turkey that is economically progressive, politically inclusive and spiritually nourishing.

The writer is a former senior policy manager of the United Nations.

This story was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

Jovia, who died on Apr. 29, 2016, suffered from both HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer, a deadly combination affecting thousands of women in Uganda. Credit: Amy Fallon/IPS

By Amy Fallon
KAMPALA, Uganda, Jul 25 2016 (IPS)

Lying on a dirty bed in a crowded, squalid hostel in Kampala, emaciated Jovia, 29, managed a weak smile as a doctor delivered her a small green bottle containing a liquid.

“I’m so happy they’ve brought the morphine,” the mother told IPS, just about the only words she could get out during what would be the last weeks of her life. “It controls my pain and makes my life more bearable.”“As long as radiotherapy is not available in Uganda many more patients will die.” -- Dr. Anne Merriman

Jovia was suffering from both HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer, a deadly combination affecting thousands of women in Uganda. While the east African country had huge success in the battle against the HIV virus in the 1990s, cervical and other cancers are the new health crises gripping the developing nation. One in 500 Ugandans suffers from cancer. But only five per cent of patients will get any form of treatment, facing an often tortuous death.

Thanks to Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU), founded 23 years ago by the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, British-born Dr. Anne Merriman, patients like Jovia are given not only affordable pain-controlling oral liquid morphine, but comfort, hope and dignity in their last days.

At 81, Dr. Merriman is credited with introducing palliative care to Africa. HAU has cared for a total of 27,000 seriously ill and dying people since 1993, the vast majority with the morphine made at its Kampala headquarters for just two dollars a bottle, with government funding.

In Uganda, cancer is usually diagnosed quite late, due to poor screening and lack of health services. According to the country’s Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI), 80 per cent of sufferers die because of late diagnosis.

For patients like Jovia, who passed away peacefully on Apr. 29, leaving a daughter, 14, radiotherapy can cure or extend life when treated in early stages.

A tray of morphine at Hospice Africa Uganda. Credit: Amy Fallon/IPS

But in early April, Uganda’s only radiotherapy machine broke beyond repair. It was used by about 30,000 cancer patients annually. Since then, thousands in need of radiotherapy to cure their cancer, or extend their lives, have been left without vital treatment.

The Ugandan government had purchased a new machine, worth a reported 500,000 dollars, three years ago, but it could not be delivered as special bunkers needed to house the machine had to be built.

Facing an uproar from within Uganda at the lack of radiotherapy services, the government promised a new bunker would be built within six months. Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, offered free treatment for 400 Ugandan cancer patients. The plan was that they would be sent there by the Ugandan government through the UCI.

But more than three months later there is still huge confusion and contradictory reports and statements about the delivery of this promise, and controversy over the delay in getting desperate patients. Despite repeated requests for clarification the UCI nor Uganda’s ministry of health are able to state exactly how many patients – if indeed any – have yet been sent to Kenya for treatment.

Christine Namulindwa, UCI’s public relations officer, pointed out patients going to Nairobi have to go through an “evaluation”, and be approved by a board.

“So far we’ve submitted 15 names to the ministry of health and more are yet to be submitted,” she said last month. The pledge for free treatment from Aga Khan did not cover the cost of transporting patients and upkeep while in Nairobi, she said.

She said there were “patients who are still waiting” and referred IPS to the health ministry for further questions.

On July 1, Professor Anthony Mbonye, Acting Director General of Health services, told IPS via email the ministry of health had “received a budget for supporting patients to Aga Khan and will provide transport and funds for maintenance”.

A lawyer had “cleared a memorandum of understanding between Aga Khan and UCI,” he said.

“The radiotherapy machine was bought, but the bunker is yet to be rehabilitated. In two months’ time the machine will be installed and services will resume.”

Stories in East African papers in early July reported that the “long wait” was “over” for patients, after Aga Khan signed an MOU with UCI, allowing 400 out of 17,000 patients to “receive treatment”. But they did not give a date for when they would go to Kenya.

Another report said only tumour patients with chances of survival, but including those suffering breast and cervical cancer, would be transported to Kenya using government vans. It said accommodation and other support services were being organised by Uganda’s High Commission in Nairobi, and 20 patients have been approved to go. But again it gave no specific date for their transportation.

Two of seven patients have been treated at Aga Khan not through the UCI and the Ugandan government, but through a partnership with HAU and Road to Care, a programme developed by Canadian doctor Joda Kuk. He set up scheme in 2011 after he witnessed women with cervical cancer in rural areas of Uganda needing desperate assistance to get to Kampala for radiotherapy.

Mary Birungi and Mary Gahoire, a mother of three, both from western Uganda, returned home the week of July 21 after travelling to Kenya by road, being housed by Road to Care and completing radiotherapy treatment there. They are now back with their families.

Two more patients are in the middle of treatment this week and and two more will travel to Kenya. The seventh patient is due to go there in the first week of August.

Dr. Anne Merriman pleaded with the Ugandan government to do all in its power to complete the building of the new bunkers so the new radiotherapy machine can be commissioned as soon as possible.

“We are so happy that under Road to Care seven of our patients will be treated in Kenya, but this is just a drop in the ocean,” she said. “The need is huge. There has been so much confusion since the machine broke down, causing huge stress to patients and families. “

“As long as radiotherapy is not available in Uganda many more patients will die.”

On July 23, Professor Mbyonye told IPS that “some” patients have gone to Kenya and had already come back through the agreement between the health ministry and Aga Khan, but couldn’t give more details.

For many though, it’s too late.

Vesta Kefeza, 49, a mother of seven, has advanced cervical cancer. Lying on a mattress on the ground of her one-room home in Namugongo slum, Kampala, she is immobile, as her leg has ballooned due to a complication from the cancer.

She has been on HAU’s programme since 2011 and is administered morphine by their nurses. Uganda became the first country in the world to allow nurses to prescribe the drug in 2004. The hospice team also provides food and spiritual support.

In June, thanks to a donation from Ireland, Kefeza received a wheelchair, allowing her to get out into the fresh air and go to church.

“Until then I lay in bed all day,” she said. “I thank God for my blessings. I am lucky to have HAU caring for me.”

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