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By Editor, Sunday Times, Sri Lanka
Jul 25 2016 (The Sunday Times - Sri Lanka)

So Nisha Biswal, the US State Department’s point person on Sri Lanka, says that Sri Lanka could be another Singapore.

That will be the day. If after six visits to the country in 20 months she has still not grasped the basics of Sri Lanka’s socio-political culture and mores, the lack of respect for law and order and the rule of law infused by political interference and intimidation, she could hardly be a messenger of hope and good sense.

Nisha Biswal told a group of Sri Lankan business leaders that Lee Kuan Yew wanted to model his country on Ceylon and now it is time for Sri Lanka to be turned into a Singapore

Perhaps she has become accustomed to the obsequiousness of foreign minister Samaraweera for things western and his habit of clinging on to the hands of every foreign visitor seemingly as a token of eternal friendship but actually in case they make a break for a quick getaway as some suspect.

The other day media carried a picture of our over-zealous foreign minister holding on to the hand of the visiting Chinese foreign minister leaving the latter looking rather perplexed. The Chinese reaction was not surprising given that the pro-western UNP leadership turned its back on Beijing shortly after the “good governance” coalition came to office possibly because China provided financial help to the Rajapaksa government when our so-called western friends would not do so and even refused to provide weaponry to fight an insurgency.

But now that the pro-western UNP finds itself in a financial mess it has no qualms about kowtowing and publicly displaying a willingness to accept its financial help with open arms and empty money bags.

An occasional peck on both cheeks might be considered by some in our diplomatic fraternity as a sign of undying friendship and gratitude. But in the world of diplomacy such over-familiarity especially in public might not always win friends and influence nations.

Speaking to a group of Sri Lankan business leaders during her recent visit, Nisha Biswal said that Singapore’s one time prime minister Lee Kuan Yew had wanted to model his country on Ceylon at the time. But now it is time for Sri Lanka to be turned into a Singapore.

Does Biswal believe that Sri Lankans are gullible or is this an insidious move to make this strategically-located nation an integral cog in Washington’s pivot to Asia policy intended to stymie China’s economic and military advance westward in the Indian Ocean?

If Biswal was even faintly aware of the bedrock on which the nascent Southeast Asian city-state was built she would not be proposing that we turn ourselves into a soulless nation however economically advanced and rich it has turned out to be.

I do not know whether Biswal has met Lee Kuan Yew when he was leading his newly independent state and talked to him. I have when I was working in Hong Kong and Mr. Lee visited the then British colony for a major conference.

So meticulous was the Singaporean he was able to tell me what I had called him in some of my writings – a dictator, an autocrat and a politician who did not tolerate dissent.

He did not entirely disagree but he carefully adduced reasons why he had to act the way he did, to craft a policy framework for a majority Chinese population sandwiched between two huge Malay-dominated nations. He said even Singapore’s language policy was determined by this geopolitical consideration.

Mr. Lee said that when Singapore was heading for independence Ceylon was the model on which he hoped to build the emergent state. Ceylon had a high rate of literacy, an educated people with a good educational system, an efficient civil service, a well-functioning judiciary and a performing economy.

But all these important qualities that made the Ceylonese nation were dissipated and destroyed by over-bearing and obtrusive politics. In later years when his people asked him for democratic rights and political freedoms he asked them whether they wanted to be another Sri Lanka involved in ethnic conflict.

Those who know the real Singapore story – I nearly went to work there when the editor of a new newspaper scheduled for launch invited me to join – how Ceylon born J.B. Jeyaretnam, the only opposition MP was treated (or mistreated) after he entered parliament after several attempts, how several journalists suffered including a friend of mine on the Business Times, Kenneth James, for ‘offences’ that most journalists would have considered normal professional duties.

Space does not permit an elaboration of the restrictions Singapore places on its citizens including the use of laws that a public gathering of five persons or more requires a police permit and charges of contempt of court, criminal and civil defamation and sedition are used to rein in government critics.

Human Rights Watch in its World Report 2015 states that the “Singapore’s government limits political and civil rights—especially freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association—using overly broad legal provisions on security, public order, morality, and racial and religious harmony.”

Admittedly some advances have been made – however meager – in the way of democratic freedoms. But the Singapore that Biswal and others speak of glowingly was not build on democratic foundations and the rights and freedoms associated with a free society.

So is Biswal then asking Sri Lanka to dismantle the constitutional and other rights guaranteed to its people, the democratic political system that took root even before independence in 1948 and the free press that politicians unfailingly promise the country?

I dare say Sri Lanka can well do without the corrosive and corrupt politics practiced today by many equally corrupt and abrasive politicians. If a nuclear destruction of the existing political system was possible that would certainly be for the betterment of the country.

Is Biswal able to provide such purifying political cleansing that is surely needed if Sri Lanka is to become another Singapore? Despite the democratic deficit that marks Singapore’s years of independence, it was able to achieve an enviable economic record because there were certain prerequisites that its leaders laid down.

Singapore was founded on meritocracy where only the best entered public service and other institutions and followed professional careers. Equally corruption was stamped on wherever it appeared and the guilty were shown no mercy.

Respect for law and order was inculcated in the populace and those who violated the law paid for it. That was the social order that produce Singapore’s economic miracle and a people who called themselves Singaporeans rather than by their ethnicity.

Moreover the city-state has had a political leadership that placed the country before self and was truly committed to building a prosperous society where the majority of its people were able to lead a comfortable life.

The reverse is surely true of Sri Lanka. Why talk of meritocracy when some of those who occupy official positions probably do not know what it means, where relatives, friends and acolytes are handpicked and planted in jobs for which the public pays. The qualified are deposited in the closest dust bin because they do not belong to the correct party, have not paid pooja to the presiding almighty and have sought to expose corruption and abuse or to indulge in it.

How could we build a meritocracy which is what Singapore has done, if a fundamental principle on which Sri Lankan politics is founded is nepotism and clannishness which this government promised to eliminate but practices with the same vigour as its predecessor?

The promises that the current government made to introduce “good governance” have been shattered long before the first year of this National Unity Government has ended. A classic recent example is the admission in parliament by the Higher Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella that he recruited 45 persons as consultants to the Southern Transport Development Project of the Road Development Authority at Rs.65,000 a month. If the highest qualification most of them have is the “O” level or some even lower how are they qualified to be consultants and consulted on what?

Lakshman Kiriella, who is increasing becoming an embarrassment to the UNP, admitted they were given these jobs because they helped in bringing his party into power. Whoever consults these unqualified consultants should seek psychiatric assistance.

It was not long ago that he wrote letters to two university authorities seeking to influence the appointment of persons known to him.

Just a few days ago I saw an article in which the writer says that the High Post Committee had advertised in newspaper calling for public comments on three persons whose names were listed for particular appointments.

It seemed that these three persons, one of whom is the President’s brother, was already functioning in those posts and have been doing so for some time. If the story is true then somebody should remind this committee of the bolting horses and the stable door.

So this is the country that Biswal wants to turn into another prosperous Singapore. Either she knows little of what she is talking about or is deliberately trying to sell these ideas to drag Sri Lanka into a tighter embrace with Washington so we will loosen our ties with China.

If this is the kind of rubbish that visiting diplomats oozing with spurious bon homie, lecture us about we could well do without it.

Before she comes here next and the Foreign Minister rushes to offer another handshake she should rid herself of the mental sloth that characterizes her advice.

This story was originally published by The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka

Victory for hosts Medeama over Young Africans will bring them into contention for a Confederation Cup semi-finals place.

Maasai pastoralists, who participate in a farmer field school, are selling animals at a local market in Narok, Kenya. Indigenous peoples have a key role to play in addressing climate change. Credit: FAO

By Baher Kamal
ROME, Jul 25 2016 (IPS)

No longer it is about restoring the legitimate rights of over 370 indigenous peoples spread across 70 countries worldwide, many of them living in dire situation, but now about their central, critical role in combating climate change.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has relentlessly emphasized this new reality.

“Very few countries have so far made a clear commitment to a requirement in the Paris Climate Change Agreement that countries undertaking climate change activities should ensure the rights of indigenous peoples,” she says, while reminding of “the large number of violent deaths of people protecting their forests and rights to land in 2015 – the deadliest year for environmental defenders on record.”

“It’s a dire situation in terms of respect for the rights of indigenous peoples,” she told the participants in the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Committee on Forestry (COFO) which met in the Italian capital on July 18-22.

“Indigenous peoples across the world experience the consequences of historical colonisation and invasion of their territories, and face discrimination because of their distinct cultures, identities and ways of life,” according to UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

On this, FAO stated that “Governments must do much more to provide the enabling conditions required for indigenous peoples, local communities, smallholders and their organisations to restore degraded landscapes and achieve climate change mitigation and adaptation in practice.”

Specifically, René Castro Salazar, FAO’s Assistant-Director General warned that the issue of indigenous rights to land and territories was ‘critical’ for the success of climate change initiatives.

“Unless we help indigenous peoples achieve secure land tenure and better governance, it will be very hard to achieve long-term solutions,” Castro Salazar said. “We are lagging behind, and we need to do more.”

Vast Carbon Stocks

A third of global forests are under some form of management by families, smallholders, local communities and indigenous peoples, and represent some of the most important carbon stocks in the world, FAO reported during the meeting. Government-recognised community forests alone hold an estimated 37.7 billion tonnes of carbon stock.

Agro-forestry farmers are tending to the crops in Kigoma, Tanzania. Forests are an integral part of the national agriculture policy with the aim of protecting arable land from erosion and increasing agricultural production. Credit: FAO

“Family smallholders, local communities and indigenous peoples have a key role to play in preserving these carbon stocks by reducing deforestation, managing forests sustainably and restoring tree cover as part of productive rural economies, particularly when they belong to strong producer organisations,” according to the UN agency.

In addition, an estimated 1.5 billion hectares of land hold potential for smallholder farmers to combine agriculture with trees.

“But failure to find the best way to engage with local stakeholders and align their interests with forest conservation can significantly compromise the chances of achieving carbon sequestration and mitigation targets.”

Greater Ownership

In an outcome statement issued at the close of the Rome meeting, participants urged governments to provide the enabling conditions required for local communities, indigenous peoples and local producers, “to manage larger territories, from securing and enforcing tenure rights to creating favourable business incentives and offering technical, financial and business extension services.”

They also called on global financing mechanisms, government programmes and private investors to direct investment and support towards local communities, indigenous peoples, smallholders and producer organisations.

Finally, they called for climate change initiatives “to shift towards giving greater ownership to local communities, indigenous peoples, smallholders and producer organisations and engaging them in participatory and qualitative assessment of the forest cover and trees on farms they manage.”

Livelihoods of Millions of People, Precarious

On the occasion of the Rome meeting, FAO issued a new study that helps to fill a significant knowledge gap on the presence and extent of forests and trees in the world’s drylands, where the food security and livelihoods of millions of people, already precarious, are increasingly being threatened by climate change.

The study’s preliminary findings show that trees are present with hugely varying densities on almost one-third of the world’s 6.1 billion hectares of drylands, which cover an area more than twice the size of Africa. Almost 18 per cent of this area contains forests.

An estimated 2 billion people, 90 per cent of whom are in developing countries, live in drylands. Recent studies have indicated the need to restore these areas to cope with the effects of drought, desertification and land degradation.

In particular, water availability in drylands is expected to decline further due to changes in climate and land use, the new study warns.

“Poor people living in remote rural areas will be most vulnerable to food shortages, which combined with violence and social upheaval, are already leading to forced migration in dryland regions in Africa and western Asia.”

Until now, there has been little statistically based knowledge on dryland trees –particularly those growing outside forests– despite their vital importance to humans and the environment, according to the study.

The leaves and fruit of trees are sources of food for people and fodder for animals; their wood provides fuel for cooking and heating and can be a source of income for poor households; trees protect soils, crops and animals from the sun and winds, while forests are often rich in biodiversity.

Drylands are divided into four aridity zones (see map): the dry sub-humid zone, is the least arid of the four zones and consists mostly of the Sudanian savanna, forests and grasslands in South America, the steppes of eastern Europe and southern Siberia, and the Canadian prairie.

Most dryland forests occur in this zone, as do some large irrigated, intensively farmed areas along perennial rivers; at the other extreme, the hyper-arid zone is the driest zone and it is dominated by desert – the Sahara alone accounting for 45 per cent, and the Arabian desert forming another large component.

Factbox

At a glance: some preliminary findings of the FAO Global Drylands Assessment:
• The global drylands contain 1.11 billion hectares of forest land, which is 27 per cent of the global forest area, estimated at approximately 4 billion hectares.

• Two-thirds of the drylands forest area can be defined as being dense, meaning it has closed canopies (i.e. a canopy cover greater than 40 per cent).

• The second most common land use in drylands is grassland (31 per cent), followed by forest (18 per cent) and cropland (14 per cent). The category other lands constitutes 34 per cent of the global drylands area.

• The least-arid zones have the most forest. The proportion of forest land is 51 per cent in the dry subhumid zone, 41 per cent in the semiarid zone, 7 per cent in the arid zone and 0.5 per cent in the hyperarid zone. The average crown cover density is ten times higher in the dry subhumid zone than in the hyperarid zone.

• Trees outside forests are present on 1.9 billion hectares of drylands (31 per cent of the global drylands area), if all land with more than 0 per cent crown cover is included. Thirty per cent of croplands and grasslands have at least some crown cover, as do 60 per cent of lands classified as settlements.

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July 24, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Several leaders of the opposition Sudan Call forces on Sunday have defended their recent decision to meet the mediation over the roadmap saying its signing depends on the outcome of these discussions.

Sudanese Congress Party (SCP) President Omer al-Dugair, Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) Leader Gibril Ibrahim and SPLM-N negotiating team spokesperson Mubarak Ardol Sunday brushed aside criticism against their expected meeting with the head of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki to discuss the eventual signing of the Roadmap Agreement he proposed since last March.

They further reiterated their commitment to the opposition demand for an equal dialogue, leading to achieve peace and genuine democratic change in Sudan.

SCP Chairman, Omer al-Dugair, told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that the positive developments mentioned in the statement of 22 July means that AUHIP has changed its rejection to the oppositions' proposals on the Roadmap Agreement.

"These are the demands included in a memorandum of understanding proposed by the Sudan Call last month. The AUHIP had first rejected the memo before to change its mind and accept it through a letter Mbeki sent to the Sudan Call and direct (telephone) contacts by his senior assistant,'' said al-Dugair.

On the same trend; JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim said the opposition umbrella said the opposition decided "in principle to sign the Roadmap, if we found further reassurance in the upcoming meeting with the mediation in Addis Ababa.

"President Mbeki dispatched to the recent Paris meeting, the AUHIP Chief of Staff Abdel Qader Mohamed (known as Abdul) to explain the spirit of the letter that President Mbeki sent to the Sudan Call forces, dated on June 23, 2016, and to confirm the mediation's readiness to consider with due diligence the observations of the Sudan Call on the Roadmap, and to put it in a framework that can dissipate the opposition fears," wrote Ibrahim in a written statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

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 by Sadiq al-Mahdi to Mbeki, the Sudan Call forces requested to add a supplemental document to the Roadmap before to sign it.

They said it should retake all the points provided in the African Union Peace and Security Council decision 539: the release of political prisoners and detainees, ensure political freedoms and full guarantee of the freedom of expression and publication.

The AUPSC decision also proposes a preparatory meeting ensuring that all the necessary confidence-building are taken, the key steps of the National Dialogue process are agreed upon, and that the process is fair and will result in the mutually-agreed objectives.

Ibrahim said that the roadmap proposed last March was not inclusive and neglects important opposition forces as it was addressed only to the National Umma Party (NUP), JEM, SPLM-N and Sudan Liberation Movement - Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM).

But, he stressed that the mediation for the first time in its letter of June recognized the Sudan Call forces and addressed it as political body, showing it has no objection to the formation of a delegation including additional opposition groups..

A leading member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, Mohamed Dia al-din, slammed the decision of opposition groups to meet with the AUHIP in order to discuss the signing of the Roadmap Agreement.

Dia al-Din said the statement of Paris meeting did not clearly explain what these "positive developments" in the position of the AUHIP.

“This issue represents the essence and the purpose of Paris meeting but it was omitted in the statement,” said Dia al-Din said on his Facebook page.

He further pointed that Sudan Call statement did not mention the needed conditions to sign the Roadmap before to engage in talks with the ruling National Congress Party.

However, SPLM-N negotiating team spokesperson, Ardol strongly criticized the negative position of the Ba'ath Party towards the Sudan Call saying they remain the objective ally of the NCP ruling party.

The Ba'ath Party ''does not belief in collective work and democratic change and shares the same ideologies with the ruling party,'' said Ardol.

His hostility of the Sudan call "means to delay the collective process of change that is now shaping up in line with the mechanisms and convictions of the Sudan Call forces (not the Baath). This change will take place and the first of its steps is the unit of the opposition forces," he stressed.

The Ba'ath Party is a member of the National Consensus Forces, an alliance of the left groups. However, the group remained hostile to the participation of the internal opposition group with the Sudan Call forces.

(ST)

July 23, 2016 (WAU) – South Sudan army's (SPLA) 5th division in Western Bahr el Ghazal state on Friday executed two soldiers charged with murder and various crimes.

SPLA forces patrol the street of Wau town on May 16, 2016 (ST)

The duo were arrested on 17 July and kept at Wau central prison after for allegedly murdering a couple at a residential area situated within Wau town.

They faced firing squad in front of a military parade at the army division headquarters. Hundreds of Wau residents also witnessed it.

Wau town mayor, Akol Akol Ajith, said the two soldiers were sentenced to death after the military high court found them guilty.

“The order to execute these soldiers comes from above and this is what will warn the soldiers from involving in such crimes,” said Akol.

No one, according to the town mayor, is above the stipulated laws.

A military judge cautioned soldiers against violating army regulations.

“This is a warning to those soldiers who used to violet the military regulation, it is also what tell the people of South Sudan that any soldier found committing crime against civilian should be deal with,”a judge, who preferred anonymity said on Friday.

This is the first such an execution has taken place at the army's 5th division headquarters in Western Bahr el Ghazal state over the years.

(ST)

July 24, 2015 (NAIROBI) – A South Sudanese armed opposition (SPLM-IO) official has accused the Jieng Council of Elders in the capital, Juba of championing processes that elevated Taban Deng Gai as First Vice-President in the absence of Riek Machar.

Machar speaks on a mobile phone after an interview with Reuters in Kenya's capital Nairobi July 8, 2015

Manawa Peter Gatkuoth, the SPLM-IO's deputy chairman of national committee for information and public relations, said Machar was still the legitimate leader of the armed opposition faction.

“The action of the group is tantamount to an internal coup within the SPLM/A (IO). This is because the SPLM/A-IO, like all other political parties, has a constitution and internal regulations which provide for the conduct of party affairs in the temporary absence of the leader. It is apparent that the deputy chairman, Gen. Alfred Lado Gore and Secretary General Dr. Dhieu Mathok Wol were coerced into accepting Gen. Taban Deng Gai as the leader against the party norms,” he said in a statement.

The official claimed Gai could have played a role in the 8 July clashes between the country's rival forces next to the presidential palace. Over 270 soldiers died when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir clashed with armed forces allied to Machar in Juba.

“The SPLM/A (IO) political Bureau condemns in the strongest terms possible the attempt to destabilize the SPLM/A (IO) and destroy the IGAD brokered peace agreement on the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan (ARCISS) spearheaded by Gen. Taban Deng Gai out of personal vendetta against Dr. Riek Machar for not recommending his appointment as Minister of petroleum in the Transitional Government of National Unity,” further said Gatkouth.

According to the official, those who ousted Machar were “self-interest” groups who intend to destroy the SPLM/A-IO leadership.

“This fits into the grand scheme hatched by president Salva Kiir and Jieng Council of Elders, to divide, weaken and destroy the SPLM/A-IO in order to entrench himself in power, perpetuate the kleptocratic regime and maintain Jieng hegemony and domination,” he said.

Gatkuoth assured SPLM/A-IO-members to disregard the “unethical greedy” officials who claimed to have ousted Machar, describing them as “illegal officials” who were dismissed and made powerless.

Meanwhile, the official appealed to the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development, African Union and members of Troika countries who have supported the peace talks to push for third party forces in Juba for the smooth implementation of the agreement.

“We call upon the IGAD plus, AU and the United Nations to expedite the deployment of the regional third party intervention forces to enable Dr. Riek Machar return to his position in the Transitional Government of National Unity to implement the peace agreement,” he said.

Gai's recent appointment, however, drew mixed reactions from members of the public.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

July 24, 2016 (ADDIS ABABA) – Ethiopia's earnings from remittances is growing in at unprecedented levels, the country's Foreign Affairs ministry has officially announced.

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

Demeke Atnafu, the Director General of the Diaspora Engagement at the ministry said the country received $ 4 billion in remittances in the first 10 months of the year.

The remittances secured during the10 months have surpassed the total income gained from remittances in 2015, according to the data from the foreign affairs ministry.

In 2015, the Horn of African nation reportedly received $3.7 billion from remittances.

Demeke said the amount of remittance exceeded the country's export trade earnings over the same period. The official, however, disclosed that the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs along with stakeholders was working to enhance Diaspora investment.

The announcements come as Ethiopia prepares to celebrate the second annual Diaspora Day. The event which is believed to create a key platform to enhance Diaspora investment and boost remittance earnings.

Thousands of members of the Ethiopian Diaspora community are expected to take part in the 2nd Diaspora Day festivity.

Ethiopia says its remittance service still stands at lower level compared to other countries and it intends to maximize it in coming few years.

Ethiopia blames illegal migration as main factor hampering efforts to elevate remittance as illegal migrants won't be able to send money legally hence residence and work permits are required to do so.

According to the World Bank, Ethiopia remittance inflow study indicates the country earns at least 3.2 billion dollars yearly.

The country's remittances are expected to expand by 50% over the next three years,

The United States, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom are top three countries from which Ethiopians abroad send money to their families and relatives back home.

In Ethiopia, most money transfers are made through remittance agents and banks but many others receive remittances through a number of informal channels.

According to a World Bank's report released in April, remittances to developing countries saw a slight grow in 2015 as weak oil prices and other factors strained the earnings of international migrants and their ability to send money to their families.

Remittances to developing countries, according to World Bank, amounted to $431.6 billion in 2015, an increase of 0.4 percent over $430 billion in 2014, slowest growth since the global financial crisis.

Currently, India is the world's largest remittance recipient attracting about $69 billion in remittances in 2015, down from $70 billion in 2014. Other large recipients in 2015 were China ($64 billion), the Philippines ($28 billion), Mexico ($25 billion), and Nigeria ($21 billion).

(ST)

July 24, 2016 (JUBA) – The leadership of the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO), led by First Vice President, Riek Machar, said their party and its leadership had remained intact despite recent “illegal” attempt by outsiders to snatch and claim it.

“The leadership of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) is intact. The illegal attempt by outsiders to claim it has been aborted,” said James Gatdet Dak, Machar spokesperson.

“What happened in Juba in a hotel on July 23, 2016, organized by a dismissed member, Honourable Taban Deng Gai, was an act of terrorism, during which three senior officials of our party were held hostage in their Crown Hotel and were intimidated and forced against their will to nominate him as acting First Vice President of the Transitional Government of National Unity and Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the SPLM/SPLM (IO), or else President Salva Kiir's security operatives would have dealt with them,” he added.

He said their party's secretary general, Dhieu Mathok Diing Wol, was severely beaten a week before in the hotel when his position was known to have been against activities of Gai, adding this has made the SPLM-IO ministers and officials remaining in Juba to fear for their lives.

Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, a supporter of Taban Deng Gai, announced on Saturday that President Kiir was going to appoint Gai on that Saturday as acting First Vice President and take oath of office on Sunday and start his official work on Monday.

Machar's spokesperson, Dak, said President Kiir has made a wise decision by not acting to also illegally appoint Taban Deng Gai as acting First Vice President to replace his recognized peace partner, Riek Machar, saying appointing Gai would have shown to the world that President Kiir meant to destroy the peace agreement and was part of the conspiracy which Gai was used to implement.

He said President Kiir should further act in accordance with the request from his first deputy to relieve Taban Deng Gai for his position as minister of Mining, saying the agreement has provided powers to the First Vice President to recommend to the President to replace any of his ministers he nominated to the transitional government.

Dak argued that as the head of state whose responsibility is to protect institutions and abide by the peace agreement, President Kiir should not be trapped into condemnation by allowing for illegal and fraudulent replacement of his first deputy, as this would destroy the peace deal.

“I believe that if President Salva Kiir respects institutions which his government has created as well as the transitional leadership of the transitional government and wants the peace agreement to be implemented without hiccups, he should relieve Honourable Taban Deng Gai as requested by the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar,” he added.

He seriously condemned the process carried out at Crown Hotel in Juba to “fraudulently” replace Machar, saying the process only amounted to “a hotel good time party by random invitees” and not an institutional process of the SPLM/SPLA (IO).

The opposition leader's spokesman narrated that Gai was dismissed from the party by his chairman a day before forging the meeting, and therefore was no longer a member of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) as he already defected to President Kiir's faction by his own actions.

He also argued that even if Gai were to remain a member of the party, there was no quorum of the leaderships of the political bureau or the national liberation council in Juba to convene a meeting, adding that Gai got only one member willingly and forced other three senior officials out of 23 members of the political bureau.

Over 90 percent of the SPLM/SPLA (IO) leadership bodies, he said, have been dispersed by the recent fighting, and are either with Machar in the bush, or in United Nations camps in Juba, or in the other parts of the country, or in the neighbouring countries.

He further explained that the peace agreement has not also provided for a temporary replacement of the First Vice President or the Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the SPLM/SPLA.

“The peace agreement has instead given powers to the First Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, to delegate one of his ministers to temporarily act on his behalf in his absence if need be. It is like when the vice president acts when the president is absent. This does not need replacement, or appointment or taking oath of office in order to temporarily act. We also have our deputy chairman, General Alfred Ladu Gore, who is in Juba,” he added.

A senior official who is loyal to President Salva Kiir told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that the “smartest way” President Kiir should behave now is by not appointing Taban Deng Gai to replace Riek Machar as First Vice President so that he distanced himself from the internal power struggle within the SPLM-IO and to avoid being condemned by the international community for either being behind the conspiracy or supporting Taban Deng Gai to destroy the peace agreement.

He said the President is likely relieve Gai from his post as Minister of Mining in show of acting as the head of state who respects the agreement and decisions made by his first deputy who is mandated by the peace agreement to replace his party's ministers in the cabinet.

“President Kiir himself said he saved Machar at the palace during the fighting two weeks ago. This has clearly indicated that he wants to continue to work with him. He should continue to show this to the world by maintaining him as his first deputy, otherwise if he acts contrary to this the reading will be different,” the official said.

Machar fled the capital two weeks ago and said he relocated to outside of Juba due to fear for his safety and to avoid further clashes between his forces and those loyal to President Kiir after four days of fighting in Juba.

He said he will return to Juba immediately after a third party force is deployed in the capital to separate rival forces and provide security and protection for the leadership and the citizens exposed to danger.

(ST)

July 24, 2016 (EL-FASHER) - A child had died and six others fell sick on Friday after eating liquid substance from explosive remnants of war in Kalmando area, North Darfur state.

Ten-year-old Suleiman Fatul Saim from the Dar Al Salam IDPs camp in North Darfur poses for UNAMID photographer Albert González Farran in El Fasher on 2 April 2013 . He suffered burns to more than 90% of his body when his brother detonated a device that he found near their house in November 2006.

Commissioner of Kalmando locality Al-Hadi Ahmed Hassan told Sudan Tribune that several young children stumbled across an ERW containing yellow substance while they were playing near a former army camp, saying they ate the substance out of curiosity which led to the death of a child by the name of Mustafa Asil.

He added that six others fell sick including 7-year old Haneen Ismail, 8-year old Haytham Abdalla abdel-Rahman, 6-year old Yazid Ahmed Mohamed Adam, 6-year old Murtada Hamid Ahmed Ali and 3-year old Abu Zar Ishaq Ismail.

Hassan pointed that the children suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting after they ate the yellow substance and were rushed to Wada'a Hospital in Kalmando and from there to El-Fasher Teaching Hospital, saying Asil died on the way to the hospital.

The armed conflict between government forces and Darfur rebels which has been ongoing since 2003 has left huge numbers of Unexploded Ordinances (UXOs) across Darfur region. Children are the main victims of UXOs.

On July 8th, two children were killed and their sister was seriously wounded by a UXO in Malit locality, 60 km north of North Darfur capital, El-Fasher.

Last June, a child was killed and two others were wounded when an RPG-7 grenade detonated in Zam Zam IDPs camp, 15 km south of El Fasher.

Also, last March, two nomadic boys were killed and two others were wounded when an UXO detonated in Um Sadir village, 60 km north Kutum Locality in North Darfur state.

Several voluntary organizations are making efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of the UXOs and the neglected military equipments in Darfur.

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July 24, 2016 (JUBA) - The former deputy governor of Lol, one of South Sudan's new states, Adut Sumeiyo Deng has denied links to the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO).

Rizik Zachariah Hassan, Governor of Lol state (UN photo)

Last week, Lol state Governor, Rizik Zachariah Hassan sacked Adut and a number of senior government officials, relatives and close allies.

The Raja town mayor, James Benjamin, who later declared his defection to the armed opposition faction, was also sacked.

Governor Hassan, in his order, did not provide any explanation as to why he took these administrative decisions. Some reports claimed the decision coincided with the defection.

In an interview with Sudan Tribune on Friday, the former deputy governor denied any links to the Riek Machar-led rebel faction.

“I have read in the media that my dismissal was over defections to armed opposition. Who said this, was it the governor or someone wrote for him”, Adut explained.

The former deputy governor said she was not in any way linked to the armed opposition, and wondered why she was removed from the powerful she held for less than a year since she was appointed.

“People are asking what I have done. I tell them I don't know. It is the governor to tell you. For me, I have done four good things successfully to serve our people. When Raja town was attacked and people run away, I remained inside the town because I was with a lot of people I did not want their lives to be lost for they will be targeted if they were to run,” further said Adut.

The ex-deputy governor of Lol state, however, said she would have exposed politicians with links to the armed opposition after armed dissidents easily overrun the town.

“I don't have link with the SPLM-IO. I did not and until this moment have no links with them. If I have link with them, I would have raised their flag when the town was overran. Also, if I have link with them there would have been a proof,” said Adut, adding that security personnel could tapped her communications, if she had rebel links.

The added, “The other proof could be if I have ever contributed anything and sent to them. I have never done such. I have never collected anything and sent to them when I remained in Raja as the acting governor when the governor was in Juba for more than one month”.

(ST)

by Steve Paterno and Scott Morgan

When a Country celebrates their Independence Day it's generally considered to be a festive occasion. For the United States, John Adams envisioned a day with parades and fireworks. Recently South Sudanese celebrated their 5th Anniversary of Independence not with festivity, but with bloodshed, after gun fire rocked the city of Juba. A coup was in a making.

The power struggle was between Riek Machar against Salva Kiir. Mr. Kiir a Dinka is currently President of South Sudan. Mr. Machar is a Nuer who was forced to flee after the 2013 fighting. He has now been restored to his position as First Vice President by a Peace Accord imposed by the UN and backed up by Peacekeepers. And then, he broke again through fighting. The conflict puts an ethnicity face into it. It is tribal. A tribe against another.

So when the situation within the country imploded and the US beefed up the security at its embassy in Juba with 47 strong marine forces, a sense of paranoia set upon the country. It appears that the South Sudanese have had such a horrible relationship when it was united with Sudan and felt they were being invaded by foreign forces. That fact was actually promoted within the country with reports that the US was invading the Country and taking over. It was a miscommunication or both. US has poor communication with South Sudan government and so are South Sudanese people with the American administration.

A Press Release issued by the US Embassy sought to allay such fears of a US Occupation. Now the rhetoric has returned to a feared takeover by IGAD and the UN. Is there a remedy that could restore confidence by the people toward the GOSS? It is clear that for the sake of National Sanity that tribalism is not a prescription for South Sudan. Whomever becomes the leader should not have their power undermined by Sudan or the Troika Powers ( USA, Great Britain and Norway) either. Nor should it be the location of a potential proxy war between Khartoum, Kampala, Niorobi, Addis or any one.

The thing that South Sudan needs almost as badly as new leadership is a Marshall Plan of its own. The Country has very poor infrastructure to put it mildly. Developing a road network could actually benefit the Agriculture Sector and reduce some of the hunger Issues affecting the Country.

Another Area that needs to be addressed in order for the Country to move forward is to move away from Tribalism. Most of the fighting which is politically motivated has been conducted on this level. So this makes having a standing National Army very difficult. This leads to regional actors backing certain Political Movements and Tribes and making the situation more chaotic. So these actors such as Sudan, Uganda and Kenya could actually find themselves at war in the future over South Sudan if they are not careful.

When the word chaos is written out in Mandarin the characters for both danger and opportunity are used. That is a very apt metaphor for the current situation within South Sudan at this time. We see the danger but the opportunities for stability are well hidden.

Steve Paterno is the author of The Rev. Fr. Saturnino Lohure, A Romain Catholic Priest Turned Rebel. He can be reached at stevepaterno@yahoo.com

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July 23, 2016 (RAJA) – The mayor of Raja town in South Sudan's Lol state, James Benjamin, has confirmed his defection to the armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO).

Rebel fighters aligned with former vice-president Riek Machar march through a village inside rebel-controlled territory in South Sudan's Upper Nile state on 9 February 2014 (Photo: Reuters)

“Yes it is true that I have joined the opposition without any fear and am ready to fight the government demanding our right of change to the current misleading government of South Sudan,” Benjamin told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.

“We didn't want the presidential decree annexing part of Aweil, the Dinka land to Raja and the state government's policy to replacing local citizens serving in the government with others from other areas,” he added.

According to the former town mayor, a number of senior government officials have joined rebellion and many more others could join the armed opposition faction in coming days.

“I have joined the SPLM-IO with other Lol state government officials, they are six in number, many soldiers and we have many others still behind to join the possible mission,” he said.

He cited the director of police in Raja town, Karlo Augustino, Judge Sebestiano Kornelio and the medical director of Raja hospital Benson Taban as some of those who joined SPLM-IO. He said a number of military officials have also defected.

According to Benjamin, he joined the armed struggle after falling out with Rizik. He claimed the governor had plans to assassinate him, allegations Sudan Tribune could not verify.

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July 24, 2016 (JUBA) – Ugandan President, Yoweri Museveni, has advised his South Sudanese counterpart, President Salva Kiir, to not reject deployment of additional regional third party force in Juba, but to instead focus on negotiating the level of their mandate as they deploy in the country.

President Salva Kiir (L) shakes hands with Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni (R) after signing a peace agreement on August 26, 2015 (Photo AFP /Charles Lomodong)

Museveni said failure to comply with the African Union's endorsed deployment of the troops to Juba will complicate the matter and result to further tougher measures which can be taken against the country and its leadership, cautioning President Kiir not to fall into “traps of western countries.”

This came in a meeting on Saturday in Kampala between President Kiir and President Museveni.

President Museveni, according to a presidential source who accompanied President Kiir to Kampala, said he made the remarks during their discussions on regional peace and security, particularly the proposed deployment of additional foreign troops in South Sudan.

This week, President Kiir vowed to not allow even a “single foreign soldier” to deploy in South Sudan in his reaction to the AU's resolution to deploy a third party force to separate rival forces loyal to President Kiir and those loyal to his first deputy, Riek Machar. The government also organized demonstrations in Juba and in some states to reject the deployment of additional foreign forces with senior officials vowing to fight them should they deploy.

The force would also provide protection to the South Sudanese leadership, essential government infrastructures including the Juba airport as well as citizens at risk of violence in the capital.

There were no details of the issues the two leaders have discussed and resolved, as there was no official statement issued by the office of South Sudan president before and after the return from Uganda.

However, the high level presidential source told Sudan Tribune on Sunday that president Kiir travelled to Uganda to seek advice with president Museveni, who remains the only ally in the region.

President Museveni's influence in the region, he said, has however been overshadowed by an unanimous regional consensus to dispatch additional foreign troops to shore up the fighting and protection capacity of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in the country.

Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda are some among the countries in the region backing up the decision of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) member countries and African Union (AU), asking countries in the region to contribute and dispatch additional troops with a stronger mandate to protect civilians at risk or exposed to an extreme violence and to act as buffer for rival armed groups in the country.

“President Kiir went to Uganda at the invitation of president Museveni over regional matters. He advised him not to accept provocations and fall into the traps of western countries. The western governments are desperately looking for an excuse to go to the country and that the president should be extra careful,” he quoted the advice President Museveni had given to President Kiir.

“He advised him to negotiate the mandate of the regional force instead of an outright rejection. So president Kiir was basically going to seek audience with president Museveni and to share ideas on the regional intervention force and how this situation could be handled,” he told Sudan Tribune.

Meanwhile, president Museveni in his Facebook page released after the meeting with president Kiir on Saturday confirmed holding talks on regional matters but did not divulge into the details of the discussions.

“I have today held talks with my South Sudan counterpart, His Excellency Salva Kiir, at State House, Entebbe. We focused on regional issues but importantly how to ensure peace and stability returns to South Sudan,” said president Museveni, according to a post on his Facebook page.

The African Union has endorsed the deployment of the forces, saying the troops deployment will take place whether President Kiir liked it or not.

Opposition party led by Riek Machar also supported the deployment of the forces, saying their leader, Machar, will immediately return to Juba from his hiding place once the troops are on the ground to ensure his safety.

Machar fled the capital on 11 July after four days of clashes between his small number of troops and forces loyal to President Salva Kiir. His officials said he is still around Juba and will return any time soon.

(ST)

Residents of La Hacienda, in the central department of La Paz in El Salvador, are holding pictures of the four American nuns murdered in 1980 by members of the National Guard, as they attend the commemorations held to mark 35 years of the crime, in December 2015, at the site where it was perpetrated. Credit: Edgardo Ayala/IPS

By Edgardo Ayala
SAN SALVADOR, Jul 23 2016 (IPS)

The ruling of the highest court to repeal the amnesty law places El Salvador in the dilemma of deciding whether the country should prosecute those who committed serious violations to human rights during the civil war.

It also evidences that, more than two decades after the end of the conflict in 1992, reconciliation is proving elusive in this Central American country with 6.3 million inhabitants.

At the heart of the matter is the pressing need to bring justice to the victims of war crimes while, on the other hand, it implies a huge as well as difficult task, since it will entail opening cases that are more than two decades old, involving evidence that has been tampered or lost, if at all available, and witnesses who have already died.“We do not want them to be jailed for a long period of time, we want perpetrators to tell us why they killed them, given that they knew they were civilians...And we want them to apologize, we want someone to be held accountable for these deaths”-- Engracia Echeverría.

Those who oppose opening such cases highlight the precarious condition of the judiciary, which has important inadequacies and is cluttered with a plethora of unsentenced cases.

“I believe Salvadorans as a whole, the population and the political forces are not in favour of this (initiating prosecution), they have turned the page”, pointed out left-wing analyst Salvador Samayoa, one of the signatory parties of the Peace Agreements that put an end to 12 years of civil war.

The 12 years of conflict left a toll of 70,000 casualties and more than 8,000 people missing.

Samayoa added that right now El Salvador has too many problems and should not waste its energy on problems pertaining to the past.

For human rights organizations, finding the truth, serving justice and providing redress prevail over the present circumstances and needs.

“Human rights violators can no longer hide behind the amnesty law, so they should be investigated once and for all”, said Miguel Montenegro, director of the El Salvador Commission of Human Rights, a non-governmental organization, told IPS.

The Supreme Court of Justice, in what is deemed to be a historical ruling, on 13 July ruled that the General Amnesty Act for the Consolidation of, passed in 1993, is unconstitutional, thus opening the door to prosecuting those accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the conflict.

In its ruling, the Court considered that Articles 2 and 144 of said amnesty law are unconstitutional on the grounds that they violate the rights of the victims of war crimes and crimes against humanity to resort to justice and seek redress.

It further ruled that said crimes are not subject to the statute of limitations and can be tried regardless of the date on which they were perpetrated.

“We have been waiting for this for many years; without this ruling no justice could have been done”, told IPS activist Engracia Echeverría, from the Madeleine Lagadec Center for the Promotion of Defence of Human Rights.

This organization is named after the French nun who was raped and murdered by government troops in April 1989, when they attacked a hospital belonging to the guerrilla group Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN).

The activist stressed that, even though it is true that a lot of information relevant to the cases has been lost, some data can still be obtained by the investigators in the District Attorney’s General Office in charge of criminal prosecution, in case some people wish to instigate an investigation.

The law has been strongly criticized by human rights organizations within and outside the country, since its enactment in March 1993.

Its critics have claimed that it promoted impunity by protecting Army and guerrilla members who committed human rights crimes during the conflict.

However, its advocates have been both retired and active Army members, as well as right-wing politicians and businessmen in the country, since it precisely prevented justice being served to these officers –who are seen as responsible for frustrating the victory of the FMLN.

“All the crimes committed were motivated by an attack by the guerrilla”, claimed retired general Humberto Corado, former Defence Minister between 1993 and 1995.

The now repealed act was passed only five days after the Truth Commission, mandated by the United Nations to investigate human rights abuses during the civil war, had published its report with 32 specific cases, 20 of which were perpetrated by the Army and 12 by insurgents.

Among those cases were the murders of archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero in March 1980; four American nuns in December of the same year, and hundreds of peasants who were shot in several massacres, like those which took place in El Mozote in December 1981 and in Sumpul in May 1980.

Also, six Jesuit priests and a woman and her daughter were murdered in November 1989, a case already being investigated by a Spanish court.

The Truth Commission has also pointed to some FMLN commanders, holding them accountable for the death of several mayors who were targeted for being considered part of the government’s counter-insurgent strategy.

Some of those insurgents are now government officials, as is the case with director of Civil Protection Jorge Meléndez.

Before taking office in 2009, the FMLN, now turned into a political party, strongly criticized the amnesty law and advocated in favour of its repeal, on the grounds that it promoted impunity.

But, after winning the presidential elections that year with Mauricio Funes, it changed its stance and no longer favoured the repeal of the law. Since 2014, the country has been governed by former FMLN commander Salvador Sánchez Cerén.

In fact, the governing party has deemed the repeal as “reckless”, with the President stating on July 15 that Court magistrates “were not considering the effects it could have on the already fragile coexistence” and urging to take the ruling “with responsibility and maturity while taking into account the best interests of the country”.

After the law was ruled unconstitutional, the media were saturated with opinions and analyses on the subject, most of them pointing out the risk of the country being destabilized and on the verge of chaos due to the countless number of lawsuits that could pile up in the courts dealing with war cases.

“To those people who fiercely claim that magistrates have turned the country into a hell we must respond that hell is what the victims and their families have gone –and continue to go- through”, reads the release written on July 15 by the officials of the José Simeón Cañas Central American University, where the murdered Jesuits lived and worked in 1989.

Furthermore, the release states that most of the victims demand to be listened to, in order to find out the truth and be able to put a face on those they need to forgive.

In fact, at the heart of the debate lies the idea of restorative justice as a mechanism to find out the truth and heal the victims’ wounds, without necessarily implying taking perpetrators to jail.

“We do not want them to be jailed for a long period of time, we want perpetrators to tell us why they killed them, given that they knew they were civilians”, stressed Echeverría.

“And we want them to apologize, we want someone to be held accountable for these deaths”, she added.

In the case of Montenegro, himself a victim of illegal arrest and tortures in 1986, he said that it is necessary to investigate those who committed war crimes in order to find out the truth but, even more importantly, as a way for the country to find the most suitable mechanisms to forgive and provide redress”.

However, general Corado said that restorative justice was “hypocritical, its only aim being to seek revenge”.

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