Africa

July 12, 2016 (JUBA) - At least 42,000 civilians have been displaced in the recent fighting that occurred in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, a United Nations official said.

The head of the UN peacekeeping mission, Herve Ladsous speaking in Juba (UNMISS photo)

The UN peacekeeping chief, Hervé Ladsous told the Security Council that 7,000 of those displaced were accounted for at the two UN compounds and the remaining about 35,000 were sheltering between the World Food Programme (WFP) compound, other non-governmental organisations and churches in the city.

He expressed concerns over potentials for the resumption of violence and spill over into others parts of the young nation.

On Wednesday, according to Ladsous, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) was been able to conduct limited patrolling again to assess the security situation, the safety and security of personnel and assets at UN compounds.

The senior UN official, however, noted that securing freedom of movement remains an uphill battle as security forces limit the mission's movement every step of the way.
He urged the South Sudanese government to allow UNMISS and humanitarian actors' freedom of movement and access to provide vital assistance to the civilian population.

ARMS EMBARGO

Ladsous accused South Sudan's warring parties of “deliberately” attempting to stall the implementation of the peace agreement, and echoed the Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon's call for reconsideration of an arms embargo, as well as additional targeted sanctions on leaders and commanders blocking implementation of the peace deal.

We can no longer afford to sit idle as South Sudanese bear the brunt of the intransigence of their leaders, he stressed.

Meanwhile, the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) said it was, together with its partners, providing urgent life-saving assistance to thousands displaced by the fighting in Juba.

"Four trucks of supplies were dispatched from UNICEF warehouses and taken to a UN displacement site in Juba as soon as movement became possible in the city earlier today [Wednesday]. These include supplies for the treatment of malnutrition as well as sanitation items [such] as water containers and soap. Primary health care kits as well as recreational items for children will be distributed tomorrow," the UN said in a statement.

(ST)

July 16, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan's leader, Salva Kiir has called for direct talks with first vice-president, Riek Machar, saying he detests further bloodshed in the young nation.

President Salva Kiir greets First Vice President Riek Machar before to start a meeting at the South Sudanese presidency in Juba on 3 June 2016 (Photo Moses Lomayat)

President Kiir said he and the opposition leader should talk to salvage peace.

The South Sudanese leader has now dispatched Nhial Deng Nhial, his special envoy and an adviser on foreign affairs to the African Union summit in Rwanda, with an assurance to regional and global leaders about his commitment to talks with his rival.

"I don't want any more bloodshed in South Sudan," stated Kiir.

"I have been ready to resume talks on the issues we were discussing before this thing [violence] erupted. We were left with few things to conclude the discussions so that we begin with the implementation [the August 2015 peace agreement]", he added.

The president was speaking for the first time since his forces clashed at the presidential palace with those loyal to Machar last week, leaving more than 270 soldiers from the two sides dead, officials have confirmed.

The head of Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), Festus Mogae and the African Union special envoy, Alpha Oumar Konare stood alongside President Kiir.

President Kiir also vowed he would provide protection to Machar and his forces, citing the amnesty he had issued after declaring ceasefire as a guarantee for the security of his deputy and his forces.

"Nobody is hunting for him and his forces. If he comes, I will protect him. He will stay with me if feels he is not safe staying alone", he said.

ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT??

Meanwhile, Machar claimed the fighting that erupted between his bodyguards and Kiir's forces in the capital was calculated to kill him.

The ex-rebel leader told BBC Focus on Africa on Friday after abandoning his base in the outskirts of Juba, that he is “around Juba” but would neither disclose his location nor return to town to meet the president until the security issues were addressed.

Machar was responding to the call by President Kiir to meet him.

The country's first vice-president, however, said he feared for the lives of his officials and for himself after the incident, adding he was also worried about the safety of his ministers currently inside Juba.

“We have a pending meeting, he as president and me as vice president. And also if it were a normal situation, we would meet, but the incident that took place on the 8th [July] in the State House is a very despicable incident, where there was a shootout, and a dog fight, when we were in a meeting,” Machar told the London-based station.

“To me that was a calculated plan to kill me,” he added.

Machar, who also leads an opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, said he was willing to return back to Juba, but after a third force is deployed the South Sudanese capital to take charge and ensure safety and no return to violent confrontations.

He said he could not trust Kiir's assurance to protect him and his officials.

“That is why the IGAD [Intergovernmental Authority on Development] Council of Ministers decided that there should be an intervention force, third force, that be deployed in Juba and Juba be demilitarized,” he said.

Machar said he was now waiting for the outcome of a proposed meeting in Juba of the chiefs of defence forces from the region on how to tackle security in Africa's newest nation.

(ST)

The Ugandan government should investigate the killings of at least 50 people in the Rwenzori region, 17 of them by security forces, between February and April 2016, and make the findings public, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the police inspector general.

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A protestor holding a poster held in memory of Kule Munyambara Obed, who was allegedly shot by the Ugandan military in Kasese district on April 3, 2016.

© 2016 Human Rights Watch

A Human Rights Watch investigation found that members of the Bakonzo and Bamba ethnic groups in Uganda’s western Rwenzori region clashed following contested local elections and political infighting, resulting in at least 30 deaths. During the subsequent law enforcement operations, the Ugandan police and military killed at least 17 people. One police officer and two soldiers were also killed.

“The Ugandan government should account for what happened between February and April in the Rwenzori region, so that those responsible, whether government security forces or civilian, can be prosecuted and punished,” said Maria Burnett, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “To end the retaliatory violence, the government needs to fulfill its role in maintaining neutrality and ensuring justice.”

Human Rights Watch interviewed 111 people, including survivors, victims’ relatives, witnesses, community members, medical staff, police, and journalists in April and May, in Bundibugyo and Kasese. Human Rights Watch also gathered and viewed evidence such as post-mortem reports, photographs, medical and mortuary records, and video footage, and visited camps for internally displaced people and sites of killings, burials, and destroyed homes.

The recent wave of violence began in Bundibugyo district on February 27, following contested local elections. The Bakonzo cultural kingdom has historically had tense relationships with both the neighboring Bwamba kingdom comprised of ethnic Bamba people and the central government. A group of armed men – all allegedly of Bamba ethnicity – attacked two ethnic Bakonzo households in Busengerwa 4 village, in Bundibugyo district, shooting and killing one person and critically injuring another with machetes. This attack sparked the latest in a series of retaliatory, inter-ethnic killings in the district until early April, leaving at least 30 people dead, seven of them children. Hundreds of houses of both ethnic groups were burned, and hundreds were displaced as a result of the violence.

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The grave of Anna Kuguma, who was killed in Katumba, Kirumya sub-county in Bundibugyo district, Uganda, around February 27, 2016.

© 2016 Human Rights Watch

According to media reports, police and military initially arrested a total of more than 150 people in February and March for various crimes, but it is not clear how many remain in custody. The New Vision, a government newspaper, reported that police charged at least 13 men with murder, attempted murder, and arson, on April 7.

In the wake of the violence in Bundibugyo, armed people in neighboring Kasese also clashed. On March 10, following contested local sub-county elections, a group of people – allegedly Bakonzo – attacked a group of soldiers in an area known as Kikonzo, in Hima Town Council, stabbing and injuring four. In response, the soldiers fatally shot two people. This violence led to four more incidents between the government and Royal Guards of the Obusinga bwa Rwenzururu (Bakonzo) kingdom, resulting in the deaths of six Royal Guards, three government security forces, and an individual not affiliated with either security force. Royal Guards are volunteers who provide security to the customary king.

The central government responded by deploying security forces to both Bundibugyo and Kasese districts in March. In Bundibugyo, the army carried out large-scale cordon-and-search operations in villages, and in April, assumed the name “Operation Usalama Rwenzori [Bring Peace to Rwenzori].” In Kasese, the police deployed a unit called the Flying Squad, whose officers typically operate in civilian clothes, drive unmarked cars, and are most often deployed in response to alleged armed gangs. Human Rights Watch has previously stated concerns that police has given them a shoot-to-kill mandate.

The Rwenzori region is the site of past violence; in July 2014, members of the Bakonzo ethnic group attacked police and army posts, resulting in reprisal killings against Bakonzo civilians. Local media reports suggest that over 100 people were killed during that period. Community members of both ethnicities told Human Rights Watch that they believed that at least some of the recent violence was attributable to unaddressed violence in 2014.

Human Rights Watch investigations into the killings by security forces indicate that police and the army killed at least 13 people during alleged arrest attempts. Multiple witnesses said that in all of those cases, the victims were unarmed when shot and killed. In all but one case, witness accounts suggest that security forces shot people at close range who were not threatening them or others at the time of the arrest.

In one instance, security forces responded to a man running toward them holding a stick by shooting him dead. This and other accounts raise serious questions about use of lethal force during arrests. No member of the security forces has yet been charged with any killings.

Some government officials, including a parliamentary committee on defense and internal affairs and the Uganda Human Rights Commission, have conducted investigations that are understood to be completed, but their reports have not been published and it is not clear if they will be issued publicly.

The prosecuting authorities should investigate all instances of lethal use of force by security forces, Human Rights Watch said. The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials require law enforcement officials, including military units responding to national emergencies, to apply nonviolent means before resorting to the use of force, to use force only in proportion to the seriousness of the offense, and to use lethal force only when strictly unavoidable to protect life. The principles also provide that governments shall ensure that arbitrary or abusive use of force and firearms by law enforcement officials is punished as a criminal offense under their law.

According to humanitarian aid agencies, approximately 23,000 people were displaced at the height of the violence in Bundibugyo, many fleeing to about 11 camps. An indeterminate number remain displaced, with approximately 600 people, gathered in Bubukwanga camp, while some of the remaining internally displaced people are in 10 informal “reception centers” based in trading centers. All the camps are ethnically homogenous. Many of the displaced are not in camps, but have been staying with relatives or in sub-county offices, schools, churches, or markets.

Some displaced people are unable to adequately access necessary goods and services, causing some to return to areas they consider unsafe to harvest crops for food. Aid workers cited the lack of health supplies, shelter, schooling for children, and household items as enduring concerns. Displaced people interviewed said that the government has urged them to return home, but many said that they considered it too dangerous. Some said that neighbors had burned down homes they had lived in for decades and that they have nowhere to live now.

“The killings of unarmed people has fueled sentiment that the government is not a neutral party between ethnic groups in the Rwenzori region,” Burnett said. “Ensuring protection for everyone, no matter their ethnicity, and holding security forces to account for their conduct, is critical to preventing recurring cycles of violence.”

Recommendations

The Ugandan government should:

• Investigate the killings in Bundibugyo and Kasese districts, including a specific investigation into the use of lethal force in the cases of the 17 people killed by state security forces, and make any findings public.
• Conduct investigations and maintain dialogue with communities and victims about ongoing efforts to investigate and prosecute suspects from both the public and government security or intelligence forces.
• Cooperate with aid organizations to ensure that displaced people have access to assistance.
• Abide by the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms and use lethal force only when strictly unavoidable to protect human life.

Human Rights Watch welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the United Nations Committee against Torture (“the Committee”) July 28 special review of Burundi.

This memorandum highlights areas of concern Human Rights Watch hopes will inform the Committee’s consideration of the Burundian government’s compliance with the International Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (“the Convention”). It proposes specific measures that we hope the Committee will recommend to the Burundian government.

This submission focuses on torture and ill-treatment by the Burundian state security forces and members of the youth league of the ruling party, the Imbonerakure, between April 2015 and June 2016.

During this period, Human Rights Watch also documented numerous extrajudicial executions, other killings, disappearances, and arbitrary arrests in Burundi, which are not described in this submission.

Torture by Intelligence Services and Police

The Burundian intelligence services have a long history of torture, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and other human rights abuses against suspected government opponents, going back many years. However, torture and ill-treatment appear to have become more widespread, and torture techniques more brutal and frequent, following a failed coup in May 2015.

The Committee’s 2014 concluding observations on the second periodic report on Burundi on November 26, 2014 expressed concerns about “credible, corroborative and persistent reports of a large number of acts of torture and extrajudicial killings committed by members of the Burundian National Police and the National Intelligence Service.”

Throughout 2015 and the first half of 2016, the Burundian intelligence services (Service national de renseignement, SNR) have continued to use torture to force detainees to confess to alleged crimes, incriminate or denounce others, and to intimidate them. The majority of victims were suspected government opponents. These practices directly contravene Article 1 of the Convention and Article 251 of the Burundian Criminal Procedural Code.  Members of the Burundian police and Imbonerakure have also committed serious abuses, often in collaboration with the intelligence services.

Human Rights Watch documented more than 148 cases of alleged torture or ill-treatment, mostly by intelligence and police officials, between April and July 2015 in four provinces and in the capital, Bujumbura. Since then, Human Rights Watch has talked to scores of other victims of torture and ill-treatment in 2015 and 2016, from nine provinces and Bujumbura. The actual number of torture and ill-treatment cases in Burundi in 2015 and 2016 is likely much higher than the sample Human Rights Watch was able to document and confirm. 

Between April and June 2016, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 40 torture victims. Victims and other sources said that members of the security forces or intelligence services had hit people repeatedly and slammed gun butts into detainees’ faces or limbs, in some cases breaking their bones or smashing their jaws so that some of their teeth fell out. SNR agents have also beaten detainees with steel construction bars, driven sharpened steel rods into their legs, tied cords to detainees’ genitals and pulled them, used electric shock, and poured liquid on detainees, which burned them.

In early 2016, a justice official told Human Rights Watch confidentially that some detainees arrived at police detention centers with their teeth knocked out, bloody, swollen faces and in great pain. Some detainees were then beaten again by high-ranking national or provincial police officials with steel bars, rocks or bricks.

One victim described in mid-2016 how a police official pulled out his tooth with pliers, because he allegedly worked for “human rights”.

Despite Burundi’s Criminal Procedural Code guaranteeing detainees access to a doctor and legal assistance, lawyers told Human Rights Watch that the intelligence services prevented them from entering their headquarters in Bujumbura where people were detained.

In November 2014, the Committee noted that Burundi’s Constitution prohibited torture, but were concerned that there were “numerous shortcomings of the organization and command structure of the country’s security services, particularly the Burundian National Police (Police nationale du Burundi) and the National Intelligence Service (Service national de renseignement).”

Former detainees and a judicial official who had long-term access to the intelligence headquarters in Bujumbura confirmed to Human Rights Watch that the head of the SNR (administrateur général) is aware that torture is taking place. In addition, intelligence agents who report directly to him have frequently tortured perceived opponents in the SNR headquarters in Bujumbura and in SNR provincial offices.

Provincial intelligence agents and senior officials who suspect detainees possess information about hidden weapons or armed opposition activities have tortured them in provincial intelligence offices and frequently transferred them to Bujumbura for further torture or ill-treatment there.

One victim said a provincial intelligence agent smashed bones in his legs with a hammer in April 2016 and then sent him to the intelligence headquarters in Bujumbura where he spent 13 days. A judicial police officer questioned him and accused him of being an opposition member who allegedly helped combatants cross into Rwanda. Intelligence officials frequently assigned judicial police officers known to be loyal to the ruling party to question detainees suspected of collaborating with the opposition.

One 22-year-old victim told Human Rights Watch that unidentified men arrested him in February 2016 in Bujumbura’s Ngagara neighborhood and bundled him into a truck. The student believed they were intelligence agents. As they drove off with him, one of the men said to him: “Turn over the weapons that you have.” They stomped on his chest as he lay in the back of the truck and asked him about the identity and whereabouts of others in his neighborhood. They ordered him to undress and told him: “When we hit you enough times, you will end up talking.” They beat him on the legs and back with an electrical cable.

The victim attempted to escape but was caught. The perpetrators sliced him on the chest with a hot knife and asked him questions about the location of hidden weapons and the people who allegedly had guns in the neighborhood. When the man was unable to respond, they pushed a sharpened steel bar into his leg until he passed out.

In March 2016, a taxi driver in his early 30s said someone knocked on the door of his house. When he opened it, an unidentified man was standing in front of him, pointing a gun at his head. Three pickup trucks escorted the taxi driver to a military position in Bujumbura. The perpetrators tied his arms behind his back and tied his legs, then tied his legs to his hands. The men hung him from a nail in the wall and beat him, while telling him to hand over the weapons he allegedly possessed.

The taxi driver estimated that the soldiers suspended him for three hours, then took him down and beat him for several more hours. They told him to reveal the location of hidden weapons. The next day, they took him to the SNR headquarters in Bujumbura, where an agent said: “That dog [name withheld] has returned.” An SNR agent, made him lie down on his stomach in a gutter and beat him with a thick stick on his feet and rear end. Then another person poured liquid on him. He said: “I felt like I was burning. I begged them to kill me. They said: ‘You, you criminal, you are going to die slowly.’”

He said he was beaten twice more. He was in such pain he asked to be killed again. A policeman who worked at the SNR told him: “Who would dirty themselves with your blood?” The taxi driver said he can no longer sit down because of his injuries.

Several former detainees said they were locked in a small toilet room at the SNR headquarters in Bujumbura. Others said they stayed locked in cells for long periods. An official with access to the SNR said that senior intelligence officials, demobilized rebel fighters, and Imbonerakure members beat detainees and hid them from international monitors.

The Burundian Criminal Procedure Code in article 34 states that detainees can be held for a maximum of seven days, renewable only once, before judges decide whether they should be provisionally released or remain in detention. A delay of seven days after detention appears to violate article 9 (3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that states all detainees should be brought before a judge or equivalent “promptly.” In any event, this period is routinely disregarded, with many detainees held in police or SNR custody for longer than the maximum period provided by the law, and with no due process. 

Abuses by Imbonerakure

The ruling party and intelligence services have often used Imbonerakure members to identify suspected government opponents. Despite having no legal powers of arrest, some Imbonerakure have frequently arrested people, beaten them, and handed them over to intelligence agents who tortured some of them.

Victims in several provinces told Human Rights Watch in 2015 that Imbonerakure hit them with sticks and clubs, forced them to roll in muddy pits, and punched them in the face. Imbonerakure often handed those they arrested directly to intelligence officials, who transferred them to the SNR offices.

A former detainee said an intelligence agent interrogated him in February 2016 while an Imbonerakure dripped melting plastic on him. They also used pliers to cut his genitals, while an Imbonerakure told him: “You will end up revealing the secrets of [opposition leader Alexis] Sinduhije.”

Residents from some provinces told Human Rights Watch that Imbonerakure often gave orders to the police and that low-level police appeared powerless to stop Imbonerakure abuses.

In one northern province in early 2016, Imbonerakure told a policeman who asked them why they were beating a man: “What are you doing here? Get out of here!” The policeman left. Imbonerakure beat the victim with cables that resembled fiber optic cables. A pickup truck belonging to the SNR provincial commissioner arrived and four policemen put the man in the back. The policemen beat him as he was driven to the SNR office, where a senior official accused him of collaborating with the armed opposition.

Events of December 11, 2015

On December 11, 2015, armed opposition members attacked four military installations in and around Bujumbura. From about 8 a.m., police and military pursued the alleged attackers into Nyakabiga and Musaga, two of the Bujumbura neighborhoods where there were widespread demonstrations against Nkurunziza’s third term in 2015. In both neighborhoods, armed opponents engaged the security forces in a sustained gun battle.

After the gun fight, police and military forced their way into some homes and accused residents of having weapons and harboring opposition fighters. Residents recognized some Imbonerakure wearing police uniforms. Soldiers from Camp Muha and Camp Muzinda, two large military camps in Bujumbura, provided reinforcements.

One man told Human Rights Watch that he heard someone yell at him to come out of his house. Outside, he saw almost a dozen police from the unit responsible for guarding state institutions (Appui pour la protection des institutions, API). Three of them had machine guns, three had rocket launchers and others had Kalashnikovs with grenades. Some had what looked like an ax a butcher might use. They were drunk. He said:

“They made us lie down on our backs and spread our arms and look at the sun. One of them cocked his gun and put it to my temple. Then he asked another (if he should kill me). I thought I was finished. Another said: “Wait.” Then another one came and cut me (on my arm) with an ax. I had a wide wound and blood was shooting up like this into his face. I said: “You’re killing me! You’re killing me!” He said: “I didn’t know it was so sharp.”

On the same day, a 39-year-old man from Musaga left his house during a lull in the gunfire. Imbonerakure in police uniforms cut him on the head with a bayonet and he lost consciousness. The API and the police anti-riot brigade (Brigade anti-émeute, BAE) tied him up and made him and some of his neighbors lie down on their backs. The police were drinking beer, and when they finished, they balanced the bottles on the men’s throats. The victim said: “When the bottle fell, they either kicked us or hit us with their gun butts. It was a form of punishment. They knew good and well that when you are tied up and looking at the sun, you can’t hold out. Men came and kicked me. All of them kicked me like it was a game of soccer.”

Scores of people were killed and many others seriously injured on December 11 in what was the single deadliest episode since Burundi’s crisis began in April 2015.  The Prosecutor General, Valentin Bagorikunda, set up an inquiry into the December 11 events on December 17, 2015. Summarizing the inquiry’s main conclusions on March 10, 2016, he did not mention killings or abuses of Bujumbura residents by the security forces. He claimed that those killed on December 11 were armed “combatants” wearing police or military uniforms.

Impunity for SNR and Police Torture

In 2014, the Committee noted with concern the “slow pace and limited scope of the investigations and judicial proceedings” and found it “regrettable that no information about cases that have gone to trial or the outcome of those trials has been forthcoming”. Human Rights Watch is not aware of any intelligence agents who have been arrested, prosecuted or convicted for torture since the crisis began in 2015.

Judicial officials, lawyers and human rights activists told Human Rights Watch that SNR and ruling party officials continued to heavily influence judicial decisions and overrule decisions by prosecutors and others. Cases involving opposition party members were often allocated to judicial officials known to be sympathetic to the ruling party.

This lack of independence in Burundi’s judicial and prosecutorial system contravenes Article 12 of the Convention. Human Rights Watch is not aware of any torture victim who has been compensated or received redress for their treatment. This violates Article 14 of the Convention.

A high-ranking justice official who spoke anonymously for fear of reprisals said: “The Imbonerakure arrest people and take them to the police after beating them and injuring them seriously. Instead of taking them to the hospital, the police imprison them because of political pressure.”

Another senior justice official said that in some cases, ruling party members controlled the fate of detainees and gave orders to the police to fabricate accusations against certain people. Some prosecutors collaborated with intelligence agents to determine what charges to file against individuals arrested by the SNR or by Imbonerakure and whether to keep them in detention.

The same justice official told Human Rights Watch: “The justice system is not independent. Judicial authorities can’t act independently according to their conscience. We can release someone, then we get a call immediately and [ruling] party members give an order. When Imbonerakure arrest people, we watch powerlessly. We can’t do anything about it.”

The administrateur général of the SNR reports directly to President Pierre Nkurunziza.

The police reports to the minister of public security, Alain Guillaume Bunyoni. Despite numerous cases of police torture, ill-treatment and other abuses documented by Human Rights Watch and other organizations, Bunyoni wrote, in a letter to Human Rights Watch in June 2016, that it was “unthinkable” that police could have tortured or ill-treated detainees and that it would be a “serious error to assert gratuitously” that the police arbitrarily arrested, tortured, or ill-treated suspected government opponents. He denied categorically that the police collaborated with the Imbonerakure. He said that the police received human rights training.

However, the minister conceded it would be “illusory” to claim that police never make mistakes and wrote that more than 70 police officers had been prosecuted since 2015, some for “abuses committed during the management of the insurrectional movement” before and after the 2015 elections and others for common crimes. He did not provide details of these prosecutions.

Recommendations:

1. The Burundian authorities should urgently investigate torture and ill-treatment at the SNR headquarters in Bujumbura and in provincial SNR detention facilities, as well as in police custody. Intelligence agents and police officials involved in ordering, supervising or carrying out torture and ill-treatment should be immediately suspended and investigated, and where there is sufficient evidence, prosecuted for these crimes.  The Committee should ask the Burundian authorities for specific information on the progress of these investigations. The investigations and prosecutions should be fully independent of the individuals being investigated and of their chain of command.
2. The Burundian authorities should cooperate with international investigations into serious human rights abuses in Burundi, including any international commission of inquiry that might be set up by the UN.   
3. The Burundian government should accept the deployment of a substantial international police presence in Burundi, with a strong protection mandate.
4. The Burundian authorities should develop a robust, independent National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) as set out in the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The NPM should include members of civil society and government officials who would regularly visit detention facilities and make recommendations to Burundian authorities.
5. The Burundian authorities should seek the assistance of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and humanitarian agencies to identify victims of torture and ill-treatment who need medical assistance, and provide the necessary assistance, including specialized medical care outside their detention site.
6. The Burundian authorities should allow detainees regular access to lawyers at all intelligence, police, and other detention facilities across the country.
7. UN and African Union human rights observers in Burundi should intensify their visits to SNR and police detention facilities to deter and document torture. They should publish frequent detailed reports on their findings, including on any attempts by the authorities to obstruct or restrict their full access to detention centers.   

(Geneva) – Forced anal examinations on men and transgender women accused of consensual same-sex conduct have been reported in at least eight countries in the last five years, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. These examinations lack evidentiary value and are a form of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment that may in some cases amount to torture.

The 82-page report, “Dignity Debased: Forced Anal Examinations in Homosexuality Prosecutions,” is based on interviews with 32 men and transgender women who underwent forced anal examinations in Cameroon, Egypt, Kenya, Lebanon, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uganda, and Zambia. The examinations, which have the purported objective of finding “proof” of homosexual conduct, often involve doctors or other medical personnel forcibly inserting their fingers, and sometimes other objects, into the anus of the accused. Victims of forced anal testing told Human Rights Watch that they found the exams painful and degrading; some experienced them as a form of sexual violence.

Countries around the world should ban the practice of conducting forced anal examinations on men and transgender women accused of consensual same-sex conduct.

“Forced anal exams are invasive, intrusive, and profoundly humiliating, and clearly violate governments’ human rights obligations,” said Neela Ghoshal, senior researcher in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights program at Human Rights Watch. “No one, in 2016, should be subjected to torturous and degrading examinations that are based on invalidated theories from 150 years ago.”

The exams are rooted in discredited 19th century theories that homosexuals can be identified by the tone of the anal sphincter or the shape of the anus. International forensic medicine experts have found that the exams are useless, in addition to being cruel and degrading. The conclusion was shared even by several medical professionals Human Rights Watch interviewed who themselves had conducted anal exams.

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English translation of poster text: Is it possible to refuse an anal test? From a legal point of view: It is possible to refuse an anal test when examined by a forensic doctor. But the reality is different. The victims often “accept” the test for fear of being tortured, because of their young age, or because they are unaware of their rights guaranteed by the Constitution. 

(c) Shams 2015

International human rights law prohibits torture as well as cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. Those prohibitions are explicitly reflected in the domestic laws of countries that have nonetheless allowed forced anal exams to take place. The United Nations special rapporteur on torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment has found that the exams are “intrusive and degrading” and “medically worthless,” amounting to “torture or ill-treatment.” The International Forensic Expert Group describes them as “a form of sexual assault and rape.”

Medical personnel who voluntarily conduct forced anal exams violate international principles of medical ethics, including the prohibition on medical personnel participating in any way in acts of torture or degrading treatment.

“I felt like I was an animal. I felt I wasn’t human,” said “Mehdi,” a Tunisian student subjected to an anal exam in December 2015. “When I got dressed, they put handcuffs on me and I went out, feeling completely in shock. I couldn’t absorb what was going on.”

“Louis,” who underwent a forced anal examination in Cameroon in 2007, at age 18, told Human Rights Watch nine years later: “I still have nightmares about that examination. Sometimes it keeps me up at night when I think about it. I never thought a doctor could do something like that to me.”

July 12, 2016 Report Dignity Debased

Forced Anal Examinations in Homosexuality Prosecutions

• Download the full report
• Download the summary and recommendations in Arabic
• Download the summary and recommendations in Spanish
• Télécharger le résumé et les recommandations en français

Some countries where authorities have used forced anal exams in the past, most notably Lebanon, have taken steps to end the practice. But others, including Egypt and Tunisia, rely on them with great frequency in prosecutions for consensual same-sex conduct. The use of forced anal examinations appears to be a recent phenomenon in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia.

No one, in 2016, should be subjected to torturous and degrading examinations that are based on invalidated theories from 150 years ago. Neela Ghoshal

Senior LGBT rights researcher

In Kenya, a disappointing High Court decision in June 2016 upheld the constitutionality of the exams. The judge found that the petitioners, two men who had been arrested on “unnatural offenses” charges and subjected to anal exams while in police custody, had consented to them. Petitioners said they were not informed about the tests and agreed only under duress while in police custody. The decision has been appealed.

All countries should ban the practice of forced anal examinations, and international and domestic human rights and health institutions should vigorously and vociferously oppose their use, Human Rights Watch said.   “No one should be arrested in the first place because of their private sexual conduct, but where such arrests do occur, forced anal exams add an extra layer of pointless brutality and abuse,” Ghoshal said. “Every country should guarantee basic rights and dignity to people accused of homosexual conduct, and recognize that the prohibition on torture extends to everyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity.”   Launch Map Expand Share

 

July 15, 2016 (KHARTOUM). Sudan People's Liberation Movement- North (SPLM-N) on Friday accused Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) of violating the unilateral cessation of hostilities announced by President al- Bashir last June.

SPLA-N fighters stand in front of a grenade launcher captured from Sudan's Armed Forces (SAF) near Gos village in the rebel-held territory of the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan, May 1, 2012. (Reuters)

The four-month unilateral truce initially was for the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states where SAF and its allied militias are fighting the SPLA-North fighters since June 2011.

SPLM-N Spokesperson Arnu Ngulutu Lodi said that the government forces launched several attacks against their position in South Kordofan .The most recent attack was on Lima area west of Kadugli town on Thursday.

In a statement he extended to Sudan Tribune, Lodi said they repelled the assailants who came from Kelak area, adding they "suffered losses in lives and equipment" that have not yet been counted".

Also he said that the government forces based Kelak had attacked the farmers in Lima area on 11 July killing a lady, Fatima Ibrahim, and wounded her husband.

The rebel spokesperson reported a third attack that occurred on 10 July, saying SAF "artillery unit from inside Al-dandor garrison fired several long-range shells on Oma and Um-Dravy areas west Heiban town resulting in the destruction of many farms and caused horror and fear among the civilian".

He stressed that these attacks prove that the announced unilateral cessation of hostilities "is nothing but cheap smokescreen media propaganda",.

Lodi pointed that peace slogans raised by the ruling National Congress Party are "lies" that aims to distract attention and prolong the regime's stay in power.

He went further to say that government forces attacked farms to prevent civilians from earning their living while it deprives them from accessing humanitarian aid since 2011.

SAF spokesperson was not reachable for comment.

The fighting between the SPLM-N and the government forces has been taking place in different fronts in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, where the government has been in war with the rebels of the SPLM-N since June 2011.

The two parties failed to strike a peace deal despite the five-year peace process brokered by the African Union High Level Implementation Panel led by the former South African President Thabo Mbeki.

(ST)

July 16, 2016 (JUBA) – An expert writer on Sudan and South Sudan, Professor Eric Reeves, has apologized for posting a message which predicted that a coup was to be staged in Juba on Monday, 11 July 2016.

Eric Reeves. (Photo: sudanreeves.org)

Reeves, a US citizen, on 10 July posted and tweeted a message, saying that he had sufficient evidence that South Sudan's First Vice President, Riek Machar, was going to lead a coup on Monday, 11 July, 2016, to overthrow President Salva Kiir's government.

The message immediately attracted fierce criticism from Machar's spokesperson who accuszed him of trying on false allegation to incite further violence which already erupted on Friday, 8 July, at the Presidential Palace in Juba.

In his response on Thursday, 14 July, on a post on his website, titled, “A Retraction: Concerning Riek Machar and a possible coup in Juba,” Professor Reeves said he apologized for his “irresponsible” message.

“I am herewith retracting my brief Web posting of July 10, 2016, specifically the claim that there was sufficient evidence in my possession to characterize the situation in Juba and elsewhere in Sudan reflecting an incipient coup, led by Riek Machar. The evidence as I had and have it is insufficient to justify such a characterization, and I deeply regret posting without fuller evidence in hand,” Reeves further wrote on Thursday.

“It was irresponsible, and I accept that characterization,” he added.

Reeves however said a lot of information he had based his prediction on were coming from Juba.

“A great deal of what I referred to was information coming from sources on the ground in Juba, particularly the nature and specifics of the violence that engulfed the city,” he said.

(ST)

July 15, 2016 (JUBA) – The United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, has called on the South Sudanese warring parties and peace partners to demilitarize the national capital, Juba, as one of the measures in ensuring protection of their leadership and to avoid return to violence in the capital.

In a meeting in Kigale, Rwanda, on Friday, with South Sudanese government officials, Ban Ki Moon, also called on the leadership of the new country not to further escalate fighting across the country.

In a statement released by his office on Friday, Ki Moon, also called on the government to stop targeting United Nations personnel and premises or their properties.

He also threatened further sanctions targeting individuals seen to be obstructing implementation of the August 2015 peace agreement signed by President Salva Kiir and opposition leader, Riek Machar.

The UN chief said the new sanctions would include arms embargo to be imposed on South Sudan, adding that he had already recommended this action to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

He made the comments while meeting President Kiir's Special Envoy, Nhial Deng Nhial, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Deng Alor Kuol, where he urged the leaders to promote dialogue rather than violence.

“The Secretary-General voiced his deep concern and disappointment over the recent fighting in Juba and in other locations, further aggravating an already dire humanitarian situation and compromising the implementation of the agreement for the resolution of the conflict in South Sudan. He expressed outrage at the untold suffering inflicted upon the people of South Sudan,” said the statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

“The Secretary-General urged President Salva Kiir and 1st Vice-President Riek Machar to show true leadership and to live up to the aspirations of their people to peace and security,” it said.

He underlined the need for the parties to uphold the cessation of hostilities and to resume dialogue as the only way to sustainably address the crisis in their country.

"The Secretary-General called on the South Sudanese stakeholders to agree on practical steps to demilitarize Juba,” the statement said.

He strongly condemned the impediments to the freedom of movement and attacks against United Nations staff, assets and premises. He called on South Sudan to provide full security and access to the United Nations and to its Peacekeeping Mission.

He also emphasized the gravity of the situation and expressed the hope that the leaders would bear greater responsibility for their people.

“He asked the Special Envoy to relay his messages to the South Sudanese President.”

(ST)

July 15, 2016 (KHARTOUM)- The Sudanese government Friday revealed the postponement of a visit by the African Union Mediator Thabo Mbeki to Khartoum for consolations on peace in the Sudan

AUHIP's Thabo Mbeki talks to reporters after a meeting with Sudanese president Omer al-Bashir on national dialogue in Khartoum on 10 September 2014 (SUNA)

Sudanese Government Spokesperson and Information Minister, Ahmed Bilal Osman, didn't elaborate on the reason behind the adjournment but said the postponement is due to internal conditions related to the government.

Osman expected that Mbeki would visit the country within two weeks to discuss the African Union brokered Roadmap Agreement, and the talks peace between the government and the armed movements.

Last March, the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) and the Sudanese government signed a framework agreement calling to stop war in Blue Nile, South Kordofan states, Darfur region, and to engage in the national dialogue process.

However, the opposition groups invited sign the peace plan - Justice and Equality Movement, National Umma Party, Sudan People's Liberation Movement -North and Sudan Liberation Movement-Minni Minnawi -refused to sign the roadmap, saying it acknowledges the government controlled dialogue conference and would lead to reproduce the regime.

Osman said that Mbeki would also meet with Sudan's Higher Coordination Committee of the National Dialogue known as (7+7) , besides the ongoing efforts to persuade the opposition forces to sign the African Union-brokered road map for peace in Sudan.

Earlier this year, Mbeki who seeks a holistic solution in Sudan encouraged the Future Forces of Change (FFC) a new coalition mainly formed of Islamic opposition groups to negotiate with the government in order to joint process.

However the alliance of Left groups which is member of the opposition Sudan Call umbrella refuses to negotiate with Khartoum, unless it accepts their conditions.

QATARI AND GERMAN EFFORTS

In the meantime, the Popular Congress Party (PCP) Political Secretary Kamal Omer disclosed that the African mediation, Germany and Qatar have made intensive contacts with chairman of the National Umma Party Sadiq al-Mahdi and the three armed groups in the past few days to persuade them to join the road map.

Omer told Ashorooq TV Friday that all the holdout groups are invited to participate in the process to reach a national consensus on the national issues.

The leader of the National Umma Party Sadiq al-Mahdi recently said he expects that the “Sudan Call” forces would respond positively to the Roadmap after Eid Al Fitr holidays, a matter that could pave the way for them to sign it.

The Sudan Call groups are expected to meet next week in the French capital, Paris.

(ST)

July 15, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The first batch of Sudanese evacuees from South Sudan has arrived in Khartoum on Friday, said minister.

Sudanese women and children disembark a plane after arriving at the airport in Khartoum from Juba on July 15, 2016 (AFP Ashraf Shazly Photo)

Last week, fighting erupted in South Sudan's capital Juba between followers of President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, the former rebel leader who became vice president under a deal to end a two-year civil war.

The violence, which has killed hundreds of people, broke out as the world's newest nation prepared to mark five years of independence from Sudan on July 9.

In response to the mounting pressure from the international community, the rival leaders have unilaterally declared cessation of hostilities to stop the fighting.

An airplane carrying 76 people including women, children and elderly among 400 Sudanese stuck in Juba has landed in Khartoum airport at noon on Friday.

State Minister of Cabinet Affairs Jamal Mahmoud told reporters at the airport that the first flight was assigned to the families and the elderly people, pointing that four other flights would respectively arrive on Friday night and Saturday.

He added that Sudan would run three to four flights daily to evacuate its nationals from South Sudan, pointing to the continued efforts of the Sudanese embassy in Juba and the ad hoc committees to secure and evacuate all Sudanese citizens.

Mahmoud pointed that South Sudan's government has shown considerable cooperation in this regard, denying that any Sudanese was injured during the bloody clashes.

He further said that the number of Sudanese nationals who registered for evacuation in Juba and the rest of cities has exceeded 3,000 people, pointing the evacuation process was carried out in coordination among police, security organs, expatriates body and the Sudanese embassy in Juba.

The Sudanese minister revealed that some governments have asked Sudan to allow them evacuate their nationals in South Sudan via Khartoum airport.

(ST)

July 15, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government on Friday said it would conduct the sixth population census in April, 2018.

A Sudanese girl holds the guide of Sudan's 5th Population and Housing Census outside her home in the Sudanese capital Khartoum on April 22, 2008 (AFP)

The fifth Sudan Population and Housing Census was held in April 2008. Its results showed the population at 39.15 million, with 21% (8.26 million) living in the South Sudan before the independence.

The director general of Sudan's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Yassin Abdin, said the exercise would cost $50 million, pointing that 40,000 census officials and enumerators would be mobilised to carry out the exercise across the country.

Abdin, who made the announcement on Friday, urged civil society organisations, government officials and citizens to effectively participate in the process in order to achieve more accurate and comprehensive results.

According to Abdin, the sixth population census would include Sudanese and non-Sudanese people residing in the country besides all demographic groups regardless of gender, age, tribe, ethnicity or political and social status.

“The population census would be based upon the bases of equal rights and duties and it will cover all people residing in Sudan without distinction,” he said .

He added the population would also include Sudanese people who are temporarily absent from the country provided they have no other families abroad, saying that expatriates could also be covered showing reasons for their migration and countries where they reside.

Last year, President Omer al-Bashir issued a decision providing to conduct the sixth population census in April 2018.

According to the decision, the process will be supervised by the Higher Census Council headed by the first vice-president who will be seconded by the cabinet minister and the director general of the CBS.

In line with the presidential decision, regional census committees would be formed at the state-level. They will be headed by the governors while CBS regional directors are appointed as rapporteurs.

The fifth population census was held in April 2008. Its results showed the population at 39.15 million, with 21% (8.26 million) living in South Sudan before its independence.

The first census in Sudan was conducted in 1955 and followed by three others in 1965, 1983 and 1993.

Sudan's current population is estimated at 34 million people.

July 15, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - A higher committee for following- up the situations of the Sudanese nationals in Juba has announced the start of evacuation process as of Friday, citing the deterioration of security concerns in the neighbouring country .

Aid workers from different Non-Governmental Organizations in South Sudan arrive at Wilson airport in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, July 13, 2016 from Juba. (AP Photo)

Bloody fighting erupted recently between forces of President Salva Kiir and troops loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar.

Last Monday, a Sudanese technical evacuation committee urged the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir to issue a decision to evacuate the Sudanese nationals from South Sudan.

The committee announced that more than 2000 Sudanese nationals have registered their names in the Sudanese embassy in Juba demanding to return home voluntarily.

The Secretary General of the Sudanese Expatriates Affairs Organ, Haj Magid Siwar, expected the launch of three flights per day to evacuate Sudanese from Juba.

Siwar said that there are thousands of Sudanese nationals in Juba working mainly in the trade business.

The head of communities and migration department at the Sudanese Expatriates Affairs Organ Al-Rahid Abd al-Latif said in a press statement that the first batch consists of 257 people.

Abd al-Latif said that the chargé d'affaires at the Sudanese embassy in Juba Osama Abdel Bari affirmed completion of coordination with all the concerned bodies.

Abd al-Latif quoted the chargé d'affaires as saying that the guarantees necessary for the arrival of the Sudanese nationals in Juba to the airport have been arranged. He added that priority would be given to the families and children and the elderly.

Abd al-Latif has earlier said that the number of the Sudanese nationals in South Sudan is around 50.000 persons, among them 3000 facing difficult situations and willing to return home.

He added that some of the Sudanese nationals in Juba went to the house of the ambassador, seeking protection during the recent clashes.

In the meantime, the political sector of Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) held exceptional meeting on Thursday to discuss the developments of the situations in South Sudan.

The meeting gave directives to the NCP organizations secretariat to coordinate the efforts of the national organizations in order to receive the returnees, the refugees and those who flee the fighting in South Sudan and providing with the needed support.

(ST)

July 15, 2016 (JUBA) - Soldiers of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), the official army of South Sudan, have invaded the World Food Programme's (WFP) main warehouse in the country's capital, Juba, and looted all food items found in it.

The circumstances under which the soldiers invaded the warehouse remained unclear. The official spokesperson of the army did not make any comment on the situation.

Some military sources claimed they carried out the action because they were told the warehouse was used for storing different military supplies, including food items for armed opposition loyal to First Vice President, Riek Machar.

"The information was received from the command was that the warehouse was used as the main store for military supplies belonging to the SPLA-IO [Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition]. We were told it was not a warehouse for relief items. The command said they were military supplies which we should capture and destroy them," said a military officer on Friday who was part of the operation.

WFP confirmed in a report on its website that warehouse has been ransacked but did not say the identity of the group. The area in which the warehouse is located however falls under exclusive control of the government forces after armed opposition forces changed their headquarters following days of intensive fighting in which several lives and properties have been lost.

Government soldiers were seen carrying stolen food items on their heads and shoulders while others used private and military vehicles to ferry away the looted items, some of which were seen being sold in Gudele 2 market, located west of the town.

The warehouse, according to the report of the WFP, was holding one month of life saving food items for 220,000 people before the fighting erupted.

Joyce Luma, head of the WFP in South Sudan, said the looting by the South Sudanese army loyal to President Salva Kiir, occurred after they have already provided food assistance to thousands of displaced people sheltering at the protection of civilian sites manned by the United Nations in the country in two separate camps.

(ST)

July 15, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan's First Vice President, Riek Machar, said the fighting that erupted between his bodyguards and President Salva Kiir's forces at the J1 Palace or State House on Monday, 8 July, in the national capital, Juba, was calculated to kill him.

Machar in his first public statement to the BBC Focus on Africa on Friday after abandoning his base in the outskirts of Juba early this week said he is “around Juba” but would neither disclose his location nor return to the town to meet President Kiir until the security issues were addressed.

He was responding to the call by President Kiir to meet him. Machar however said he feared for the lives of his officials and for himself after the incident, adding he was also worried about the safety of his ministers currently inside Juba.

“We have a pending meeting, he as president and me as vice president. And also if it were a normal situation, we would meet, but the incident that took place on the 8th [July] in the State House is a very despicable incident, where there was a shootout, and a dog fight, when we were in a meeting,” Machar told the BBC.

“To me that was a calculated plan to kill me,” he said.

Machar's comments confirmed earlier statements from his spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, who said shortly after the fighting erupted at the palace that the attack on “Machar's bodyguards” was intended to “harm” or “arrest” him. The media official said he suspected that the plan was to scare Machar away from the palace compound and then get killed in crossfire if he tried to leave the palace so that the perpetrators would deny knowledge of how he died.

However, Machar decided to remain in the palace until he was escorted by a combination of his force and those loyal to President Kiir. But on Sunday, his military base and residential area was attacked and his house bombed, resulting to relocation of the base.

The First Vice President who also leads an opposition faction of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) said he was willing to return back to Juba but after a third force is deployed in the capital to take charge and ensure safety and no return to violent confrontations. He said he could not trust President Kiir's assurance to protect him and his officials.

“That is why the IGAD Council of Ministers decided that there should be an intervention force, third force, that be deployed in Juba and Juba be demilitarized,” he said.

The opposition leader also condemned the Friday's arrest and beating of his party's secretary general, Dhieu Mathok Diing, who is also minister of Energy and Dams. Machar said he immediately called President Kiir after receiving the news that his minister was beaten at Crown Hotel, adding that President Kiir denied knowledge of what had happened.

The transitional government of national unity, Machar said, is “fragmented and split”, adding that there was need to address security issues in Juba and return the situation to normalcy.

He said he was waiting for the outcome of a proposed meeting in Juba of the chiefs of defence forces from the region on how to tackle the security of Juba.

(ST)

A Zimbabwean pastor with no known political credentials was accused of trying to overthrowing the government. So who is Pastor Evan Mawarire?

July 14, 2016 (WAU) – Authorities in Wau's main referral hospital have dismissed as misleading reports alleging that the medical facility had been closed to visiting patients.

The admission room at Wau teaching hospital, July 14, 2016 (ST)

The acting Minister of Health in Wau state, Awadhia Yakub told Sudan Tribune that, despite patients not turning out for treatments at Wau teaching hospital, the medical institution was fully in operation.

She said since last month's outbreak of violence in Wau, many patients and doctors deserted the hospital, but had now started returning to their duty stations, despite the few patients in there.

“We in the ministry of health and concerned organisations are working together to offer health services to those in need,” said Yakub.

The minister, however, said the security situation in town was calm and called upon citizens to return to their homes, in addition to urging all nurses and doctors who deserted to immediately resume work.

“The POCs [Protection of Civilian Camps] where people are living are not friendly with the lives of the children [and] therefore, there is a need for those living at the camps to return home,” she stressed.

South Sudan, Africa's newest nation, is one of poorest countries in the world with the worst indicators of development, health and education.

(ST)

July 14, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - New Arab League Secretary General Thursday reaffirmed the support of the regional body to a Sudanese initiative for Arab food security to be discussed during the upcoming summit.

Ahmed Aboul-Gheit

Ahmed Aboul Gheit was in Khartoum where he met with President Omer al-Bashir. The former Egyptian foreign minister discussed with the Sudanese leader his initiative for food security which will be among the agenda of the Arab summit in Nouakchott.

The Arab League leaders will meet in the Mauritanian capital on 26-27 July. Also the meeting will discuss the fight against terrorism in the region.

Following a meeting with Bashir, Aboul Gheit announced his unlimited support to the food security project, saying all the Sudanese initiatives for the next Arab summit will receive the necessary attention from the Arab League and his person.

He said that the Arab League prepared a report on Bashir's initiative for Arab food security and a draft resolution on this respect will be submitted to the summit to find a mechanism to fund the project

Since three years, al-Bashir proposed to the Arab leaders to invest in his country infrastructures and enter into strategic partnerships with Khartoum to secure Arab food supplies.

Arab countries are among the world 's biggest importers of grain, import two-thirds of its sugar needs, most of the meat and milk needs, all of its tea, a significant portion of its oils, fruits and vegetables needs in light of the increasing population.

Concerning South Sudan request to join Arab League as observer, Aboul-Gheit said that AL Charter does not allow that, but he pointed that he is trying to convince Arab countries to give South Sudan the status of “special observer”.

He further stressed that he would report to Arab Ministerial Council in September on South Sudan.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Obeid Mohamed, on his part, pointed that Sudan welcomes Aboul-Gheit visit to Sudan and supports his appointment as AL secretary general.

“Sudan supports AL secretary general and will cooperate with him to enhance the Arab body,” said Obeid.

Obeid further added that Aboul-Gheit has briefed al- Bashir on AL efforts to address the challenges that face Arab countries.

Sudan joined the Arab League 19 January 1956, ten days after independence from Anglo-Egyptian rule.

The Arab League has 22 member states as of 2016. The Arab League was founded in Cairo in 1945 by the Kingdom of Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Republic, Transjordan (Jordan from 1946) and North Yemen (later becoming Yemen).

(ST)

July 14, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudanese security forces are deliberately blocking people from leaving the country in violation of their right to freedom of movement, Amnesty International has revealed.

Aid workers from different Non-Governmental Organizations in South Sudan arrive at Wilson airport in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, July 13, 2016 from Juba. (AP Photo)

The organization said it has received reports from two charter companies that National Security Service officers have ordered them not to carry South Sudanese nationals, particularly men.

A non-governmental organization has also reported that their South Sudanese staff was prevented from boarding a flight to Entebbe, Uganda.

“This arbitrary conduct by the South Sudanese security forces is totally unacceptable. South Sudan must respect people's right to freedom of movement, including the right to leave their own country,” said Elizabeth Deng, Amnesty International's South Sudan Researcher.

“It is absolutely critical that both parties to the conflict do not obstruct safe passage of civilians fleeing to places of refuge both inside and outside of the country,” she said in a statement extended to Sudan Tribune.

Juba international airport is packed with security personnel who block men from taking flights to other countries, resulting to detention of many of the passengers who were seen thrown into security vehicles and driven back into town.

Sources said security personnel are only allowing their relatives or friends to board planes.

Thousands of South Sudanese people have reportedly also gathered at the country's southern border of Nimule, seeking to enter into Uganda, but they are also being prevented from crossing over.

Juba airport was reopened on Tuesday after a ceasefire was announced to end days of fighting between rival armed forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and First Vice-President, Riek Machar, which left hundreds of people dead and thousands displaced.

Charter and evacuation flights have been leaving since the airport reopened, but commercial flights have only resumed on Thursday, but freedom of movement to other countries has not yet been eased.

IGAD, the East African regional bloc, had earlier called on the South Sudanese government to reopen the airport to reactivate resumption of flights.

(ST)

July 14, 2016 (JUBA) - The Nuer community in Uganda have condemned renewed fighting in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, between two rival forces from Friday and Monday, describing it as violation of the August 2015 peace agreement.

The community members said the recent violence in the country is likely to increase more suffering for local citizens and places the country to uncertain future or “great danger.”

They also blamed the international community in general and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in particular, that mediated the peace process, for not monitoring its implementation and putting pressure on violators.

Stephen Bar, chairman for the Nuer community in Kiryandongo resettlement camp in Uganda, told Sudan Tribune that what had happened in South Sudan this week was threatening the peace agreement.

"This indicator shows the collapse of long lasting peace agreement that was almost to be implemented, we put all [the] blame on…UNSC, IGAD, AU, TROIKA and JMEC," he said.

He criticized the chairperson of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) for not playing an effective role in safeguarding the peace deal.

The failure to demilitarize Juba city before arrival of first vice president, Riek Machar, and the delay in establishing contentment areas of the opposition's SPLA-IO forces in greater Bahr El Gahzal and Equatoria regions is a setback to peace.

They also accused the SPLA forces allied to president Salva Kiir of allegedly starting the war in Juba and of targeting civilian sites who took refuge in UN camps.

"We blamed the government of president Salva Kiir's forces, for using heavy artilleries shelling and helicopters attacks, which has resulted into the death of 8 civilians and wounded 65 others," Bar said.

Koang Gatwech, a senior adviser for Nuer community in Uganda, has also blamed the international community for allegedly watching the crimes being committed by government and failed to act immediately.

"The targeting of two SPLM/SPLA-IO officers by military intelligence and national security by the government of president Salva Kiir on 2th-5th July 2016 at the hand of JMEC, with in the same month on 7th two arrival forces clashed at Gudelle Checkpoint the area of Lou clinic and resulted into death of five Soldiers from government side, JMEC and others partners without quick intervention," he said.

He said the fights between president Salva Kiir bodyguards and first vice president unit forces during a meeting conducted on Friday, 8 July, in presidential palace of J1 was a total failure of leadership in the country.

"The losses of life on our dear sons from both sides, as well as fighting continued up to checkpoint Jebel Kujur which is a cantonment site of SPLM/SPLA-IO is a clear violation of peace," he added.

The group also added that the failure to commemorate the fifth anniversary of independence of the country was regrettable to the South Sudanese people.

"Instead to celebrate the joyful day we were trapped into conflict, this has made us all unhappy with current situation which includes ethnicity [based] targeting," he said.

(ST)