Monday, December 28, 2009

Sudan sets date for election nominations


Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir addresses the media at Khartoum airport, April 1, 2009 upon arrival from the Arab Summit in Doha. Sudan has set a date for receiving its presidential and parliamentary nominations as the historic elections for the continent’s biggest country nears. REUTERS

By LUCAS BARASAPosted Monday, December 28 2009 at 13:17

Sudan has set a date for receiving its presidential and parliamentary nominations as the historic elections for the continent’s biggest country nears.

The National Election Commission at the weekend said it will receive the nominations for the executive and legislative bodies from January 12 to January 22.

The oil-rich country is to hold the presidential and parliamentary polls from April 5 to April 12, 2010.

A report from Sudanese Embassy in Nairobi said NEC chairman Abil Alier and other commission’s member announced the nomination dates at a press conference at NEC offices.

“Alier welcomed the role being played by the media to make a success the elections process, calling for continuity of the cooperation in the coming period, especially after the conclusion of the registration phase and starting of the nomination phase,” the report, said.

The chairman of the NEC Technical Committee, Al-Hadi Mohamed Ahmed, pointed out that the nomination for the executive positions includes the election of the President of the Republic, the President of the Government of South Sudan and the Governors of the States, while the nomination for the legislative positions includes the membership of the legislative assemblies from the geographical constituencies, women, the Legislative Assembly of South Sudan and the States’ legislative assemblies.

The elections were to mark an end of a transitional period which began when the decades-long Second Sudanese Civil War came to an end in early 2005.

They were to be held from March to April 2009 but delayed due to problems with the preparation of the vote and with national census.

About 69 parties have registered for the election.

The Sudan census results were released in mid-May 2009 but was contested by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army which said Southern Sudanese are a third of Sudan’s total population while the census stated a much smaller number.

It is unknown if the Darfurian amalgamation referendum, due to take place in July 2010, will be pulled back to match the general election.

Observers believe opposition parties will have a difficult time to oust President Omar Bashir’s National Congress Party from power due to their divisions.

The Sudan elections are a cornerstone of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the SPLM/A. Another is the Southern self-determination referendum, scheduled for 2011 at the end of the peace deal’s six-year interim period.

Field Marshal Bashir’s government bowed to pressure from the South to open voter registration centres in three Sub-Saharan states previously left out by the country’s NEC. Sudanese nationals in the Diaspora were able to register from South Africa, Kenya and Uganda. Another centre was also opened in Malaysia bringing the countries identified by NEC for the exercise to 14.

Some victors will be chosen under a first-past-the-post system, others by proportional representation. In a recent report, the Rift Valley Institute noted that the numerous elections and referendums held in Sudan since 1953 “have not so far produced the kind of stable yet dynamic government that the secret ballot is intended to encourage” largely because of “widespread and massive” fraud under authoritarian regimes and lack of necessary resources.

Source:nation.co.ke/

Sudan and Chad agreed to end hostilities - official


December 27, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — Sudan and its neighboring Chad have agreed to end hostilities against each other, said spokesperson of the foreign ministry in Khartoum today.

The Chadian foreign minister Moussa Faki Mahamat, heading a high level security delegation, was this week in Khartoum where he met Sudanese Omer Al-Bashir on Thursday, and held talks with presidential adviser Ghazi Salah Al-Deen Attabani and intelligence chief Mohamed Atta Al-Moula.

Moussa said they had agreed to implement the already signed agreements which deal mainly with the control of joint border and presence of rebel groups in their respective territories.

"Chadian-Sudanese relations will witness a major breakthrough in the coming days," said Sunday Muawiya Osman Khalid Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who further said that the two countries had agreed to stop all forms of hostilities between the two countries at both the military and the media levels.

Khalid also said they agreed to increase the political engagement between the two countries through exchange visits at the different levels including the border towns.

He also indicated that a Sudanese military delegation would travel to Ndjamena within two weeks to discuss implementation of security and military issues as it is agreed in the signed agreement.

According to a non-aggression pact signed in the Senegalese capital, on the sidelined of the Islamic Conference summit on March 13, 2008, the two countries agreed to deploy a monitoring force to ensure stability on the joint border and to establish a contact group composed of Congo, Eritrea, Gabon, Libya and Senegal.

According to the deal, Chad will supply its own soldiers to patrol its own border, Sudan will supply its own soldiers to patrol its own border, and the peace and security force will become a mechanism for observing the two countries.

According to Dakar agreement, an aerial and satellite surveillance would be used to identify the troops movement across the border.

Speaking to Miraya FM on Sunday, the Chadian Consul in Khartoum Hussein Jeddah said his country would ban the activities of the Sudanese rebels inside its territories in implementation of the signed deals between the two countries.

The diplomat disclosed Sudan had evacuated the Chadian rebels at four hundreds kilometers from the joint border.

During the last four years, Sudan and Chad traded accusation of supporting rebel groups who attacked the two capitals and remain active along the border areas.

Khalid stressed that the recent move between the Chad and Sudan is not tactical or related to Darfur peace process in Doha but rather expresses a strategic issue for the two neighbors that have interdependent interests.

Source:sudantribune.com/

Sudan ships first ethanol exports to EU


KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan has begun exporting its first 5 million litres of ethanol to the European Union, at an initial price of around 450 euros a cubic metre, officials from the Kenana Sugar company said on Monday.

Kenana, Sudan's largest sugar company, this year inaugurated the ethanol plant which aims to produce 65 million litres a year of the bio fuel.

"Yesterday a vessel carrying 5 million litres of ethanol went to Rotterdam," said company secretary Fareed Omer Medani.

"This has been purchased by the European Union," he said, adding by the end of February a further 20 million litres would be exported in four separate shipments.

Kenana's Managing Director Mohamed El Mardi told Reuters the price per cubic metre for the December shipment was about 450 euros FOB.

But he said prices for the four further shipments would vary, depending on the market.

"The prices are not fixed prices," he said. "For the five shipments we will have 5 different prices -- January/February prices are higher than in December."

Mardi said it was the first export of ethanol from Sudan, adding the shipments would continue regularly at 5 million litres every month.

Source:af.reuters.com/

Sudan confirms 5 A/H1N1 flu deaths, 145 infection cases

KHARTOUM, Dec. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese Health Ministry said five people died of influenza A/H1N1 and 145 cases were confirmed in the country, Khartoum's Al Ahdath daily reported Monday.

The paper quoted Undersecretary of the Sudanese Ministry of Health Kamal Abdul-Ghader as saying that "all cases came from outside Sudan."

He said his ministry has set up 13 centers for the infected people in Khartoum, besides one center in each state of the country, according to the report.

"There are measures to prevent the spread of the disease through surveillance at airports," he was quoted as saying.

He added that the ministry was planning to import vaccines in cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Source:news.xinhuanet.com/english/

NCP favors Sudan’s unity in 2011 referendum: official


December 26, 2009 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese ruling National Congress Party (NCP) stressed today that it is working towards making the choice of unity a dominant one among Southerners in the 2011 referendum.

Mohamed Mandoor Al-Mahdi the NCP’s VP in Khartoum state, said that the party’s leadership is in favor of Sudan’s unity, saying that the discussions with the Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) focused on the required percentage of voters in the referendum to declare the south an independent state.

The NCP official told reporters today that the NCP sought to increase the percentage to bolster hopes that unity option will be possible adding that this issue was thoroughly discussed with the ex-Southern rebel group.

Both parties in the National Unity government have been deadlocked for most of this year on the referendum law particularly over the turnout and the ‘Yes’ vote in favor of independence.

Initially the NCP wanted between 75%-90% yes vote and a two thirds turnout arguing that the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) says that the secession choice should be made difficult.

However, following stiff resistance from the SPLM, the dominant party agreed on a simple majority result for secession and a 60% turnout.

This week the national assembly adopted the referendum bill but NCP legislators modified it by cancelling an article stipulating that southerners who reside outside the region will have to register and vote only in South Sudan.

The SPLM walked out on the voting session to protest the change introduced to the bill threatening escalation if the move is not reversed. The US administration criticized the NCP saying it is reneging on the CPA.

The bill is scheduled to be sent back to the parliament to remove the modifications made by the NCP.

Al-Mahdi denied reports that the national assembly will look into the entire bill but rather at the article in dispute which the parties sat down and agreed on its resolution.

He acknowledged that the referendum law makes secession easier noting that some SPLM figures have publicly expressed their opinions in favor of independence.

On Friday the Ezekiel Gatkuoth, head of South Sudan’s mission to the United States told the Washington Times that the US financially is helping South Sudan to be a viable state should it decide to secede in 2011.

The NCP official slammed the SPLM questioning the fate of $8 billion sent to the south to be spent on development adding that this would have contributed towards making unity attractive.

Source:sudantribune.com

Independence an uncertain draw for Khartoum southerners


Kiir claims southern Sudan gets less than 25 percent of revenues generated by oil produced from its territory




KHARTOUM — Amid wrangling in parliament over an independence referendum for south Sudan, southerners in the capital Khartoum look forward with enthusiasm to secession, but the prospect unsettles some.

There are about 520,000 south Sudanese -- mostly Christian -- living in the Muslim north, according to a northern government census. The southern government says the figure is much higher.

This population, most of which fled the south during a 22-year civil war with the Muslim north that ended in a 2005 power-sharing agreement, is at the centre of a dispute that saw southern MPs withdraw from parliament this week.

The ruling northern National Congress Party (NCP) pushed a bill in parliament that allowed diaspora southerners, including those in the north, to cast absentee ballots for the 2011 referendum.

The bill, passed after MPs with the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement (SPLM), the ruling party in the south, staged a walk-out in protest, will be resubmitted to parliament on Monday for a second reading.

The NCP says barring southerners in the north from casting ballots would violate Sudan's interim constitution, which allows freedom of travel in the country.

But southern politicians say the measure opens the way to fraud and pressure on voters.

The majority of southerners are still expected to vote for independence, but in Khartoum they view the referendum with a mixture of optimism and apprehension.

Saber Azaria, 21, a student in Khartoum and the son of a northern father and southern mother, said he would be torn by the partition of the country.

"It will be like having one leg here and the other leg there," he said.

Others, conscious of religious and cultural differences with the north, where Islamic sharia law applies, say they belong to the south.

"In Juba (the southern capital) I feel at home. Here I feel as if I'm in a foreign country," said Kwashi James Amum, a young woman preparing to attend mass at a cathedral in Khartoum.

"We have a different culture, language and religion," she said.

Southerners in Khartoum complain of being treated like second-class citizens. "When I look for work, the first question I am asked is: are you Muslim or Christian?" said Gatwech Mueth Bol, a 27-year old university graduate.

"I spent more than 20 years here in Khartoum but we south Sudanese are not considered true Sudanese," said Anthony Gony, 45, a technician.

Southern politicians also claim that Khartoum has failed their region, which sits on lucrative oil reserves.

SPLM leader Salva Kiir said in November that the south receives less than 25 percent of revenues generated by oil produced from its territory, although the 2005 agreement apportioned 50 percent to the southern government.

Others blame Khartoum for a spate of ethnic killings this year mainly in Jonglei state, where they accuse the NCP of arming and backing local tribes, an allegation Khartoum denies.

The violence has led to concern ahead of general elections next year.

Under the referendum bill passed this week, a simple majority of votes in support of independence would suffice.

But some fear a lurch into an uncertain future. Lisa Peter, 21, says she is drawn to an independent south, yet still finds the prospect "terrifying."

Source:AFP

Algerian artists for the 54th celebrations of Sudan's independence


Algiers- On Algeria's initiative and under the high patronage of Presidents Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Omar Hassan El Bashir, a host of Algerian artists will take part in the festivities celebrating the 54th anniversary of the independence of Sudan on 1st January 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Sunday.

"This gesture, expression of the traditions of friendship and brotherhood binding the two peoples," the same source underscored, will be conveyed through two major artistic evening performances in Khartoum and Umm Durman on 31st December 2009 and 1st January 2010. Both shows, scheduled to feature famous Algerian artists and the Algerian National Ballet, will take place at Khartoum’s Friendship Hall and Umm Durman’s National Theatre.

Source:

LRA kill 1,300 in Sudan, DRC

Describing harrowing experience from victims, the report called on the international community to co-operate with the ICC in investigating, arresting, and transferring all LRA leaders accused of international crimes.


Lira
About 1,300 civilians have died in Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 10 months following human rights abuses allegedly committed by rebels of the Lord’s Resistance Army, according to latest periodic reports by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

One report on southern Sudan reveals attacks on civilians in Western and Central Equatoria States, between December 15 2008 and March 10 2009.

The report on the DRC states that at least 1,200 civilians were killed, including women who were raped before execution.
According to the report, more than 100 people were wounded by gunshots and stabbing and about 1,400 people were abducted and some executed or are missing.

Sexual slavery
“During their captivity, abductees were subjected to forced labour in fields, forced to carry looted goods or personal effects or recruited into the LRA. Women were forced to marry LRA members, subjected to sexual slavery, or both,” the report released last week said.

It adds: “Thousands of homes, dozens of shops and businesses, as well as public buildings, including at least 30 schools, health centres, hospitals, churches, markets, and traditional seats of chiefdoms, were looted, set on fire and over 200,000 people were also displaced.”

Describing harrowing experience from victims, the report called on the international community to co-operate with the ICC in investigating, arresting, and transferring all LRA leaders accused of international crimes.

The report also accused the DRC army, FARDC, of human rights violation of the displaced persons instead of protecting them.

“Soldiers of the Congolese armed forces, supposed to protect civilians, also committed human rights violations, including executions, rape, arbitrary arrests and detentions and illegal, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment and extortion,” the report said.

The report stated that attacks, systematic and widespread human rights violations carried out since mid-September 2008 against Congolese civilians may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Sudan report on the other hand based on 27 confirmed attacks, reveals that at least 81 civilians were killed in attacks and many others injured.

“The evidence presented in this report suggests that LRA actions may amount to crimes against humanity,” the report says. The reports recommended that the United Nation Mission in Sudan should exercise its protection of civilians since its mandated to prevent further loss of life.

“The international community, including governments, should cooperate with the ICC to search for, arrest and surrender the LRA leaders accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The international community should support meaningful peace efforts between governments in the region and the LRA,” the report recommends.

Issues in report

Women were forced to marry LRA members, subjected to sexual slavery or both.
Thirty schools, health centres, hospitals, churches, markets, and traditional seats of chiefdoms, were looted, set on fire. Over 200,000 people were displaced.
The report describes the report as systematic and widespread human rights violations carried out since mid-September 2008 against Congolese civilians may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
DRC army accused of violating rights displaced persons instead of protecting them.

Source:monitor.co.ug/

Sudan Parl't to vote on referendum law


The office of Sudan National Congress Party says the dispute between the ruling party and Sudan People's Liberation Movement about referendum on Southern independence, concerns the participation of the southern who live outside the region.

The head of the office, Ghazi Salah al-din, released on Monday the news in a statement, a copy of which was received by Al-Alam.

The statement said that the removal of the clause 3 of the article 27 on referendum law, created a lot of disagreements between the two parties.

According to this clause, those Sudanese citizens who belong to southern Sudan ethnic groups and have not had permanent residence since January 1956, do not have rights to participate in the referendum.

Sudan's parliament was due to vote again on Monday on the referendum law.

"We agreed on the fact that the law on the referendum will be resubmitted to parliament on Monday to be adopted with the article that had been removed," said Riek Mashar of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement.

On Tuesday, MPs from the SPLM and other southern parties walked out in protest at a new clause allowing diaspora southerners -- including those in the north who could be subject to northern influence -- to cast absentee ballots

Source:alalam.ir/

Darfur mediation urges Sudan to create conducive environment for peace talks


December 27, 2009 (DOHA) — Darfur peace mediation today has urged the Sudanese government to create a conducive environment before to start peace talks which would take place during the last week of January in Doha.


Sudanese advisor to the president, Ghazi Salah AlDeen Al-Attabani (R), meets with Joint United Nations and African Union mediator for Darfur Djibril Bassole in Khartoum on July 15, 2009. (Getty) The Sudanese Presidential Adviser, Ghazi Salah Al-Deen Attabani who is in charge with Darfur dossier held today a working session with Ahmed bin Abdullah Al-Mahmoud, Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, and Djibrill Bassolé, the AU/UN Joint Chief Mediator for Darfur.

The meeting tackled the ongoing preparations for the upcoming peace talks between government and rebels delegations scheduled to start on January 24.

"The Mediation strongly recommended that the Government do everything possible to create a climate of trust and a conducive environment for reaching a lasting settlement of the conflict, particularly in the areas of security and freedom of movement, as stipulated in UNSC resolution 1769 and the Goodwill and Confidence Building Agreement signed in Doha on 17 February 2009," said a statement released today by the mediation.

Despite Khartoum statements on readiness to hold talks with the rebel groups, the Sudanese government refused to release some hundred fighters from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) in accordance with a confidence building agreement asking them to sign a ceasefire first.

Also, the rebel Sudan Liberation Movement of Abdel Wahid Al-Nur and other rebel groups ask the government to improve the security conditions before talks but the government army and militias attacked several times their position in the troubled region.

The mediation also informed the Sudanese delegation about the resolutions of a conference it had organized in Doha for Darfur civil society and requested "the Government to take into consideration the aspirations expressed by the people of Darfur."

The four day meeting, held by the mediation in order to identify the means for supporting the peace process, called for a ceasefire and urged the stakeholders to work with the mediation to reach a lasting peace agreement.

After discussing the upcoming electoral process with the government delegation, the mediation said hoping that the "ongoing peace negotiations will continue so as to enable all the Darfur population to partake in the April 2010 elections in a free and democratic manner."

Contested in the past by the rebel groups among skepticism from some regional powers, the Doha process is seen now as the most viable approach to end the six year conflict as it conjugates the efforts of the African Union and the Arab League with the support of the international community and adherence of rebel groups.

Last week, the UN Secretary General reiterated the support of the international community to the Doha process and the joint mediator while he hailed the holistic approach of Mbeki for the resolution of Sudanese crisis "By giving Mr. Bassole our unequivocal support, we will send a strong message to all parties that they must engage in the negotiations he is leading" he said.

Source:sudantribune.com/

Sudan: Local languages in schools to promote better understanding


Southern Sudan nationals have expressed satisfaction over the introduction of local languages into their school curricula by the ministry of education. They say it will help their children to study better.

Amos Longwa, a parent and also chairperson of Magwe parents association in southern Sudan said, "We are happy about the development. English is a foreign language which is not easliy learnt by children in primary schools. The children will learn better in their local languages."

The Minister of Education in the southern Sudan, Job Dhoruai, said during an interview that "the introduction of mother tongue languages into the curricula, in primary one to primary three levels, is in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

The government is committed to the language policy. The teaching of mother tongue during the formative years in school can increase children’s understanding."

He said that encouraging mother tongue use is also the easiest way to end illiteracy in the Southern Sudan.

This effort has been praised by observers who believe that local languages as part of a wider school curricula will also help students discover the various mindsets that constitute their environment and promote national cohesion.

Among the languages to start with is the Muru language. Over eight thousand text books in Muru have been produced by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

Simon Okello, a primary teacher in Bol primary school in southern Sudan said "It has not been easy to teach in English in primary one and two. Introducing local languages in primary schools will make our work easier."
Source:en.afrik.com/

Police investigates suspicious death of Sudanese man in Calgary


Police units on the scene where body was found in an apartment in the 900 block of 38 Street N.E. in the city's Marlborough neighbourhood (Note: not connected to the killing scene for Saturday's death)

Photograph by: Sherri Zickefoose, Calgary Herald

(Calgary AB NSV) - Calgary police are searching for evidence linked to a suspicious death of a Sudanese man on Saturday morning.

Homicide investigators are in the preliminary stages of the investigation and few details can be released at this time. They are waiting for autopsy results.

However, The New Sudan Vision can independently confirm that the victim of Saturday's killing is a Sudanese immigrant, identified as Deng Manyuon (Deng Achol).

NSV understands that Deng left his residence on Friday evening to visit with friends, where they played dominoes.

The last person to see him alive says he and another man drove him off at his residence at around 12 midnight.

The witness said Deng opened his door and told them in Dinka that "You can go now guys. I have arrived."

At approximately 1:25 AM police responded to a domestic complaint, where they found a deceased male lying dead on a roadway near his residence.

Police have not established what transpired in Deng's residence and how the victim's bloody body was found in the snow outside his home.

Deng lived with his wife and his one-year-old son.

Source:newsudanvision.com/

Sudan:Communique of the 213th Meeting of the Peace and Security Council

The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU), at its 213rd meeting held on 22 December 2009, considered the Report of the Mission undertaken by the Council to the Sudan, from 23rd to 25th November 2009, and adopted the following decision:

Council:

1. Takes note of the Report [PSC/PR/CCXIII] on the PSC field mission which visited the Sudan from 23rd to 25th November 2009;

2. Stresses the need to re?energize the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and to accelerate the process of post?conflict reconstruction and socio?economic development in South Sudan. In this respect, Council further stresses the importance of the AU Ministerial Committee on Post?Conflict Reconstruction of the Sudan and encourages the Committee to intensify its efforts;

3. Emphasizes the need, given the challenges related to the general elections in April 2010 and the referendum in early 2011, for the AU to accelerate the implementation of the recommendations of the African Union High Level Panel on Darfur (AUPD) in line with the
decision adopted by Council at its 207th meeting held at the level of Heads of State and Government in Abuja, Nigeria, on 29 October 2009;

Relevant Links
East Africa
North Africa
Sudan
Peacekeeping
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4. Expresses concern at the continuing lack of confidence between the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM) regarding the implementation of the CPA, which affects preparations for the referendum scheduled for early 2011. In this regard, stresses the need for the AU, and IGAD, with the support of the international community, to assist in renewing confidence between the two parties;

5. Notes the challenges faced by the Sudan in both the implementation of the CPA and the upcoming elections in April 2010, as well as the preparations for the referendum. In this respect, Council decides to establish an Ad Hoc Committee on Sudan to assist in addressing the challenges. Council further agrees to undertake field missions to Sudan in support of the peace processes in that country;

6. Requests the Chairperson of the Commission to submit to it regular reports on the evolution of the situation in Sudan;

7. Decides to remain seized of the matter.

Source:allafrica.com/

AU Security Council call for peace talks in SUDAN

The members of the Security Council have called on all parties to engage in peace talks in Sudan.

Their call came after they received a briefing from former South African President Thabo Mbeki and African Union Commission Chairperson Jean Ping on 21 December on the report and recommendations of the African Union High-level Implementation Panel on Darfur, and subsequent decisions of the African Union Peace and Security Council.

The members of the Security Council welcomed the report and underlined their appreciation for the balanced and comprehensive nature of the recommendations to promote peace, justice and reconciliation in Darfur and Sudan as a whole.

According to a press statement, “They looked forward to the implementation of a holistic approach to the problems facing Sudan and supported efforts aimed at the peaceful and democratic transformation of Sudan, in line with the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement.”

The members of the Security Council agreed with the report that the causes and consequences of the conflict in Darfur have yet to be addressed.

They reiterated their support for United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS) and the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), and for the work of the United Nations-African Union Joint Chief Mediator, Djibril Bassolé, to promote a lasting political settlement for Darfur.

They also reiterated their call for all parties that have not yet done so to fully commit to and participate in peace talks.

The members of the Security Council called for the Government of Sudan and other parties in Sudan and the region to work with President Mbeki and his colleagues in coordination with the international community as appropriate.

Source:gazettebw.com/

UN: Rebel Group's Attacks in Congo, Sudan May Be Punishable War Crimes

The U.N. Human Rights Office says the attacks and systematic, widespread violations carried out by the Lord's Resistance Army in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Southern Sudan may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity. The U.N. agency has just issued two reports on the atrocities committed by the LRA over a 10-month period.

Between September 2008 and June 2009, the U.N. report says the Lord's Resistance Army killed 1,200 people and abducted 1,400 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Some 600 children and 400 women were among those kidnapped. These terror tactics are blamed for forcing 230,000 terrified villagers to flee their homes.

Last Christmas, the LRA unleashed its most devastating wave of synchronized attacks. Dozens of locations in and around the towns of Faradje and Doruma were attacked. About 500 civilians were killed and hundreds of others abducted.

Human Rights Spokesman, Rupert Colville, says last year's events haunt everyone in the region. "There is a major fear that they may, in fact, try and repeat, at least partly, what they did last Christmas this Christmas and the U.N. peacekeeping force in DRC, MONUC said last week it had gone on high alert because it had some indications that the LRA could try and do what they did last year, which was particularly savage. They had exploited Christmas, exploited the fact that people were gathering in town centers for the festivities. People were gathering in churches and they used that to maximize their impact," he said.

The LRA waged a civil war in Uganda for more than two decades. During that time, the rebel group abducted more than 10,000 children, using them as child soldiers and sex slaves. About a million people were displaced.

After the LRA was driven out of Uganda in 2002 and out of Southern Sudan in 2005, it took refuge in the Orientale Province, a remote corner in northern DRC.

Last year and early this year, the Congolese army, with support from the U.N. Mission in DRC, launched three separate military operations to try to dislodge the Lord's Resistance Army.

As a consequence, the LRA splintered into several groups and crossed into neighboring Central African Republic and Sudan. Colville says this may have reduced the intensity of their attacks, but it has not stopped them. "And the splinters themselves are causing problems in that they are now in three countries again, not just in one ... It is a very worrying situation because as you say, they have gone on for decades this group. They spent about 20 years largely in Uganda. The same style - killing, mutilating, raping, stealing children, sex slavery ... And, because they keep stealing people, they keep replenishing their forces. So, it is a very efficient form of barbarity in the practice by the LRA. They manage to replicate themselves and keep going," he said.

The report urges the international community to help the DRC improve the quality of its security forces and their ability to protect civilians. It also calls for governments to cooperate with the International Criminal Court in investigating and arresting all LRA leaders accused of international crimes

Souce:voanews.com/

Friday, December 11, 2009

Peacekeepers shot at again in Darfur region

Peacekeepers in the western Darfur region of Sudan have been fired upon for the third time in less than a week. An armed Pakistani police unit was the latest to be targeted as it escorted a convoy outside Nyala, capital of south Darfur.
Defenceweb reports that unidentified gunmen exchanged fire with the police for 25 minutes, according to information from the UN/African Union (AU) peacekeeping force, UNAMID. No one was injured in the shooting.
Force communications chief Kemal Saiki said the attackers fled when a force of Nigerian UNAMID soldiers arrived on the scene:
It is a scandal that our forces are being targeted. They are impartial. They take no sides. Once again we are having to emphasise the fact that our forces are in Darfur to try and help bring peace and stability.
Saiki said he did not wish to link this shooting with two other attacks last week in northern Darfur in which five Rwandan peacekeepers were killed. He said:
There have been successive attacks. But it is difficult to jump to conclusions. This one took place in Nyala which is a different area altogether.
So far, 22 UNAMID members have been killed in action while trying to keep the peace in Darfur. The mission, reportedly undermanned, moved to the region in January, 2008.
Both government officials and a former rebel group said two groups of men had been arrested in connection with last week’s incidents. In both cases, they were reported to have been criminals trying to steal vehicles.
The conflict in Darfur exploded when non-Arab rebel groups accused the Sudanese government in Khartoum of neglecting the region and took up arms. Khartoum sent in so-called “Janjaweed” Arab militias to crush the uprising, unleashing violence that led to large parts of the population fleeing to neighbouring Chad.
The US and the EU call the actions genocide, but the Khartoum government rejects this.

Source:digitaljournal.com/a

G77 walks out of COP15 meeting


Tension between developing and developed countries builds as climate summit enters its fifth day

The chief negotiator for 134 developing nations left the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) yesterday in anger.

Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping from Sudan, the G77 group’s top negotiator, is also accusing Denmark of driving the climate summit into the ground.

‘Things are not going well,’ he said after walking out from an hour-long negotiation. ‘It’s very problematic that there’s a different agenda running alongside the official UN process,’ Di-Aping told Politiken newspaper.

When asked to elaborate on those comments, he said:

’Your prime minister has chosen to protect the rich countries, and that’s not ok,’ referring to Denmark’s Lars Løkke Rasmussen.

‘If the Copenhagen summit ends in failure, the whole Scandinavian multilateral tradition will be jeopardised. What your prime minister is doing is completely against the spirit of the foreign aid Denmark and the Danish people have given to Africa for so many years,’ said Di-Aping.


The G77 group represents 134 mainly developing countries, including China, Indonesia and Argentina.

COP15 President Connie Hedegaard, Denmark’s former climate minister, has refused to comment on the case.

Source:cphpost.dk/

US urges restraint after Sudan unrest


WASHINGTON — The United States on Tuesday condemned political violence and arrests in Sudan in the wake of unrest in the troubled African country, and urged Khartoum to "allow freedom of expression and peaceful demonstrations."

"I am deeply concerned about these developments and urge all parties to exercise restraint," said US special envoy to the country Scott Gration.

"Negotiations on issues of urgent importance to all of the Sudanese people cannot proceed in an atmosphere of intimidation," he said.

Sudanese police detained three senior opposition figures and dozens of demonstrators from the south's ruling party on Monday as part of a wide crackdown against a planned protest.

Southern protesters responded by torching offices of Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP).

Washington "calls on all parties to create an atmosphere conducive to credible elections," said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly.

"We condemn all acts of violence in Sudan and call for restraint and dialogue among all parties."

The former southern rebels, the People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), and President Omar al-Beshir's NCP have failed to agree on democratic reforms ahead of next April's elections and on a procedural law for the south's referendum scheduled for January 2011.

Next year's elections are a critical component of the fragile peace agreement, and "all parties must work to effect serious reforms" beforehand, Kelly said in a statement.

"Freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and protection from against arbitrary arrest and detention are fundamental human rights that must be respected," he added.

Source:http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gIBjlZHzcRJJuAJte2s9qrnPj4Pw

Mottaki Underlines Expansion of Iran-Sudan Ties


TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki in Khartoum stressed that Iran and Sudan should find new venues for expansion of relations and cooperation.





"New steps should be taken for expansion of relations and cooperation and finding new atmospheres and avenues for mutual cooperation," Mottaki told Sudanese Presidential Adviser Mustafa Othman Ismail in a meeting in Khartoum prior to his departure to Djibouti, the Islamic republic news agency reported.

He hoped that upcoming elections in Sudan will be successful in serving public wishes.

He added that the Islamic Republic of Iran has always been and will remain with the Sudanese people.

Mottaki left Sudan for Djibouti on Friday after meetings with senior Sudanese officials.

Source:english.farsnews.com/

India builds on Sudanese oil interests

India is in talks with Sudan about increasing its energy interests there, the Indian government said on Tuesday, having invested more than $2.5bn in the African state’s oil over the past six years.

The two governments signed a deal in New Delhi on Tuesday to pave the way for increased oil production and exploration and infrastructure development.

Oil investment in Sudan is controversial. China has been attacked for investments seen as helping to prop up an unpopular regime accused of human rights abuses and war crimes. However, participation by energy-hungry India has gone largely unnoticed.

Sudan fought one of Africa’s longest running civil wars, which claimed the lives of millions until 2005, when a peace deal was signed between the Arab-led north and rebels in the Christian and animist south.

More recently, President Omar al-Bashir’s National Congress Party was issued with an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court for allegedly masterminding a campaign of rape, murder and displacement in Darfur, a western region of Sudan plagued by conflict over the past six years.

The Sudanese leader now ranks alongside Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslavian president, and Charles Taylor, the former Liberian leader, the only two other heads of state indicted for war crimes while in office by international tribunals.

“India is your long term partner for energy co–operation . . . We guarantee demand in the buyer-seller equation,” Dr Shashi Tharoor, India’s minister of state for external affairs, said on Tuesday at a conference on Delhi’s pursuit of energy resources in Africa. New commitments to invest in Africa came only days after the World Bank said it was in talks to finance the expansion of Indian Railways to help it improve transport systems in Africa.

ONGC Videsh, the state-owned Indian oil company, is the main Indian investor in Sudan. The company is also eyeing a lucrative joint stake with state-owned Ghana National Petroleum Corporation in Ghana’s Jubilee field, which is owned by Kosmos Energy of the US.

Murli Deora, India’s oil minister, said: “We are particularly keen to participate in upcoming exploration and production opportunities in Angola, Ghana, Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda and Cote d’Ivoire. We offer . . . expertise in several fields.”

Angelina Jang Teny, Sudan’s minister of energy, encouraged Indian companies to “exploit responsibly” the African state’s hydrocarbon wealth and said there was great potential for her country's relationship with Asia's third-biggest economy.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.

Source:.ft.com/

South Sudan government embraces cyberspace after 5 years of no show


H.E. Paul Mayom (2nd right) and H.E. Madut Biar Yel (2nd left) with Mr George Garang Deng (right), undersecretary, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Eng. Stephen Lugga Juma, undersecretary, Ministry of Telecommunications & Postal Services (left) during the web site launch. (Courtesy of GOSS.ORG)








(Victoria BC NSV) – Will it be trick or treat this season? It’s that time of the year when Sudanese give gifts and South Sudanese children go door knocking in search of candies and cakes. Yes, it’s Christmas and it came a little early this month and for a good reason.

The Government of Southern Sudan or GoSS has launched its official website on Thursday, five years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which roared it into life in 2005.

“Through the website, millions of our people and partners in all corners of the globe can access information about our country and government readily at the click of a button; and at any time of the day or night,” minister of information and broadcasting Paul Mayom hailed the initiative at the launch in a statement posted on GOSS.ORG.

The launch was no ordinary feat. In attendance at the inaugural event were the minister of information and broadcasting himself, minister of telecommunications & postal services Madut Biar Yel, and their respective undersecretaries and other distinguished guests.

The website provides information on Southern Sudan and GoSS structures. “It also provides the contacts of all GOSS ministries and independent commissions. It is envisaged that this information will enable citizens seeking assistance to contact the relevant officers and receive the sought assistance promptly,” the release reads.

“The ministry of Information & Broadcasting appeals to all citizens of goodwill to help it enrich the web site further by providing feedback through the available contact details.”

GoSS.org was made possible with contributions from the Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) and the World Bank CABIHRD project.

Useful links

The launch of the GoSS website on Thursday is an important addition in this Information Age where citizens and journalists demand unfettered acess to information. Yesterday’s inauguration may be the biggest, but it would not be the first time GoSS went digital. Some of the ministries and government structures already making strides in the cyber world include the following:

GoSS Missions USA

Website: http://www.gossmission.org/

GoSS Mission Brussels

http://www.goss-brussels.com/goss.php

GoSS Mission Egypt

Website: http://www.gossegypt.com/en/

South Sudan Legislative Assembly

Website: http://www.sslagoss.org/home.php

SPLA Military

Website:http://www.splamilitary.net/

Ministry of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development

http://www.molacdgoss.org/

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

Website: http://www.moest.gov.sd

Ministry of Telecommuncation and Postal Services

Website: http://www.motps.goss.org/

Commerce and Industry

Website: http://www.commerce-goss.org

Roads and Transport

http://www.mtr-goss.org

Irrigation and Water Resouces

http://www.rwssp-mwrigoss.org

Source:newsudanvision.com/

Sudan gov't condemns killing of five UNAMID peacekeepers

KHARTOUM, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government condemned the killing of five soldiers of the United Nations and African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), who were killed in Darfur on Friday and Saturday, the official SUNA news agency reported on Monday.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry has strongly condemned, in a statement, the unfortunate incident which led to the killing of five UNAMID Rwandan peacekeepers, the report said.

"The incident is a criminal act and terrorist activity which targeted the international peacekeeping force in the region to suggest to the international public opinion that the security conditions in Darfur are still disturbed," the statement said.

The ministry further stated that the incident was meant to undermine the prevailing security in the region during the past period, affirming that the armed forces and security organs would pursue the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

The ministry further expressed condolences to the Rwandan government and people and families of the dead soldiers.

Five Rwandan peacekeepers were killed in two separate attacks by unknown gunmen against UNAMID patrols in Saraf Umra and Shangel Tubaya areas in the North Darfur State in the last two days.

The incidents brought the death toll of UNAMID peacekeepers to 20 since the mission assumed its tasks in Darfur in January 2008.

Source:xinhuanet.com/

This diary is updated daily. New listings or amendments are marked *. All events/times provisional and in GMT (local time is GMT +2 for Egypt and Suda

CAIRO - Kefaya (Enough) protest movement calls for demonstrations outside the journalists' syndicate in central Cairo under the slogan "Egypt is not a country estate" against power succession by inheritance in Egypt.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13
CAIRO - Amr Moussa, Secretary-General of the Arab League and Karen Abu Zayd, Comissioner General of UNRWA, to mark the U.N. body's 60th anniversary at the Arab League headquarters.



MONDAY, DECEMBER 14
CAIRO - Two-day investment summit organised by the General Authority for Free Zone and Investment opens (til Dec. 15).



SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19
SHARM EL SHEIKH - Opening of a 3-day conference on social insurance organised by the Ministry of Finance and the Arab Labour Organisation.



SUNDAY, DECEMBER 20
CAIRO - The director of the Egyptian papyrus collection at Berlin's Neues Museum in Cairo for talks on the return of a statue of Nefertiti.



THURSDAY, DECEMBER 24
CAIRO - Central bank's monetary policy committee due to meet.



WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30
CAIRO - Court issues verdict in the case an editor of independent daily newspaper Al-Shorouk sentenced to jail sentence for allegedly publishing incorrect information about a bribery case involving a Ministry of Housing official.




2010

SATURDAY, JANUARY 2
CAIRO - Adminstrative court to issue verdict in case of 50 Christians seeking recognition of faith after one of their parents converted to Islam.



TUESDAY, JANUARY 12
CAIRO - Appeal hearing of 13 Muslim Brotherhood members who were tried in a military court in 2007.



THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4
CAIRO - Appeal hearing for Egyptian businessman and politician Hesham Talaat Moustafa, sentenced to deaath for the murder of a Lebanese singer.



MONDAY, MAY 10
CAIRO - International Renewable Energy Conference and Exhibition, RETECH Egypt 2010, opens (till May 12).



NOTE-Inclusion of diary items does not necessarily mean that Reuters will file a story on the event.
Key world financial events diary
International political diary
Full index of available diaries Keywords: EGYPT DIARY/


(Cairo newsroom +202 2 578 3290/1, fax +202 577 1133, cairo.newsroom@reuters.com)

Source:iii.co.uk/

Israel must do right by its Sudanese refugees


There are 2,500 people in Israel just like me - Christians from Southern Sudan who were persecuted brutally by the Khartoum government and who have always loved and admired the Jewish state. The Christians of Southern Sudan and the people of Israel share a great deal in common - religious heritage, a long memory of oppression, and the enmity of the worst regimes in the Middle East and Africa.


Sudanese refugees in Israel. "Egypt owes as much to them as we do."
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski
As a former child slave in Southern Sudan who now fights for two interrelated causes - the State of Israel and the abolition of slavery in the Muslim world - I want to tell the people of this country about my countrymen who are seeking refuge here.

They are not a threat to you; on the contrary, they are lovers of Zion and natural allies of the Jewish state. What's more, they are ready to be a bridge between this country and the independent nation of Southern Sudan that is waiting to be born a little over a year from now.

Thus, there are two reasons why Israel needs to do right by the refugees from Southern Sudan - for their sake and for the sake of Israel itself.

Currently some 6,000 Sudanese refugees reside in this country. About 3,500 of them are Muslims - the majority from Darfur. A significant percentage of the Darfur refugees have been given temporary political asylum. If Israel does not grant the 2,500 Southern Sudanese Christians similar protection, or special dispensation, and they are forced to return to Sudan anytime in the near future, they will face execution or long imprisonment. According to Sudanese law, the fact that they have set foot in Israel - loathed by Khartoum as the ultimate enemy - makes their "offense" extremely grave.

Yet after almost three years in this country, they remain in limbo - without asylum, without knowing if and when they may be sent out of the country, without knowing what the future holds. For now they possess three-month "conditional visas," which keeps them in a state of uncertainty; to give a minimal measure of stability to their lives, it is essential to extend these visas for six to 12 months.


THESE CHRISTIANS fled to Israel through Egypt in order to escape forced Islamization and possible enslavement. Crimes against humanity have a long history in Sudan; a little-known fact is that the number of Christian Sudanese victims of these enormities far exceeds that of the victims in Darfur. Between 1955 and 1972, the Muslim regime in Khartoum slaughtered nearly 1.5 million Southern Sudanese Christians. Between 1983 and 2005, 2 million more met the same fate. Another 100,000 (a conservative estimate) were enslaved in the north, and seven million were made refugees.

The government of Khartoum has long singled out Southern Sudanese Christians and accused them of being traitors, even agents of Israel. The regime regards this as the worst possible crime. However, this accusation is a source of stubborn pride to the Southern Sudanese who love Israel, who identify with Israel - and there are many who dream of visiting the Holy Land as pilgrims and tourists.

But again, protecting the Christian Southern Sudanese refugees is also in the enlightened self-interest of the State of Israel. In 2011 the Southern Sudanese will vote whether or not to remain as "one Sudan" united with the north or to secede and become a separate country. If the Christian Southern Sudanese vote for secession - a virtual certainty - they will have their own nation as a free people for the first time in history.

I know these people well. I know their leaders. I feel confident that a free Southern Sudan will be a strong ally of the State of Israel.

This alliance would reflect a regional catharsis. The 2,500 Christians from Southern Sudan now residing in Israel could be the link between Israel and this new Christian nation - a pillar of a new, friendly, mutually beneficial relationship, a beacon for the future.

Thus, I urge the people of Israel and their leaders to help resolve the Southern Sudanese refugees' situation, end their legal limbo and give them the tools they need to be productive - either in their adopted home or in their new state that will be born very soon.

The writer, who escaped child slavery in Southern Sudan and now lives in New York, speaks on behalf of Southern Sudanese victims at synagogues, yeshivot and evangelical churches across the US. In 2006 he was honored for his anti-slavery activism at the Anti-Defamation League's annual Concert Against Hate in Washington's Kennedy Center.

Source:jpost.com/

Christian Woman from Sudan Flees Muslim Family

NAIROBI, Kenya – A Sudanese woman who fled to Egypt after converting from Islam to Christianity is living in secluded isolation as her angry family members try to track her down.

Howida Ali’s Muslim brother and her ex-husband began searching for her in Cairo earlier this year after a relative there reported her whereabouts to them. While there, her brother and ex-husband tried to seize her 10-year-old son from school.

“I’m afraid of my brother finding us,” said the 38-year-old Ali, who has moved to another area. “Their aim is to take us back to Sudan, and there they will force us to return to the Islamic faith or sentence us to death according to Islamic law.”

Ali said she divorced her husband, Esam El deen Ali, because of his drug addiction in 2001, before she converted to Christianity. She was living with her parents in Khartoum when she began seeing visions of Christ, she said.

“In 2004, I started to see a vision of Christ speaking to me,” she told Compass. “When I shared it with my friend, who is a Muslim, she said that she used to hear these things from Christians.”

This comment spurred her to seek out a Christian friend from southern Sudan, who told her about Jesus Christ and prayed with her.

“After that time, I begun to see more visions from Christ saying, ‘He is Christ the Good Shepherd,” she said.

Fearing that relatives might discover she was a Christian, in 2007 she escaped with her then-8-year-old son. Previously the family had tried to stop her from leaving on grounds that she should not travel unescorted by an adult male relative, and because they disapproved of her divorce.

“They destroyed my passport, but through the assistance of a Christian friend, I acquired a new passport and secretly left,” she told Compass by e-mail.

Her peace in Egypt was short-lived; earlier this year, while Ali secretly attended church as she stayed with a Muslim relative in Cairo, the relative found out about her conversion to Christianity and notified her brother and ex-husband in Sudan.

They arrived in Cairo in July. She had found lodging at All Saints’ Cathedral, an Episcopal church in Cairo that houses a refugee ministry, but as it became clear that her brother and ex-husband were searching for her, refugee ministry officials moved her and her son to an apartment.

Ali said her brother and ex-husband sought to kill her for apostasy, or leaving Islam – with the support of relatives back in Sudan and others in the community, members of the Shaingia tribe who practice a strict form of Islam.



“Life became very difficult for me,” she said.

The Rev. Emmanuel S. Bennsion of All Saints’ Cathedral confirmed that Ali’s ex-husband and brother were acting on a tip from one of Ali’s relatives when they came searching for her in Cairo. They went to her son’s school to take him back to Sudan. It was a Christian school, and the director refused to hand the boy over to them, Bennsion said.

“Since that time, she has started hiding and become afraid,” Bennsion told Compass.

Ali had received financial support from family in Sudan through the relative in Cairo who notified her family of her conversion; that support has since vanished.

Fearing forcible repatriation to Sudan, Ali tried to go to Israel; Egyptian authorities arrested her at the border and jailed her for two months. During that time, she said, her son was put in an Islamic children’s home. A Muslim family had adopted him, but she was able to win back custody after leaving jail in October.

“We have stopped going out of the apartment or even going to church,” she said. “My son can no longer go to school daily as before. We cannot live our lives as before. I cannot now participate in the Bible study or fellowships – I’m now depending only on myself for growing spiritually, and for prayer and Bible study.”

She said her only hope for living her faith openly in Christian community is to secure asylum to another country that guarantees religious freedom.

Source:christiannewstoday.com/

Darfur crimes continue, Sudan not cooperating with ICC, official says


United Nations (CNN) -- The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor reported Friday to the U.N. Security Council that violence continues in Darfur and that the Sudanese president and his government are not cooperating with investigators.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo noted positive developments in judicial proceedings and "fruitful" cooperation with international bodies, but said there still remain many setbacks. He explained that crimes continue in the region, including "indiscriminate bombings of civilians ... rapes and sexual violence" and the "use of child soldiers."

Moreno-Ocampo also highlighted Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's role in the situation. "Any leader committing crimes will face justice. Power does not provide immunity."

Al-Bashir has refused to appoint a lawyer to represent his position in court and, because of the ICC-issued warrant for his arrest, has not risked traveling to attend high-level events such as the U.N. General Assembly or a meeting held by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, or to other countries where it had been thought he might go, such as Uganda, Nigeria and Venezuela.

Moreno-Ocampo said respect for the International Criminal Court's decision to issue the warrant would send a clear message that al-Bashir "will face justice."

"There was no immunity for President [Slobodan] Milosevic [of the former Yugoslavia], there was no immunity for Prime Minister [Jean] Kambanda [of Rwanda], there was no immunity for President [Charles] Taylor [of Liberia]," he said.



RELATED TOPICS
Sudan
Darfur
Genocide
Instead of complying with the Security Council, al-Bashir has used the Sudanese state apparatus "to commit massive crimes" and has attempted to "exacerbate" the conflict in the South as means of shifting the international community's attention away from Darfur, Moreno-Ocampo said. He also accused al-Bashir of "stopping information about the crimes" rather than stopping the crimes themselves.

Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Rosemary DiCarlo called on the Sudanese government to fully cooperate with the International Criminal Court and its investigations as called for in Security Council Resolution 1593.

"The United States believes that those responsible for the atrocities in Darfur must be held accountable" as they "affect the stability of Sudan as a whole," she said.

DiCarlo said the ongoing violence in Darfur undermines "an already fragile humanitarian situation" and urged all states "to refrain from providing political or financial support" to those charged by the International Criminal Court .

Moreno-Ocampo said his office was considering holding responsible Sudanese officials "who actively deny and dissimulate crimes."

"Since Nuremberg, due obedience is no longer a legal excuse" for the facilitation of such criminal acts, he said.

Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad responded by calling Moreno-Ocampo a "mercenary of death and destruction," back once more to spread his "illusions" and "catastrophic vision."

"This is a big lie. The war in Darfur is over," he said.

Mohamad turned to those in the Security Council who asked for justice, and said they "should feel ashamed" and that their "credibility is at stake, if they have any."

The Sudanese ambassador said Moreno-Ocampo "would like to prolong the suffering of our people," and said, "We will charge him with political prostitution."

Reiterating his role as prosecutor is "to investigate and prosecute to contribute to the prevention of future crimes," Moreno-Ocampo said he is "ready to answer any challenge in court."

However, he acknowledged he would need the Security Council's full support "to end the current crimes against the people from Darfur."

Source:edition.cnn.com/

GOODBYE SUDAN

Nigerian striker Stephen Worgu, who plays for Sudanese giants, El Merreikh FC, says he wants to leave the club after only spending one year. Worgu who was recently sentenced to 40 lashes and a fine for drunk-driving, a charge which he denied and continues to do, said his move is motivated by football reasons only.

"I think I have fulfilled one ambition – playing outside Nigeria. The next step is to take my game to Europe," Worgu told BBC Sport.
Worgu He joined the Khartoum giants in October 2008 for US$2.6m, in one of the biggest transfers in African history. But after spending only a season in Omdurman in Northern Sudan, the young striker is hankering on a move to Europe.

"Already there are offers but in January we will consider the perfect offer for both player and club," Worgu said. "It is true I have had to deal with a lot of things but nothing compares to the love and affection showered on me by the fans, players and officials of El Merreikh."

"Terrible things have been written about me for coming to Sudan, while playing here and even presently. There are several things which go beyond what people see and read about, but importantly money has never been a motive in my life."
Until a deal is sorted out Worgu says he is concentrating on playing for El Merreikh - including winning the Sudanese Cup final against their great rivals Al Hilal.

Source:.thisdayonline.com/

House passes Iran, Sudan divestment bill

The state House of Representatives unanimously passed legislation this week that prohibits Pennsylvania’s public pension funds from investing in foreign companies with significant business ties to Iran and Sudan.

House Bill 1821, sponsored by Rep. Josh Shapiro (D-Montgomery), passed by a 193-0 vote. The Protecting Pennsylvania's Investments Act would require the state Treasurer's Office, Public School Employees' Retirement System and State Employees' Retirement System, within 22 months, to end investments in targeted foreign companies who choose to continue business activities in Iran or Sudan.

“It’s been a long battle,” said Shapiro. “Five years ago, we couldn’t even get a vote on the floor. Now, it passed unanimously, 193 to zero.”

The bill is now awaiting action by the Senate before it becomes law. The House passed a similar bill in June 2008, but it died at the end of the session due to Senate inaction.

This time, Shapiro is “very optimistic” that the Senate will pass the new bill by early next year, noting that the House addressed Senate concerns regarding clarification of targeted companies and narrowing the scope of the bill to cover “only direct investments such as stocks and bonds.”

“The president of the Senate, Joseph Scarnati, has told me that he strongly supports the bill,” Shapiro said. “There is no reason this can’t get passed.”

Shapiro said he believes states have a responsibility to use their economic power to weaken their enemies, and support their allies.

“Pennsylvania has $664 million in retiree savings going to foreign companies that are propping up Iran and Sudan,” Shapiro said. “This will have a dramatic effect on the economies of those rogue nations.”

Shapiro added that the new law is also financially prudent for investors.

“Subjecting retiree benefits to the geopolitical risks of Iran and the Sudan is not a wise investment strategy,” he said.

Nineteen U.S. states already have enacted divestment legislation, and nine more states have taken voluntary steps to divest their pension funds, or passed resolutions urging divestment.

“We’re not inventing the wheel here,” said State Rep. Dan Frankel, (D-Squirrel Hill), noting that the bill was modeled on those passed in other states mandating divestment over time, to avoid unnecessary exposure to financial losses.

Frankel believes states have a moral imperative to “do whatever we can” to end support to Sudan, a nation that practices genocide, and Iran, “a terrorist state that doesn’t support our interests.”

“I represent a community that has one of the larger groups of survivors of the Holocaust,” Frankel said. “It’s a shrinking group, but when I interact with them, they feel strongly that the United States needs to stand up to genocide.”

Frankel said that the United States has failed on other occasions to act against genocide, and cannot ignore now the situation in Sudan.

“We didn’t live up to our moral responsibilities when we knew about the Holocaust early on,” he said. “And the U.S. has been disappointing in terms of how it has responded to the situation in Rwanda. But we have an ethical responsibility to be responsive. And we can be responsive as it’s been done in other states.”

“I think it’s the least the state of Pennsylvania can do,” Frankel said.

Source:thejewishchronicle.net

Pollution fears taint Sudan's oil promise


Unity State, Sudan (CNN) -- With production levels of a half-million barrels of oil a day and rising, Sudan's oil should be a blessing for its people, but is it a curse?

A German human rights group says pollution in certain oil fields in Southern Sudan is contaminating the drinking water and hurting the local population. CNN traveled to the oil fields of Unity State to investigate the reports.

It is not a place that gets many visitors. The oil processing facility of the Greater Nile Operating Company is in a remote part of southern Sudan, near the poor and dusty communities of Unity State.

We're able to get in with the Governor of Unity State, Taban Deng, though it's clear we are not welcome. A company security agent takes photos throughout our visit.

The governor is a worried man. He knows that oil exploration has the potential to change Southern Sudan, but he's anxious that the benefits will be siphoned off by the government in Khartoum, despite revenue-sharing agreements.

As we walk around the plant, Deng's frustration shows. "If you ask me how do we produce this oil, how do we market it, how do we divide the revenue of the oil, Southern Sudan is not party to that."



Gallery: Sudan's oil curse

Video: Sudan's paradise lost? Greater Nile is not a Sudanese company. Its major shareholders are Chinese, Malaysian and Indian companies; the Sudanese government has a minor stake. It's one of several operating in this vast area -- gaining a toehold in what may be the next big 'oil story.'

It's already a billion-dollar industry with vast untapped reserves throughout Southern Sudan.

It's not just about how to share the profits. Deng says local people complain of new sicknesses since oil exploration began. "There is a lot of pollution in the oil fields. The water [that] is separated from the oil is left uncontrolled."

Greater Nile says it has conducted tests that refute such claims and told CNN its plants comply with international environmental standards.

But there are disturbing allegations about environmental damage in a nearby oilfield operated by White Nile Petroleum, in which the Chinese and Sudanese state oil companies have substantial shares.

A German group, "Sign of Hope," has spent 18 months taking and testing more than 50 water samples and has submitted its results to the United Nations. It says it has found "persuasive" evidence of contamination.

Hydrologists working for the group found salinity and nitrates in drinking wells near White Nile's oil fields that were many times the internationally recommended levels. They also found high concentrations of minerals such as cadmium and lead in mud pits at more than 30 abandoned boreholes.

The group claims these heavy metals could find their way into drinking water supplies, and says it found chromium in one well that measured eight times the WHO guideline. Chromium is a known carcinogen.

The company did not return several calls seeking comment, but on its Web site says the claims of 'Sign of Hope' are baseless. White Nile says it continuously tests the quality of its waste water and adheres to the highest international standards. It adds that high levels of salinity are natural in the area's swamplands.

If this part of Southern Sudan was endless desert, the argument might be less significant. But the oilfields are on the edge of the Sudd, the largest wetlands on Africa, and an area certified by the United Nations in 2006 as of international importance.

Stretching over 30,000 square kilometers, the Sudd supports an array of wildlife and waters adjacent pastureland. It acts both as a huge sponge and a filter for much of east Africa and is vulnerable to pollution and degradation.

The Nuer people who live in the village of Rier, at the edge of the Sudd and the oilfields don't have the means to test the water they and their livestock use. Nor does the regional government, which says only that it's "suspicious" of the water quality in this area.

The villagers just relate what they see. One of them, John Mayal, says that before the oil companies arrived "our cattle didn't die and our children didn't die. Our water was good...now the water is bad."

There is no independent evidence that the oil companies' operations have caused sickness or death; and they certainly deny that. But Deng told CNN oil exploration here has been characterized by one word: mismanagement. "Mismanagement of the resource itself. Mismanagement in the area of protecting the environment , mismanagement in lack of transparency in telling how much we are producing a day."

Production-sharing agreements, scientific analysis of water, drilling technology -- all of that is beyond the people of Rier, whose homes were moved three years ago to make way for oil installations.

They live alongside the best road in Southern Sudan, built by the oil companies, and next to the pipeline that takes the oil north to be refined and exported.

But they are some of the poorest people in the world; reduced to collecting reeds along the roadside for the roofing of their traditional dwellings.

And they collect their water from a huge steel tanker parked in the village by White Nile Oil. They don't trust the wells they have used for centuries.

Source:edition.cnn.com/

South Sudan: For the love of cows [16 Days]

From November 25 to December 10, the International Rescue Committee is observing the "16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence."

RUMBEK, SOUTH SUDAN – Angelina was 16 years old when her mother told her that she would have to get married. She had already agreed on a husband for her daughter, a man in the village. Angelina didn't know this man, but he owned a lot of cows — cows that her family needed for their livelihood.

Rumbek is a town that was affected by 21 years of civil war between North and South Sudan. Angelina is one of hundreds of thousands of people from the region who fled their country to take refuge in neighboring countries. She returned in 1999 from being displaced for eight years in Uganda. The IRC helps more than 450,000 people in South Sudan with health care, human rights advocacy measures and support for women facing violence.

In Rumbek, and in the culture of South Sudan, a cow means everything. Most families in Rumbek depend on cattle. They're such an important family asset that women are typically referred to based on how many cows they're "worth." Angelina equaled 70 heads of cattle.

For Angelina, a forced marriage meant having to drop out of school, and never again seeing the boy she loved and wanted to marry. Her father had died, and none of her brothers lived nearby, so Angelina wouldn't able to call for help from family if the arranged husband mistreated her.

Afraid of her prospects, Angelina tried running away from home. She fled on foot to a village three hours away to stay with an aunt, but was sent back home.

After Angelina tried running away a second time, this time with her boyfriend, her family said she could only marry the man of her choice if he could give the family the dowry they were expecting from the husband of their choice.

It took Angelina's boyfriend a full year to gather 70 cows. He borrowed from family, purchased what he could, and finally returned to present Angelina's mother and brothers with the dowry required. He and Angelina hadn't been allowed to contact each other over the course of the year, which was painful for her.

While Angelina was able to take control of her own fate and fight for her right to choose a partner, she wanted to do more with her skills and sense of self-determination. She wanted other girls in Rumbek to be able to complete their education and to claim their basic rights.

So in 2003, Angelina joined the IRC team in South Sudan. Today she works as a project officer, leading community outreach initiatives that promote understanding of the consequences for families and communities when violence against women and girls is permitted.

Source:reliefweb.int/

Remarks With Croatian Foreign Minister Gordan Jandrokovic After their Meeting

SECRETARY CLINTON: It is a pleasure to welcome the foreign minister and to have this opportunity for an extended discussion about a number of issues. Croatia is a valued friend and ally of the United States, and this is a very welcome opportunity for us to reaffirm our partnership. Before I turn to the issues that the minister and I discussed, I would like to say a few words about Sudan.


The United States condemns the disruption of peaceful protest and acts of political violence committed by any party. Freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and protection from arbitrary arrest and detention are instrumental to allow for credible elections in April 2010. We recognize that the next few months will be tense as we get closer to the election and the referenda. It is critical that all parties redouble their efforts to resolve problems through political dialogue and without violence. Special Envoy Scott Gration will return to Sudan this weekend to help restart dialogue and resolve outstanding issues that are contributing to these rising tensions. Sudan is an important priority for President Obama and myself, and we are committed to seeing a peaceful democratic transformation as envisioned in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and a peaceful resolution of the conflict in Darfur. I urge all parties to demonstrate the political will necessary to achieve these objectives.


And now let me turn to the subject of the day: our partnership with Croatia and the visit of the minister.


This is a historic time for Croatia and our Euro-Atlantic alliance. In April, we welcomed Croatia into NATO, an achievement that was the result of years of hard work and tough-minded reforms. As Croatia has strengthened its democracy, our countries have worked together in close partnership based on mutual respect and mutual interests. Now we are bound together in the greatest and most successful military alliance in history.


Today I thanked the minister for Croatia’s contribution to the NATO mission in Afghanistan and for its participation in peacekeeping operations around the world. The violent extremism we are fighting in Afghanistan is a threat to peace-loving people everywhere. And Croatia’s efforts to help train Afghan forces are crucial to our mission. It will help to speed the day when the Afghans themselves can take responsibility for their own security.


I also want to recognize Croatia’s regional leadership. Through the Adriatic Charter, Croatia is helping to support the NATO aspirations of its Balkan neighbors. It was one of the first countries to recognize Kosovo and joined the U.S. and others in oral arguments this week in The Hague in support of Kosovo’s legal right to declare independence. And I know how hard the foreign minister himself is working to improve relations between Croatia and Serbia.


The United States supports these efforts. We are very pleased by the progress that is taking place in the concerns between Slovenia and Croatia, and I thank Croatia for its leadership on that as well. We are committed to the full integration of all of the Western Balkan nations into European and Trans-Atlantic institutions. We made progress last week at the NATO Ministerial by welcoming Montenegro into the Membership Action Plan and recognizing Bosnia’s progress toward that goal.


Croatia’s success offers a model for the region on what can be accomplished when a nation commits to reform and progress. And I particularly applaud the prime minister for her excellent leadership in anti-corruption efforts and other important reform measures. I am confident that by working together, as well as through NATO and other multilateral institutions, the United States and Croatia can ensure an even brighter future for our people, a more stable and peaceful Europe, and indeed a better and safer world.


So thank you again, Minister, for your visit and for your friendship.


FOREIGN MINISTER JANDROKOVIC: Thank you, Madame Secretary. I am very pleased to be in United States and I would like to thank Secretary Clinton for her invitation and warm hospitality. Secretary Clinton and I confirmed the excellent relationship between our countries, a relationship that can be defined as one of allies, partners, and friends. I express gracious appreciation for the U.S. support and assistance on issue of vital importance to our country particularly – NATO, EU accession, and regional cooperation in Southeast Europe.


We, of course, spoke about the positive resolution of the Slovenian blockade of Croatia’s accession negotiations and the fact that our parliament ratified the arbitration agreement on November 20, 2009. I also informed the Secretary of the remaining tasks facing Croatia as we proceed along our EU accession path and our intention to conclude negotiations by mid-2010. I especially emphasized reform of judiciary, reform of public administration, fight against corruption, and cooperation with ICTY.


I reiterated to Secretary Clinton the Croatian Government’s strong support for President Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy. Croatia is committed to strengthening its presence in Afghanistan and is seeking ways to further contribute to NATO’s key efforts.


We believe that training Afghan security and police forces to assume ownership for security in their country is the most important task. That is why we will be making a concrete contribution to that task with two additional police mentoring teams in addition to already operating three OMLTs.


We also discussed the situation in Southeast Europe, and I expressed to the Secretary that Croatia welcomed the active reengagement of USA in our region, and particularly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croatia considers it imperative that (inaudible) negotiations on constitutional amendments continue until consensus is reached. We concur that keeping the Euro-Atlantic perspective open for all countries in the region of Southeast Europe is crucial for the future stability of this region.


We also discussed Croatia’s ongoing interest in joining the U.S. Visa Waiver Program, and I advised the Secretary of the criteria that Croatia has fulfilled today.


Thank you, Madame Secretary.


SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much, Minister Jandrokovic.


FOREIGN MINISTER JANDROKOVIC: Thank you, thank you.


QUESTION: Madame Secretary, Ambassador Bosworth said today that he reached a, quote, “common understanding,” unquote, with the North Koreans on denuclearization, but they did not agree to return to the Six-Party Talks. So my question is: What was really accomplished? It didn’t sound like very much. And could you also bring us up to date on the START renewal talks?


SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Bob, I have before me the transcript of Ambassador Bosworth’s remarks in Seoul, and I think it’s a very fair characterization that he made that the conversations were very useful, that this is the first official meeting on behalf of this Administration with the North Koreans in Pyongyang. It does remain to be seen whether and when the North Koreans will return to the Six-Party Talks. But the bottom line is that these were exploratory talks, not negotiations. They were intended to do exactly what they did: reaffirm the commitment of the United States to the Six-Party process, to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula; and to discuss with the North Koreans their reactions to what we are asking them to do in order to move forward.


I think that for a preliminary meeting it was quite positive. The approach that our Administration is taking is of strategic patience in close coordination with our Six-Party allies, and I think that making it clear to the North Koreans what we had expected and how we were moving forward is exactly what was called for.


QUESTION: And START?


SECRETARY CLINTON: We are working very hard on the START final negotiations. I received a report from our lead negotiator this morning about some areas of discussion that have been proposed by the Russians. I think both sides are committed to completing the START treaty; it’s just a question of when that will be achieved.


QUESTION: Madame Secretary, have you discussed possibility of sending U.S. expert to help Croatia investigate the missing documents from Operation Storm? And if so, Mr. Jandrokovic, would Croatia accept that kind of help? Thank you.


SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, we expressed our appreciation for the steps that Croatia is taking. The recent actions which recovered 10,000 pages of documents is a positive step. We would be willing to offer any technical assistance that Croatia would request.


The important matter is for Croatia to do what it is now doing, which is using its own resources, its own law enforcement personnel to track down these missing documents, and to fulfill the requirements that it knows it has to meet in order to move forward in the EU accession process.


FOREIGN MINISTER JANDROKOVIC: Thank you. Very quickly, I’m sure that we can solve this problem alone, and we are ready also to cooperate with others. But this is our documents, this is proof that Croatia is a country which respect rule of law, and we will continue with our investigation. I’m sure that we will solve this problem.


MR. CROWLEY: Jill Dougherty.


QUESTION: Thank you. Madame Secretary, could you please give us an update if you can on the arrests of the – in Pakistan yesterday, anything new, any consular access, et cetera?


And then just a second question on Afghanistan. We’ve been watching – this is the third day of testimony up on Capitol Hill, and the ambassador has been talking about the civilian part of it. We know it’s been tripled and all of that. But there are some reports coming from the field that some of the civilians are not able to get into the field to carry out their mission because of the security situation. Can you tell us how serious a threat is that and what kind of an impact is it having on their ability to deliver services and help to the Afghan people?


SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Jill, with respect to your first question, we have had access to the five detainees. That is part of the usual outreach by the United States Government, as you know. I have nothing to add to that at this time.


With respect to Afghanistan and our civilian efforts, we’re quite encouraged by how much of our civilian team has been able to get out into parts of Afghanistan that are targets for our civilian assistance. But it’s clear that we can’t go everywhere we’d like to go. The security situation – doesn’t permit that. So what we’re doing is embedding a lot of our civilians with our military troops, and so, in effect, they get into the field at the same time, or literally the next day, after the Marines and the army have sent the go signal that civilians can begin to work with their – with the Afghan people on a range of issues. And I was very pleased to hear how welcomed our civilians are by our military troops. They see them as very value-added, not as a burden or an obstacle that they have to worry about, but as an additional American presence to begin immediately to demonstrate the assistance that we’re willing to offer.


And I would only add, too, that one of the colonels on the ground in Afghanistan told me when I was in Kabul that what he’s found is that the civilians are, in his words, force multipliers; that if we have an agricultural specialist, for example, with a battalion or a brigade, they can then go around to the soldiers and find out who lived on a ranch, who knows about farming, and in effect, they can be part of the mission that goes out into the field to talk to the farmers about agriculture assistance, or if it’s a rule-of-law expert from the State Department, which was the example that was used, that the JAG lawyers that are in the unit that the civilian is working with can help to supplement that message.


So I think it’s clear we can’t go everywhere, and in some places, we can only go in accompaniment with our military forces, but we’re also getting to a lot of places that we can operate freely as well.


QUESTION: Madame Secretary, (inaudible) correspondent in Washington. Croatia has recently emerged from 10 months Slovenian blockade of its membership talks with European Union, thanks to efforts of the United States and European presidency. Now another blockade is looming from Great Britain and other countries related with missing documents that require from the prosecutor of The Hague tribunal. Would you consider justified to another blockade of membership talks despite all the efforts the Croatian Government undertook, especially yesterday, vast operation of search and arrest of – in searching for documents? And this blockade – the last blockade of 10 months was very damaging also to the United States and the European policy in the region because it block – it’s stopping all the process of Euro-Atlantic enlargement, so would you consider justified another blockade? Thank you.


SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, first let me say how strongly the United States supports Croatia’s EU membership. We supported Croatia’s NATO membership. We think that Croatia has an important role to play in the region, and therefore we hope that they will be on the road to EU membership sooner instead of later. Obviously, we don’t have a vote in the EU, but we have made it clear to a number of our counterparts how valuable we think it will be when Croatia is a member.


Regarding the demands by the British and the Dutch, I think the foreign minister should address those.


FOREIGN MINISTER JANDROKOVIC: First of all, we must continue with our investigation. And I’m sure that we will prove during this investigation that Croatia fully cooperated with ICTY. This cooperation is important not only because of the negotiation process. It is also important for Croatian society that we must prove that we are rule of law and the institution functioning in Croatia. I will, of course, discuss this issue with my partners, with my colleagues from some Europeans countries. And I’m sure very soon when they analyze the situation, they will change his position and Croatia will finish negotiations in first half of 2010.


MR. CROWLEY: Thank you very much.


SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you all very much.

Source:state.gov/