Day: December 21, 2021

A woman was killed by unidentified gunmen in Mura-Hatiha Village of Torit County in Eastern Equatoria State over the weekend.

The incident happened when four criminals suspected to be from Lalanga village stormed a clay collection area and shot Ibura Paride with four bullets killing her instantly and wounding another person.

The killing shocked residents as Mura-Hatiha has been known to be one of the peaceful villages in the restive Hiyala Payam.

Galileo Ohide, the Hiyala Payam chief told Radio Tamazuj, “Yes, it is true. The incident happened at around 5:30 pm (Friday). Women were going to bring clay to repair their homes and some people came and started shooting at them.”

He added: “One girl under the age of 20 years was killed and another was wounded. This (Saturday) morning the Monyiemiji were following the footmarks. They are now climbing the mountains between Lalanga and Mura-Hatiha but the suspects started burning the grass to hide their footmarks.”

Chief Ohide however urges the Monyiemiji of Mura-Hatiha village to stay away from revenge attacks but report to the government authorities for the law to take its course.

“I am advising the Monyiemiji that even if you go and follow the footmarks, do not take any revenge but report to the authorities,” Chief Ohide advised.

Torit County Commissioner Atari Jacob Albano confirmed the incident and said the deceased woman died on the spot while the other was wounded.

“Some suspected criminals came and shot some two women who were gathering clay to decorate their houses for Christmas. Two women were shot, one died on the spot and the other was shot in the neck,” commissioner Atari said. “First of all, we need to identify the perpetrators, which village has done that, who is behind that killing. The Government cannot take anything just like that when we do not know who has done the crime.”

He however said that according to the preliminary information through tracking the footmarks of the perpetrators, indications are that they came from Lalanga village.

“Monyiemiji were following the footmarks since morning and the footmarks happened to go to that side of Lafon County. There were some villages which previously had conflicts with Mura-Hatiha but they reconciled,” Commissioner Atari said.

Efforts to reach Lafon County authorities for comment were futile.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

Local authorities in Mayiandit County of Unity State have confirmed that an MSF health worker identified as Babek Gatluak Paul was killed and 3 other people were wounded on Saturday when armed youth from Koch County raided 200 head of cattle from Rubnor boma.

The commissioner of Mayiandit County, Gatluak Nyang, told Radio Tamazuj Monday that armed youth from Koch County went to Rubnor boma to raid cattle and they targeted the house of Babek Gatluak Paul.

“At 11 am on Saturday, I received information that young boys who came from Koch County attacked to raid cattle in Mayiandit County and they killed this man (Babek) and they took 200 cows from Rubnor Boma,” Commissioner Nyang said. “I talked to my executive director and he rescued and secured the situation and at 1 pm. The youth from Mayiandit went there and they managed to return the 200 raided cows from Koch County.”

He said one of the three wounded people was receiving treatment at the MSF health facility in Leer County while two others are being treated at the Mayiandit County health facility.

He said calm had returned to the area.

“There is no problem now. I even we talked to the commissioner of Koch County and he is very worried about that incident.”

Commissioner Nyang said, together with the commissioners of Leer and Koch counties, they are going to take measures to address the security situation in the area.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

The Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (DSRSG), and Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Khardiata Lo N’Diaye, has paid tribute to the people of Darfur, and affirmed the UN’s commitment to support human rights protection. Concluding a three-day consultative visit to the North Darfur capital of El Fasher yesterday, Deputy Special Representative Lo N’Diaye joined the Wali of North Darfur, Nimir Mohamed, to preside over the handover of the northern part of the logistics base of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID)* to state authorities.

The DSRSG paid tribute to the people of Darfur for their sacrifices and expressed condolence, on behalf of the SRSG and the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), to the families of those whose lives were lost during recent inter-communal violence.

In her remarks, the DSRSG commended the authorities for their cooperation and continued support to UNAMID liquidation team; and highlighted the need for the camp and the facilities within it to be used for the benefit of the people of Darfur.

The DSRSG expressed her concern over the safety and security of UNAMID liquidation team and integrity of the assets and emphasised the obligation of the government to protect UNAMID personnel and take robust measures to prevent any form of threats or violence towards the camp and personnel.

“In my earlier engagements, I had the opportunity to meet and discuss with Elhadi Idriss, a member of the Sovereignty Council. I reiterated the expectations of the United Nations for the free and safe movement of all UN assets and the return of those that have been unlawfully seized by armed groups. I also met with Nimir Mohamed, the Wali of North Darfur, and discussed various issues of concern, particularly the importance of UN assets in the implementation of protection of civilians’ activities by various UN agencies. I stated that UNITAMS is committed and stands ready to assist the government in fulfilling protection of civilians, human rights and rule of law priorities,” the DSRG said in her remarks.

In response, both Elhadi Idriss and Nimir Mohamed expressed gratitude to the UN for the support and reaffirmed their commitment to ensure the security and safety of the UNAMID liquidation team and protection of UN assets. They also assured that all efforts will be made to engage with former UNAMID national staff who have, for several days, blocked entry into the UNAMID logistics base in El Fasher.

Updating on ongoing efforts to strengthen protection of civilians in Darfur, Idriss informed the DSRSG that his mission to El Fasher was to intensify consultations with state security entities, including signatory parties to the Juba Peace Agreement, to finalise arrangements for the rapid deployment of the joint security protection forces. Idriss emphasised that this was a priority considering the recent violence and protection challenges in Darfur.

UNAMID liquidation phase

A major outcome of the DSRSG’s engagements during her mission to Darfur was a decision taken by Member of the Sovereignty Council, Elhadi Idriss and Wali Nimir Mohamed, to allocate office space within the UNAMID logistics base for the use of the Permanent Ceasefire Committee and the North Darfur State Protection of Civilians Committee. This will help the two entities with facilities to enhance effective implementation of their respective mandates.

UNAMID completed its drawdown exercise on 30 June 2021, as stipulated by UN Security Council resolution 2559 (2020), which ended the Mission’s mandate at the end of last year. The Mission has now entered a liquidation phase, which is expected to last until the middle of 2022. The drawdown of UNAMID coincided with the establishment of the United Nations Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan (UNITAMS), according to Resolution 2524 (2020).

Looting

As previously reported by Radio Dabanga, the ongoing insecurity in Darfur, often partly exacerbated by the vacuum created by the UNAMID drawdown, has meant that the practicalities of the handover of UNAMID sites and facilities have not always gone as planned.

On June 5, two people were killed and eight others sustained injuries when a former UNAMID site in Shangil Tobaya, Dar El Salaam locality, south of El Fasher in North Darfur was looted.

The site was handed over to the Government of Sudan on May 25. It was the last of 14 deep field sites handed over to the Sudanese government. At the time, the North Darfur government and the Sudanese government’s joint task force strongly reconfirmed their commitment to ensure civilian use of the former site.

Since the mission ended its mandate at the end of last year, various former UNAMID sites handed over to local authorities to be used as schools or training centres, have been looted. In February, a site in North Darfur’s Saraf Omra that was earmarked for use as a vocational training centre was looted and ‘levelled’ just weeks after it was handed over to the Sudanese government.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres publicly condemned the looting at the time and said: “at a time when community needs in Sudan are increasingly pressing, the site was intended to serve as a vocational training centre; unknown assailants have dashed that opportunity”.

Source: Radio Dabanga

A three-day peace conference involving the Murle Community of the Greater Pibor Administrative Area (GPAA) and their neighboring Jonglei State counterparts concluded in Pibor town on Monday with a recommitment to peaceful coexistence.

The event was organized by the NGO, Jonglei Canal, and it brought together about 30 participants from the communities of Murle, Lou Nuer, and Dinka.

The GPAA chief administrator, Lokali Amae, told Radio Tamazuj that the communities agreed to peacefully coexist and discussed ways of overcoming hurdles in implementing the resolutions of the Pieri peace conference.

“In March, there was a call to end violence and reconcile during a peace conference in Pieri. Now, we left it to youth, women, and chief to discuss the way forward,” Amae said. “There was a call for the return of remaining abductees, deployment of security forces, and establishment of courts.”

The chief administrator said he will work with the Jonglei State counterparts for the implementation of resolutions of the Pibor peace conference.

John Gatjuol, the Uror County representative, said the conference was fruitful and reiterated commitment to peace despite recurring violence.

For his part, John Chatim, the Duk County commissioner, expressed optimism that peace will return to Greater Jonglei as peace conferences continue between the warring communities, blaming recurring attacks on groups working to disrupt efforts to restore calm to the troubled region.

Communities in Greater Jonglei have a long time been wrangling, raiding cattle, and abducting children.

Source: Radio Tamazuj

Resistance Committees, doctors, lawyers, and activists have condemned the excessively violent response by the Sudan Armed Forces and associated paramilitaries, to the December 19 Marches of the Millions in the capital Khartoum on Sunday. At least one person died, more than 300 were wounded, while cases of rape and sexual violence have been reported, allegedly committed by paramilitaries.

Sunday’s marches were convened by Resistance Committees across Sudan, to mark the third anniversary of the revolution that overthrew the 30-year Al Bashir dictatorship in 2019, and to express their rejection of the military coup d’état of October 25, and the subsequent political agreement, signed by coup leader Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan and Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok.

Although major streets and bridges were initially blockaded by the military, mass protests bypassed the barriers and entered key points including the grounds of the Republican Palace in Khartoum.

The Khartoum North Resistance Committees strongly denounced the cases of sexual violence, saying that two young women protesters were raped. Other women were thrown from the Tuti Bridge, causing one of them to break her back.

The Resistance Committees said in a statement yesterday that one demonstrator was killed, more than 300 were wounded. A number of protesters went missing, and hundreds of them were detained.

The statement said that paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces and the Central Reserve Police (Abu Teira) surrounded the protesters in front of the Republican Palace, attacking them from all directions with live ammunition and tear gas, chasing fleeing people in the streets, and running over some with military vehicles, after cutting off the electricity.

The Forensic Physicians Syndicate asserts in a statement on Monday that indications from the previous processions and the December 19 Marches of the Millions, show that the security authorities used “types of nerve gas” to suppress the demonstrators in Khartoum.

The Syndicate reported that “quite a few protesters” complained about being repressed by heavy firing of liquefied gas, and showed “unusual and striking symptoms” such as respiratory and eye problems, effects on the nervous system, and lack of control over the bladder and the bowels.

The union called on international human rights institutions to support the right of the Sudanese people to a fair investigation of the serious human rights violations they are exposed to, through independent international investigation committees.

Darfur Bar Association

The Darfur Bar Association (DBA) on Monday confirmed several incidents of sexual violence against a number of young women by soldiers immediately following the December 19 marches in Khartoum.

The Darfur lawyers said in a statement on Monday that it had heard testimonies from some of the women victims and witnesses. According to the testimonies of some of the sexually assaulted women, the attackers threatened to open criminal reports against them for engaging in prostitution in order to force them to remain silent.

The DBA described the condition of the victims as bad. They said they were beaten with rifle butts and verbal abuse of their human dignity and robbed of their belongings as well.

The DBA saluted the courage of the raped and assaulted women who set out to pursue the perpetrators, and called on all those who were subjected to harassment and sexual violence not to remain silent and to join others in pursuing the perpetrators.

It stressed that the emergence of the phenomenon of rape indicates the development in the type of crimes committed against the revolutionaries, which makes joining the campaign to prosecute the perpetrators and those behind them the duty of all to prevent the perpetrators from impunity with deterrent punishment.

Doctors: Post-coup death toll at 46

The Central Committee of Sudanese Doctors reported on Monday the death of Mohamed Mahjoub, 28, after he was shot in the chest “as a result of the brutal repression the December 19 Marches of the Millions were subjected to in the East Nile area in Khartoum North, bringing the number of “our people’s martyrs” after the October 25 military coup to 46.

In a statement, the committee announced that 331 protesters were injured during the Marches of the Millions in the country on Sunday including two hit by bullets in the head, in addition to four other injuries to the eyes, with a case of finger amputation as a result of being hit by a stun grenade.

According to the committee, in its field report on the casualties on December 19, 253 demonstrators were wounded in Khartoum, including one hit to the head by live ammunition and three other cases of sound bombs.

In the processions in Omdurman, 29 other people were injured, including two cases of rubber bullets in the head and arm, and in Khartoum North 34 protesters were wounded.

The report confirmed the injury of six demonstrators in the demonstrations in eastern Sudan’s Kassala, including the injury of a sound bomb, which led to a fracture in the right hand, a fire, and laceration to the tissues of the shoulder, neck, face and left hand. This is in addition to five other cases of injuries in Kassala that led to burns with tear gas canisters.

The Unified Doctors Bureau said that the authorities practiced the most heinous violations by early dispersal of the Republican Palace vigil and the processions heading towards it, with live ammunition and massive tear gas fire at the crowds of protesters, chasing them to the entrances to hospitals, beating them and stealing their belongings.

The Doctors Bureau said in a statement that the authorities also carried out a complete siege and stormed a number of hospitals and fired tear gas canisters at their entrances, and called it “a clear violation of the right to health and the right to life itself, a behaviour that does not occur even in times of wars between fiercest enemies”.

The Sudanese Journalists Network (SJN) reported in a statement on Monday that many journalists were subjected to surveillance, harassment, beatings, and abuse by “the coup authorities” during their coverage of the processions and the December 19 vigil in front of the Republican Palace in Khartoum, on Sunday.

Azhari Mohamed Ali, one of the most prominent poets of the revolution, was assaulted by policemen during his participation in the December 19 processions in Khartoum.

He recounted the details of the attack on his Facebook page on Sunday evening, saying: “Today, during my participation in the December 19 Marches of the Millions, together with my relatives, I was subjected to a brutal attack by a group of Sudanese policemen and members of the [paramilitary] Central Reserve Police, after we crossed the Omdurman Bridge.”

The policemen “ran next to their vehicle, and [attempted to] strangle me with their flag. They beat me with their fists and batons and tore my clothes, while using hurtful and obscene expressions”.

The poet affirmed that “this revolution is victorious first in its ability to bring about change in all state institutions… especially the police, whose employees need to abide by at least a minimum level of professional and ethical standards.”

Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC)

The FFC Executive Office described Sunday’s demonstrations as “a milestone in the people’s struggle to defeat the coup and said that the masses set their goals to reach the Republican Palace despite the excessive violence”.

According to the FFC, Sunday’s demonstrations toppled the November 21 agreement between Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, President of the Sovereignty Council, and leader of the October 25 coup, and Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok.

The group will continue their work “to build the broadest united popular front to defeat the coup”. It will “support the continuous calls of the resistance committees to use all means of mass escalation, such as sit-ins, processions, disobedience and political strike, with our full commitment to helping create the broadest consensus around them between the forces for revolution and change”.

Source: Radio Dabanga