Month: March 2022

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HRW calls to release detained former S. Sudanese governor over detention without trial

Human Rights Watch Tuesday called to release a former caretaker governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal state who has been in jail without trial for seven months.

Kuel Aguer Kuel was arrested on August 2, 2021, for co-founding the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA), a group that called for peaceful protests across the country on August 30, 2021, to force the transitional government to step down.

Kuel was charged with five charges of offences against the state: subverting constitutional government; insurgency, banditry, sabotage, or terrorism; causing disaffection among police force or defence forces; publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to South Sudan; and undermining the authority of or insulting the president.

However, his Lawyers told HRW that the former governor has remained now seven months in jail without trial due to political interference by the Ministry of Justice.

“The prosecuting authorities have been very slow to carry out investigations and believe they are abusing their discretionary power about whether to take cases forward,” said a statement by the rights group extended to the Sudan Tribune.

According to the Criminal Procedure Code, the public prosecution has to decide whether to begin or dismiss criminal proceedings but it cannot keep a detainee in prison without a weekly approval of a high court judge.

The Court of Appeals, last February instructed the prosecution to present the case in court but nothing has happened, according to his lawyers.

Nyagoah Tut Pur, South Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch called for the speedy release of the former governor or trial. He stressed that extrajudicial detention, which is a serious violation of human rights, compromises the entire criminal system in South Sudan.

“The authorities have shown that they cannot guarantee them speedy or fair trials and so should at a minimum restore their liberty and respect their rights to freedom of opinion and expression,” said Pur.

HRW mentioned that Abraham Chol Akech, a self-proclaimed prophet in South Sudan, is undergoing a similar situation and called for his release too.

Akech has been under arrested since June 25,n 2021 because he predicted that President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr Riek Machar would be removed from power by July 9.

Source: Sudan Tribune

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UN says 440 civilians killed in South Sudan clashes

JUBA— At least 440 civilians died in fighting between warring groups in southwestern South Sudan between June and September last year, the United Nations said.

“Grave human rights violations and abuses, including hundreds of killings, were committed against civilians during fighting in Tambura County, Western Equatoria State,” according to a joint report by the United Nations Mission

in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the UN Human Rights Office.

It said that between June and September last year, at least 440 civilians were killed, 18 injured and 74 abducted during clashes between rival groups.

At least 64 civilians were also subjected to conflict-related sexual violence, among them a 13-year-old girl who was gang-raped to death, the report said, while at least 56 people were also reported missing during the June-September period.

In addition, some 80,000 were forced to flee their homes to escape fighting, it said.

“Looting and destruction of property, child conscription, attacks on personnel and facilities, hate speech and incitement to violence were among the other human rights violations the investigation uncovered.”

The report blamed members of the armed forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and rivals in the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) of Deputy President Riek Machar, and “their respective affiliated militias”.

“We call on all parties to the conflict to hold to account all individuals implicated in the killings, rape and abductions, among other grave human rights violations,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

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WFP resumes humanitarian activities in North Darfur

The World Food Programme (WFP) has partially resumed humanitarian operations in North Darfur State with a special focus on malnourished children, according to a statement released on Tuesday.

The world’s largest humanitarian agency had suspended its activities in December 2021 following looting attacks on its three warehouses in El-Fasher.

“Nutrition programmes for malnourished children and pregnant and nursing mothers, as well as school meals programmes, have now resumed in the region,” said a statement in Khartoum.

The WFP aims to reach 122,600 people with nutrition support and 321,000 schoolchildren with school meals in 2022.

“We hope that security conditions will allow us to continue our work and we urge all parties to continue to provide safe access for humanitarian workers and protect humanitarian assets and supplies so that we can reach people who are in need of assistance,” said Eddie Rowe, WFP Representative and Country Director in Sudan.

The attacks on the WFP warehouses and the former UNAMID camp by armed elements affiliated with the signatory groups were criticised by the IDPs in North Darfur camps.

They called on the UN Security Council to re-establish the UNMAMID to protect them.

For its part, Sovereign Council instructed the armed groups to withdraw their combatants out of the state capitals including Khartoum after providing the needed money for the cantonment sites.

Gradually, will extend general food assistance to around 362,000 refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). However, a major funding shortfall of US$285 million for the next six months (March-August 2022) is jeopardising its operations.

Without new funds, WFP may have no choice but to make further cuts and the impact could be devastating, said the statement

Source: Sudan Tribune

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Sudan snubs calls to condemns Russian invasion of Ukraine

Sudan’s military-led Sovereign Council called on Monday for dialogue to resolve the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, ignoring calls by the European Union and Troika to condemn the Russian invasion.

In a regular meeting on Monday headed by Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan, the Council discussed the Russian-Ukrainian war.

“The council affirmed Sudan’s position in support of dialogue as a means to resolve the crisis between Russia and Ukraine,” said the Council’s Spokeswoman Salma Abdel-Jabbar, after the meeting.

“Sudan calls for a diplomatic solution to end the crisis and supports the ongoing efforts between the two countries,” Abdel Jabbar further said. She was referring to the ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine that failed to make a breakthrough on Monday.

The European Union and the Troika envoys to Sudan requested the Sudanese government on Sunday to condemn the Russian aggression on Ukraine and to support a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of the Russian troops to be adopted by the UN General Assembly this week.

In Geneva, Sudan abstained from voting in favour of a request to the Human Rights Council to hold an urgent debate on the “situation of human rights in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression”.

Commenting on this abstention, U.S. Congressman Dan Kildee, a Democrat, said that Sudan must publicly condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine if it wants to be recognized as a member of the international community.

“Sudan’s recent abstention at UN HumanRights (Council) and Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo’s recent visit to Moscow are very troubling,” Kildee added in a tweet posted on Monday.

The Ukrainian crisis has contributed to widening gaps between the international community and the coup leaders in Sudan who sought to convince major Western powers of their support to the democratic transition.

In their two last protests after the Russian attack on Ukraine, Sudanese youth raised banners expressing their support for the Ukrainian people.

Source: Sudan Tribune