Day: October 1, 2022

The Third Front “Tamazaj” called to review the Juba Peace Agreement, saying major signatory groups kidnapped the peace agreement and diverted it to their own interests.

The Juba Peace Agreement has been criticised by political forces including the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) that call to review several chapters, particularly the security arrangements because it allows the armed groups to keep arms until the elections.

On Saturday, Tamazuj, joined the calls to review the agreement saying it empowers only certain groups to the detriment of other signatories.

“The Juba Agreement contains major mistakes and it must be reviewed and evaluated because those who participate in the government under the agreement work only for their interests and groups,” Tamazuj leader Mohamed Ali Qureshi told Sudan Tribune.

“They hijacked the agreement which addresses many issues but their experience was a failure,” Qureshi stressed.

He added that the signatories of the contested deal are 14 armed and political movements but it benefits only six groups, five in Darfur and one in the Blue Nile region.

Tamazuj which includes groups from border areas in Kordofan and Darfur regions was not known as a rebel group before joining the agreement. The main armed groups claim that the group is made up of Sudanese army militiamen.

The group did not participate in the peace process but joined the agreement once it was signed by the main former rebel groups.

No positions in the central or regional government have been allocated to the group in line with the power-sharing chapter of the Juba peace agreement.

Also, last September Tamazuj Secretary-General, Yasir Mohamed Hassan, accused the government of violating the peace agreement and stressed the need to fulfil the security arrangements. He added they can no longer control their armed elements.

Deputy head of the Sovereign Council Mohamed Hamdan Daglo Hemetti, in August, stated that Tamazuj fighters were involved in the bloody tribal clashes that took place in West Darfur state and announced the arrest of all its leaders in the state.

Qureshi said that Darfur signatory groups are striving hard to eject them from the peace agreement. He disclosed that they had refused that Tamazuj joins the peace pact.

He further warned against a return to war again in the western Sudan region because a certain want to control Darfur and dominate its people.

“We (have the support of) tribal components in all the five states of Darfur. Even those who seek to exclude us are ignorant of the facts, and this is the beginning of a new war,” he warned.

Tamazuj’s leader went further to censure the joint security forces for the protection of civilians that the government and Darfur signatory groups formed recently.

According to Quereshi, these forces are composed of certain ethnicities, non-neutral and not representing the Darfur region.

In addition, he attacked the security forces in the Darfur region, noting that they are composed of certain ethnicities, accusing them of lack of neutrality and not representing the Darfur region, declaring their categorical rejection of them.

Also, he harshly criticized West Darfur Governor Khamis Abdallah Abkar and blamed him for arresting their elements for alleged involvement in the tribal conflict in the state.

It is worth mentioning that Tamazuj had been excluded from the joint security forces.

Source: Sudan Tribune

TWO teams of judges and registry officers from the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) have visited the International Criminal Court (ICC) intending to enhance and exchange issues concerning international justice.

All the delegates from two groups were led by the president of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Lady Justice Imani Aboud.

The visit was held as part of the African Court’s increased effort to engage in judicial dialogue with international institutions sharing similar or cross-cutting mandates.

During the visit, the African Court’s delegation met with ICC’s Vice-President, Judge Ibanez Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza, and Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa – formerly a judge of the African Court.

The delegation also met with senior officers of the Office of the Prosecutor and Registry of the world criminal tribunal.

Exchanges revolved around issues concerning international justice, and particularly questions that arise in the intersection between international criminal justice, and international human rights adjudication such as fair trial rights, use of technology in the administration of justice, as well as reparations to victims.

The two teams also engaged in legal aid and knowledge management systems which have become key components of an effective administration of justice in the international realm.

In her welcome statement, Ibáñez Carranza restated the critical understanding of the complementarity between international criminal and regional human rights systems as both works within the same interconnected global justice network.

She stressed the importance of working through synergy to achieve the common cause of ending impunity for crimes committed against humans.

Also, the ICC’s Vice-president said that the only operational judicial organ of the African Union, the African Court is to adopt judicial dialogue as one of the key pillars of its current strategic plan to achieve its mandate toward more effective protection and enforcement of the individual and group rights guaranteed in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

“One legal anchorage of the African Court’s engagement with the ICC is Article 21 of the Rome Statute, which requires all stakeholders of international criminal justice to work consistently with internationally recognised human rights standards,” said the vice president.

She also said that the outcome of this visit is expected to strengthen recommendations from previous engagements to enhance legal knowledge and improve institutional practices.

In concluding their exchanges, the two institutions committed to enhancing the existing cooperation through positive complementarity, as well as continued operational and judicial engagement.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

The African continent need to develop the Mango, Cassava and ICT sectors, given the great potential for value addition and export, said? Ruben Poolchund, Chief Officer for Africa at the International Trade Centre (ITC).

Speaking? at the launch of the second edition of the West Africa Connect event, in Accra, he said out of 302 million tonnes of cassava globally produced in 2020, more than half was produced in Africa.?

The two-day event is hosted by the West Africa Competitiveness Programme (WACOMP) to connect suppliers from the region with buyers inside and outside the region in order to promote access to market opportunities and linkages with global value chains.

This year’s event focuses on Mango, Cassava and ICT Value chains, with the objective of providing SMEs across the region with a platform for business engagement, market linkages and commercial exchanges that will serve to promote trade in the region

He said on the African continent, 52 per cent of total Cassava production was carried out in West Africa, with Nigeria alone accounting for 23.4 per cent of global production.?

He said in the Mango sector, although a significant part of the production was not marketed, the ECOWAS Region led as the 7th Mango-exporting origin worldwide, with 90,000 tonnes exported in 2019 and the market share of global trade rising up to 5.1 per cent in 2020.

Poolchund said West Africa also provided a vibrant ecosystem for the development of the ICT sector.

He said the ECOWAS region had both benefitted and contributed to the significant growth witnessed in the digital space in the past decade.

The Region has experienced up to 45 per cent additional share of the population using the internet between 2010-2019, with an estimated increase in bandwidth of up to 368 Tbps (Terabit per second)? by 2023, allowing for faster and greater interconnectivity with the rest of the world.

He said the ICT space was important in itself, but also represented an important enabler for the rest of the economic sectors, including agritech.?

He said businesses across the region have begun to embrace digital transformation in the way they trade and carry out operations, and the e-commerce sector was a prime example, with revenues expected to triple to more than €30 billion between 2017–2024.??

He said across all three priority sectors, ITC had conducted a number of studies and initiatives in West Africa and beyond, supporting the promotion of these agric sectors through exports, as well as enabling the creation of a number of tech hubs for ICT SMEs and agritech start-ups, in support of the immense potential in the region.

More than 140 representatives of financial institutions across the ECOWAS Region have been trained on sustainable finance, in order to better serve the needs of West African SMEs and Business Support Organisations.?

He said ITC was partnering with the ECOWAS Commission to support the first ECOWAS-wide network for Trade Promotion Organisations, recently established through the assistance of ITC.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK