Day: March 5, 2023

Sudan opened its border with the Central African Republic (CAR) to allow cross-border trade after a two-month closure.

On January 3, the deputy head of the Sovereign Council and Commander of the Rapid Support Forces, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo “Hametti” announced the border closure after speaking about the involvement of Sudanese elements in an attempt to overthrow the CAR president.

“The South Darfur State Security Committee decided to partially open the borders to allow the flow of commercial traffic, following the visit of a high-ranking delegation to the Umm Dafouk locality on the border with Central Africa last week,” a senior official in the state of South Darfur told Sudan Tribune.

According to the official who requested anonymity, local traditional leaders of the Salamat tribe in a memorandum to the state government complained about the accumulation of large numbers of commercial vehicles in the locality after the border closure.

They further complained of violations committed by the RSF elements and the arrest of youth groups rejecting the measures taken by the security forces to combat what they call negative phenomena.

“About 60 vehicles have withdrawn from the forces that had been deployed at the border since last week,” the official said.

The RSF commander in South Darfur State, Ahmed Mohamed Suleiman, welcomed on Saturday afternoon, in Nyala, a mobile force “Agbash” and praised the roles played by its elements to restore security and combating crimes on the border area.

Since the border shut down, the paramilitary force dispatched military reinforcements to the border areas of Um Dukhun in Central Darfur, Um Dafouk and Abu Jaradil in the state of South Darfur.

The troops were officially tasked with preventing arms and drug trafficking.

The RSF Commander Mohamed Hamdan Dalgo, spoke about the trafficking of military uniforms from Sudan to the CAR and the arrest of Arab tribesmen in Darfur joining rebel groups in the troubled neighbouring country.

Some Western newsletters claimed that RSF soldiers crossed actually into the other side of the border to fight Central African rebel groups alongside the CAR troops and Wagner contractors.

Source: Sudan Tribune

South Sudan’s armed opposition faction First Vice President Riek Machar has called for reinstatement of the Defense and Veterans Affairs minister.

President Salva Kiir, in a decree announced on Friday evening, sacked Defense minister, Angelina Teny and swapped the position to his ruling party (SPLM).

The Defense ministry was allocated to the armed opposition (SPLM-IO) party, one of the main signatories to the September 2018 revitalised peace agreement.

The armed opposition faction (SPLM-IO), in an extraordinary meeting of the party’s Political Bureau on Saturday, Kiir violated terms of the peace accord.

“The Political Bureau condemns and rejects the unilateral removal of Hon. Angelina Teny as Minister of Defense and Veterans Affairs in violation of Article 1.13.1, which gives each party to the Agreement the power to remove its representatives in the Council of Ministers and nominate replacements by notifying the President,” the SPLM-IO said in a statement.

The group urged Kiir to revoke his move and reinstate the defense minister.

“In light of the above violations, the Political Bureau would like to point out that the RTGoNU [Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity] is founded on the premise of collegial collaboration in decision-making and continuous consultations within the presidency, between the President, the First Vice President and the four Vice Presidents, to ensure effective governance during the traditional period,” further stressed the statement.

In August last year, South Sudan’s parties to the September 2018 peace signed a roadmap extending the transitional period for 24 months, citing failure to complete critical benchmarks on the agreed time.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Sudan and Ethiopia agreed on Sunday to accelerate efforts to end the border dispute and reactivate trade between the two countries.

Abel Fattah al-Burhan, head of the Sovereign Council on Sunday met a number of regional leaders in the marines of the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) held in Doha.

In a meeting the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the two leaders discussed bilateral relations and ways to settle the pending issues, particularly the border demarcation.

“The two sides agreed on the importance of continuing efforts and accelerating its pace regarding the issues of border and economic cooperation, and activating trade exchange to achieve the common interests of the peoples of the two countries,” said the Sovereign Council in a statement after the meeting.

The Ethiopian news agency just mentioned the meeting but no details were released about what al-Burhan and Ahmed discussed.

On January 28, Abiy was in Khartoum to hold talks with al-Burhan and Sudanese political leaders. At the end of the visit, the sides agreed to resume the bilateral discussions on the level of the ministerial joint commission.

The dispute over the Al-Fashaga border stripe remains the main issue between the two countries as the government of the current Prime Minister Ahmed denounced the previous agreements and called for new talks.

Sudan vehemently rejected the request and calls to resume talks on the basis of the signed agreement.

Al-Burhan also met with the Chadian President Mahamat Idriss Deby.

“The meeting stressed the importance of enhancing joint cooperation in various fields, as well as strengthening coordination between Khartoum and N’Djamena on regional and international issues of common interest”.

Recently, al-Burhan and Deby agreed to revitalize the joint border patrols after reports of the presence of Chadian rebels in northern parts of the Central African Republic.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Increasing violence against both Israelis and Palestinians has had tragic consequences on the innocent people, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said Friday.

The official, while speaking at the 52nd session of the UN Human Rights Council, Turk, said that the year 2022 saw the highest number of both Palestinians killed in the past 17 years and Israelis killed since 2016.

“This death toll has further, and sharply, deteriorated in the first weeks of 2023, and in the month that has just ended,” explained Turk.

The human rights chief, in his report, said 131 Palestinians were killed by Israeli Security Forces (ISF) personnel over the past year in a context of law enforcement, outside any context of hostilities.

“This includes 65 people who we understand were not armed, nor engaged in any attacks or clashes. Since 2017, fewer than 15% of such killings have been investigated, and fewer than 1% led to an indictment,” he said.

Turk also said 13 Israelis, including three children, were killed by Palestinians.

“On both sides there is, I believe, a growing sense of a narrowing future, in which nobody can even hope for peace and security, for anyone’s children,” he stressed.

He urged decision-makers and people on all sides to step back from the context of extremism and violence and find a two-state solution, with mutual recognition of the legitimate rights of all Israelis and Palestinians to live in dignity, peace and security.

“For this violence to end, the occupation must end,” Turk explained.

Meanwhile, Turk called for recommendations from the human rights system that would make an immediate difference, include treating cases of violence equally, ending the Gaza blockade and easing restrictions.

“In addition, all sides should adhere completely to the agreement reached at the summit in Aqaba on 26 February and build on this experience of opening the issues to regional solutions, to resolve other issues in the future,” he stressed.

Turk said member states should play a role in “assisting all parties to find the exit ramp”.

“Within a foreseeable horizon, there must be a two-State solution, with an end to the occupation, and mutual recognition of the legitimate rights of all Israelis and Palestinians to live in dignity, peace and security,” he noted.

The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world’s most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other efforts to resolve the broader Arab–Israeli conflict.

Source: Sudan Tribune