Author: Web Desk

The U.N. Secretary-General told Ethiopia’s government Wednesday that it should show him any documents or evidence the country has to substantiate accusations related to the expulsion of seven senior humanitarian officials from the country.

In a rare and unusual public exchange, Antonio Guterres took the floor of the U.N. Security Council after the Ethiopian ambassador leveled accusations against the staffers, including that they inflated the numbers of people in need of aid by 1 million and reported deaths that never happened.

“I would like to ask you one thing, Mr. Ambassador,” Guterres said, directing his remarks to Ethiopian envoy Taye Atske Selassie, who was seated at the council table. “If there is any written document provided by the Ethiopian government to any U.N. institution about any of the (seven) members of the U.N. that were expelled, I’d like to receive a copy of that document, because I haven’t any knowledge of any of them, and it would be very useful to me.”

Guterres went on to say that he twice told Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that if he had concerns about the lack of impartiality of U.N. staff, he should raise them directly with him so he could investigate.

“Until now, I have no response to this request,” the secretary-general said.

He added that Addis Ababa’s move to expel the officials is a violation of international law. U.N. staff are protected by immunity conventions.

Guterres emphasized that he seeks cooperation with the government so humanitarians can do the necessary work to ease the suffering of millions of Ethiopians.

“We have no other interest but to help stop that suffering,” he said.

Reporters outside the council asked him about the exchange.

“It is my duty to defend the honor of the United Nations,” Guterres replied.

On Sept. 30, Ethiopia announced the seven had 72 hours to leave the country, accusing them of meddling in its internal affairs and diverting aid and telecommunications equipment to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The government has been fighting the TPLF in the north of the country for nearly a year.

On Monday, the United Nations confirmed the seven were no longer in the country.

New accusations

At Wednesday’s council meeting, Ethiopian envoy Selassie appeared to level new accusations.

He said there were a “multitude of transgressions,” including efforts by the staffers to create a “Darfur-like” situation — referring to the massive humanitarian crisis in Sudan in the early 2000s.

“They suddenly and overnight created 1 million victims,” he alleged.

“We have evidence that the entire endeavor was created by a higher and more sophisticated motivation that seeks to undermine the Ethiopian state and rescue the TPLF,” he said without elaboration.

The humanitarian situation in Tigray and the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar is deteriorating. Guterres said Wednesday that up to 7 million people in the three conflict-affected areas are in need of food assistance and other support. He warned that obstacles have “crippled” humanitarian operations.

Council members also expressed their concern about the expulsion of the U.N. staffers.

“There is no justification for the government of Ethiopia’s action,” U.S. envoy Linda Thomas-Greenfield said. “None at all.”

She said the expulsions followed a “pattern of escalating obstruction” by the government that must be reversed.

“And if these calls for humanitarian access continue to go unheard, then the Security Council must act,” she said. “We can ensure the U.N. is allowed to deliver impartial aid. We should immediately consider all tools at our disposal to facilitate this, including a Security Council resolution, to save lives and promote international peace and security.”

The African members of the council — Kenya, Niger and Tunisia — along with China, urged “quiet diplomacy” to resolve the rift between Addis Ababa and the United Nations.

Russia’s representative was more explicit, saying that while the expulsions were regrettable, they should not be “dramatized.”

“We are certain that pressure involving the U.N. Security Council, threats and resolutions, and the imposition of unlawful unilateral sanctions and the creation of a toxic atmosphere in the media is counterproductive,” Russian Deputy U.N. Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva said.

Source: Voice Of America

South Sudan President Salva Kiir and the breakaway faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In Opposition (SPLM-IO) under the leadership of the former chief of staff, Gen. Simon Gatwech Dual have started direction negotiation despite protests from the armed opposition faction led by Riek Machar.

Machar, who is also South Sudan’s First Vice President in the coalition government, has insisted the meeting between Kiir and Gatwech violates terms of the peace deal which prohibits switching allegiance.

“Accepting direct a negotiation with this group proved what the leadership has been saying all along that one of the parties to the agreement has been encouraging defection from the movement with the view to weakness and undermine implementation of the peace agreement, which is a clear violation of the peace agreement”, a legislator from SPLM-IO party told Sudan Tribune Monday.

The South Sudanese leader, however, says his objective is to implement the September 2018 peace deal to avoid a return to war.

“His excellency the president of the republic is the man of peace. He does not want our people to continue to die. He wants any differences to be resolved amicably by dialogue. This is why he has decided to negotiate with the group of Gen Simon Gatwech Dual and Gen Johnson Olony. He should therefore be commended for accepting to dialogue instead of receiving this wise initiative with scorns and cynical views”, a presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said on Monday.

Presidential adviser Tut Gatluak commended the decision of the president, saying Gen Gatwech Dual has accepted negotiation with the government and is nominating his team to start talk with them

Brig. Gen. William Gatjiath Deng, who speaks for Gatwech’s faction, conformed their group will get into negotiation with the government in negotiations that will be mediated by the Sudanese government.

Deng his boss had been asked by the Sudanese government to prepare a delegation which will negotiate with the delegation of the government. He described the process as good start but were waiting for the date on which negotiation would begin.

Officials with direct knowledge of the process say the government and the mediation team are working to ensure there is a budget for the secretariat that will be organizing the venue, accommodation, transportation and feeding of the delegates.

It, however, remains unclear who is likely to foot the bill as no independent party has emerged to provide funds for the mediation. South Sudan’s president’s office will fund the start of the talks.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Ugandans traveling to South Sudan will no longer have to pay for a visa required to enter into the young nation.

JPEG – 84.1 kb

In a notice issued by the South Sudanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperatives, authorities said that Ugandans with valid travel documents will require no visa to enter the country.

“In the spirit of reciprocity, the gov’t of the Republic of South Sudan has directed the Ministry of Interior through its Directorate of Nationality Passport and Immigration to waive visa entry requirement for Ugandan citizens holding valid passports issued by the government of the republic of Uganda with effect from Monday October 4th, 2021? a statement issued on Friday reads in part.

“All entry and exit including our missions and embassies abroad are directed to comply with the directive,” it further stressed.

This comes just weeks after Ugandan announced it would waive visa fees for South Sudanese entering the country for a visit or general purpose in compliance with the East Africa Community (EAC) treaty.

Officials in South Sudan said the new move would assist the citizens of the two countries holding valid travelling documents to travel freely.

The agreement cancels a requirement to pay $50 effective October 4.

The move by the two trading partners in the East African Community will strengthen trade relations and bilateral cooperation.

Uganda and South Sudan have strong ties, with Uganda hosting a number of high profile South Sudan citizens and refuges.

South Sudan is Uganda’s second leading export destination in the EAC after Kenya.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The Supreme Council of Beja Chiefdoms is preparing to declare civil disobedience in the cities of Port Sudan, Kassala and Gadaref because the government continues to ignore their demands, a leading member said on Monday.

Since 17 September, supporters of the Handawa tribal leader Mohamed Turk have closed Red Sea ports and blocked roads linking the eastern Sudan region with the rest of the country calling to cancel a peace agreement related to the area signed in October 2020.

“We are now going to escalate our actions and close the government establishments including the northern seaport and the customs administration. Also, we will declare civil disobedience in the three eastern cities, ” told the Sudan Tribune Abdallah Obshar, Rapporteur of the Supreme Council of Beja Chiefdoms.

Obshar pointed out that the sit-in continues outside the oil terminal of Bashayer Port, which is used to export South Sudan’s oil.

“The terminal can be closed at any time,” he further warned.

Last week, the protesters agreed to cease obstructing the exportation of South Sudanese oil after a meeting with a government delegation, led by a member of the Sovereign Council, Shams al-Din al-Kabbashi.

The government delegation said it made proposals to end the crisis to the leader of the Hadandawa tribe, who asked him to give him a week to consult with his partners.

But Obshar said that the government delegation did not propose any solutions, but rather listened to their position on how to solve the crisis, and requested a week’s time to study it with the government.

He added they plan to launch civil disobedience and close the Bashaer terminal after the end of the deadline requested by the government delegation.

The tribal leader last month said they wants the cancellation of the eastern Sudan peace deal, the resignation of the Hamdok government and the military takeover of government.

The head of the Sudanese Revolutionary Front and member of the Sovereign Council Hadi Idris rejected any attempt to cancel the eastern Sudan deal which is part of the Juba peace agreement.

Idris on Sunday state that the deal provides to hold a conference for all the people of the region, so the tribal leader and his supporters can come to discuss their demands for the region.

The government on Sunday called on the protesters to engage in dialogue to reach a political solution for the eastern Sudan problem.

Also, it said that the country is about to run out of essential medicine, fuel and wheat after the closure of Port Sudan.

Source: Sudan Tribune

South Sudan media rights groups condemned comments by a key parliament member who said that news organizations could have their licenses revoked if they report on parliamentary expenditures — including lawmaker salaries — without prior authorization from the speaker.

Paul Youane Bonju, who is the chairperson-designate of the information committee in South Sudan’s reconstituted National Legislative Assembly, said journalists risk being sued if they do not follow what he termed the proper procedure for reporting on lawmakers’ financial transactions.

“Some [reporters] are new in the field and I need to bring them on board by trying to tell them the right procedures if they visit the parliament, because the parliament is a body that enacts laws,” he said in a news conference last week.

“If you are coming to engage with such a body, you must also be conversant of how to go about it,” Bonju said. “In some instances, some of the media, instead of coming to me or going to the office of the clerk, sometimes they contact either the staffs, or they get the information from sources that are not authorized to release some of the information.”

Bonju cited media reports five years ago about $40,000 that was allotted to lawmakers by President Salva Kiir for allowances and car loans.

The reports about the allotment caused a widespread backlash in the world’s newest country, where the government owes many workers back salaries and the average teacher makes less than $400 per year.

Media groups say Bonju’s comments are an attempt to conceal information from the public as South Sudan attempts for forge a shaky democracy.

Micheal Duku, executive director of the Association for Media Development in South Sudan, said parliamentary members cannot stop the media from reporting on their work which is in the public interest.

“The media is regulated by law and when it comes to information that is categorized, there are classified information and unclassified information,” Duku told VOA’s South Sudan in Focus. “So long as this falls under unclassified information, the public has the right to know.”

Bonju’s comments come as South Sudan journalists are facing increasing pressures on their reporting.

Three journalists recently were detained, and a radio station was closed as the government clamped down on efforts by activists to stage what they called a peaceful public uprising.

Agents also detained a government broadcaster after he allegedly declined to report news about recent presidential decrees on the South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation airwaves.

South Sudan ranks 139th out of 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders, in which 1 is the freest.

The reconstituted legislature was inaugurated in August this year by Kiir under the leadership of Jemma Nunu Kumba as speaker of the house.

In an interview with South Sudan in Focus, Bonju said his comments were aimed at clarifying parliamentary procedures for press coverage.

“I was telling them, ‘Look, I am not warning you, but I am rather cautioning you to be sure that if you want anything to do with emolument of the MPs, please contact the relevant offices, the relevant departments,'” he said.

Source: Voice Of America