Author: Web Desk

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has halted his government’s participation in the Rome talks with the South Sudanese Opposition Movement Alliance (SSOMA), dashing any prospects for peace in a country ruined by civil wars and rampant corruption.

“We have decided to pause the ongoing Sant’Egidio led Rome Peace initiative. Our pursuit of an inclusive peace should never be taken for weakness and used as a window to kill the innocent”, he said at the inauguration of the first session of parliament on Monday.

Kiir specifically singled out the National Salvation Front (NAS) headed by General Thomas Cirilo Swaka and set conditions for his government’s resumption of the talks.

He held the hold-out group responsible for attacks on the Juba-Nimule highway on August 16, 2021 in which scores of people, including two catholic nuns, were killed.

None of the groups, however, claimed responsibility for the recent attacks.

“Talks with SSOMA will only resume after they cease killing the innocent people and show their commitment to documents they have signed in Rome. It is only when they meet these conditions that genuine dialogue will resume,” said Kiir.

The South Sudanese leader wondered why NAS continues to target civilians along the main roads, despite their commitment to the cessation of hostilities agreement.

“We have signed with Rome Declaration and Rome Resolutions with SSOMA and the re-commitment to Cessation of Hostilities in December 2017 and Declaration of Principles. The goal of signing these documents was to stop fighting and save innocent lives. These were our commitment to inclusivity”, he told legislators.

Kiir said documents signed by the group suspected to have carried out the attack with the government were also part of confidence-building aimed at achieving lasting peace in the country.

“Now that SSOMA is specifically the National Salvation Front elements continue to violate this commitment,” he stressed.

Government signed a peace deal with NAS and other holdout opposition groups in January 2020.

Source: Sudan Tribune

Uganda and South Sudan have agreed to patrol the Nimule-Juba highway where drivers and travellers have been attacked in the recent past.

The agreement follows the killing of travellers, including two Catholic nuns, by unknown militia on the road.

Uganda’s First Deputy Prime Minister Rebecca Kadaga tweeted on Monday that there would be police check points every 10km along the usually busy highway.

“Uganda has expressed its concerns at the continued assault, attacks and killings of Ugandan travellers on the Juba-Nimule sector. Agreement has been reached with South Sudan government to establish security patrols at every 10 kilometres mark protected by convoy escorts,” she wrote.

Kadaga said chiefs of staffs from the two countries would hold a joint meeting next week.

“I have also drawn the attention of my counterparts to the common breach of the Common Market Protocal by South Sudan Govt,” she added.

Last week, cross-border drivers from East African countries went on strike protesting against insecurity.

About 1,000 lorries from across East Africa have stopped at the main crossing point along the Nimule-Juba highway.

At least 30 traders and lorry drivers from across East Africa have been killed this year on the road.

Landlocked South Sudan heavily depends on its neighbours for essential supplies.

Source: Sudan Tribune

One student was killed and 11 others wounded on Tuesday after police fired bullets to disperse protesters at the headquarters of the State Government and the University of Zalingei.

A group of university students organized a protest outside the University of Zalingei calling to develop student housing.

The police opened fire to disperse the protesters when they entered the university, eight students were wounded three of them are in critical condition.

To protest the use of bullets by the security forces at the university, the students went to the Central Darfur State Government buildings where the police opened fire again on the protesters killing one student and injured three others.

In a statement to the official news agency SUNA, Adeeb Abdel Rahman Youssif, the Governor of Central Darfur State, accused unnamed parties of “taking advantage of student demands to spread chaos and violence in the city”.

He further announced that the State Security Committee had decided to impose a state of emergency and a curfew in the city.

The protesters attacked the government building inside the secretariat of the government of Central Darfur state and destroyed some vehicles.

A student group linked to the holdout Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdel Wahid al-Nur (SLM-AW) was accused by local officials of inciting and orchestrating the protest.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Musa Adam Ismail, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Zalingei condemned the use of fire against the protesters and called to investigate the incident and to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Also, the SLM-AW issued a statement to condemn the murder of the student and pointed an accusing finger to the security forces and the state security committee saying their bear the responsibility for the attack.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The Sudanese Communist Party (SCP) accused the military component of the Sovereign Council of seeking to prohibit the employment of its members in the civil service.

“The military component and those around it instigate an employment ban on the communists in civil service, especially in the ministries of finance and foreign affairs,” SCP Spokesman Fathi Fadl told the Sudan Tribune.

He pointed out that about 100 to 120 of its members who work in the ministries of foreign affairs, finance, health and education are subjected to restrictions because of their political affiliation.

The matter was on the agenda of a meeting they held with Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok last Saturday.

In addition, they handed over a letter including the names of the harassed members who pledged to take the needful.

“Attempting to politicize the civil service and attacking the communist workers can turn into a sword directed at any unwanted servant who by the influential parties in power,” he said.

Fadl said that the applicants for the foreign ministry were surprised that the civil service interviews included a direct question: “Are you a communist or not?”

The Sudanese Communist Party criticized the economic reforms implemented by the transitional government and is no longer part of the ruling coalition Forces for Freedom and Change.

However, Hamdok has engaged a political dialogue with the left party with the hope that they would change their mind and back his government again.

Source: Sudan Tribune

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has downplayed citizens’ demand for him to step down, urging the population to prepare for general elections at the end of the transition period.

“Our final mandate in this process is to hold free, fair and credible democratic elections at the end of the transitional period,” he said, while opening the country’s national assembly on Monday.

Kiir was referring to long-awaited polls expected to be held in 2023.

The South Sudanese leaders told members of the new parliament to place the people of South Sudan above their party’s interests.

Kiir, looking exhausted, said those calling for his exit are “ill” advised.

One of the notable provisions in the revitalized peace agreement is the security arrangement that advocates reunification of command of forces as an institutional attempt to reform the army in a way reflecting all faces of ethnic groups and regions making up the country.

Kiir, however, wants a 60% representation in the command of the unified forces, leaving the remaining 40% to other stakeholders in the agreement, an arrangement the parties, including the main opposition party under Riek Machar’s leadership has rejected.

The stalemate has resulted in the delay to graduate troops from the cantonment sites and splitting in Opposition leadership.

Activists say the two leaders are unwilling to work together and will never work together even if they are allowed to stay in office for life. They are people with totally different political ambitions and ideologies with little interest in preserving greater good. Machar advocates democracy while Kiir oscillates between dictatorship and maintaining the status quo, causing brinkmanship and misery.

“These people [Kiir and Machar], even if they are allowed to stay together in power for life, which is what some of them want, and which is what others do not want because they also want to sit on that chair, they will never get together and work together. The only way is to force them out of the chair. They are a pure liability to the country”, a civil rights activist told Sudan Tribune on Monday.

“They were together in power for eight (8) years, what have they done to show that they prioritize the wellbeing of the people? They should just accept they have failed and go,” he added.

The activist said government is responsible for disruption of social media services and deployment of huge security forces to patrol all streets after calls for mass protests against bad governance.

“The continued intimidation and regular arrest of civil right activists, political opponents, and journalists is a clear and obvious proof of the government determined to stay in power”, he stressed.

Meanwhile, Stephan Lual Ngor, a leading member of the South Sudan Patriotic Movement (SSPM) has rejected calls to topple the transitional government and voiced his support for President Kiir.

“President Kiir is the best choice for peace and stability in South Sudan,” he told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday, adding that a few numbers of youth-based outside the country and without real political support use social media to disturb the implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.

Source: Sudan Tribune

The transitional government on Monday launched a new national action plan to combat human trafficking in Sudan which is the primary transit country of migrants to Europe from the Horn of Africa.

With the participation of Justice Minister Nasreldine Abdel Bari and European Union Ambassador to Sudan Robert van den Dool, the National Committee to Combat Human Trafficking (NCCT) inaugurated the National Action Plan for Combating Human Trafficking 2021-2023 in Sudan.

Undersecretary Ministry of Justice and NCCT Head Siham Osman stated that the three-year plan aims to curb human trafficking through several programmes to reduce poverty and offer new options for migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers.

Also, the plan will ensure better protection and shelter for the victims including the establishment of specialised prosecutor offices and courts, cross-border cooperation and access for victims of trafficking to legal aid to improve investigation and prosecution.

The EU-supported action plan met the four core aspects to combating human trafficking including “Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Coordination and Partnership,” said Osman.

During the first six months of this year, 29122 illegal migrants reached Italian shores including 1,428 Eritreans, 1,309 Sudanese. The number of Ethiopians was insignificant.

From January 31 May 2021, Libyan authorities intercepted over two 2000 Sudanese seeking to cross the Mediterranean sea and reach Europe embarking on dangerous boats.

In his remarks, Abdel-Bari reiterated his government commitment that the plan to fight human trafficking would maintain “the human dignity; that we must respect and preserve, whether a person is living in his country, travels within or migrates to other countries.”

According to the UNHCR data for the past seven months, migrants from Bangladesh tops the list of countries of illegal migration to Europe with 6951 migrants who cross the sea mainly from Libya.

The Trafficking in Persons Report 2021 by the U.S. Department of State said that the Sudanese authorities did not “fully meet the minimum standards” for the elimination of trafficking but is making significant efforts” in this respect.

Accordingly, the State Department placed the east African country in its Tier 2 watchlist to encourage Sudanese efforts to meet the international standards.

For his part, the EU envoy said that Sudan had made efforts to combat human trafficking, including the investigation, prosecution of human traffickers, and protection of victims.

He further said that the three-year plan aims to enable Sudanese institutions with EU support to facilitate safe and legal migration, combating illegal migration, providing protection and creating livelihood opportunities.

Source: Sudan Tribune