Africa

May 8, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Member of Sudan's Higher Coordination Committee to Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Dialogue Outcome Osman Abu al-Majd Monday has called on the committee to meet to discuss reasons for delaying the announcement of the new government.

Members of the national dialogue general assembly and President Omer al-Bashir attend the third session of the internal process in Khartoum on August 20, 2015 (Photo AFP/Ashraf Shazly)

Abu-Almajd, a member of the committee and chairman of the National People's Alliance Party, told Sudan Tribune that “members of the follow-up committee are unaware of the real reasons for the delay of announcing the ministerial formation”.

“I demand to hold an emergency meeting for the higher committee headed by President Omer al-Bashir to discuss the reasons for the delay of announcing the [new] government in both its executive and legislative branches at the federal and state levels,” he said.

He pointed that the government should have been announced shortly after the approval of the dialogue outcome at the parliament, saying there is no justification for the delay of announcing the government.

The government of national concord was expected to be announced last February, however, the new ministerial formation was postponed amid conflicting reports about the reasons. Official statements confirm that the delay was due to differences within some of the dialogue parties participating in the new government.

Abu-Almajd said the announcement of the new government mustn't be held captive to hesitant stances of some political parties, stressing the outcome of the national dialogue should be implemented immediately.

Last October, the political forces participating in the national dialogue concluded the process by signing the National Document which includes the general features of a future constitution to be finalised by transitional institutions.

The opposition groups boycotted the process because the government didn't agree to a humanitarian truce with the armed groups and due to its refusal to implement a number of confidence building measures aiming to create a conducive environment in the country before to hold the inclusive dialogue.

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May 8, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudanese students Monday took to the streets to protest against the rise in the cost of living. The protester who was joined by the capital residents chanted slogans against President Salva Kiir and carried banners accusing him of collapsing the country.

The protesters said the government was mismanaging the economy as inflation was running at alarming rate. They called for the restoration of subsidies to basic food commodities to dilute the negative impact of the increasing inflation on the population

The national currency, the South Sudanese Pound which was one of the strongest currencies in the region prior to the war in 2013 has depreciated against the US dollar sharply in recent months.

The slump in the currency has led to the price increase of consumer goods, like sugar and fuel. Taxes have also gone up, along with utilities by more than 50%.

Venturing out into the streets of Juba on Monday morning, the protesters chanted and sang combative songs used for unwanted leaders for about an hour creating traffic jams around Juba University. One of the hand-written placards read: “The nation has collapsed under your leadership,” a direct reference to President Salva Kiir.

“A protester warned the resumption of the march if no immediate attention was taken. People are suffering, they have tolerated a lot since 2013. They want peace to come but it seems the government is comfortable with the war that is why the prices are rising. The presidency of Salva Kiir is hanging by a thread and I am afraid he will continue with the do nothing policy,” he said.

This comes after President Kiir had a heated exchange with the Information Minister, Michael Makuei Lueth over the use of state assets in the communal fight in favour of a section of ethnic Dinka youth who invaded a neighbouring ethnic Murle.

It has been alleged that the objective of the march was to recover the stolen cows and the children abducted by members of ethnic Murle.

It is still unclear as to how the cows were stolen or how many children were abducted and in which months or year the incident occurred.

(ST)

The BBC's on board Save the Children's rescue boat as migrants flee Libya.

Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari says Uefa are not addressing the "serious issue" of racism in football.

Welcoming Saturday’s release of 82 of the schoolgirls abducted from the Nigerian town of Chibok by the Boko Haram insurgent group three years ago, the United Nations has called for continued global support for the country’s efforts to release, rehabilitate and reintegrate all Boko Haram victims.

The escalating conflict in South Sudan had driven more than one million children out of the country, the United Nations announced today, warning that the future of a generation is ‘on the brink.’

More than three years ago, 276 girls were abducted from a secondary school in northern Nigeria. BBC News looks at what we know.

Every May the people of the Ghanaian coastal town of Winneba celebrate their migration from Timbuktu with a traditional hunt, known as the Aboakyer festival.

May 7, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Minni Minnawi, the leader of the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM-MM) has called for a new process involving the European Union to bring peace in Darfur, pointing that only a lasting peace can contribute to stopping the waves of illegal immigrants into Europe.

SLM-MM leader Minni Minnawi (AP Photo)

The SLM-MM and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) are engaged in a peace process brokered by the African Union. The two-track process includes also the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) which fights the Sudanese army in the Two Areas, several political opposition parties and civil society groups.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune, Minnawi accused the Sudanese government of continuing to carry out attack on civilians in Darfur, using the European support to strengthen its janjaweed militia, which is accused of war crimes, under the pretext of combating illegal immigration.

Minnawi without rejecting the stalled African Union peace process stressed on "the urgent need to find a new and effective project for peace in Sudan".

"A project that addresses the root causes of the political crisis in Darfur and linking it to the national crisis by expanding the umbrella of the negotiating platform to include the European Union and neighbouring conflict-affected countries to contribute with the states and organisations involved in the peace process," he further said.

The rebel leader said the EU can play a positive role in strengthening the Sudan Peace Project, adding that its participation will provide a real opportunity to seriously address the illegal immigration, which worries the Union (countries), and to stop manipulation and extortion exercised by the (Sudanese) government.

"It is wrong to rely on the (Sudanese) government as long as it is the main cause of the political, economic and social crisis in the region, which led to mass migration to Europe," he further stressed.

In a report issued last April, the Enough Project warned against the dual-use of European support to the Sudanese security agencies to stop the flow of illegal migrants by the Sudanese government militia of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
The EU plans to build the capacities of the Sudanese security and law enforcement agencies, including the RSF militia, which has been branded as Sudan's “border force".

"There are legitimate concerns with these plans. Much of the EU-funded training and equipment is dual-use. The equipment that enables identification and registration of migrants will also reinforce the surveillance capabilities of a Sudanese government that has violently suppressed Sudanese citizens for the past 28 years," stressed the report.

LIFT OF U.S. SANCTIONS

The SLM-M M also criticised the partial lift of sanctions on Sudan saying it would only benefit the government and increase its capacity to commit atrocities and war crimes.

He called to link the lift of sanctions with the end of "génocidaire war" in Darfur and Khartoum support to terror groups.

Furthermore, the SLM-MM called on the U.S. administration to involve "all the national parties, especially the Sudan Liberation Movement, in the monitoring of what is happening on the ground in Darfur in particular and the Sudan in general," Minnawi said.

In line with the five-track engagement process for the partial lift of sanctions on Sudan, U.S. government agencies will continue to assess during a six-month period Khartoum's implementation of the agreement sealed in this respect.

The five key areas include ceasing hostilities in Darfur and the Two Areas, improving humanitarian access, ending negative interference in South Sudan, enhancing cooperation on counterterrorism, and addressing the threat of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA).

(ST)

May 7, 2017 (JUBA) – Authorities in South Sudan's Gogrial state have denied reports alleging that 21 people were killed in the region, describing it as an “unfounded and a made up story” from political opponents seeking attention.

Map of South Sudan showing Warrap state in red

The state information minister, Ariech Mayar Ariech said he was surprised about reports alleging 21 people were killed in the state during what was portrayed as a communal fight.

“I would like to make a few clarifications. One clarification is that there is no youth union president in Gogrial State, there have not been elections. The youth are still organising and when they finish, it will be a public event and everybody will know,” Ariech told Sudan Tribune Sunday.

He added, “If there is someone claiming to be the president of Gorgrial he has to tell the public who elected him and when.”

The information minister also attributed the “falsified” story to be a ploy by people who want to create panic in the new state.

“The second clarification I would like to make is about the people alleged to have been killed. We made a search from village to village and we had multiple corroborating intelligence sources from various types of intelligence that told us nothing about these incidents. We came to find that the story was a creation of people who want to spark panic by fabricating stories to draw attention,” he stressed.

The minister also emphasised that the government respects the right of each individual to exercise freedom of speech, saying that media outlets also have an ultimate duty to ensure that the public is not misinformed.

Ariech, however, said the media must be held accountable for the dissemination of information that is “false” and “misleading”.

“Responsible and accountable journalism is all about ensuring accuracy, fairness and balance. As the government of Gogrial state we understand that our actions are subject to public scrutiny,” explained the information minister.

He further added, “However the publications of unverified information are dangerous and could amount to inciting public unrest, which is unacceptable”.

The minister challenged journalist to be professional, saying disseminating unproven information will undermine the profession.

“The continuous publication of unverified information calls into question the professional etiquette and standing of journalism,” he said, adding “Media code of ethics, embraces accuracy, balance and fairness in reporting”.

(ST)

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

May 8, 2017 (ADDIS ABABA) - Ethiopia and Sudanese police have signed an agreement to further boost peace and security cooperation between the two neighbours, the state-run Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation reported on Sunday.

The accord was signed after a Sudanese police delegation held discussions with their Ethiopian counterparts in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian federal police commissioner, Asefa Abiyu said previous cooperation agreements signed between Ethiopia and Sudan were successful, stressing needs for more efforts to sustain the momentum.

He underlined the need for more joint efforts to tackle human and drug trafficking, terrorism as well as other border security threats.

The cooperation deal between the Sudanese and Ethiopian police institutions could be a model for the region or the continent as a whole in different specialisation if both sides work harder and sustained border security, said the Ethiopian police commissioner.

The Sudanese police delegation called for extra collaboration between the two police institutions to curb border crimes and to attain sustainable peace and security along the long shared border.

Both sides agreed to secure each other's border through their territories. The new agreement is expected to further bolster their ties.

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May 7, 2017 (MALAKAL) – The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has deployed its peacekeeping troops to Aburoc in the Upper Nile region to enable delivery of the much-needed humanitarian assistance.

David Shearer (UN photo)

“The aim is to provide humanitarian groups with the confidence they need to resume the provision of urgent assistance to tens of thousands of people in Aburoc who are fleeing the ongoing violence,” said UNMISS head, David Shearer.

“This short-term deployment is a response to an immediate need and will provide a light and temporary peacekeeping footprint in the area,” he added.

Currently, the U.N says, up to 50,000 people are sheltering in and around the town of Aburoc on the west bank of the River Nile after a series of clashes between government and the opposition forces.

The most urgent humanitarian need is to provide safe drinking water, it added.

“Without a secure supply of clean water, there is a risk of an outbreak of diarrhoea.or even cholera which has the potential to kill thousands of vulnerable people. It is vital that our humanitarian partners are able to get this water and other aid through to alleviate the suffering,” said Shearer.

“I also note that the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) has acknowledged UNMISS' intention to help facilitate the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people of the Upper Nile,” he added.

The peacekeeping troops' immediate focus will be on securing the roads to provide safe passage for the delivery and collection of water and other assistance by humanitarian groups, the world body stressed in its statement.

Concerns have been raised on risks of old landmines on the road between Kodok and Auburoc as the U.N Mine Action Service is reportedly assessing the situation and will remove any unexploded ordnance to reduce threat and enable people move freely.

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May 7, 2017 (NAIROBI) - More than one million children have so far fled South Sudan where escalating violence continues, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the U.N Refugee Agency (UNHCR) announced Sunday.

Children walk through a camp for internally displaced persons at the United Nations Mission to South Sudan (UNMISS) base in the capital, Juba, on 9 January 2014 (AFP)

“The horrifying fact that nearly one in five children in South Sudan has been forced to flee their home illustrates how devastating this conflict has been for the country's most vulnerable,” said Leila Pakkala, UNICEF's Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa.

“Add this to the more than one million children who are also displaced within South Sudan, and the future of a generation is truly on the brink," she added.

Children, U.N figures show, make 62 per cent of more than 1.8 million refugees from South Sudan, with majority seeking refuge in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

“No refugee crisis today worries me more than South Sudan,” said Valentin Tapsoba, UNHCR's Africa Bureau Director, adding “That refugee children are becoming the defining face of this emergency is incredibly troubling. We, all in the humanitarian community, need most urgent, committed and sustainable support to be able to save their lives.”

According to the world body, more than one thousand children have been killed or injured since the conflict first erupted in 2013, while an estimated 1.14 million children have been internally displaced within the war-torn East African nation.

Figures from the U.N also show that nearly three quarters of the country's children are out of school, the highest proportion of out-of-school children in the world.

"The trauma, physical upheaval, fear and stress experienced by so many children account for just part of toll the crisis is exacting ," the two U.N agencies stated.

"Children remain at risk of recruitment by armed forces and groups and, with traditional social structures damaged, they are also increasingly vulnerable to violence, sexual abuse and exploitation," their joint statement further observed.

Over 75,000 refugee children in Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have reportedly crossed South Sudan's borders either unaccompanied or separated from their families.

Meanwhile, UNICEF's says its appeal for South Sudan and its refugees in the region, which calls for $181 million to address the acute needs of refugees until end of the year has only been 52% funded. On the other hand, UNHCR's funding appeal for South Sudan of $781.8 million is reportedly only 11% funded.

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May 7, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) Saturday said it has freed the French national who has been kidnapped in Chad and taken to Darfur pointing the operation was carried out in close coordination with Paris and N'Djamena.

Late last March, Chad's Security Minister Ahmat Mahamat Bachir disclosed that a French national was abducted in Chad near the border with Sudan's Darfur region and has been taken into Sudan.

Bachir pointed the French civilian, an employee of a French mining company operating in Chad was kidnapped south of Abeche, a mining area about 800 km (500 miles) east of the capital N'Djamena and 150 km from the border with Sudan.

In a press release on Saturday night, the director of information department at the NISS Mohamed Tabidi said the authorities managed to free Thierry Frezier following “a complex rescue operation” in the outskirts of Kutum, some 100 kilometres west of El-Fasher the capital of North Darfur state.

He pointed that the five kidnappers had been arrested by the NISS during the rescue operation.

For his part, the governor of North Darfur Abdel-Wahid Youssif said in a press conference Sunday the government received intelligence that the French national was being held in an area close to Kutum, saying they dispatched a joint force from the army, police, NISS and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to the area and he was rescued without losses.

He confirmed the government didn't pay any ransom, saying the kidnappers were arrested and will be brought to trial.

In a press release Sunday, the French president's office said he felt “great pleasure” at the release.

Meanwhile, the director of the NISS in North Darfur Awad al-Karim Khalid said the rescue operation was carried out in coordination with Chand and France, saying the abductors would be brought to trial under the Sudanese law.

He added the operation underscored the importance of coordination and exchange of information among security organs, pointing to the regional and international cooperation in the fight against terrorist and negative groups and organised and cross-border crime.

Khalid said: “Frezier was kidnapped in eastern Chad by outlaws from the remnants of the rebellion who sneaked him into the country and moved him between several Darfur states”.

It is noteworthy that Frezier has arrived in Khartoum on Sunday afternoon and was handed over to the French embassy in prelude to transfer him to his country.

On November 22, 2009, two French aid workers were kidnapped at Birao town in the Central African Republic (CAR) and had been taken to Darfur where they were freed three months later.

Also, in 2009 a Frenchman working for the International Committee of the Red Cross was abducted by a shadowy armed group called the Freedom Eagles of Africa, based in Darfur.

Chad is one of France's key African allies in the counter-terror fight, with its capital N'Djamena serving as headquarters for France's Operation Barkhane anti-Jihadist force which includes 4,000 troops.

Set up in 2014, the French force operates in five Sahel countries including Chad, Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Burkina Faso to crush terror groups active in the region.

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May 7, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The Egyptian government has lodged an objection with the United Nations against the maritime baselines declared by Sudan last March saying it wouldn't recognise any action taken by Khartoum or any international agreement that affects its sovereignty over Halayeb region.

The objection, which was deposited on 4 May and seen by Sudan Tribune Saturday, rejects Sudan's description of Egypt's presence in Halayeb triangle as “military occupation”. It also refuses the coordinates of the baselines provided by Sudan including Halayeb as part of its territory.

“The Arab Republic of Egypt declares its rejection and non-recognition of any action – whatever its nature - issued or may be issued in the future by the Sudan as well as any international agreement concluded by the Sudan or may be concluded in the future with any other party that would prejudice Egypt's sovereignty over its land or sea territory north of latitude 22° north,” read the objection.

It stressed Cairo's objection to what has been contained in Sudan's declaration deposited on 3 March, saying that Egypt's continued sovereignty over all lands north of latitude 22° north has been historically and legally established since the 1899 Anglo-Egyptian agreement.

“In its first article, the agreement clearly and unambiguously stated that (the term Sudan is used in this concord for all lands located south of the 22°) and this is the border inherited by Sudan in 1956,” it added.

The objection stressed that Egypt hasn't ceased to exercise its sovereignty over the Halayeb and Shalateen area since the signing of the agreement of 1899 until today.

“It is established that the maritime areas subject to sovereignty and state jurisdiction are determined according to their land territory. The Presidential Decree No. 27 of 9 January 1990 concerning the baselines from which the maritime areas of the Arab Republic of Egypt are measured has determined the base points and the straight baselines on the Egyptian coasts including the Red Sea coast which extends south of the latitude 22° north and has been circulated in the Law of the Sea bulletin No. 16 of December 1990,” it further said.

The Egyptian objection underlined that “Sudan's claims are baseless and contrary to the legal status established by the 1899 agreement and the permanent nature of the international borders it has established”, saying what has been stated in the Sudanese declaration about Egypt's “military occupation” of Halayeb and Shalateen is “incorrect and unacceptable”.

The Halayeb triangle, which is a 20,580 km area on the Red Sea, has been a contentious issue between Egypt and Sudan since 1958, shortly after Sudan gained its independence from the British-Egyptian rule in January 1956.

The area has been under Cairo's full military control since the mid-1990's following a Sudanese-backed attempt to kill the former Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.

On 2 March, President Omer al-Bashir issued a decree including the baselines from which the maritime areas of the Republic of Sudan are measured.

By virtue of its membership in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Sudan is required to notify the UN Secretary-General of any development affecting the geography of its maritime boundary.

In conjunction with the notification, the Sudanese foreign ministry deposited with the UN its reservation on a similar decree issued by former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 1990, in which he laid the baselines for the Egyptian maritime areas.

“The Republic of the Sudan declares its rejection and refusal to recognize the provisions of the declaration issued by the Arab Republic of Egypt on 9 January 1990, entitled Presidential Decree No. 27, which touches on the Sudanese maritime border, North of Line 22, which was included within the maritime coordinates announced by Egypt within its maritime borders on the Red Sea in paragraphs 56-60,” read Sudan's declaration seen by Sudan Tribune.

“The above points (in Mubarak's decree of 1990) are located within the maritime boundaries of Sudan's Halayeb triangle which falls under Egyptian military occupation since1995 to date, and thus are part of the Sudanese maritime border on the Red Sea” added the declaration.

Last April, Cairo refused a demand by the Sudanese government to hold direct talks on Halayeb and Shalateen or to accept the referral of the dispute to the International Court of Arbitration.

Egypt has used to reject Sudan's repeated calls for referring the dispute to international arbitration.

The international law provides that the agreement of the two parties is needed to arbitrate a dispute by the tribunal.

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May 7, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - A seventh humanitarian assistance caravan including 1,752 metric tonnes of sorghum Sunday has been dispatched from the capital of Sudan's North Kordofan state, El-Obeid to the needy population in South Sudan.

Three United Nations agencies declared an outbreak of famine in the young nation in February, saying an additional 1 million people were are the brink of starvation.

On 30 June, the World Food Programme (WFP) began providing food assistance to South Sudan using a new corridor opened by Sudan. The new route enables transport of food items overland from El Obeid in central Sudan to Bentiu in South Sudan's Unity state.

The Humanitarian aid commissioner Ahmed Babiker al-Hassan has told the official news agency SUNA that the sixth batch included 1,068 metric tonnes of sorghum, pointing to ongoing arrangements to open a new humanitarian corridor from El-Obeid to Awil town in South Sudan via Al-Muglad.

He said the new corridor would contribute significantly to the delivery of the assistance, pointing they developed a plan to transport 2,000 metric tonnes weekly to South Sudan.

In July 2014, Juba and Khartoum signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to open a humanitarian corridor to deliver food assistance to vulnerable South Sudanese through the River Nile or by road. Last January, the agreement was extended for a six month period.

Last month, Sudan said it doesn't rule out to open an Airbridge to deliver food assistance to South Sudan during the rainy season revealing a proposal to open a third road corridor to transport aid to the needy population in the war-torn nation.

South Sudan became the world's newest nation after declaring independence from Sudan in 2011. However, in 2013 the country was plunged into civil war,
However, in 2013 the country was plunged into civil war killing tens of thousands of people and displacing millions.

(St)

May 7, 2017 (JUBA) - South Sudan President Salva Kiir got into a heated exchange with Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth over a communal fight, in which military commanders from a section of ethnic Dinka Bor, used state assets to attack neighbouring Murle community, sparking national outcry and condemnations.

The circumstances under which the president and his minister fell out remain speculative.

There have not been formal statements clarifying what transpired. Multiple cabinet ministers privy to how it occurred told Sudan Tribune during a series of interviews that President Kiir had received security reports indicating that military commanders with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) from Bor community have sided with their community members in the attack against ethnic Murle.

The objective of the attack was to recover allegedly stolen cows and abducted children by members of ethnic Murle.

Long-standing tribal conflicts in Jonglei between the two tribal groups over cattle raids have escalated into more organised attacks on villages of both sides.

The continuation of the armed clashes between the two groups proves the failure of the different campaigns to collect weapons, analysts agree in Juba.

“The President was asking Michael Makuei Lueth in his capacity as the leader of Bor community about security reports which he received that the government soldiers using military assets and disguised as Dinka Bor Youths launched the attack on Murle area. These reports show that individual commanding officers from Bor in the SPLA's 8th division have ordered troops to take a side in the communal conflict. The commanders have instructed soldiers to go and support the Dinka Bor Youths. This was what the president has heard and wanted clarifications from Makuei but he reacted negatively, a cabinet minister told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

"It was in a completely disrespectful manner, disdainful way," he added.

Minister Makuei, according to another cabinet source, supported the decision of his Bor youth and government soldiers, suggesting they should, in fact, be provided with more weapons to disarm Murle.

“The youth of Bor, like any other youth in the Republic of South Sudan, have taken the law into their hands. They have refused to listen to the leaders just like what is going on between Apuk and Aguok. This is the situation, and to address it requires the disarmament of the Murle tribe,” Makuei reportedly told President Kiir in response to the question asking what was happening in the area.

The minister further told the president youths were not using the government weapons but acquired their own weapons just like any youth in the country and have refused to hand them to anybody.

This, the source added, angered the president and when Makuei realised the president was annoyed, he decided to leave the cabinet meeting hall. These exchanges forced minister Makuei to call for a community meeting in Juba on Saturday, the result of which remains speculative. No formal release was made after the meeting.

Some community members have reportedly asked the minister to go meet the President in person and apologise to him. Others have rejected the idea and asked Makuei to resign.

This is not the first time Minister Makuei and President Kiir have fallen out.

In 2015, Makuei walked out of an official function at which the president was due to sign the peace agreement, saying the deal should not be signed if the reservations held by the government on the agreement were not addressed.

(ST)

Despite making commitments to act on recommendations from its second UPR cycle, South Africa has struggled to stop attacks on the businesses and homes of refugees, asylum-seekers, and migrants, denying that such attacks were motivated by xenophobia or other forms of intolerance. The government has also failed to realize the right to education for an estimated half-a-million children with disabilities.

Violence against women, including rape and domestic violence, remains very high. Although annual crime statistics for 2015 released by the South African Police Services showed that sexual offences decreased slightly by 3 percent, many gender activists and human rights groups expressed concerns about the continued under-reporting of rape and the failure of the government to introduced a national strategy to combat violence against women. 

 

Rights of Children and People with Disabilities

The South African government has yet to fulfil its obligation to guarantee the right to education for many children and young adults with disabilities, affecting an estimated half-a-million children. Despite the government’s international and domestic obligations, many children with disabilities do not have equal access to primary or secondary education and face multiple forms of discrimination and barriers when accessing schools. They are turned away from mainstream schools and referred to special schools by school officials or medical staff simply because they have a disability. The referrals system needlessly forces children to wait for up to four years at care centers or at home for placement in a special school. Children with disabilities who attend special schools pay school fees that children without disabilities do not, and many who attend mainstream schools are asked to pay for their own class assistants as a condition to stay in mainstream classes. Once in school, many children with disabilities do not have access to the same curriculum as children without disabilities. Many children are exposed to high levels of violence and abuse by teachers and students.

In 2001, the government adopted a national policy to provide inclusive education for all children with disabilities, but key aspects of the policy have not been implemented to-date. South Africa has not adopted legislation that guarantees the right to inclusive education for children with disabilities. The majority of the government’s limited budget for learners with disabilities is allocated to special, segregated schools rather than to inclusive education.

South Africa became the first country to endorse the Safe Schools Declaration at a global conference in Norway in May 2015. By joining the Declaration, it agreed to protect students and education in times of conflict, and to avoid using educational building for military purposes.

Recommendations:

• Adopt new measures to guarantee quality inclusive education for all children, access to free and compulsory primary education and to secondary education, enforce people with disabilities’ right to access adult education, and ensure adequate resources are invested in inclusive education.
• Implement the Guidelines on Protecting School from Military Use during Armed Conflict in its domestic military doctrine, practice and trainings.

 

Asylum seekers and foreign nationals

The situation of foreign nationals and asylum seekers in South Africa is precarious and remains an area of serious concern.

In April 2015, thousands of people looted foreign-owned shops and attacked non-South African nationals in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal province. The targets of the widespread violence were immigrants of African origin, mostly from Zimbabwe, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic, Mozambique, Malawi, and Somalia. Although the police arrested at least 22 people following the violence, the authorities neither thoroughly investigated nor successfully prosecuted those involved. No one was held to account for the attacks.  Authorities also failed to prosecute those who had incited the violence against foreign nationals.

Government officials denied the violence was motivated by xenophobia or other forms of intolerance and said it was a result of “pure acts of criminality.” The secretary general of the African National Congress (ANC) Gwede Mantashe told the media in April 2015 that he believed the solution to xenophobia is the establishment of refugee camps. Xenophobic violence in 2008 led to the deaths of over 60 people across the country.  

Recommendations:

• Ensure that asylum seekers, refugees, and foreign nationals are protected from xenophobic violence throughout South Africa.
• Ensure justice and accountability for xenophobic crimes.

Sexual orientation and gender identity

South Africa has a progressive constitution that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and protects the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has taken significant steps to improve coordination between government and civil society in combatting violence (including rape and murder) against lesbians and transgender men. Despite the country’s progressive legislation on the rights of LGBT people, discrimination remains institutionalized in families, communities, and in the behaviour of some government officials, such as police, some health care workers, and educators.

Recommendations:

• Require the police services, in collecting data on physical and sexual violence, to disaggregate the data by motive to track incidents of homophobic and trans-phobic violence;
• Ensure the police and prosecution services have the requisite training to effectively identify crimes motivated by homo and trans phobia;

• Work with the National Prosecuting Authority to ensure that cases of sexual and physical violence against women and transgender persons come to trial in a timely manner, and that prosecutors prioritize cases involving sexual offences.
   

 

 

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Women and children displaced by attacks of the Sudanese government Rapid Support Forces outside caves in rebel-controlled territory in Jebel Marra, Darfur, March 2, 2014. 

© 2015 Adriane Ohanesian Summary

On January 13, 2017, US President Barack Obama issued a presidential executive order that suspended the United States’ comprehensive economic sanctions on Sudan in response to “sustained progress” on several fronts.

However, the order did not identify clear benchmarks for progress or explicitly require improvements to the human rights situation before making the suspension permanent. This is a remarkable oversight considering that human rights concerns were among the factors driving the imposition of sanctions for the last 20 years.

While there may be good reasons to suspend comprehensive economic sanctions, the decision to do so permanently or not should be measured, and reached only after due regard to Sudan’s respect for key and fundamental human rights obligations.  The executive order states that within six months, or by July 2017, the sanctions revocation becomes permanent if Sudan continues to show progress. Yet six months is not sufficient to determine Sudan’s progress on the criteria mentioned in the order, or on improvements to deeper human rights problems.

Sudan has for decades carried out massive and systemic violations of human rights and humanitarian law. After the current government seized power in a military coup in 1989, the US pursued a policy of isolation, in part in response to Sudan’s human rights violations. In 1997, it imposed broad economic sanctions, citing massive human rights abuses committed during the 22-year civil war in the South.  A decade later it imposed additional sanctions, including targeted ones against individuals, for atrocities in Darfur.

The human rights situation has not improved. Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and aligned forces, notably the newly created Rapid Support Forces, have continued to attack civilians in Darfur, Southern Kordofan, and Blue Nile with utter impunity.  National security agents engage in entrenched patterns of repression, targeting civil society leaders, human rights activists, and students for harassment, arbitrary detentions, and torture; restricting civil society organizations and independent media; and using lethal force to disperse protesters, killing hundreds in broad daylight.

Given Sudan’s long, violent, and extensively documented record of abuses against civilians, any assessment of “progress” needs to include an assessment of human rights improvements too. US engagement with Sudan and further normalization of relations should be contingent on meaningful and lasting human rights improvements. These benchmarks for human rights improvements are necessarily broad and informed by international norms, and include:

1. Respect for the right to life, including ending attacks on civilians and indiscriminate bombing;
2. Steps toward accountability for the gravest crimes;
3. Unimpeded humanitarian access to conflict-affected areas;
4. Releasing arbitrarily held detainees;
5. Ending excessive force against peaceful protesters;
6. Greater respect for freedoms of assembly, association, and expression;
7. Allowing human rights monitoring and cooperation with international institutions;
8. Carrying out essential reforms to the National Security Act and other key legislation. 

Human Rights Watch believes the US government should: defer evaluation of Sudan’s progress to a later date, and continue to monitor the broader set of human rights benchmarks; revise and update its Sudan sanctions policy; enforce and impose additional individual targeted sanctions against those deemed responsible for serious abuses; consider new individual sanctions in light of evidence that has surfaced in recent years; and appoint a special envoy for Sudan and South Sudan,as under the two previous administrations.

I.   Background Civil Wars and Political Repression

Violence and political repression have marred much of the last three decades in Sudan.  After seizing power by military coup in 1989, the National Islamic Front (NIF) embarked on comprehensive purges of the judiciary, civil service, army, and security forces; banned all political parties, cultural, and social associations; and imposed a countrywide state of emergency.[1] Led by Hassan al-Turabi, the NIF espoused a strict Islamist ideology, and was known for highly repressive tactics, including torture and arbitrary detentions in secret, illegal security-run prisons knowns as “ghost houses.”[2]

Under this government, Sudan continued its extremely abusive civil war, ongoing since 1983, against Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) rebels in Southern Sudan and in the Nuba mountains region of Southern Kordofan.  Government forces and allied militia committed crimes on a massive scale during two decades of war, playing on ethnic divisions and pitting southerners against each other. More than 2 million civilians died, and more than 4 million were displaced internally and to neighboring countries.

By 2002, internationally-brokered peace talks, hosted by Kenya, led to several important agreements, including a ceasefire in the Nuba Mountains and agreement to cease attacking civilians, followed by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. The government and SPLM/A agreed to a six-year transitional period during which a national unity government would implement the peace deal. By 2011, southerners would vote in a referendum for or against independence.

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Fighters of the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces in captured vehicles celebrate a victory against the rebel Justice and Equality Movement, Goz Dango, South Darfur, April 28, 2015. 

© 2015 Reuters

The CPA did not address the crisis in Darfur, where starting in 2003 the Sudanese government and allied militias committed crimes against humanity and war crimes, including sexual violence, as part of its counterinsurgency campaign. The United Nations

estimates that at least 300,000 people were killed in attacks or died of conflict-induced starvation and disease, and more than 2 million people were forced to flee to refugee or internally displaced persons’ camps.[3] The government and rebel groups peace deals did not hold, and conflict between their forces continued alongside inter-communal fighting.

Meanwhile, the parties to the CPA made little progress implementing the agreement, especially pertaining to the arrangements for the border states of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, and Abyei, the oil-rich region straddling the north-south divide. The delays fueled tensions and sparked clashes between northern and southern forces at Abyei in 2008: SAF soldiers killed civilians and extensively looted and destroyed homes in the town.[4] 

In Southern Kordofan in June 2011, fighting resumed between SAF and former SPLM rebels from the area, now known as SPLM/A-North, and spread to Blue Nile by September. In both states, government forces used abusive tactics, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee to other parts of Sudan or to refugee camps in South Sudan and Ethiopia.[5]

Following South Sudan’s independence, Sudan’s government stripped southerners of citizenship, and conflict-related abuses and political repression continued. Sudan has responded violently to growing civil unrest, often triggered by austerity measures amid worsening economic conditions. It has further empowered the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), and bolstered the army via the creation of the Rapid Support Forces, composed of former militia from Darfur, to conduct highly abusive operations.

International Isolation

Sudan’s international reputation deteriorated after the 1989 coup. NIF’s violent repression of dissent and brutal tactics in the long-running civil war, including abduction and slavery, earned wide condemnation. So did support for Islamic jihadist movements, known terrorists such as Osama bin Laden and Carlos the Jackal, its role in the failed 1995 assassination of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak, and links to the Lord’s Resistance Army.[6]  During these years, the United States, United Nations, and European Union imposed various sanctions

1993: Clinton administration isolates the hardline government by vetoing international lending, puts Sudan on the list of countries that sponsor terrorism.

1994: EU follows, imposes arms embargo in response to civil war abuses.[7]  

1996: UN passes a resolution condemning Sudan for refusing to extradite a suspect in the attack on Mubarak, urges countries to limit interactions and entry to Sudanese officials. [8] US closes its embassy in Khartoum.

1997: US imposes a comprehensive economic embargo in response to “support for international terrorism, efforts to destabilize neighboring governments, and the prevalence of human rights violations including slavery and the denial of religious freedom.”[9] The embargo prohibits most business and financial transactions.

1998: US-Sudan relations reach all-time low when, after Al-Qaeda attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, US bombs Sudan’s al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant that it suspects of involvement with the alleged embassy bombers and chemical weapons.[10]

2001-2005:  Bush administration continues isolation policy, intensifies civil war mediation. Some groups lobby successfully for Western oil companies to divest in Sudan.[11] 

2003-2004: Darfur conflict begins in February 2003, continues despite African Union-brokered humanitarian ceasefire deals. By September 2004, Secretary of State Colin Powell says US government believes a genocide has occurred.[12] UN appoints commission of inquiry; finds grave violations of international human rights, humanitarian law.[13]

2005: UN imposes arms embargo on Darfur and individual sanctions on several individuals believed responsible for atrocities.[14] In an unprecedented step, in March 2005 the Security Council refers the situation to the International Criminal Court. It brings charges including of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against President al-Bashir, among others.[15]

2006: US imposes additional sanctions against individuals deemed responsible for crimes in Darfur.[16]

The EU still retains its arms embargo on Sudan and incorporates the UN’s sanctions on Darfur. Its member states implement these bilaterally, but are not precluded from doing business in Sudan.[17]  The African Union, like the UN, has played a key role in responding to Sudan’s crises through mediation, monitoring, and peacekeeping, but has not imposed sanctions.  Several of its member states, primarily Sudan’s neighbors, have had troubled relations with Sudan at various times. During its international isolation, Sudan pursued economic, political, and military trade with allies including Iran, Iraq, China, former Soviet republics, India, and Malaysia.[18]  

Shift Towards Engagement

In a significant about-face in 2015, Sudan expelled several Iranian groups from Khartoum and joined Saudi Arabia’s military operations in Yemen. The United Arab Emirates has provided large loans, and Saudi Arabian businesses have around US$15 million in investments in Sudan.[19] In 2016, Sudan severed diplomatic relations with Iran.[20]   

Sudan has persistently lobbied the US to roll back sanctions, which after renewed diplomatic talks in 2016 resulted in President Obama’s decision to reverse the two-decade policy of comprehensive economic sanctions in January 2017.[21] According to a US Treasury statement, the decision was “the result of sustained progress by the Government of Sudan on several fronts,” including “a marked reduction in offensive military activity, a pledge to maintain a cessation of hostilities in conflict areas in Sudan, steps toward improving humanitarian access throughout Sudan, and cooperation with the United States on counterterrorism and addressing regional conflicts.”[22]

At the same time, Sudan also embarked on new engagements with the EU, which launched a regional program for migration management in sub-Saharan Africa in 2014 via bilateral partnerships with African states and regional projects under the Khartoum Process.[23] In 2016, the EU announced €100 million (approximately $106 million) to Sudan in a “special support measure.”[24]

EU officials now refer publicly to Sudan as a “partner” nation and have highlighted debt relief as a key incentive to offer in exchange for further cooperation.[25] While additional funding has yet to be disbursed, civil society has criticized the EU project for de-prioritizing human rights in favor of meeting migration targets.[26] In recent months, it appears to have emboldened the government’s most abusive actors.[27]

II.      Missing Human Rights Benchmarks

Then-President Obama’s January 13, 2017 order states that permanent revocation of the economic sanctions is conditional on Sudan continuing to display “positive action” on several fronts, but the order lacks any benchmarks or guidance for how the State Department and other agencies should assess Sudan’s progress. Critically, it lacks reference to the need for human rights improvements. The following list of eight benchmarks suggest key areas for improvements and some steps Sudanese authorities could take in each, but is by no means exhaustive.

1. Respect for the Right to Life by Ending Attacks on Civilians and Indiscriminate Bombing

Sudan should cease all unlawful attacks on civilians, and permit independent monitoring and reporting by relevant agencies, including international human rights organizations and independent media.

Sudanese forces have a long record of committing serious violations of the laws of war -- war crimes -- and crimes against humanity during the civil war in southern Sudan, and in conflicts in Darfur, Southern Kordofan, and Blue Nile. Government forces and allied militias have been responsible for killings, rape and sexual violence, and looting and destruction on a massive scale during ground operations. They have also bombed and shelled indiscriminately in civilian areas, especially in rebel-held territories, and targeted clinics and markets in bombing campaigns.

During government offensives in Darfur in 2014-2015, the Rapid Support Forces led massive attacks on hundreds of villages, burning and destroying homes, and committing serious abuses, including rape and killings that may be crimes against humanity.[28] Government forces also launched a major offensive with ground and air forces on Jebel Mara in 2016, destroying hundreds of villages and displacing up to 195,000 people.[29] Amnesty International reported on allegations of chemical weapons use during the offensive.[30]

In Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, attacks since 2011 have killed and maimed hundreds of civilians, damaged dozens of schools and clinics, and forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes. In 2016 alone, the government dropped hundreds of bombs that killed at least 45 people in the Nuba mountains, including six children in Heiban on May 1.[31]

In June 2016, the government declared a unilateral ceasefire in Southern Kordofan, which it extended to the end of June 2017 and to all the conflicts. There has been a reduction in clashes and attacks on civilians. But in December 2016, local monitors reported new clashes and government bombing in Nuba Mountains, and in early 2017 media reported government and militia attacks on civilians in the Jebel Mara region of Darfur.[32]  

2. Steps toward Accountability for the Gravest Crimes

Sudan should take steps to cooperate with the ICC, including through the surrender of suspects, and make efforts to genuinely investigate and prosecute those responsible for human rights abuses in conflict and non-conflict settings.

To date, the government has failed to implement key recommendations from the Human Rights Council’s 2007 Group of Experts’ report on Darfur, and its Universal Periodic Reviews (UPRs).[33] Its efforts to prosecute crimes in Darfur and elsewhere have fallen short.[34]  Since 2011, the government has made no tangible progress in providing accountability for crimes committed in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, including the killing of peaceful protesters, ill-treatment and torture of detainees, and other serious abuses.

Sudan continues to refuse any form of cooperation with the only meaningful route at present to criminal accountability for grave crimes committed in Darfur, the International Criminal Court, which has brought charges against al-Bashir and six other individuals for atrocities in Darfur.[35] Suspects are charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Darfur, and remain fugitives from the court.

 3. Allow Sustained, Unimpeded Humanitarian Access to All Conflict-Affected Areas

Sudan should grant sustained and unimpeded access to all conflict locations in Darfur, Southern Kordofan, and Blue Nile and allow independent impartial humanitarian organizations to operate without arbitrary restrictions and onerous bureaucratic requirements. 

The Sudanese government has used a wide range of strategies to delay, limit, and deny access by humanitarian agencies to civilians in need of assistance during the civil war in the south, as well as in Darfur. These include flight bans; denials or massive delays in the processing of travel permits; limitations on the numbers of staff and expulsions of aid officials; and unnecessarily bureaucratic or arbitrary procedures for importing and transporting relief materials. In past decades, these policies have indirectly contributed to the deaths of tens of thousands of people from famine and diseases.[36]

In Darfur, access has been particularly difficult, especially to conflict-affected areas. In 2009, after the ICC announced charges against President al-Bashir, Sudan expelled 10 international aid groups working there and increased restrictions; authorities have since expelled or forced the departure of other humanitarian aid groups and staff and vowed to nationalize aid delivery.

In Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile, Sudan’s government has obstructed access for organizations providing essential humanitarian assistance, including food and medical supplies. Many women and girls in the states have had extremely limited, if any, access to reproductive health care. Sudan has denied humanitarian organizations permission to access rebel-held areas from within Sudan. Both the government and the rebel SPLM-N have failed to agree on modalities for delivering impartial aid.[37]   

In December 2016, the government adopted new  regulations to ease movement by aid groups to non-conflict areas, but continues to restrict movement in conflict zones where humanitarian access counts the most.[38] It has allowed one aid organization to operate in government-controlled parts of Jebel Mara in Darfur, and allowed more UN officials in Kadugli and Damazin, but has not improved access to other key government and rebel areas where they have denied international humanitarian groups access.
 

4. Release Arbitrarily Held Detainees, and End Torture and Ill-Treatment

The National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) regularly detains activists, students, lawyers, doctors, community leaders, human rights defenders, and perceived government critics. It often holds detainees for long periods, without access to a lawyer or family visits.[39]   

Many NISS detention centers are in unmarked homes or offices, reminiscent of the “ghost houses” from the 1990s known for torture and ill-treatment. Detainees are beaten, abused,
and some tortured; some female activists have reported being sexually harassed in detention.[40] To date, no NISS officers have been held accountable for abusing detainees.

Sudanese authorities should release arbitrarily held detainees, including those held for their human rights work or perceived opposition to the government. They should issue clear instructions to national security officials to end all forms of ill-treatment and torture, and investigate any allegations that detainees were abused.  They should also allow independent monitors access to detainees in official and secret detention facilities so that improvements may be observed.

5. End Excessive Force against Peaceful Protesters

Sudanese forces continue to use excessive force—beatings, tear-gas, rubber bullets, and live ammunition—to disperse peaceful protests over a range of social grievances. This has resulted in hundreds of deaths and injuries in recent years. In September 2013 alone, more than 170 protesters were killed, mostly by bullets to the head or torso by men believed to be security forces.[41] In 2005, government forces killed 21 protesters in Port Sudan.

Sudan should introduce measures to ensure an end to the use of excessive force against peaceful protesters. Authorities should order security forces to use force only in accordance with UN guidelines and hold to account those responsible for abuse and killings of protesters through impartial investigations and prosecutions in line with international standards.

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Sudanese men at the funeral of Salah Sanhouri, 26, who was killed during protests by security forces on September 27, 2013, pray over his body. Protests over subsidy cuts on fuel and food have been taking place across Sudan since September 2013.

© 2013 AP Photo/Khalil Hamra

6. Respect for Freedoms of Association and Expression

Authorities restrict civil society by targeting activists who criticize the government or support international justice, and by leveling bogus charges of espionage and crimes against the state against them.[42] These practices should end immediately (as above). 

Sudan also controls civil society through bureaucratic restrictions and oversight, including interference by national security officers in organizations’ work. It has repeatedly blocked individuals’ participation in various international events, including Sudan’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2016 at the UN Human Rights Council.[43]  

Authorities have long restricted media via censorship, confiscations, and harassing, threatening, and detaining journalists. A key test of commitment to improving on these issues will be whether Sudan stops undue interference and harassment of civil society activists and groups, and NISS censorship of media and interference in editorial choices.

7. Allow Human Rights Monitoring, Cooperate with International Bodies and Institutions

A key test will be whether the government facilitates the African Union/UN Hybrid operation in Darfur -- UNAMID’s -- operations, in particular by granting human rights monitors’ access to conflict-affected areas, and responding positively to requests from other international organizations for access to Sudan.

Sudan has routinely denied UNAMID access to conflict-affected areas so they can effectuate their mandate to protect civilians and monitor human rights. It has denied visas to incoming staff, and closed the human rights section’s liaison office in Khartoum; al-Bashir has ordered the mission to adopt an exit strategy.

Authorities have also expelled other UN officials, including in 2016 the top UN humanitarian.[44]  The government also denied or delayed entry to UN special rapporteurs and diplomatic missions and denied entry to international human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch. It has refused access for UNAMID or the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to follow up and on allegations by Amnesty International that chemical weapons were used in Darfur.

8. Legislative Reforms

Sudan should take steps to reform its most repressive laws. The National Security Act of 2010 allows national security agents to detain individuals for more than four-and-a-half months without judicial review, well beyond the international standard, which requires detainees be brought promptly before a judicial authority. Even in conflict or a state of emergency, ‘prompt’ should be no more than a matter of days.  A patchwork of immunities in various laws shields security forces from prosecution for human rights violations and all such immunities should be repealed. Immunity for the Rapid Support Forces is particularly problematic in light of their documented record of abuse, including sexual violence.[45]

Public order laws—which proscribe private matters such as clothing choice or keeping company with someone from the opposite sex, and carry penalties of fines and flogging— discriminate against females, particularly those from marginalized and non-Muslim communities, and should be reformed.[46] Penalties of lashing, stoning, and other forms of cruel and unusual punishment that international law prohibits should be repealed. 

Other laws restricting civil society and media freedoms should also be revised in line with international standards. Any new constitution should include full protections for human rights including explicitly women’s rights, and Sudan should ratify key international human rights treaties, including the Convention against Torture, the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, and the Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.

 

[1] Human Rights Watch, In the Name of God: Repression Continues in Northern Sudan, vol.6, no.9, November 1994, https://www.hrw.org/reports/1994/sudan/.

[2] Human Rights Watch, Behind the Red Line: Political Repression in Sudan, May 1996, https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports/1996/Sudan.htm

[3] “Darfur deaths ‘could be 300,000,’” BBC, April 23, 2008, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7361979.stm

[4] Human Rights Watch, Sudan- Abandoning Abyei: Destruction and Displacement, May 2008, July 2008, https://www.hrw.org/report/2008/07/21/abandoning-abyei/destruction-and-d...

[5] Human Rights Watch, Under Siege: Indiscriminate Bombing and Abuse in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile States, December 2012, https://www.hrw.org/report/2012/12/11/under-siege/indiscriminate-bombing-and-abuses-sudans-southern-kordofan-and-blue 

[6] Human Rights Watch, “Foreign Corporate Complicity, Foreign Government Support,” in Sudan, Oil, and Human Rights (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2003), p. 510.

[7] “EU arms embargo on Sudan,” Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, November 23, 2012, https://www.sipri.org/databases/embargoes/eu_arms_embargoes/sudan

[8] United Nations Security Council, Resolution 1070 (1996), S/RES/1070 (1996), https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N96/214/20/PDF/N9621420.pd...

[9] United States Executive Order 13067—Blocking Sudanese Government Property and Prohibiting Transactions with Sudan, November 1997, https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Documents/13067.pdf

[10] Sudan called for a UN investigation into the bombing, which the US blocked. Robert O. Collins, A History of Modern Sudan, p. 239; Human Rights Watch, Sudan, Oil, and Human Rights, p. 637-8.

[11] Human Rights Watch, Sudan, Oil, and Human Rights, p. 633

[12] “Powell declares genocide in Sudan,” BBC News, September 9, 2004, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/3641820.stm

[13] International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, Report of the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur to the United Nations Secretary-General, September 18, 2004,  http://www.un.org/news/dh/sudan/com_inq_darfur.pdf

[14] United Nations Security Council, Resolution 1556 (2004),  S/RES/1556 (2004), http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/atf/cf/%7B65BFCF9B-6D27-4E9C-8CD3-CF6E4FF96FF9%7D/Sudan%20SRES1556.pdf; United Nations Security Council, Resolution 1591 (2005), S/RES/1591 (2005), http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/RES/1591%20%282005%29

[15] “Security Council Refers Situation in Darfur, Sudan, to Prosecutor of International Criminal Court,” United Nations Security Council press release, March 31, 2005, SC/8351, http://www.un.org/press/en/2005/sc8351.doc.htm

[16] United States Executive Order 13400, Blocking Property of Persons in Connection with the Conflict in Sudan’s Darfur Region, April 26, 2006,  https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Documents/13400.pdf

[17] Guidance: Embargoes and sanctions on Sudan, UK Department for Business, Innovation & Skills and Foreign & Commonwealth Office, https://www.gov.uk/guidance/arms-embargo-on-sudan. The UK has aligned more closely with the US and Norway in the “Troika” group, while Germany and Italy have engaged more with Sudanese government, and France with the opposition, whose leaders often stay there.

[18] Lydia Polgreen, “China, in New Role, Presses Sudan on Darfur,” New York Times, February 23, 2008, (accessed April 21, 2017), http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/23/world/africa/23darfur.html (describing Chinese investment).

[19] “Engagement Beyond the Centre: An Inquiry Report on the Future of UK-Sudan Relations,” All Party Parliamentary Group for Sudan and South Sudan, February 2017, p.15

[20] Liz Sly, “Bahrain cuts ties with Tehran as crisis widens in Saudi-Iran split,” Washington Post, January 4, 2016, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/bahrain-cuts-ties-with-tehran-as-crisis-widens-in-saudi-iran-split/2016/01/04/145c8824-b271-11e5-8abc-d09392edc612_story.html?utm_term=.9bea5fe0d9a8

[21] United States Executive Order 13761, Recognizing Positive Actions by the Government of Sudan

and Providing for the Revocation of Certain Sudan-Related Sanctions, January 18, 2017,  https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/sudan_eo_01132017.pdf

[22] “Treasury to Issue General License to Authorize Transactions with Sudan,” US Treasury Department Office of Public Affairs news release, January 13, 2017,  https://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/sudan_fact_sheet.pdf.

[23] The Khartoum Process, or the EU-Horn of Africa Migration Route Initiative, was launched in November 2014 as a forum for political dialog and cooperation between EU member states and several countries from the East and Horn region, including Sudan. See www.khartoumprocess.net

[24] European Union action document for the special support measure for Sudan, https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/regions/africa/eu-emergency-trust-fund/horn-africa_en

[25] Joint Commission-EEAS non-paper on enhancing cooperation on migration, mobility and readmission in Sudan, ARES (2016) 1325584, March 16, 2016,  http://www.statewatch.org/news/2016/mar/eu-com-eeas-readmission-sudan-7203-16.pdf

[26] All-Party Parliamentary Group for Sudan and South Sudan, “Engagement Beyond the Centre: An Inquiry Report on the Future of UK-Sudan Relations,” February 21, 2017, p. 31-32.

[27] The head of the Rapid Support Forces, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo, or “Hemeti,” has made public statements suggesting his forces’ operations, including border control and interdictions of migrants near the Libyan border, were done at the behest of the EU. Sudanese authorities have also continued to deport Ethiopian and Eritrean refugees. At the same time, agreements with Italy and Jordan led to the deportation of hundreds of Darfuris to Sudan in 2016. In March 2017, France said it would deport 27 Sudanese [failed] asylum-seekers back to Sudan.

[28] Human Rights Watch, Men With No Mercy: Rapid Support Forces Attacks against Civilians in Darfur, Sudan , September 2015, https://www.hrw.org/report/2015/09/09/men-no-mercy/rapid-support-forces-attacks-against-civilians-darfur-sudan

[29] Jehanne Henry, “Inaction on Darfur, Again,” Human Rights Watch dispatch, February 17, 2016, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/02/17/dispatches-inaction-darfur-again; Final report of the Panel of Experts on the Sudan established pursuant to resolution 1591 (2005), January 9, 2017, http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?
symbol=S/2017/22

[30] Amnesty International, Scorched Earth, Poisoned Air: Sudanese Forces Ravage Jebel Mara, September 2017, http://www.amnestyusa.org/research/reports/scorched-earth-poisoned-air-s...

[31] Human Rights Watch, World Report chapter 2016, Sudan chapter, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2016/country-chapters/sudan

[32] Shangil Tobaya, “Attacks cause new displacement from Darfur’s Jebel Marra,” Dabanga, Febrauary 9, 2017, https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/attacks-cause-new-displacement-from-darfur-s-jebel-marra; “Sudan Insider: More Violence in Darfur, More Ceasefires Breached,” Nuba Reports, January 31, 2017, https://nubareports.org/
sudan-insider-more-violence-in-darfur-more-ceasefires-breachednocache1/; “Sudan Insider: SAF and SPLA-N Trade Ceasefire Breach Accusations,” February 28, 2016, https://nubareports.org/sudan-inside-saf-and-spla-n-trade-ceasefire-breach-accusations/

[33] Human Rights Watch, Ten Steps for Darfur: Indicators for Evaluating Progress in the HRC Group of Experts Process, September 24, 2007, https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/09/24/ten-steps-darfur/indicators-evalua... “Sudanese Government Should Investigate and Prosecute Those Responsible for Human Rights Violations,” Human Rights Watch news release, September 21, 2016, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/21/sudanese-government-should-investigate-and-prosecute-those-responsible-human-rights

[34] Human Rights Watch, Lack of Conviction: Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur, June 2006, https://www.hrw.org/report/2006/06/08/lack-conviction/special-criminal-court-events-darfur; “No Justice for Protester Killings,” Human Rights Watch news release, September 22, 2016, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/09/22/sudan-no-justice-protester-killings

[35] International Criminal Court investigation in Darfur, Sudan, https://www.icc-cpi.int/darfur#cases. One of those cases was closed when the judges did not confirm the charges against him and another has been dropped due to the death of the suspect. 

[36] Human Rights Watch, Darfur: Humanitarian Aid Under Siege, May 2006, https://www.hrw.org/report/2006/05/08/darfur-humanitarian-aid-under-siege; Human Rights Watch, Famine in Sudan, 1998: The Human Rights Causes, (New York: Human Rights Watch: February 1999).

[37] Human Rights Watch, Humanitarian Aid under Siege; Human Rights Watch, Sudan-No Control, No Choice: Obstructions to Reproductive Healthcare in Rebel-held Southern Kordofan, forthcoming.

[38] Ministry of Welfare and Social Security Humanitarian Aid Commission, amended directives, December 15, 2016, on file with Human Rights Watch.

[39] “Sudan: Urgent Concern for Rights Defender on Hunger Strike Over Unlawful Detention,” Human Rights Watch news release, February 14, 2017, https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/02/14/sudan-urgent-concern-rights-defender-hunger-strike-over-unlawful-detention.

[40] Human Rights Watch, Good Girls Don’t Protest: Repression and Abuse of Women Human Rights Defenders, Activists, and Protesters in Sudan, May 2016, https://www.hrw.org/report/2016/03/23/good-girls-dont-protest/repression...

[41] Human Rights Watch, We Stood, They Opened Fire: Killings and Arrests by Sudan’s Security Forces during the September Protests, April 2014, https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/04/21/we-stood-they-opened-fire/killings...

[42] “Tracks-affiliated rights defenders sentenced,” African Center for Justice and Peace Studies statement, March 8, 2017, http://www.acjps.org/sudan-tracks-affiliated-rights-defenders-sentenced-fined-and-finally-released-after-ten-months-of-arbitrary-detentio/

[43] ”Sudan blocks civil society participation in UN-led human rights review,” joint NGO statement, March 31, 2016, https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/03/31/sudan-blocks-civil-society-participation-un-led-human-rights-review

[44] “Humanitarian official effectively expelled from Sudan, says UN,” Guardian, May 23, 2016, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/may/23/un-humanitarian-official-effectively-expelled-sudan

[45] Human Rights Watch, Men With No Mercy

[46] See the discussion of public order laws in Human Rights Watch, Good Girls Don’t Protest

May 6, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - A Sudanese expert on international law and border disputes Saturday has strongly contested Sudan's ability to take Egypt to International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) over the disputed Halayeb area.

An international maritime border arbitrator, Osman Mohamed al-Sharif, disclosed that Sudan was planning to take Egypt to a binding arbitration before the ITLOS over the disputed Halayeb area, adding that Khartoum's recently lodged objection with the United Nations against Cairo's annexation of the region to its maritime border.

However in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Saturday, an international law expert, Faisal Abdel Rahman Ali Taha said that the courts established under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea do not have any jurisdiction over the maritime area of Halayeb as long as the land dispute over the triangle has not yet been settled.

Taha stressed, however, that the arbitral tribunal, which might be constituted under annexe VII to the Convention on the Law of the Sea, "would not consider a dispute concerning the Halayeb maritime area because that would necessarily entail consideration of the sovereignty dispute over the Halaib land. This matter is not about the application or interpretation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea But governed by other rules of international law."

"Maritime rights derive from the coastal state's sovereignty over the land because the land dominates the sea," he stressed.

The Halayeb triangle, which is a 20,580 km area on the Red Sea, has been a contentious issue between Egypt and Sudan since 1958, shortly after Sudan gained its independence from the British-Egyptian rule in January 1956.

The area has been under Cairo's full military control since the mid-1990's following a Sudanese-backed attempt to kill the former Egyptian President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt has used to reject Sudan's repeated calls for referring the dispute to international arbitration. The international law provides that the agreement of the two parties is needed to arbitrate a dispute by the tribunal.

STRAIGHT BASELINE

Moreover, Taha refused Sharif's statement that Sudan's filing of the straight baseline was a measure intended to create a third route after a refusal of the direct negotiations and the international arbitration.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir issued a decree on March 2 on the straight baselines from which the sea areas of the Republic of Sudan are measured, opposing the Cairo Declaration, which touches the Sudanese maritime border north of Line 22 and lists it as maritime coordinates of Egypt.

Al-Sharif said that Khartoum's move to deposit with the UN coordinates of the baselines from which its maritime areas are measured after 27 years since former President Hosni Mubarak lodged the maritime borders of Egypt doesn't strip Sudan of its sovereignty over Halayeb and the equivalent Red Sea waters.

But Taha stressed that the role of the UN Secretariat has no authority "to refer the dispute on the straight baselines to the arbitration or to force the concerned States to do so".

"The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the depositary of the Convention on the Law of the Sea under article 319. As to what he said that the (UN chief) is the guarantor of the Convention, there is no such a provision in the Convention about that."

Al-Sharif claimed that the UN Secretary General as guarantor to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea can end the fait accompli which was established by Egypt in Halayeb in 1995, saying the maritime borders of the Sudan in Halayeb are fixed and complementary to the land border.

(ST)