Africa

April 8, 2017 (BOR) - To improve livelihoods of the people, alienate poverty and prevent looming famine, the governor of South Sudan's Jonglei state on Friday declared mass farming for all the people.

Defence minister Koul Manyany Juuk inspects one of the farms April 8, 2017 (ST)

The farming season in the region commences next month.

The state governor, Philip Aguer was addressing parliament during the reopening of the state assembly after months on recess.

Thousands of people in Bor now rely on World Food Program for unconditional food normally distributed in Mingkaman of Awerial county. Many still suffer from hunger and poverty in villages.

To combat hunger and poverty, the government urged the state population to embark on farming so as to reduce the hunger gap.

“For us to increase our production, to combat hunger and poverty, I am again declaring that every family from governor to a worker here in Jonglei must have a farm this year and I am instructing all the commissioners from Bor, Twic and Duk counties to provide agriculture land for government officials for farming,” Aguer said.

Jonglei state government farm of more 1,000 hectares did not produce enough last year, due to irregularities in the rain patterns.

However, the state governor remains optimistic that agriculture production will help reduce the poverty catastrophe in the region.

“In the area of agriculture, the challenges of heavy rains and birds had watered down the efforts of our hard-working farmers from Kolnyang to Duk in the last seasons”, he said.

Aguer also instructed the minister of agriculture to make sure that each person secures a farm and supervises farming activities. Last year, many people cultivated crops, but their outcomes were destroyed by different, pests, birds and floods.

Insecurity caused by raiders and child abductors from Murle remains a challenge to the low crop production, which the two state governments want to address through peaceful dialogue.

(ST)

April 9, 2017 (JUBA) - The U.N mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said Wednesday that it had twice been prevented from accessing the Eastern Equatoria state town of Pajok.

South Sudanese SPLA soldiers are pictured in Pageri in Eastern Equatoria state on August 20, 2015 (Photo AFP/Samir Bol)

"The mission has received reports of fighting between SPLA [government] troops and the opposition there and is trying to follow-up on reports of civilians killed in the area," it said in a statement.

UNMISS urged the government to immediately allow it access "so it can fully implement its mandate, including to protect civilians and report on human rights violations".

Michael Makuei, South Sudan's information minister confirmed its forces attacked Pajok.

"As you know Pajok has been in the hands of the rebels so what happened was government forces went there and fighting ensued and so the civilian population that has been staying with the rebels had to run away," said Makuei.

"I don't know the figure [of those who might have been killed or injured] but in any fighting there must be casualties,” he added.

More than 6,000 people have fled from southern South Sudan into the northern Ugandan district of Lamwo, recounting the slaughter of civilians by armed forces, according to the UN refugee agency.

A statement from the UNHCR said on Friday more residents of Pajok town were hiding in the bush trying to find their way to safety in Uganda.

"People fleeing the recent incident claimed that the town came under an indiscriminate attack by the South Sudan armed forces," the statement said.

The crisis comes after fighting between government forces and rebels erupted on Monday in Pajok in a previously peaceful part of the country that has seen a surge in conflict in recent months.

According to UNHCR, Uganda currently hosts over 832,000 refugees from South Sudan, including more than 270,000 in the Bidibidi refugee camp, which in eight months has gone from an empty patch of land to the world's biggest refugee camp.

(ST)

April 8, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North has condemned a violent attack on Sudanese Christians who protested the sale of the Evangelical School to a group of businessmen in the twin capital city of Omdurman.

Younan Abdallah

On 3 April, Church elder Younan Abdallah was stabbed to death inside the Omdurman Evangelical School which located nearby his church when he tried to interfere and prevent a group of men from beating women protesting the sale of the school.

The sale of the Evangelical school, which was done by a contested executive committee of the Church, reflected a deep conflict over the administration of the school between two Sudanese Christian groups who are almost from the Nuba Mountains area in South Kordofan.

SPLM-N Secretary General Yasir Arman in a statement extended to Sudan tribune accused the Sudanese government of targeting the Sudanese Christian after South Sudan secession, pointing that over 20 churches have been burned down and destroyed by the Sudan government

" Any fair investigation into the matter will lead to the role of the security agencies into this incident," he said.

"This issue (of religious freedom) is an integral part of the nation building in Sudan and undermining such rights led to the secession of South Sudan," he further said.

The Sudanese foreign ministry condemned Younan's murder and said the killer was arrested and he would face justice. Also, it denied any intervention from the Sudanese authorities in this incident stressing that the conflict is between two Christian groups disputing the administration of the school.

Arman called on the Sudanese to manifest their solidarity with the Sudanese Christians and their constitutional right to practice their faith.

He further called on the Evangelicals in the United States and the U.S. Administration, Congress and the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom to pay attention to the human rights violations of the Sudan government, especially when it comes to Christians.

"We call on the United States government to tie the lifting of the sanctions to the improvement of human rights and for the Sudan government to address the humanitarian situation, to end genocide and war crimes, and to stop sponsoring terrorism," he said.

The U.S. embassy in Khartoum has condemned the death of Sudanese priest and called on the Sudanese authorities to "ensure that all perpetrators involved in this heinous act are brought to justice. Nothing is achieved through violence and intimidation".

The church and school were founded by American Presbyterian missionaries in 1924.

(ST)

April 8, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The chairman of the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) Thabo Mbeki has continued his meetings in the Sudanese capital to explore ways to implement the Roadmap Agreement for peace and dialogue in Sudan.

On Friday, Mbeki met with the Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir and the opposition Sudan Call groups inside the country.

He met on Saturday with a delegation from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM-Silent Majority) headed by Philip Abdel-Masih.

In press statements following the meeting, Abdel-Masih said they briefed the African mediator on the humanitarian situation in South Kordofan, criticising the approach of the SPLM-N towards the peace talks.

“We believe that Yasser Arman, as the chief SPLM-N negotiator, continued to buy time to fulfil the personal agenda of himself and Malik Agar and Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu,” said Abdel-Masih.

He added they told Mbeki that they are able to mobilise their base to influence the negotiations, describing the humanitarian situation in South Kordofan as “dire”.
Abdel-Masih expected the Sudanese government and the SPLM-N would reach an agreement on a cessation of hostilities during the coming round of talks.

It is noteworthy that the SPLM-Silent Majority was formed in December 2012 by a splinter group from the SPLM-N headed by Khamis Jallab who accused the Movement leadership of seeking to achieve personal interests.

The government and Sudan Call signed in March and August 2016 the Roadmap Agreement brokered by the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) including several steps towards their participation in a national constitutional process inside Sudan.

However, the parties failed to sign a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian agreements that are seen crucial before to move forward in the roadmap implementation process.

(ST)

April 8, 2017 (JUBA) – A South Sudanese minister has called for unity to combat famine, saying the calamity resulted from political differences in the country.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir arrives in Khartoum on September 3, 2013 (AFP Ashraf Shazly)

“In this country, we urgently need unity, peace and reconciliation of our people. So let come together as people of South Sudan. If we do that, we will overcome these challenges”, the country's foreign affairs minister, Deng Alor Kuol said on Saturday.

The minister said his ministry, his group and the unity government are determined to reconcile, unite the country in order to move forward.

“For us at the ministry foreign affairs, in the transitional government of national unity, as political leaders and parties to the peace agreement, we are determined to reconcile, unite ourselves, and unite our ranks so that we move this country forward from the situation it is in now”, he said.

In February, three United Nations agencies declared an outbreak of famine in parts of the country, while an additional one million others, it said, were on the verge of facing starvation in the young nation.

According to the minister, it remains the responsibility of every South Sudanese to contribute and help people struck by famine.

He was speaking at a fundraising drive organised by athletes.

The exercise dubbed the Great South Sudan Run was an initiative by an Ethiopian, Ayesheshim Teka, to help people who have been affected by famine in South Sudan.

The statistics of the people who participated in the exercise was not made public by the organising committee, though it initially said about 3,000 people were expected to participate in the 10-kilometer fund-raising marathon.

Ethiopian athlete Haile Gabreselasie and three Kenya athletes took take part in the event. Several high-level government officials, including President Salva Kiir, attended and made comments appreciating the efforts to contribute money to fight famine.

President Kiir, whose speech was interrupted by a technical glitch from the microphone on Friday called on citizens to contribute whatever they could, citing an English adage advocating own contributions before others.

“As the English say ‘Charity begins at home', I appeal to every South Sudanese citizen to show the rest of the world our concern, our local effort and commitment to help famine affected children, mothers and the elderly by making financial contributions and to come out on Saturday the 8th April, in large numbers and participate in the ‘The Great South Sudan Run', which is being held for the first time in the short history of our country,” the South Sudanese leader.

(ST)

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres and the Security Council today condemned the bombings of two Coptic churches in Tanta and Alexandria, Egypt, which killed at least 41 people and injured more than 100 others.

April 8, 2017 (JUBA) – The warring parties to the conflict in South Sudan should uphold their responsibilities to protect civilians and ensure the safety and security of humanitarians, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, Eugene Owusu said.

Deputy head of UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), Eugene Owusu (YouTube Photo)

“Over the past week, we have received reports of outrageous abuses against humanitarians by both state and opposition actors in Upper Nile, as well as reports of horrific attacks against civilians in Eastern Equatoria [state],” said Owusu.

“These attacks are reprehensible and unacceptable. I call on those in power to take swift action to end the targeting of innocent people in this conflict and to hold those responsible to account,” he added.

Two serious attacks were carried out against aid workers in Upper Nile state since 31 March. In Aburoc, humanitarian workers were reportedly harassed and beaten by members of the armed opposition forces (SPLM-IO), while in Melut, state security officials detained and beat two aid workers before they were released.

“I condemn these attacks in the strongest terms," said Owusu.

“I demand that the leadership on both sides investigate these incidents with a view to holding the specific perpetrators to account, as well as ending the targeting of humanitarians in future, he added.

The official further expressed concerns that aid workers continue to be killed, harassed and abused despite repeated calls for action.

Meanwhile at least 6,000 people have been forced to flee from Eastern Equatoria to Uganda after dozen were reportedly killed, following an attack by government forces on the town. Thousands more are thought to be sheltering in the bushes in areas surrounding the town, which was estimated to be home to up to 50,000 people.

“I am appalled by the reports surfacing from people fleeing Pajok of their loved ones being killed and their homes being destroyed,” said Owusu.

“I implore the leadership in South Sudan to rapidly investigate these allegations and to end all attacks against civilians,” he added.

The humanitarian situation in South Sudan continues to deteriorate. More than 3.5 million people have now been forced to flee their homes, including nearly 1.9 million people who are internally displaced and more than 1.7 million who have fled as refugees to neighbouring countries. On average, 2,000 South Sudanese refugees are reportedly arriving into Uganda daily.

(ST)

April 8, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - The Deputy Chairman of the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu has downplayed rejection of the Nuba Mountains Liberation Council (NMLC) decisions by the Movement's leadership council.

Abdel-Aziz Adam al-Hilu (Reuters)

Last month, al-Hilu resigned from his position saying the Secretary-General Yasir Arman disregarded his demand to include the self-determination in the agenda of peace negotiations.

On 25 March, NMLC, an SPLM-N political body in the South Kordofan announced its support of al-Hilu's demand for self-determination and relieved Arman from his position as secretary-general and chief negotiator. It also decided to freeze peace talks with the government until the internal divisions were settled.

However, SPLM-N leadership council cancelled the NMLC decisions, saying the group has “discussed national issues that fall beyond its powers”.

It also called to elect a new body to represent the people in the region, saying the regional body was appointed by the Movement leadership.

In an interview with Aayin news website published Saturday, al-Hilu said the NMLC meetings were held with the knowledge and approval of the SPLM-N chairman and the secretary-general.

He said the leadership council claimed the NMLC is an illegitimate body because its decisions and recommendations have contradicted with the interests of some parties, stressing the council represents the people of the Nuba Mountain and that is “the greatest source of legitimacy”.

Al-Hilu pointed out the leadership council itself was not elected and therefore has no right to question the legitimacy of the NMLC decisions, saying the delegates of the region are entitled to discuss all issues and policies adopted by the leadership.

He ruled out that the recent disagreements would cause a split within the Movement, stressing the SPLM-N have a clear vision and objectives.

Commenting on the NMLC decision to appoint a new negotiating team, al-Hilu said the whole issue lies on how to define the objective to be achieved from the negotiating process, pointing “when we agree on a clear objective then it doesn't matter who represents the Movement or who leads the negotiating team”.

When asked about his call for the self-determination, al-Hilu said the Movement calls for “voluntary unity” as a basic stance to establish a new democratic, secular and unified Sudan, pointing if we failed to achieve this goal we would opt for the self-determination.

He stressed the Movement doesn't care about the stance of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) towards the call for self-determination, saying the latter would likely reject it “because self-determination is a democratic mechanism that strips its domination”.

Al-Hilu further said the call for self-determination is an attempt to address the root causes of the crisis in order to achieve effective solutions that would end the war, pointing the people in the Nuba Mountains have the right to call for independence but priority is now given to achieving just unity.

South Kordofan and neighbouring Blue Nile states, also known as the “Two Areas” have been the scene of violent conflict between the SPLM-N and Sudanese army since 2011.

The African Union has been seeking to end the conflict for several years. However, talks between the two sides for a cessation of hostilities and humanitarian access are stalled since last August.

(ST)

April 8, 2017 (ED-DAEIN) - Six people were killed and several others injured Saturday in clashes between Rizeigat and Maalia tribesmen in Al-Khamsat area, 66 kilometres south-east of Ed-Daein, East Darfur state capital.

Maalia chief Hamdi Bashar told Sudan Tribune that outlaws from the Rizeigat tribe killed two herders from the Maalia clan of Agarba and stole their cattle.
He pointed the villagers pursued the perpetrators and clashed with them, saying four of the culprits have been killed and a number of the villagers were injured.

Bashar stressed that crowds from the two tribes began to gather at Bakhit and Al-Ishairat areas, warning against renewal of large-scale clashes.

He pointed the security organs were quick to deploy military troops to separate the two tribes and prevent further clashes, calling on the government to move quickly to end the renewed crisis and impose the authority of the state and the rule of law.

East Darfur state is witnessing one of the longest and most deadly clashes in the region between the Rezeigat and the Ma'alia tribes since 1966. The conflict between the two tribes is triggered by disputes over land ownership and theft of cattle.

Both the Rezeigat and the Maalia are pastoralist tribes, based in East Darfur. The centre of Rezeigat territory is in Ed Daein town, while the Maalia centre is in Adila, the second largest town after Ed-Daein.

Tribal fighting occurs frequently in several regions of Sudan, including Darfur where over 300,000 people were forced to flee their homes.

In 2013, president Omer al-Bashir said he will personally oversee the dossier of the tribal conflicts in the country to seek a resolution to its growing prevalence.

April 8, 2017 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese army (SPLA) claimed on Saturday that it regained full control of Bagari, a town located 12 miles south-west of Wau town from the armed opposition forces.

The SPLA conducting military drill in Bor, November 29, 2014 (ST)

The recapture of the Western Bahr el Ghazal state town is the latest military action undertaken by government forces, despite international pressure for a declaration of a unilateral ceasefire.

Eyewitnesses and area legislators said pro-government troops, backed by an air cover and tribal militiamen, carried out a surprise attack on the rebel-held position on Friday, forcing them to withdraw their forces after fierce fighting.

A state minister, in an interview with Sudan Tribune, also confirmed the attack, which reportedly forced the rebels to flee the town amid artillery shelling by government forces.

It was not immediately clear how many fighters were killed in the attack and no official statement was released by spokespersons of both the army and the rebel movement.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed and nearly two million others displaced in South Sudan's worst-ever outbreak of violence since it seceded from neighbouring Sudan in July 2011.

In late August 2015, President Salva Kiir signed a peace agreement previously signed by Riek Machar called the "Compromise Peace Agreement" mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

The agreement established the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) responsible for monitoring and overseeing implementation of the peace accord.

(ST)

By Mohamed M. Yassin

South Sudan again, yes again tremendous suffering is happening in South Sudan, the newly independent African country is dragged again into useless civil war causing famine though it has been a territory of protracted crises. The South Sudanese people have been facing enormous challenges of survival for decades and decades. In the recent history, the South Sudanese people have witnessed the ugly macro-tragedies of slave trade and assault on the its natural resources, of isolation due to the discriminative closed areas policies, marginalization and exclusion from development and self-governance in the post-colonization era, and currently significant part of the state is witnessing man-made disaster of declared famine.

The beloved South Sudan has been deliberately set aside from the sustainable development in terms of education, health, economic growth, sound social cohesion, durable sustaining infrastructures, and food and nutrition security. The vast majority of generations of South Sudanese have missed proper education during the epochs of these tragedies, and the few elites who escaped that gloomy disabling and dire circumstances found refuge in the Diaspora and camps and territories of displacement, where they at least managed to gain sorts of education and experiences. These elites and Diaspora could have achieved and contribute in retake the control of the developmental paths of their country, but often have been denied the chance to act so or even when given the chance, they fall in the corruption traps, misuse and mismanagement of the entrusted processes, this is the often proven case.

South Sudan is blessed, endowed and rich in its natural resources, it is an under-populated country of estimated twelve million inhabitants owning millions of livestock and surrounded by huge forests and incredible natural eco-systems in the Sudd swamps and extended natural parks very rich in fauna and flora embedding invaluable biodiversity. The South Sudan is very rich in terms of fertile and virgin lands and crossed by numerous rivers and natural streams, which are an important part of the Nile Basin system.

The South Sudan is a landlocked country depending on neighbouring countries on its trade and communication with the external world. The deprived people of South Sudan are walking on an underground wealth of oil and minerals. The crude oil is finding its way to the export and international markets through two main pipelines stemming from Unity state and Upper Nile state, passing refineries in Khartoum and Port Sudan and ending at the Red Sea export outlets. The country is blackmailed in its oil export and trade processes by multinational oil operating agglomerates, colluded officials, corrupted systems and subsidiary networks. The Sudan is imposing unjust transit tariffs despite the fact that the pipeline, refineries and all the related infrastructures have been built and erected from the very resources of the South Sudanese oil, what an astonishing consented robbery?.

Doubtless, the famine is a terrible emergency and the hungry vulnerable humans are facing death or live question, the situation does not tolerate waiting lists or queues, the children, elders and all there are in urgent and desperate need of rescue, and this dire situation is aggravated by the ongoing insecurity and instability generated by the successive insurgencies and inter-ethnic or tribal assaults, which are, in most of the cases, stimulated by the traditional enemies of the South Sudan people or connected stakeholders who are benefiting from this confusing situation.

South Sudan independence is obtained by the people of South Sudan in particular, people of Sudan and the assistance of friends from all corners of the globe, following the South Sudanese massive vote in the referendum, which is a consequence and dividend of the comprehensive peace agreement between the warring government of Sudan and the Sudan People's liberation Army/Movement. The creation of sovereign South Sudan state is a process witnessed, blessed, endorsed, assisted and recognised by the United Nations, the international community and regional bodies and it will be imperative for all the engaged stakeholders to accompany this process to full completion.

The responsibilities to protect the vulnerable South Sudanese and consolidate its fragile state is a collective moral obligation, no one is exempted and allowed to stay in the indifference square, especially under the current emergency situation of recognised famine and echoed appeals, cries, desperations to save the affected people. Here we are in front of basic human right to live, the human right to food and alimentary sovereignty; here we are dealing with sovereignty and dignity of people and not a sovereignty of the government. We are in front of moral obligations to accompany the transformational process in South Sudan and Sudan and abandon the indifference in a world where there are plenty food and nutritional elements sufficient to leave no one behind. We should shoulder the responsibilities of advancing the human and humanitarian sovereignty and dignity of the people and citizens rather than observing the political and military sovereignty.

Institution and moral entities should rupture the silence and act on the ground to rescue the starving people before their vanishing, and then is no need to cry over the loss of people and decrying the suffering when we can prevent it, stopping the conflicts and allowing and availing the humanitarian assistance, which is possible and that should not be blocked or restricted in the name of governmental sovereignty. Hunger is terrible, it hits hard, and it will be simple to deeply understand it in the case of lack of food and water everywhere by everyone at any time. There is no understandable rationale in successive occurrence of famine in our times, what is needed is known but not actionable in the case of South Sudan, lands are abandon and fertile, rains and water and seeds are available, farmers and farming are lacking due to multiplicity of factors, and that is possible to cure. Seeing a lot of people, mothers, children and elders malnourished, starving stimulate bitterness, hatred, fear, despair and induce more conflicts, fighting and demolishing of socio-economic fabrics, and deepening of the existing extreme poverty.

The repercussion of famine is huge and goes to years and years. Famine is a shameful manifestation of injustice and dramatic denial of the peoples' right to food and deprivation of dignity. To combat famine, we should not stop at the declarations of emergency and fill the media with its news, almost most of the people in locations where there is plenty food cannot understand what does dying of hunger mean, maybe that is the reason why they are remaining indifferent. We should not stop at showing people's protruded ribs and the emaciated children, just for fundraising, and then sending modest food ratio to be thrown over the heads of the hunger, but we should seek sustainable and durable solutions while rescuing those who are experiencing the declared, hidden and deliberated hunger in Sudan and South Sudan in particular.

Mohamed Yassin Department of Agro-food, Environmental and Animal Sciences (Di4A), University of Udine, Italy, e-mail: yassintowers@gmail.com

By Mahmoud A. Suleiman

This article comes against the backdrop of the report presented to the UN on April 4, 2017 by the newly appointed UNAMID head Jeremiah N. Mamabolo which indicated that Darfur of today is different from 2003: http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article62099 The new leader of the UNAMID continued saying that “the Darfur of today is a very different place from what this region was in 2003 when the armed conflict began, and from that of a year ago," Mamabolo said. He also added that the fighting between the government and holdout Darfur rebel groups has "considerably diminished". Mr. Mamabolo South African diplomat and leader of the UNAMID began his viewpoints by blaming and shaming the Darfur armed rebel movements by expressing his regret over the rebel group's continuing refusal to join the regional and international efforts for peace in Sudan, as though he were a representative of his compatriot former President of South Africa and the current African Union High-Level Implementation Panel on Sudan (AUHIP)! There is nothing worse than war but war itself; the people of the war-torn The Darfur rebel movements have explored every avenue in an attempt to stop the war, but they didn't find the partner keen in ending the war.

The recent UNAMID report to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) for the exit strategy from Darfur is driven by collusion and based on fabricated and biased information gathered from the National Congress Party (NCP) regime itself without including the suffering of the Sudanese civilian populations who have been targeted and languishing under the scourge of the war of attrition in which chemical weapons have been used by the army of the government of Omer al-Bashir in the Jebel Marra locality in the war-ravaged Darfur region. There is credible evidence of children killed and maimed by horrific chemical weapons attacks in Darfur. Amnesty International has gathered harrowing evidence strongly suggesting the repeated use of chemical weapons against civilians, including very young children, in Jebel Marra - one the most remote parts of Darfur. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/09/chemical-weapons-attacks-darfur/ The Darfur region has been stuck in a catastrophic cycle of violence for more than 13 years, nothing has changed except that the world has stopped watching,” said Tirana Hassan of Amnesty International. https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/09/sudan-credible-evidence-chemical-weapons-darfur-revealed/

The thing that is more irritating is the UNAMID report's turning a blind eye to the Chemical weapons used by the Sudanese army against the civilian citizens of Jebel Marra with intent and premeditation, as reported above by the Amnesty International. The NCP regime tried by all means to conceal the crime of using chemical weapons against civilians in in the Jebel Marra area. The British journalist Phil Cox, who works for the British Television Channel IV and his interpreter Daoud Hari were arrested in December 2016 and subjected to torture in prison. The practices of the al-Bashir regime were exposed through a TV programme of broadcast by the Channel Four on 6th of April 2017. The British journalist Phil Cox said that they went to Darfur to investigate what was happening on the ground, and to follow up allegations that chemical weapons were being used by the Sudanese government against its own citizens. Phil went on saying “we had been tracked by the Sudanese military and captured by a local militia. At this point, we had no idea what would happen to us. Amnesty International concluded that these actions show that the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) has something to hide in Jebel Marra. Otherwise, why does the regime not allow journalists to do their work, but arrests and tortures them? https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/05/captured-in-darfur-south-sudan. Ironically, in the Era of ironies that the United Nations body responsible for the safety of civilians from chemical weapons has chosen Sudan as a chemical weapons watchdog. It seems in that as though we are in the times of the farce that say everything has been in the wrong place. The recidivist thief has been made a guardian of possessions and the property of vulnerable people or as if we are employing a common criminal robber as a bank guard! Furthermore, it is an abject shame on the part of the UN Body responsible for Chemical Weapons in allowing such a country as Sudan under the NCP genocidal regime to be the watchdog on chemical weapons while it is using them against its own citizens. The National Islamic Front/National Congress Party (NIF/NCP) regime in Khartoum has been elected on Friday 10 March 2017 as Vice Chair of Executive Council of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) with the support of the Africa bloc in the Organisation. The Jebel Marra massacres of chemical weapons continued from January to August 2016 ... 240 days in total. http://www.sudanjem.com/2017/04/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%B6-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A8%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%8A-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%85/#more-132555 Moreover, the massacres of Jebel Marra were the result of the bombing of the (NCP) regime for civilians in Jebel Marra area with chemical weapons by Antonov aircraft, deliberately and premeditatedly. The silence of the international community on the massacres of chemical weapons in Jebel Marra area is, at the very least, outrageous. Instead of investigating the use of chemical weapons against civilian Sudanese in Jebel Marra the Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday April 5, 2017, condemned the rebel leader Abdul Wahid Mohammed Ahmed al-Nur, accusing him of causing problems in Darfur as a result of his intransigence and his refusal to negotiate with the genocidal ruling regime of the National Congress Party (NCP). Injustice and travesty of justice have prevailed at the (OPCW) when the culprit rewarded instead of punishment for the crimes perpetrated. On Friday, March 17, 2017, Amnesty International described Sudan's election as a slap to the face of the victims of chemical weapons. It is a stigma on the forehead of the Chemical Weapons Prohibition Organization (OPCW) which is set up to prevent the use of chemical attacks such as that launched by the Khartoum regime in 2016 in Darfur And the regions of the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile.

http://www.sudanjem.com/2017/04/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%B6-%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%89-%D8%A8%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%8A-%D9%88%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%85/#more-132555

On the other hand, the report of the new UNAMID leader goes on glorifying the Sudanese government's positions on peace, allowance for relief delivery to the needy and decrease of violence. On the contrary, the regime has unleashed the former Janjaweed militias, now called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) to do whatever they want of crimes against humanity without accountability because they find absolute protection and support from the head of the National Congress Party (NCP) government, the genocidal criminal and fugitive from the International Justice, Marshal Omer Hassan Ahmed al-Bashir personally. In addition to the insecurity in all the five States of the Darfur region where crime has become the master of the situation and the hapless Sudanese citizen and his possessions became the victim and the result is nothing but death and continuous destruction amid terrible silence of the so –called National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) because the assailants are the part and parcel of the (NISS). As the saying goes, the protector is the criminal par excellence! As they say, speak without feeling embarrassed about the ongoing tribal warfare in Darfur resulting from the omen of the neo-Gold Rush over whom to own the gold mines. Obviously, the victim is a numerous loss of innocent souls, a new wave of internal displacement, migration, burning of villages and lawlessness. The culprit continues to be the (RSF) and other related lawless thugs; both are proxies of the Khartoum regime. Thus, the recent report to the UN by the UNAMID leader is completely devoid of the aforementioned important information; he deliberately avoided making any hints or mere reminders about the underlying factors that making exit strategy of the UNAMID something unthinkable amidst the current state of terror and lawlessness and ongoing loss of innocent souls. Without any shred of doubt, the aforementioned is a part and parcel of the Darfur crisis which has been raging since its outbreak in February 2003, when the government of the National Islamic Front (NIF)/National Congress Party (NCP) led by Omer al-Bashir, refused to listen to and try peacefully meeting the legitimate demands of wealth and power sharing for the people of Sudan in Darfur because, according to al-Bashir, he would not negotiate with anyone not taking up arms, as he was! So far nothing has changed to say that conditions on the ground in Darfur have improved but the debilitating war secretions through the lean years of calamity and ruin. The voice of young children in camps of displacement and asylum who are hungry without schools for education and no work prospects for the grown up of them who do not know that the future hides for them. If we delve into the issues of elusive sustainable peace in Darfur to which the citizens longing for, we find the roadblocks established by the (NCP) regime in Khartoum to protect its president Omer al-Bashir from the apprehension by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the heinous crimes he has committed in Darfur in 2004 and for which he has been indicted by the (ICC) at The Hague in 2009 and issued an arrest warrant. Reneging peace agreements concluded through negotiations and signed with the parties in dispute remained the characteristic of the NCP regime and a stumbling block for the end of the civil warfare in Sudan's Darfur over the past 14 years. Procrastination, manoeuvring, placing obstacles and taking militias and mercenaries as proxies to fight the Darfuri armed movements and disbursement of public money to them are among the most important reasons that prevented the end to the crises in the war-torn Darfur region and elsewhere in Sudan.

Of the tragedies created by the war in Darfur region is the presence of twelve refugee camps in the neighbouring Chad with over 300,000 Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad; virtually all from Darfur—virtually all ethnically African. http://sudanreeves.org/2016/07/07/invisible-forgotten-and-suffering-darfuri-refugees-in-eastern-chad-april-28-2016
Moreover, in addition to the foregoing figure, there are more than 2 million people remain internally displaced (IDPs) inside the IDP camps in Darfur as of as recently as May 2010. https://www.dissentmagazine.org/blog/how-many-internally-displaced-persons-are-there-in-darfur
Other references include How Many Refugees in Chad?” (August 2016) http://sudanreeves.org/2016/08/09/how-many-refugees-in-chad-august-2016/

The issue of the people of Sudan in Darfur region has unfortunately been ruled to remain unresolved as a result of intertwined factors. The most important of which is the unwillingness of the ruling regime of the (NCP) to end the suffering of the people of Sudan in that region for reasons related to the protection of Omer al-Bashir from the fate awaiting him with the (ICC). Furthermore, the international community represented in the mighty United States of America and the other Permanent Members of the UN Security Council (UNSC) have been focusing all their attention on the never-ending warfare and the crisis in the Levant region in Syria, Iraq. Moreover, the European Union (EU) desires to stem the migration from the Horn of African countries of Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti through Sudan to the European shore via the chaotic Libya. The European Union, in its quest for converging with the NCP ruling regime, has used financial incentives, has paid more than 150 million euros, which observers believe it is more likely to take its course into the pockets of the influential kleptocracy in the regime as usual! And at the same pace, the justifications for the partial lifting of economic sanctions on Sudan by the former US President Barak Obama administration have been based on false claims that the Sudan government's record has improved on many issues including the arrival of relief, and there have been no serious violations in conflict areas. Here we see the deliberate neglect of the resolution Issued by the Obama administration for the other blatant violations of human rights practiced by the ruling regime of the (NCP) and implemented by its allied militias of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the security service called the National Security and Intelligence Services (NISS) The consistent thing in the behaviour of the (NCP) regime under the leadership of genocidal criminal Omar al-Bashir is irreparability, as quoted to have been said by the late Dr. John Garang Mabior :( the NCP regime is so deformed to be reformed!). Saying the truth is better than pursuing in falsehood, but this is contrary to the Diplomatic norms in the World of Political Hypocrisy; the end justifies the means! On the other hand, let's not ignore the role played by the intersecting interests between those international community countries and the Sudanese regime that have become stumbling block against the people of Sudan in Darfur for achieving sustainable peace. Thus, the people of Darfur represent the victims of injustice who continue suffering into oblivion. However and despite the chronic failure of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) to protect civilians, its presence in Darfur is the only safe haven available to the surviving civilians fleeing the scourge of war when their homes get burnt down and their relatives killed by pro-government Janjaweed militias, Sudan Armed Force (SAF) and the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). The injustice that has been inflicted on the people of Sudan in Darfur has been prolonged too far and it is an onus on the international community to not turn a blind eye to it because of the intersecting interests with the perpetrators of the crimes against humanity, war crime and crimes of genocide. So far, the recent international community's response to the plight of the Darfuri Sudanese people has been deplorable Doing justice and reparation for the victims and survivors of injustice is the paramount duty of humanity.

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela the South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999 has been quoted as saying: (As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world; none of us can truly rest). https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/nelsonmand737776.html?src=t_injustice

Dr. Mahmoud A. Suleiman is an author, columnist and a blogger. His blog is http://thussudan.wordpress.com/

Following recent attacks on civilians and aid workers in South Sudan, the top United Nations humanitarian official in the country today called on the Government and the opposition to protect civilians and ensure the safety and security of humanitarians.

(Nairobi) – Ethiopian authorities have failed to hold accountable a paramilitary force that killed at least 21 villagers in the Somali region of Ethiopia in June 2016. The government should promptly grant access to independent international monitors to investigate these killings and other reported abuses by this force, known as the “Liyu police.”

On June 5, 2016, Liyu police members entered the village of Jaamac Dubad in eastern Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State after an officer had been wounded in a dispute with local traders. The police started shooting indiscriminately, killing at least 14 men and seven women, and then looted shops and houses. Nine months later, survivors said they were not aware of any investigation into the killings and had not received any compensation.

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A toddler shows a scar from the shot he sustained in the chest during the Jamaac Dubad killings, when he was 5-months-old. His mother and grandmother were killed in the incident, December 2016.

© 2016 Human Rights Watch

“Liyu police killed 21 villagers in the Somali region and devastated this vulnerable community, but there’s no sign that the government is working to bring anyone to justice for these killings,” said Felix Horne, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Ethiopian authorities should end their indifference to the murderous operations by this paramilitary force and work with international monitors to investigate their abuses.”

Ethiopian authorities created the Liyu (“special” in Amharic) police for the Somali region in 2007, when an armed conflict between the insurgent Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and the government escalated. By 2008, the Liyu police had become a prominent counterinsurgency force recruited and led by then-regional security chief Abdi Mohammed Omar, known as “Abdi Illey.” Abdi Illey became the president of Somali Regional State in 2010, and the Liyu police continue to report to him.

The Liyu police have frequently been implicated in extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and violence against people in the Somali region, as well as in retaliatory attacks against local communities. There has also been growing evidence of attacks by the group against communities outside of the Somali region, including in the Oromia region since late December 2016, and in Somalia.

Between December and February 2017, Human Rights Watch interviewed 31 residents of Jaamac Dubad and people from nearby villages, including 10 witnesses to the June 5 killings who had fled to neighboring Somaliland.

Survivors and witnesses to the June 5 violence said that the Liyu police entered and encircled the village with vehicles, then fired randomly at people gathered in the market and at women near their homes and shops, and directly at those who tried to flee. Witnesses said that they had not seen any of their community members using firearms in response.

“The bullets were flying all over the place,” said a 40-year-old woman. “I came out of my house, saw that many people were fleeing, and saw people in uniform shooting. … With my four children, I just left my house. The Liyu police were shooting as we fled.” She said that two women running behind her were shouting that they had been hit.

During the shooting, many residents fled the village. The next day, the Liyu police prevented residents from returning to bury the 21people killed. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that when they were able to return, they found that there had been widespread looting of shops and houses in the village, with food, goods, and money missing.

In the ensuing weeks, the Liyu police conducted a disarmament operation in neighboring villages, detaining dozens of residents and beating several.

Since 2007, the Ethiopian government has imposed tight controls on access to the Somali region for independent journalists and human rights monitors. Ethiopia’s regional and federal governments should urgently facilitate access for investigations by independent human rights investigators, including the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial and summary executions, of the shootings at Jaamac Dubad and other alleged serious abuses by the Liyu police, Human Rights Watch said. The governments should promptly compensate those harmed and the families of those killed.

“The Liyu police’s killing of 21 people is one in a long list of serious abuses for which this force has escaped scot-free,” Horne said. “The scale of their abuses over the last decade warrants international scrutiny, and Ethiopia’s international supporters should push for access to independent investigators into the Somali region to ensure that no one else has to suffer at their hands.”

For details about Human Rights Watch’s findings, please see below.

Abuses in Ethiopia’s Somali Region

The Somali region has been the site of a low-level insurgency by the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) for more than a decade and a major counterinsurgency campaign since April 2007. However, the area has not been directly affected by the largely peaceful protests that have swept Ethiopia since 2015 or the government’s bloody crackdown on them.

In a June 2008 report, Human Rights Watch found that the Ethiopian National Defense Force and the ONLF had committed war crimes in the Somali region between mid-2007 and early 2008, and that the Ethiopian armed forces could be responsible for crimes against humanity. These abuses have never been independently investigated.

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A toddler who at age 5 months was hit by a bullet in the leg during the Jamaac Dubad killings.  His mother and grandmother were killed in the incident, December 2016. 

© 2016 Human Rights Watch

The Liyu police was established as part of the counter-insurgency campaign. Human Rights Watch has received credible allegations of abuses by the Liyu police, including extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and other abuses of civilians accused of being members of or sympathetic to the ONLF.

The government has responded to reports of abuses in the Somali region over the years by severely restricting or controlling access for journalists, human rights groups, and aid organizations. Criticism of the local authorities, particularly of Abdi Illey, the regional president, is not tolerated, both inside and outside of Ethiopia. Arbitrary arrests and mistreatment of family members of Ethiopian-Australians who protested Abdi Illey’s June 2016 visit to Australia illustrates the regional authorities’ ongoing repression of dissent, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch has also found other evidence of Liyu police abuses against people in parts of the Somali region that had never been a source of support for the ONLF, including in the Gashaamo district, largely populated by the ethnic Somali Isaaq clan. In 2012, the Liyu police summarily executed 10 people and committed other serious abuses, including torture and looting, in four villages in the Gashaamo district. Human Rights Watch received credible reports of reprisal killings against civilians, including women and children, in May and June 2015, following fighting between the Liyu police and clan militia near the Somalia border. A United Nations security council monitoring group found that an estimated 30 to 40 people were killed.

Since December 2016, credible reports have emerged of Liyu police incursions into the neighboring Oromia region. While there has been sporadic fighting on both sides of the Oromia-Somali regional border areas between ethnic Oromo and Somali pastoralists, sometimes involving the Liyu police, recent incidents have been far more violent, involving armed men on both sides. Dozens of casualties have been reported to Human Rights Watch, including many civilians in Oromia. Restrictions on access have made it difficult to corroborate details.

Killings in Jaamac Dubad, June 2016

On June 5, 2016, a Liyu police officer was injured, according to second-hand sources, during a shootout between Liyu police forces and unidentified gunmen linked to local traders of khat, a stimulant grown in the Ethiopian highlands. According to residents and media reports, Liyu police members had tried to confiscate a vehicle owned by local traders after it was involved in an accident with a government ambulance. The shootout occurred near Jaamac Dubad in the Gashaamo district, when the Liyu police towed the car away.

Around midday, Liyu police vehicles entered Jaamac Dubad apparently looking for those involved in the shootout. Ten survivors and witnesses said that Liyu police began firing indiscriminately around the village and directly at fleeing people. Residents, including people who saw their relatives’ bodies, said that at least four women and two men had been shot in the upper body and head.

One community elder said Liyu police arrested him and two other elders as they headed toward the village: “We were two kilometers outside Jaamac Dubad walking toward it when the Liyu police drove by, stopped their vehicles, and grabbed us. They choked me and threw me to the ground. I broke a vertebra in my lower neck.” He showed Human Rights Watch an X-ray of the broken bone. The elder said he was later sentenced for illegally assisting khat traders and imprisoned for over two months.

While pastoralist communities such as those in and around Jaamac Dubad are likely to have small arms to protect their animals, Human Rights Watch did not find any evidence that residents in the village engaged that day in armed resistance to the Liyu police. One resident said she saw the former village administrator run into his house to pick up his gun after the Liyu police entered the village but said he was gunned down before he was able to shoot at anyone.

“Abdi,” an elderly man who was in the market when the shooting started said:

Vehicles drove quickly into town and slammed on the brakes, [Liyu] police got out, and immediately started firing at people. They weren’t firing into the air. Sometimes they would shoot directly at people, other times they were just randomly shooting at the crowds. People were running everywhere, only to find their way blocked by the Liyu police. If those running managed to make it through, the Liyu police would chase after them shooting.

An 80-year-old man saw another elderly man trying to escape toward the eastern part of the town. He said: “Dhabuke was running and was shot by a soldier from behind. He was hit in the shoulders and fell face forward. He died immediately.”

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A toddler, then 5-months old, who was wounded but survived the Jamaac Dubad killings. His mother and grandmother were killed in the incident, December 4, 2016.

© 2016 Human Rights Watch

One young woman was holding her 5-month-old son when she was fatally shot. The baby was hit in the chest and leg but survived. The woman’s mother and a neighbor were also killed. A family member described the wounds she saw:

My sister had been hit on the lower arm and in the head. My mother was hit in the left side under her breast. The other woman [a neighbor] had a big [gunshot] wound, just in the middle of her chest.

During the shootings, a number of people ran into the village mosque seeking shelter. Liyu police officers pursued them and fired through the main door into the mosque. At least one elderly man, “Abdirahman,” was wounded – shot in the leg – while inside the mosque.

At least two men managed to escape through another door. Mohamed, 60, said, “My cousin ran out of the door [of the mosque] facing the market. He was shot in the side of the head. They [the Liyu police] were five meters from him, chasing him, there was two of them, behind them were two others, and behind them were two more.”

Altogether, the shooting lasted one hour.

The Liyu police detained several men and women outdoors until the following afternoon. The baby boy who was seriously injured was handed over to those detained, as the baby’s aunt later learned. She said:

There were women who were held as prisoners by the Liyu police around Jaamac Dubad. They were released at 4 p.m. [on June 6]. One of them had my nephew with her. I asked how they had found the child, and they said that a government representative from Gashaamo came to us when they were detained and gave them the child. He had told the women that the child had received first aid and that his dead mother had been holding him when they found him.

Residents fled the fighting into the countryside and neighboring villages. For almost a day after the killings, the Liyu police prevented other residents from returning to the village to bury their dead.

“Abdirahman” managed to crawl back to his home the following morning:

My macawis [Somali sarong] was full of blood and it was becoming hard, so I wanted to change it. But when I arrived at my house, I searched for my macawis and I couldn’t find any. My mattress, my mosquito net, my bed sheets, my pillows, everything was missing from my house.

He said that on the morning of June 6, while the Liyu police and Ethiopian forces were still restricting entrance into the village, he and another man who was badly injured were given first aid, and driven in a private vehicle to the nearest hospital, in the town of Gashaamo, about 25 kilometers away.

The forces allowed residents to return in the afternoon of June 6. Residents as well as people from neighboring villages came to bury the dead. The Liyu police, along with Ethiopian army officials and local officials, were present throughout the burial. Two residents said that the mayor of Gashaamo ordered the residents to be silent throughout the burial and not to cry. The residents dug a mass grave then left the village again. As one woman who lost two family members said: “We were scared, we had no time, so we buried them all in one big grave. Everyone worked to put the bodies to rest. The Liyu police were all over the place.”

Residents of Jaamac Dubad, including witnesses to the killings and people who arrived the day of the burial, all said that their shops and houses had been looted of property, food, and money after the shootings. While most had not seen the looting, they believed that the Liyu police were responsible. One man who was among the residents detained overnight in the village said he saw the Liyu police looting his shop early on the evening of June 5.

The incident occurred shortly before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, so the shops were better stocked than usual. The aunt of the injured baby said:

My sister who was killed had come from Hargeisa [capital of Somaliland] – she had only been back in the village 10 days – she had brought a lot of food and sugar. When we went to our house we saw that they had taken the clothes and food. I also saw that they had broken into many of the shops.

Arbitrary Detention, Ill-Treatment During Disarmament

In the weeks following the June 5 killings, the Liyu police conducted a disarmament operation in the villages neighboring Jaamac Dubad, including Bodadheere, Gorgor, Ina Nur Muse, all inhabited by communities from the same sub-clans as Jaamac Dubad. They arrested dozens of people, detaining them in makeshift facilities, trying to get them to turn over their guns. Human Rights Watch spoke to nine people who were detained during operations. They said that they thought that the Liyu police feared that the local community would retaliate against them for the killings.

Several residents said that the Liyu police kicked and beat them with gun butts on their backs and shoulders when they were first detained and later in detention when they failed to produce a gun.

The Liyu police detained residents between two days and a month without charge, while the community was ordered to collect enough weapons to secure their release. Liyu police detained women to get the weapons belonging to husbands or fathers who were not there. One woman said she was detained for two days with her baby. Another woman said she was among 13 women detained in the Ina Nur Muse village school:

I was held for 13 days. There were six of us in one classroom, and seven in another. They would beat us with their gun butts, they would pull us out of the classroom to beat us and convince us to hand over guns. They would give us one meal in detention in the evening. I have five children, who I could not see during detention. My uncle in Bilincle [a village in Somaliland] sent a gun to secure my release.

Those interviewed by Human Rights Watch had fled their homes in the days following the shootings and the sweeps. Many had not returned to their homes as of December 2016 because of the violence and an ongoing drought. Some have nothing to return to. One 33-year-old woman said: “I was married with seven children and had a shop. But now my shop is looted and closed, and my husband is dead. My little baby was just 10 days old when it happened. I am very upset and don’t want to go back, but my home is there.”

 

Testimony to the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on African Affairs and Global Health Policy Regarding Dodd-Frank Section 1502

Chairman Flake, Ranking Member Booker and other members of the subcommittee,

Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify today on Dodd-Frank Section 1502 and its impact on addressing the trade in “Conflict Minerals.” Human Rights Watch has documented abuses in the Democratic Republic of Congo since the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko and throughout the country’s vicious civil war and the violence and abuses that continue. 

Since 2005, we have documented the pernicious effect that the trade in gold has had on civilians in eastern Congo. Numerous armed groups, foreign-backed rebels, and at times the Congolese army have killed, raped, pillaged, and forcibly conscripted child soldiers as they sought to gain or maintain control of lucrative gold mines, which in turn helped finance their abusive movements. We’ve also documented how a major mining company paid a rebel group to explore for gold in its concession area in 2005.

It is for these reasons that Human Rights Watch supported and continues to support Dodd-Frank 1502. We never saw it as a panacea to stop the abuses or violence in Congo completely. Rather, we saw it as an important tool to help address a specific goal:  stopping the flow of funds to abusive armed groups who were exploiting Congo’s lucrative mining resources through increased transparency and accountability. 

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Today, we are here because Dodd-Frank 1502 may be suspended or even revoked. We know legislation can sometimes be a blunt tool and that it can have unintended consequences. With that in mind, we welcome a discussion on how Section 1502 can fulfill its objectives more efficiently; however, we strongly believe that its suspension or revocation would be damaging for security, human rights, and for responsible companies. To be crystal clear: if the president suspends the law or if Congress revokes it, we believe that the repercussions would be very serious.

This hearing comes at a critical time in Congo. Over the past two years, government officials and security forces have carried out a brutal campaign of repression against those opposed to President Joseph Kabila’s efforts to stay in power beyond the December 19, 2016 end of his constitutionally mandated two-term limit. Scores of peaceful protesters have been killed, pro-democracy activists and opposition leaders have been imprisoned, and media outlets have been shuttered. After significant pressure from the international community —including targeted US sanctions against top officials and other strong measures backed by this Congress—President Kabila made some important concessions in an end-of-the year deal mediated by the Catholic Church.

This agreement calls for presidential elections to be held by the end of this year and says clearly that there will be no changes to the constitution or a referendum to allow Kabila to run for a third term. Yet implementation of the deal has stalled, as violence between militia groups and the Congolese security forces have escalated in many parts of the country, along with an alarming increase in human rights violations. Some of these situations are directly linked to Kabila staying in power beyond the end of his constitutional mandate. Kabila has agreed to hold elections and step down from power, and the prospects for stability likely hinge on whether he abides by that commitment. Continued US engagement and strong pressure on Kabila to do so is critical. 

Last month, two members of the UN Group of Experts on Congo, Michael Sharp, an American, and Zaida Catalán, from Sweden, were killed while investigating large-scale human rights abuses in Congo’s central Kasai region. It remains unclear who was responsible for the murders. The Group of Experts has been instrumental over the years in exposing the links between the trade in natural resources, armed groups, sanctions-busting, and the violence in Congo.

In this context, suspending or eliminating Dodd-Frank 1502 would make an already explosive situation in Congo worse. Abusive armed groups, factions of the security forces, and other opaque mafia-like networks allegedly linked to government officials could then easily return to the lucrative mines in eastern Congo to finance their activities. This could lead to new security problems throughout the volatile region—where some of Congo’s nine neighboring countries have illegally benefitted from the country’s vast mineral wealth. And it could also create direct security risks for the United States, which has a clear interest in promoting a more stable and peaceful central Africa region.

Suspending Dodd-Frank 1502 would also harm responsible American companies that have embraced the law and the principles that underpin it, including some of this country’s most successful and well-known companies, such as Apple, Intel, and Tiffany. They and others would suddenly be placed at a competitive disadvantage against other companies that prefer to operate opaquely in a way that could fund armed groups. Eliminating the rule would punish responsible companies and reward irresponsible ones by creating a “race to the bottom,” legalizing opaque sourcing of conflict minerals while disadvantaging companies that choose to keep their supply chains clean.

In the absence of 1502, it is possible that civil society groups could end up pressing for targeted sanctions on the Congolese minerals sector if it becomes clear that abusive armed groups are profiting from this trade. Such targeted sanctions are typically the approach the international community has taken in recent years to address similar problems. While understandable, this is a much more draconian approach than the transparency and auditing procedures 1502 require. These are serious consequences for Congo, for major US companies, and for human rights.   

Suspending 1502 Will Make It Easier to Fund Armed Groups Secretly

The fundamental purpose of Dodd-Frank 1502 is to keep money out of the hands of armed groups that trade in and profit from certain minerals. Human rights groups, responsible companies, and the US government have shared this goal for many years. It is important not to lose this aspect of the law: it is a rare instance where key institutions in and out of government agree on what the problems is, want to stop it, and have managed to put a law in place to help do it. That is something Congress and the administration should support.

Without the law, it would be easier for abusive armed groups to fund themselves secretly, whichcould help to further destabilize parts of Congo. In mid-March, Bloomberg news reported that the Congolese Minister of Mines, Martin Kabwelulu, wrote the US Securities and Exchange Commission, warning that eliminating 1502 would lead to an “escalation in the activities of non-state armed groups.” The US has sought for decades to help de-escalate these activities; removing a tool that can help do that undercuts longstanding US foreign policy objectives.

This problem could be exacerbated by the administration’s possible budget cuts for UN peacekeeping in Congo and by possible further cuts to other foreign assistance to Congo. The combination of suspending or eliminating 1502 while cutting support to peacekeeping and other foreign assistance could make it easier for abusive armed groups to make money from conflict minerals while simultaneously reducing funds to entities meant to curtail conflict and foster stability.

Considering Congress’ longstanding interest in Congo, the fragile situation on the ground, and the billions of dollars the US has spent on peacekeeping efforts in the country, this scenario would be extraordinarily counterproductive to US geopolitical and security interests.

While imperfect, Dodd Frank has already had some tangible positive effects for the people of eastern Congo and those seeking greater transparency. Since 2012, mining at the Kalimbi tin mine in Nyabibwe, South Kivu, for example, has had a functional traceability scheme, which allows for the continuous production of tin that benefits the local workers, and not the abusive armed groups or corrupt army or government officials.  

Global Witness reported that in 2012, the Congolese government suspended the operations of two Chinese companies because they failed to carry out proper due diligence and suspected they may be sourcing from armed groups.  But it is troubling that the same year, Global Witness reported that two Congolese army officers were caught trying to smuggle more than 1,000 pounds of minerals, including coltan. The government refused to press charges, but the officer who stopped them and tried to stop the smuggling was suspended from his post. At present, however, we have some indications that Congolese government officials are starting to take actions to prevent mineral wealth from illegally profiting armed groups or army officers.

It is also important to remember the types of groups that could be emboldened and enriched without the transparency and systems Dodd-Frank requires. Human Rights Watch and others have documented the abuses by several armed groups that benefited from this trade and the harm they have caused. This includes the armed group known as the Nduma Defense of Congo-Renové (NDC-R), one of the most abusive groups operating in eastern Congo that benefits greatly from the uncontrolled and illicit exploitation of gold there. Traceability efforts so far have had a much greater impact on tin, tantalum, and tungsten than on gold. The NDC-R has committed serious human rights violations, including the killings of dozens of civilians and recruitment of children over the past two years.

Last month, my colleagues were in eastern Congo’s Walikale territory in North Kivu and met with several former child soldiers from NDC-R and miners. They told us how the group led by Guidon Shimiray Mwissa is systemically taxing the lucrative gold trade in dozens of mining sites. By holding a monopoly on things like alcohol and cigarettes in the mining pits and illegally taxing those who work in or near the mines, Guidon is making over $20,000 a month. According to some of his former cadres, he’s also allegedly trading gold for weapons.  

Suspending Dodd-Frank 1502 would make it easier for other abusive armed groups and corrupt officials to enrich themselves the way Guidon is by making the trade even more opaque and easier to do business with armed groups. This would make an already bad situation even worse.

Suspending or Eliminating Dodd-Frank 1502 Will Disadvantage Responsible US Companies

Suspending or revoking Dodd-Frank 1502 would hurt some of the United States’ leading companies, such as Tiffany, Intel, and Apple.  These firms have taken meaningful steps to keep their supply chains free from links to abuses in Congo and would be placed at a competitive disadvantage against companies inclined to operate less responsibly. 

Responsible companies have worked hard to comply with the requirements of 1502. In March 2016, Apple announced that 100 percent of its conflict mineral supply chain had been audited to ensure compliance with Dodd-Frank 1502. That move was widely praised by human rights groups. While its supplies were not fully conflict-free, it has achieved the kind of oversight needed to eliminate conflict minerals from its supply chain. It took the company about six years of steady work on the ground and with its suppliers to meet this goal. But Apple is not just focusing on its legal requirements; it is also trying to clean up its cobalt supply chain after facing scrutiny over problems in it.

Intel began to examine conflict minerals in 2008 and has reported that its microprocessors have been conflict free since 2013. The company has said that it was on track to make its entire product base conflict-free. It took several years for the company to get control over its supply chains and build the capacity to source from properly audited mines.  

Also, Intel commissioned an important study on Millennials’ attitudes towards conflict minerals. The survey provides useful insights into the minds of key consumers. 97 percent of those surveyed believed that companies should “act in a way that benefits society.” Almost 70 percent would avoid companies that they think are not socially responsible. About 70 percent cared about conflict minerals once they learned about them, and a similar percentage said that how a company dealt with conflict minerals would influence whether they bought its products. Dodd-Frank 1502 gives consumers the information they need to make decisions, helps companies meet those expectations, and isolates companies that do not.

Tiffany & Co., one of the world’s most recognizable and prestigious jewelry companies, has also invested a considerable amount of time and resources to ensure that it monitors its supply chain to exclude conflict minerals.  It conducts detailed reviews of its global supply chains.  It works, like other companies, with programs to support conflict-free smelters and other initiatives. The company has made the investment to ensure its products are conflict-free.

Each of these companies is an American icon and a leader in their industries. And each of them does not want Dodd-Frank 1502 or comparable regulation to go away. 

When it became apparent that 1502 might be suspended, Tiffany issued a statement noting “we firmly believe that the continued existence of Federal regulation that addresses the sourcing of conflict minerals provides an important framework for industry, laying the foundation for protection of human rights and responsible sourcing efforts in Congo and beyond. We urge Congress to support legislation that effectively promotes due diligence and transparency for the sourcing of all conflict metals and gemstones.”

Richline Group, a jeweler owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, has also come out in support of 1502 and noted that “Section 1502 has proven to be an important and effective first step in the effort to create a conflict-free mining industry in Congo that benefits legitimate business rather than extortion and violence” and said “we fully support the continued implementation of Section 1502.”

From personal experience, I know that the CEO of one of these companies had strong reservations against Dodd-Frank 1502 when it first became law, but ultimately saw that it was something the company could and would implement it in part because it was far less costly and laborious than he originally expected and because it was the right thing for the company to do. 

The support from major companies highlights a perverse consequence that suspending or repealing Dodd-Frank would cause:  it would create an uneven playing field placing major US companies at a competitive disadvantage relative to companies that did not want to disclose their supply chains, or worse still, do not care whether their activities led to the secret funding of armed groups in Congo. In this sense repealing 1502 would create a perverse incentive to behave less responsibly, and would harm the efforts of responsible companies. Tiffany, Apple, Intel, and Richline have said they believe keeping conflict minerals out of their supply chain is the right thing to do and that they will continue to do it. But without regulation, they will bear a steep cost for being responsible. Dodd-Frank levels the playing field and makes sure responsible companies are not penalized for doing the right thing while requiring others to meet minimum standards. 

Additionally, 129 investors with assets worth approximately $5 trillion under management have also urged the US government to keep the law in place and to ensure its continued implementation and enforcement.

The US should maintain the same path it has successfully pursued over decades:  be the first country to enact a strong law ensuring that companies act responsibly and then work diligently to make sure others do the same. This is what the US did with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. It passed the law in 1977, worked to get other countries to pass similar statutes, and now there is an important global anti-corruption regime that includes many countries with strong anti-corruption laws of their own. Multilateral institutions like the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the UN have also developed their own standards. The US played a leading role in these efforts—in part because it led by example.

This approach has also been true with 1502. US adoption of 1502 led the EU and OECD, for example, to start developing their own standards on conflict minerals that will, at least in the case of the EU, apply to a broad swath of companies beyond US jurisdiction. Just this March, the European Parliament approved new conflict minerals regulations. That approach creates a race to the top where US companies lead, versus suspending 1502 and creating a race to the bottom where US companies are hurt.

Five years after the rules went into force, there is progress. There are more than 200 conflict-free smelters and major companies, as noted previously, are working towards full compliance and do not want the rule to end. And other jurisdictions are developing their own, similar, rules. 

Internationally, the London Bullion Market Association and the Dubai Multi-Commodities Center are putting policies into place to deal with illicit funds derived from minerals. In Congo, the International Tin Supply Chain Initiative is also working to support company due diligence. These are relatively new initiatives and their efficacy is not yet known, but they are examples of the momentum 1502 is creating and what could be lost if is eliminated.

On the ground, significant parts of Congolese civil society generally support the law. As Dr. Denis Mukwege wrote in the New York Times in 2015, “A conflict-free minerals industry would greatly benefit the people of Congo and contribute to ending the unspeakable violence they have endured for years. The legislative tools to help make this a reality are available to international policy makers, but they must be enacted and enforced.” Those views are echoed by a number of civil society groups.

Challenges with Dodd-Frank 1502

There are very compelling reasons to keep 1502, but we do not want to downplay the fact that this law has had its challenges, claim that implementation of the law has been perfect, or suggest that it is the sole answer to conflict and abuse in eastern Congo.

During the period after Dodd Frank became law in 2010 and before its implementing rules were finalized in 2012, uncertainty, misinformation, and other factors led to adverse consequences on the ground. That uncertainty before the final rules were issued led to a de facto boycott as companies avoided sourcing from Congo. There is also evidence that mineral-related violence during that time did not subside. 

However, those problems are not solely due to Dodd-Frank 1502. The Kabila government exacerbated the negative economic impacts when it ordered a six-month halt to all mining in the Kivus in 2010. Between 2010 and 2012, the period between enactment of 1502 and implementation of its final rules, companies chose to boycott Congo since nothing in the law required that companies stop doing business with Congo. These measures, coupled with the uncertainty over Dodd-Frank’s final rules, created problems.

There are still reports of problems facing artisanal miners ranging from low prices affecting artisanal coltan miners.

Another key issue is that US companies are still slow to comply with the law. In 2015, Global Witness and Amnesty International reported that as much as 80 percent of covered companies were not properly disclosing and auditing their conflict minerals supply chain. This is an important area for growth and development—as it could help strengthen the positive impact of the law and enable a more level playing field for all companies down the road.

The Way Forward

We support constructive proposals to ensure Dodd-Frank 1502 is more efficient and effective.  Suspending or scrapping the law will not do this and will instead disadvantage responsible companies, while likely creating more instability in parts of Congo and making it easier for abusive armed groups to pay for their activities. 

If industry groups or companies have specific ideas on how to make 1502 more efficient or effective, you should make sure they are sharing them. There are already indications that costs of implementing 1502 are decreasing significantly as new tools are developed to make it easier to comply. ELM Sustainability Partners did an assessment of the law and found that the total industry costs are about 15-26 percent of the original costs that the SEC reported. Meanwhile, eastern Congo reported record highs for conflict-free exports of tin and tantalum in 2016.

You should also request a study—perhaps from the GAO—on how to promote conflict-free minerals on the ground, and stronger incentives to promote and reward responsible companies.

Unfortunately, the main industry critics, namely the National Association of Manufacturers, have not put forward specific proposals that would tweak 1502 to make it more effective. Many organizations are regularly discussing implementation with key companies and have listened closely to their concerns and challenges.

As a general principal, we believe that responsible companies in any sector should be rewarded for safeguarding human rights in their operations and others should be incentivized to do the same. Broadly, the cost of capital should be lower for responsible compliant companies than noncompliant ones and the opportunities for responsible companies should be greater. 

In that context, we would encourage you to support proposals that have been made by industry associations to advantage 1502 compliant companies in government procurement and efforts by responsible investors to favor and support those companies over others. And while we are not experts on tax policy, it is worth Congress and others examining how to use tax credits or comparable incentives to help support 1502 implementation because it could help lower the costs of implementation for companies.

Finally, we suggest Congress encourage efforts to support and promote conflict-free smelters on the ground. The principal way to do this is to make sure more companies are complying and sourcing from responsible mining and smelting sources. Given that the US is still the largest donor to the World Bank, it would be worth examining how that institution can help the Congolese government and industry grow a conflict-free market.

Conclusion

The situation in Congo is complex. But it is highly likely that suspending Dodd-Frank 1502 or eliminating it will contribute to greater instability, create a competitive disadvantage for responsible companies, and it could create a troubling paradox where, as US aid to Congo and UN peacekeeping may decline, the opportunity for abusive armed groups to make money off from conflict minerals will increase. The US would also fall behind its peers on an issue where it set the global example–this is not what Congress should seek to encourage or support.  

Instead, we hope the administration and Congress will seek to refine 1502, support responsible companies, and look at holistic approaches to keeping conflict mineral revenues out of the hands of abusive armed groups, whether they be militias, rebels, mafias, or government.

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