The operation, set up in 2012, received donations of some $220,000 (£176,000) for medicines in 2014, and also collected $533,000 to open children’s intensive care units in two hospitals in the capital.
“If these guys weren’t here I’d start to sell things from my home, like my bed, chairs and cooking utensils,” says Arafa Moussa, who has come from the Jaffar Ibn Ouf children’s hospital across the road to get help to pay for her son’s medicines. Since her husband had a heart attack and lost his job last November, they have not managed to pay the monthly 2,000 Sudanese pounds (£248) to manage their eight-year-old’s rare condition of aplastic anaemia.
“If he didn’t get the medicine, he would bleed from his nose, eyes, ears and whole body,” says Moussa, wiping her tears as she talks about trying to sell the family home to pay for the bone marrow transplant he can only get abroad.
It was seeing children with cancer in pain that led around 15 young Sudanese volunteers to establish the crowdfunding initiative, called Sharia’ al-Hawadith. It was named after a street lined with medical facilities, and which roughly translates as Accident Lane. It is now home to a small army of young volunteers who sit under a tree sipping endless cups of tea between racing off to get prescriptions for parents who turn up or call from hospital.
Decades of conflict and the resulting sanctions against the regime of President Omar al-Bashir have crippled investment and development. International NGOs have struggled to operate in a climate of government suspicion and restrictions, which includes limiting the medical work of Médecins Sans Frontières and the Red Cross.
“Our government doesn’t want [NGOs] here … there were so many, but they were driven out,” says Hathim Ahmed, one of many pharmacists working with Sharia’ al-Hawadith to provide medicines that most insurance won’t cover. None of the volunteers are paid.
The initiative does some preliminary means-testing by speaking to parents, and asks them to contribute between 10% and 50% for expensive medicines or to buy the cheap ones themselves. For those who can’t contribute, Sharia’ al-Hawadith bears the total cost.
“About 25% of the people I see can’t afford to pay for treatment or medicines,” says junior doctor Leben Khair, who has volunteered for Sharia’ al-Hawadith since discovering that most insurance policies only pay for up to 10% of medicines and that “even private insurance doesn’t cover the expensive ones”.
In Sudan, while NGOs have floundered, such online crowdsourcing models have prospered, allowing people to donate for medicines, books, blankets or food without going through an organisation that could be considered a political threat.
“We publish the daily needs in the Facebook page … and we write the medicines or the cheques we need to do today,” says Ibrahim Alsir Alsafi, a journalist, who – like most other volunteers – spends a day or an evening a week sitting at the tea stall the street.
Ayman Saeed, one of Sharia’ al-Hawadith founders, says not being an NGO has its advantages. “It gave us more room to move freely and expand as much as we can, and our [decentralised] management system … was a good strategy.” He says it gives people the chance to approach the concept in their own way.
More than 100,000 people follow the Facebook page where the prescription requests and the whereabouts of sick children are posted. With volunteers working in all of Sudan’s 18 states, and most children’s hospitals, people can give money personally or send it through people they know living locally. “Sudanese people – most of them from outside Sudan – help us by transferring lots of money. We don’t have a bank account but they transfer it to their relatives here and they come to give it to us by hand,” says Alsafi.
The initiative requires a level of trust between pharmacists and volunteers, who all keep accounts of what has been bought or given on credit per shift. Some people who donate, especially for chronic cases or for first-time donors and who want to see where their money’s going, meet the patients, and sometimes, like the volunteers, get to know their families quite well.
Some pharmacists in Khartoum say that per shift they can give away anything from 200 to 2,000 Sudanese pounds’ worth of medicine, but that they trust the initiative and know they will be paid.
“Sometimes people go to the pharmacy and they just pay our debts for the whole month,” he says.
The largest donation received was from a wealthy Khartoum woman who didn’t have cash so turned up with her gold jewellery. When the dealer found out the money was going to charity, he paid double for it.
People living abroad also respond to the regular calls for drugs that are not available in Sudan, or are extremely expensive imports, by sending them over. “Antibiotics, especially injectables, are very expensive, and cancer drugs per injectable dose can cost 900,000 Sudanese pounds. A course of 28 tablets can cost 1.5m,” says Ahmed.
Since running his own pharmacy in the hospital district, Ahmed, like many other pharmacists, has worked with different charitable funds and given away drugs to needy customers for years. He now extends credit to Sharia’ al-Hawadith to reach increasing numbers of poor people who have been hit by inflation and a falling currency, which puts medicines imported from Europe or the US even further out of reach.
“People are really getting poorer and poorer every day; things are getting worse, so we are trying to help,” he says.
Labour MP David Shearer says his decision to leave Parliament to head to conflict-ridden South Sudan was because it was a "remarkable" job despite the dangers.
Shearer, 59, is expected to be formally announced as the UN's head of mission in South Sudan today - a job that has the same rank in the UN hierarchy as Helen Clark's role as head of UN Development Programme.
Shearer, who has just returned from New York while his appointment was put through, said he had "put some feelers out" for a role outside Parliament over the past few months but it was not a vote of no-confidence in Labour or its leader Andrew Little.
Shearer will be in charge of the UN's Mission in South Sudan - a volatile area where he will live in a high security compound. The danger means his wife and family will stay in New Zealand.
The UN compound in Juba was attacked by local troops in July this year and the UN criticised over reports its armed peacekeepers failed to go to the help of aid workers being raped and attacked in the compound.
Shearer said it was a very difficult place.
"And it appears to be getting worse. The UN Mission in South Sudan has had some real problems. In the July attack there was something like 200 buildings that had bullet holes in them.
"We take proper precautions and I'm not worried about my personal safety. We just have to be really careful."
"It's a pretty remarkable job. When I've been doing humanitarian work I've often looked at the underlying reasons for the conflict of what's been happening and thought that if I could ever play a role in creating the political process to make peace come then that ultimately resolves the humanitarian problem. And this job gives me that opportunity. So that was the attraction."
Prior to entering Parliament, Shearer had done humanitarian work for the UN in hotspots including Somalia, Rwanda, Liberia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Iraq.
The Herald revealed he had been chosen for the job last week, but Shearer was not able to talk about it until it was formally announced.
His departure will spark a by-election in his Mt Albert seat.
The appointment prompted jokes on social media that Shearer had wanted some peace and quiet so was leaving Labour to go to South Sudan.
"I've been very happy in terms of my political career but I've always felt the deepest regrets are the things you haven't done rather than the things you have. I think I would regret staying on in my role when I'm thinking I could make a real difference somewhere else."
Shearer was Labour leader from 2011 but resigned in 2013 after learning a no-confidence motion was being mounted against him.
"So many ex-politicians feel bitter and twisted about what might have been. I really just think life is too short. Of course I am disappointed and I have regrets. I would have loved to have carried on and contested the election in 2014 but that wasn't to be.
"You have the choice then, you can either wallow in bitterness or get up and get on with it. I chose the second."
He said he would always be committed to Labour and believed Little was a strong leader for the party.
"I like Andrew and I wish him all the best. He's a good leader, he's a strong leader. He's been very straight up and supportive of me."
Shearer is considered one of Labour's more centrist MPs and joins others who have or are leaving, including Clayton Cosgrove and Shane Jones.
He had received congratulatory messages from MPs across the board, including former Prime Minister John Key and Attorney General Chris Finlayson.
Link to web article here. Koboko - Internal United Nations reports obtained by The Associated Press say the UN officials in South Sudan found bodies with gunshot wounds "which indicate they were executed."
One report says some of the six bodies found beside a road outside the western town of Yambio were handcuffed and blindfolded. The report cites local residents as saying South Sudanese government troops carried out the killings "on the premise that they were suspected rebels".
The UN officials also found burned huts near the bodies and estimated the killings were in early December.
The deputy spokesperson for South Sudan's army, Santo Domic Chol, says civilians frequently accuse the military of abuses and have a "political agenda".
The discovery of the bodies comes shortly after the UN officials warned of increasing ethnic violence in South Sudan's civil war.
Khartoum — A daily newspaper in Khartoum that has been gagged seven times in two weeks has decided to sue the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) to claim compensation for the financial damage. It launched an initiative to collect donations from readers.
El Jareeda announced to embark on preparing a lawsuit to the administrative court in the Sudanese capital yesterday. Editor-in-chief Ashraf Abdelaziz told Radio Dabanga that the confiscation of the entire print-runs was repeated by the NISS without any reason.
The newspaper has hired lawyer Nabil Adeeb to prepare the lawsuit to claim compensation for the large financial damages the confiscations have done.
"We will not back down on the editorial line of the newspaper," Abdelaziz said. "We have faced pressure to undo our editorial line before but El Jareeda continues its independent news for the citizens."
He stressed that the daily "has nothing to do with any political party or opposition movement" and that it professionally reflects what can be seen on the Sudanese streets.
Donations
The newspaper now calls upon its readers to donate money to the value of the total loss it suffered by the confiscations. "This is the first campaign of its kind to counter the punitive confiscations that redue the financial situation of the newspaper," Abdelaziz said.
He said that already people have responded well to the initiative, and they appointed an auditor to receive the donations. Once the amount of the total loss is reached, excess money will go to charity.
In May this year, the newspaper suffered a financial loss of SDG90,000 ($14,750) following confiscations. The government prevents El Jareeda and several other independent newspapers from placing government advertisements on their pages to obtain advertising revenue.
So far, the NISS has seized 20 print-runs of Sudanese newspapers in the past two weeks. Reasons were not given but the newspapers reported on the recent financial measures and the civil disobedience campaign at the end of November in Khartoum, that protested against the price increases for fuel and basic commodities.
Norway, the UK, and the USA - members of the Sudan Troika - as well as the EU and Canada, issued a joint statement on Wednesday in which they expressed concern at the current spate of detentions and press curbs in Sudan.
December 13, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) said that consultations are underway to hold an urgent meeting for the leadership of the opposition umbrella Sudan Call to discuss support for the December 19th civil disobedience.
Secretary-General Yasir Arman waives hands to supporters during his visit to the SPLM-N controlled areas in the Nuba Montains. Picture released by the SPLM-N on 30 March 2016
Groups of activists have launched a wide electronic campaign to mobilize the Sudanese to engage in a civil disobedience action on December 19th to protest recent government decision to lift fuel, electricity and drug subsidy.
Sudanese opposition forces and armed groups expressed support for the general strike and called upon their affiliates to play an active role to ensure its success.
On Monday, Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir said the civil disobedience wouldn’t topple his government stressing he won’t hand over the country to those who hide behind the “keyboards”.
In a letter addressed to the Sudanese people seen by Sudan Tribune Tuesday, SPLM-N Secretary General Yasir Arman has urged his movement’s members and supporters to participate effectively in the civil disobedience and join the general strike’s committees in the various villages, towns and neighborhoods.
He pointed that the participation of the regions and peripheries would secure the success of the strike and the popular uprising, calling for the need to determine the timeframe of the civil disobedience carefully in order to ensure its success.
Arman also called for establishing a unified leadership centre for the forces of change, revealing that the SPLM-N is making external contacts in several countries to support the civil disobedience and release of political prisoners.
“SPLM-N is making contacts along with others to hold an urgent meeting for the Sudan Call leadership. The movement also proposed to hold consultations with other opposition alliances and professional groups and forces of 27 November,” he said.
The rebel leader added that “the battle against the regime is complex and requires patience, determination”, saying the discussion of a proposal to establish a shadow government is premature and will divide the opposition instead of unifying it.
“We must first agree on the programme and the unified centre of the forces of change,” he said. He pointed that Sudanese security has prevented any visits to the political detainees, saying some of them have been transferred secretly to a prison in El-Fasher, North Darfur capital.
Sudanese authorities recently arrested over 40 opposition figures and activists following the increase of fuel, electricity and drugs price.
The Sudan Call, which was established in Addis Ababa on 3 December 2014, includes the National Umma Party (NUP), the two factions of the rebel umbrella Sudanese Revolutionary Front (SRF), and the Civil Society Initiative (CSI).
Sudan Call internal groups include the Sudanese Congress Party (SCoP), Sudanese Baath Party (SBP), Center Alliance Party (CAP), Sudanese National Party (SNP) and Sudanese National Alliance (SNA).
CARTER CENTER MEETING Meanwhile, Arman said the SPLM-N boycotted the meeting organized by Carter Center in Nairobi to discuss Sudan’s peace, pointing they told them that “there would be no talks with the regime and al-Bashir should step down according to a new transitional arrangements and a new regime”.
He pointed that al-Bashir had dispatched a delegation to meet with former President Jimmy Carter in Georgia, Atlanta to ask him to mediate between Khartoum and Washington.
On 7 December, Carter Center said a delegation of experts would conduct meetings to explore ways to bring peace in Sudan, pointing the meetings “are not part of the official mediation that the African Union is conducting, but rather supplemental, exploratory gatherings designed to begin to identify points of common ground among all key Sudanese parties”.
However, SPLM-N apologized for not attending the proposed meeting with the Carter Center experts in Nairobi, saying the movement decided to stop all political contacts with the regime.
KHARTOUM, Sudan – Sudan has accused Egypt of seizing Sudanese gold miners from its territory and confiscating their equipment.
Sudanese state TV Ashorooq on Tuesday quotes the Sudanese Minister of Minerals as saying he met with representatives of the gold miners in Wadi Al-Allagy, in the Sudanese Red Sea State where their colleagues were allegedly attacked and taken to Egypt.
Ahmed al-Karoury says some of the 45 miners were later released but without their equipment. Karoury described as "grave and unacceptable" the act by the Egyptian forces, calling it "an aggression on innocent Sudanese nationals on Sudanese territories."
He said the government would work to retrieve the remaining miners and their equipment. Egypt's Foreign Ministry spokesman could not be reached for comment.
Sudan on Tuesday protested to Cairo over Egyptian authorities' arrest of Sudanese gold miners from inside Sudan.
"We have addressed the Egyptian Foreign Ministry and informed it of our protest over the arrest of Sudanese miners from inside the Sudanese territories and treating them in an inappropriate manner," Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour told reporters Tuesday.
According to Sudanese media reports, the Egyptian army attacked a Sudanese gold mine at Wadi Al-Allaqui in Thuraira area in the Red Sea State, arresting 45 miners and confiscating an excavator.
In August 2015, the Egyptian authorities set free 37 Sudanese gold miners after holding them for five months on charges of illegal entry into Egypt.
The miners' possessions, including mining equipment and devices, with an estimated value of about 8 million US dollars, were withheld.
The released miners, however, denied mining inside Egypt, saying that they were arrested inside Sudan.
“Sudanese Disobedience Day” (December 19): The international community must warn Khartoum not to use excessive force in response
By Eric Reeves
As Sudan approaches what has become a day of reckoning— #Dec19Disobedience — the international community, particularly those nations seeking rapprochement with the Khartoum regime, must put this survivalist cabal on notice that brutal repressive actions will not be tolerated and that there will be serious consequences if the regime again issues “shoot to kill” orders, as it did in September 2013. That bloody episode offered us all too full a sense of just how savage the regime is prepared to be in confronting civil society and political opposition (see "Sudan’s Bloody Crackdown on Civilian Protestors: Does the U.S. have anything to say?" The Huffington Post, October 7, 2013)
A failure to warn Khartoum—now—against violently repressive actions will be, in effect, a countenancing of those actions. Unctuous expressions of “concern” or “condemnation” after the fact will be of little use to those in Sudanese civil society injured or killed by actions of the sort we have seen on too many occasions. Hundreds were killed and many times that number wounded in September 2013.
German, France, Italy, and the UK are the countries that have most aggressively pursued improved relations with Khartoum; they bear a special responsibility to ensure that peaceful protestors and those engaged in principled civil disobedience are not victims of violence in their effort to secure the democratization of Sudan. The Obama administration also bears a similar responsibility, particularly given the arrests of those representing Darfuri civil society who met with U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan Donald Booth last August in Central Darfur.
Why People Are Protesting The people of Sudan are in various states of anger, despair, and resolve to effect change. The tyrannical 27-year rule of the National Islamic Front/National Congress Party regime has cost millions of lives…destroyed or reduced to mere survival—and that number continues to grow. War continues in Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile; aerial attacks on civilians are a constant; humanitarian blockades imposed by the regime affect hundreds of thousands of suffering civilians this very day.
More broadly, however, the people of Sudan have been crushed by the rapacious, self-enriching economic policies that have brought about rampant inflation, shortages of critical consumer items, including bread, cooking fuel, and essential medicines. The agricultural sector has been allowed to deteriorate to the point it can no longer begin to provide the food necessary for self-sufficiency—and arable and pasturable land has been sold or made subject to long-term leasing agreements with Arab and Asian countries seeking to ensure their own future food security.
Unemployment and under-employment are at extremely high levels, and an astonishing 50 percent of Sudanese wish to emigrate—the figure is even higher for physicians and medical personnel, which provides essential context for the recent strikes by doctors and those working in hospitals and pharmacies.
There has been gross under-investment in infrastructure maintenance, with consequent dire shortages in water throughout the country, as well as only erratic electricity supplies in various parts of the country nominally part of the “grid.”
Much of the explanation for these economic woes can be attributed to profligate military and security expenditures over the entire tenure of the current regime, which has increased Sudan’s external debt to a staggering—and unserviceable—$50 billion (it was $13 billion when the National Islamic Front staged its military coup in June 1989). Beyond this, the regime is financially best understood as a giant kleptocracy, benefiting only members of the regime and their extended network of cronies: they have made the economic decisions that have put the Sudanese economy into a terminal nosedive (see: "Kleptocracy in Khartoum: Self-Enrichment by the National Islamic Front/National Congress Party, 2011 – 2015" )
Mounting Political Repression Political repression has always been a feature of NIF/NCP rule, but recently Sudan has witnessed an unprecedented number of arrests of human-rights and political figures. The highly punitive (costly) confiscation of newspaper runs has skyrocketed, and intimidation is acute.
The nexus between political repression, economic mismanagement, and current civil unrest could hardly be clearer, as the reports from Sudan Tribune and Radio Dabanga over the past month have made painfully clear. A recent dispatch by Sudan Tribune reports on the contents of a widely disseminated leaked audio of al-Bashir preparing his regime for what is impending as the consequences of decades of economic mismanagement come with undeniable force:
Sudan’s President Omer al-Bashir has warned the members of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of hard days to come due to the planned government policies to liberalize the prices of commodities and scrapping subsidies, according to a leaked audio recording. Social media users have widely shared a leaked audio for al-Bashir speech before the NCP Shura Council members last week. (“Leaked Audio: Sudan’s Bashir warns of hard days to come” | Sudan Tribune, November 4, 2016) There can be little doubt that what al-Bashir means by “hard times”: the days ahead, in which deployment of security forces to crush civil society, will be the only means of regime survival. For if recent months have made anything clear, it is that the courageous people of Sudan refuse to be intimidated any longer, despite arrests, torture, extra-judicial executions, and the vivid memory of the “shoot to kill” orders al-Bashir gave in September 2013.
Indeed, the warning signs of deepening and more violent repression are already clearly in evidence, which makes even more important robust international protection of Sudanese civil society actions, most notably “Sudanese Disobedience Day” (December 19).
The world must be watching, and those nations that profess to uphold democratic values must me most vigilant. And no country more than the United States is obliged to commit—now—to the protection of human rights and democratic values. For the Obama administration has never publicly disowned the disgracefully expedient words of former special envoy for Sudan Princeton Lyman: “We [the Obama administration] do not want to see the ouster of the [Khartoum] regime, nor regime change. We want to see the regime carrying out reform via constitutional democratic measures.” (Interview with Asharq al-Awsat, December 3, 2011)
Now is the time for the U.S. and other countries to hold the Khartoum accountable for the consequences of this abject failure to “reform.” And the words must be much stronger than those we have heard to date:
The members of the Sudan Troika (Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States), the European Union, and Canada, have issued a joint statement expressing concern at the current spate of detentions and press curbs in Sudan... “We are also aware of Sudanese authorities seizing newspapers and engaging in other forms of censorship, allegedly for reporting on expression of political views.” “The arrest of political leaders for non-violent dissent risks hindering efforts for an inclusive National Dialogue that involves all the relevant political forces in Sudan in line with the African Union Roadmap, which we all support,” the statement continues. (International community ‘concerned’ over Sudan detentions, press curbs | Radio Dabanga, December 7, 2016)
“Risks hindering efforts for an inclusive National Dialogue that involves all the relevant political forces in Sudan”!? What disingenuous nonsense, and known by these key international actors to be such: the Khartoum regime has never committed to a true “National Dialogue,” indeed has seen it as merely a politically expedient ploy. The international community seizes upon it only because it does not have the nerve to confront the regime over its repeated sabotaging of true dialogue. The words of former Defense Minister Abdel Rahim Mohamed Hussein, indicted by the International Criminal Court for massive crimes against humanity in Darfur:
“Our National Dialogue initiative is just a maneuver to provide us with political cover for a continuation of the war….”
President Omar al-Bashir himself, indicted by the ICC on multiple counts of crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, weighed in with the claim that, “The National Dialogue is also intended to provide political cover for the present Constitution and the Decisive Summer Campaign [against rebel groups in Sudan].”
(From leaked minutes of the Security and Military Committee meeting held on the premises of the High Academy of Security (Khartoum) 3 June 2014 (Part 1 | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1Il ) (Part 2 | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1Il ) (on authenticity of minutes, see http://wp.me/p45rOG-1w5) “Expressions of concern” are not enough—not nearly enough. Indeed, this sort of familiarly tepid “concern” expressed by the “Troika” is likely only to encourage Khartoum to believe that there will be no meaningful international reaction to even the most violent suppression of civil society activism.
If blood is spilled, then, it will be on the hands of those who choose to remain silent or mute their voices to the point of inconsequence. For what we have seen to date may easily explode into unconstrained violence on the part of the regime’s police and security forces. Unwittingly, al-Bashir has provided us the clear “early warning” of the “hard times,” the violently hard times that will be endured by the people of Sudan if they remain so conspicuously undefended—without vigorous, outspoken, and unambiguous language from the international community about the punitive consequences of violence against unarmed civilians.
Eric Reeves, Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights
South Sudanese rebel leader Riek Machar, who fled to Democratic Republic of Congo in August after fierce fighting, is being held in South Africa to stop him stirring up trouble, diplomatic and political sources said on Tuesday. Removing Machar from circulation would be a blow to his rebel SPLA-IO faction in its three-year war with President Salva Kiir's mainstream SPLA, and could sway a conflict the United Nations fears is tilting towards genocide.
Over a million people have fled the world's youngest nation since conflict erupted in late 2013 when Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, fired Machar, a Nuer, as his deputy. The cross-border exodus is the largest in central Africa since the 1994 Rwanda genocide.
In South Africa, a well-connected regional political consultant said Machar was being held "basically under house arrest" near Pretoria with his movements restricted and his phone calls monitored and controlled.
"If he wants to go to the toilet, he has to hand over his phone and a guy stands outside the cubicle," the source said.
Foreign ministry spokesman Clayson Monyela denied Machar was being held against his will, describing him instead as a "guest" of Pretoria as South Africa tried to prevent the civil war sliding into genocide.
"Him being our guest here is part of our responsibility as a mediator," Monyela said, adding that it was "difficult to predict" the duration of his stay. "It's very hard to put timelines on these peace and security situations."
Dickson Gatluak, a Machar spokesman in Ethiopia, denied there were any restrictions on Machar and dismissed the reports as misinformation. "This is not true. It's baseless and unfounded," Gatluak told Reuters in Juba.
"Dr. Machar is safe and doing his normal duties as usual. He is communicating to us daily, including his field commanders in the entire country."
Attempts by Reuters to speak to Machar in South Africa via his spokesman there were unsuccessful. Kiir visited his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, on Dec. 2 to "review... the latest regional political and security developments on the continent", according to a South African statement that gave no further details.
Refugee accounts and human rights reports point to both sides in South Sudan targeting civilians along ethnic lines.
JUBA OR JOBURG - YOU DECIDE Machar reached a peace deal in 2015 with Kiir but the agreement fell apart in July, leading to several days of intense fighting in Juba, the capital of the five-year-old nation.
Machar himself was wounded and after fleeing to Congo went to Sudan - a long-term supporter of his rebel faction - for medical treatment. He then turned up in South Africa in October for more treatment.
A diplomatic source said the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, an eight-country East African group, had asked Pretoria to make sure Machar did not leave. The United States, Britain and Norway had supported that request, the source added.
"He keeps going back and mobilising his people and stirring up problems," the source said. "It's best to keep him here for a while."
Machar flew two weeks ago to Ethiopia, which has also tried and failed as a mediator, but was refused entry and given a stark choice: go back to South Africa or get dumped in Juba, to be left at the mercy of Kiir's troops, two of the sources said.
"The Ethiopians told him there were two planes sitting on the tarmac - one heading to Juba and one heading to Joburg - and told him he had 10 minutes to decide," the political source said. "It didn't take long."
(Additional reporting by Peter Fabricius and Denis Dumo; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Nairobi/Juba, December 13, 2016 (SSNA) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has conducted and concluded its 2016 Article IV Mission on South Sudan and warned of financial crisis and massive economic challenges in the war-wracked South Sudan.
The warning came days after an IMF team held a meeting with South Sudanese government officials in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. The meeting which began on December 5 and ended December 9, was purely on South Sudan 2016 Article IV relate issues.
In a statement extended to the South Sudan News Agency (SSNA), an IMF mission head Jan Mikkelsen said the young nation faces “massive economic challenges” due to the three-year civil war and other conflict-related issues and that reasonable economic measures should be implement by the country’s leaders to avert a looming financial crisis.
“South Sudan faces massive economic challenges in the wake of prolonged internal conflict and subdued oil prices. A relapse of violence in July following the formation of the Transitional Government of National Unity three months earlier compounded the crisis which started in December 2013 and challenged the peace process,” Mikkelsen, who led the team said.
“Real income, adjusted for terms of trade losses, has declined by about 50 percent since 2013 and the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance has risen to unprecedented levels. Inflation has soared to about 500 percent (12 months through October), the exchange rate has depreciated steeply, and foreign exchange reserves are close to exhaustion,” he added.
Mikkelsen states that the IMF believes conclusive economic actions and a credible pathway towards lasting peace are essential to rebuild confidence in the deteriorating economy.
“Decisive economic measures and a credible pathway towards lasting peace are necessary to rebuild confidence in the economy. Restoring of macroeconomic stability will require immediate reduction of the large fiscal imbalance that in the last couple of years has led to a rapid expansion in government borrowing from the central bank and the accumulation of significant arrears. For this to be effective, it will require simultaneous efforts to promote reconciliation and address the security challenges and humanitarian emergency,” Mikkelsen explained.
The IMF also calls on the Bank of South Sudan to apply “available monetary policy instruments and implement prudential requirements to safeguard the integrity of the banking system” and encourages the bank to introduce right regulation for repos rate, rebuild foreign exchange reserves, and complete regular audits of the central bank in 2017.
Mikkelsen says after the meeting that his team has “constructive discussions” with the government of South Sudan.
Among South Sudanese government officials who participated in the discussions were Bank of South Sudan Governor Kornelio Koryiom Mayik, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning Stephen Dhieu Dau, and other officials from the ministry of Petroleum, and the National Bureau of Statistics.
South Sudan depends heavily on oil revenues and the price of crude oil has fallen, forcing many investors to withdraw their financial backings for fear of an economic collapse amid raging civil war.
In May 2014, South Sudan’s government borrow $200 million from an unnamed Chinese oil company. In the same month, South Sudan began a process of repayments delay on nearly all domestic loans, raising many questions and put the young nation’s economy ability into question.
An official with the Ministry of Petroleum and Mining told the South Sudan News Agency (SSNA) in February last year that crude oil export has declined and that Juba is concerned about the decline in oil production and current market price. The official further disclosed that March 2015 delivery was 4.6 million barrels of Dar Blend crude oil, down two hundred thousand barrels (just over 4%), compared to February 2015 delivery of 4.8 million barrels.
Khartoum — The Sudanese security service (NISS) filed a new charge against a Czech and two Sudanese pastors, and a Christian activist, who have been detained for months, as the trial has resumed in Khartoum on Monday.
During the court session, prosecution witness and NISS officer Sayed Abdelrahman, said they detected radio broadcasting on the web and YouTube videos posted by two hostile foreign groups. He said that the Czech pastor is a member of one of these groups.
A report on one of the YouTube videos mentioned that some persons who converted to Christianity from Islam have been killed by the Sudanese government, he added.
The two Sudanese pastors did not attend the trial owing to fatigue, as they were permitted by Judge Osama Abdallah to see the doctor.
Rev. Petr Jasek from Czechia, Nuba pastors Kuwa Shemaal and Hassan Abdelrahim Kodi from South Kordofan, and activist and Abdelmunim Abdelmoula were detained by security agents in Khartoum in late 2015 and early this year. They have been charged of conspiring against the state and espionage, and a number of other violations of the Sudanese Penal Code.
Last August a Sudanese court began the trial. During the former hearing, "investigator Abdelrahman" said that the Czech pastor, during his visit to South Kordofan in 2012, gave money to "some individuals", among them rebel fighters. This is regarded as support for the war against the state. As Rev. Jasek is cooperating with international Christian organisations, he is charged with "tarnishing Sudan's image internationally" as well.
Other charges that were filed against the defendants are under article (29) of the Passports and Immigration Law on sneaking into the country illegally, and article (23) of the Humanitarian and Voluntary Work Act: pertaining to running a voluntary organisation without registration.
Sudan and South Sudan have extended an oil transit agreement signed in September 2012 for another three years.
The agreement between the two countries, which split up in July 2011, ends this month.
A statement issued by the Sudanese oil ministry on Wednesday, said the two Sudans signed the extension agreement on Tuesday.
It stated that it includes technical undertakings, besides the extension.
"The agreement has two parts, the extension of the deal and the financial transitional arrangements after the sharp decline of the international oil prices," it pointed out.
"Sudan has accepted to reschedule the debts of South Sudan according to the transit fees agreed between the two countries in 2012," it noted.
South Sudan will pay more than $3 billion for Sudan to absorb the economic shocks emanating from the loss of the oil revenues after the former's independence in 2011. Sudan has also accepted to drop part of the transit fees, should the international prices decline to under $20 per barrel.
However, if the international prices are above $50, Juba should pay the transit fees as agreed before," the statement said.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir in January ordered a review of the oil agreement with South Sudan after Juba submitted a request due to the declining international prices.
In September 2012, the two countries agreed that South Sudan should pay around $32 per barrel, $24 for the transit fees and a compensation to Sudan.
The two countries have also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to rehabilitate the South Sudan oilfields, destroyed by the civil war since December 2013.
The MoU also includes the collaboration in training and use of laboratories.
Sudan lost three quarters of its oil revenues after the separation of South Sudan in 2011.
For the second time in less than a month, the streets of Khartoum and other Sudanese urban areas went largely silent on December 19, 2016.
Images of empty offices, shuttered shops, vacant construction sites and deserted parks circulated on social media. The Sudanese people were standing up to a regime that has held onto power for twenty-seven years but this time, instead of gathering in the streets in protest, they demonstrated their discontent by refusing to leave their homes — and for good reason.
Under the decades-long rule of President Omar al-Bashir— wanted by the International Criminal Court on multiple counts of genocide and crimes against humanity in Darfur — the Sudanese economy has suffered greatly. The government’s latest announcement of austerity measures, which have led to an unbearable increase in the price of many basic goods, including medicine, were a bitter blow to the Sudanese people, half of whom live under the poverty line. After similar measures in September 2013 led to civil unrest and a brutal response from the government’s security forces, which killed as many as 170 protesters, people were understandably weary of engaging in street demonstrations.
Using Twitter, Facebook, and Whatsapp and organizing under various hashtags including #SudanCivilDisobedience and #Dec19Disobedience, young Sudanese activists, who were mostly unaffiliated with any of the major opposition groups in the country, urged their fellow citizens to stand up to the government without risking their lives.
By the time the first round of three-day civil disruptions began on November 27, authorities had already arrested dozens of activists, who had publicly spoken out against the austerity measures and seized every copy of three opposition newspapers reporting on the events.
While the government used rhetoric aiming to undermine the movement’s success, it had the opposite effect. As political opposition groups, prominent individuals, and even some armed rebel groups in Sudan threw their support behind the grassroots, nonviolent movement, authorities escalated their crackdown, reportedly detaining more than forty opposition figures, civil society actors, and journalists and shutting down two newspaper dailies and a television station in Khartoum.
As the movement continued to gain momentum on social media, President al-Bashir’s seemingly nonchalant attitude began to crack. In a public address before a crowd in the eastern Sudanese city of Kassala on December 12, al-Bashir declared that his government would not be toppled by those hiding behind their keyboards.
“You hear about those who seek to defeat you through the keyboard and the WhatsApp… I won’t hand over the country to them,” he said, as reported by the Sudan Tribune. “And I say to them: If you want to topple the regime, meet us on the streets, however, we are certain that you won’t take to the streets because you are aware of what had occurred in the past.”
Initial reports about the reach and effectiveness of the civil strike on December 19 vary. One thing is clear, however. Al-Bashir’s regime, which has spent its tenure and the majority of its annual budget on war and repressing traditional protest movements, now faces an imaginative movement that is breathing new life into Sudan’s civil society sector and restoring confidence in the power of the majority.
December 21, 2016 (JUBA) - South Sudan army chief of staff, currently in a Kenyan-based hospital, is "critically unstable" and "unconscious", close relatives and multiple military sources told Sudan Tribune in series of interviews on Wednesday.
Northern Bahr el Ghazal governor Paul Malong Awan (paulmalongforgovernor)
A family member said Gen. Paul Malong Awan’s health condition has not changed over the past two days, but has been “restful" and "his vital signs are currently stable".
“Not much has changed. He remains critically unstable but he is restful. The doctors are giving maximum attention and the care his current situation requires”, he said.
One of Awan’s wives, however, said her husband’s condition was gradually improving.
“There should be no cause for public anxiety. We know the people of South Sudan loves General Paul Malong and I appreciate them for demonstrating this during this difficult time. As the family, we pray and ask almighty God the father to stand with us so that he recovers and returns home because this is a critical time in the history of our country where his service as chief of general is critical”, she told Sudan Tribune.
The wife, one of those seen closed to the senior army official, expressed her gratitude to the people of South Sudan, some of whom attributed quotes in which she claimed to have said “not many people have done so much for the country as her husband did, added that "Please continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers."
A number of government officials and South Sudanese in Kenya reportedly paid courtesy visits to Awan in hospital and pledged their solidarity and support with him.
“On behalf of the family, I am thankful for the many friends and South Sudanese people who have been quietly supporting us. Some people have been calling and others with attachment to the family have come and visited him at the hospital, which is humbling and for which I and the family are grateful”, said Awan’s wife.
The South Sudanese army chief of staff was rushed to a military presidential medical unit on Sunday, after he was found lying unconscious in his room.
It was not immediately clear what exactly happened to the senior military official and official statement was released from the army’s general command or the office of the general, explaining the circumstances under which he lost control of his sense.
Several family members , however, told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday that Awan had earlier been treated for malaria and there was no need for concern. (ST)
No need to take up arms if Bashir regime collapses : Minnawi
December 21, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Minni Minnawi, a leader of a Sudan Liberation Movement faction (SLM-MM) welcomed calls to topple the regime of President Omer al-Bashir through the civil disobedience and announced the fall of the regime means the end of armed struggle.
Speaking in a public meeting in Hanover, Germany on Sunday 18 December, the day before the general strike, Minnawi said his movement backs all the efforts by activists aimed to overthrow the Sudanese regime.
"We assure you that the fall of the regime means the end of the reasons for the armed struggle and will we will participate in the peace building process," Minnawi said according to a statement extended by his movement to Sudan Tribune on Wednesday.
Minnawi who was addressing Sudanese Diaspora in a meeting organized by the SLM-MM representatives in Germany hailed the struggle of the Sudanese people against military regimes in 1964 and 1984.
He further urged all the civil society groups to stand by the activists who used through the social media to mobilize the street.
Sudanese activists have been campaigning for a successful civil disobedience to overthrow the government of President Omer al-Bashir since last November following the increase of fuel and electricity prices. They called for a three-day general strike on 27 November and this month they called for a one-day protest on 19 December.
The rebel leader said there is a need to continue calls for civil disobedience to bring down the regime pointing that "There is a clear flaw in the sovereignty of the state, which has been turned into a state of militia," he emphasized.
He also underscored the absence of a national project during the successive regimes that ruled Sudan in the past and spoke about the project of new Sudan saying "it is vital to get the country out of the endemic crisis".
Sudanese opposition political and armed groups called on their supporters to rally behind calls by activists groups to stay at home to protest against the austerity measures announced by the Sudanese government.
Government and National Congress Party officials used in the past to use the rebel groups as scarecrow to dissuade the people take to the street to protest against the government policies. (ST)
UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council is expected to vote on Friday on whether to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan, even though the US-drafted measure is likely to fail despite warnings by UN officials of a possible genocide, diplomats said on Wednesday.
The resolution also proposes blacklisting South Sudan opposition figure Riek Machar, army chief Paul Malong and Information Minister Michael Makuei by subjecting them to an asset freeze and travel ban.
To be adopted, a resolution needs nine votes and no vetoes. Diplomats say that so far seven members were in favour, with the remaining eight planning to abstain. The United States has requested that a vote be held on Friday.
“Council members will need, each of us, to own our decisions. So the United States urges you to prepare to vote your conscience, and to vote to stand with the people of South Sudan,” Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the United Nations, told the council on Monday.
The United States has been unable to win over its ally Japan, which last month deployed troops to a UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. It is focusing lobbying efforts on Senegal and Angola, diplomats said.
“We urge all our council colleagues to vote in favour of that resolution on Friday. I don’t know whether enough of them will do so,” British UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters on Wednesday. Political rivalry between South Sudan President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and Marchar, his former deputy, led in 2013 to civil war that often has followed ethnic lines.
The pair signed a peace deal last year, but fighting has continued. Machar, a Nuer, fled in July and is now in South Africa.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday told the Security Council that he feared genocide was about to start in South Sudan unless immediate action is taken, renewing his months-old plea for an arms embargo. UN peacekeepers have been in South Sudan since the nation gained independence from Sudan in 2011, and there currently are some 13,700 UN troops and police in the country.
NEW YORK (Jiji Press) — The U.N. Security Council on Friday rejected a U.S.-drafted resolution imposing an arms embargo and sanctions on South Sudan.
The measure collected only seven votes in favor, falling short of the nine votes needed for adoption at the 15-member council as Japan and seven other countries abstained.
It is rare that Japan votes differently from its top ally, the United States. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power criticized the eight countries that abstained, saying history will make a harsh judgement on their decision.
The United States and some other countries have sought to impose an arms embargo on the African country amid concerns about intensifying battles between government forces and rebels there. But Japan is worried that such a measure could make the situation in South Sudan more complicated, placing Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force peacekeepers there at greater risk, informed sources said.
The Japanese government recently assigned new duties to the GSDF troops in South Sudan under the country’s new security laws, including rescuing aid workers and others.
Japan has sought to support the political effort of the South Sudanese government to end the conflict instead of imposing sanctions so that the GSDF troops there can continue to operate in a stable manner.
December 23, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan has appropriated more than 29 billion pounds (SDG) (about $1,8 billion) to defense and security which represents the largest single spending item in the 2017 budget.
According to Sudan’s 2017 budgetary estimates seen by Sudan Tribune, 5bn pounds have been allocated to the sovereign sector while 2,3bn was appropriated for agriculture and forests spending.
Other budget spending items includes 1,9bn for the economic sector, 5,5million for culture and information, 5,3million for health, 828million for education, 1,7bn for minerals and 1,7bn for transport, roads and bridges.
It is noteworthy that the combined education and health spending represents about 3% of spending on defence and security.
The Sudanese army has been fighting Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan since 2011 and a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.
Sudan’s security apparatus has expanded vastly and military expenditure continued to rise as the government relies increasingly on militias such as the Popular Defense Forces (PDF) and the Rapid Support Forces (SRF) in military operations.
Last year, Sudan’s President Omer al-Bashir said “If 100% of the state’s budget was allocated to the army to secure the country, then that is still not enough.” (ST)
December 26, 2016 (ADJUMANI/JUBA) - The number of South Sudanese fleeing to Uganda continues to grow, with 7,046 new arrivals recorded in on 13 December, the United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) has said.
Some of the displaced people heading at a camp in Adjumnani, Uganda (Photo: UNHCR)
“Refugees who are newly arriving in Uganda - 86 per cent of whom are women and children - continue to face long and difficult journeys in their search for safety,” OCHA said in a report extended to Sudan Tribune.
The majority of the refugees reportedly reach Uganda through informal border points, while over 4,000 arrived in Uganda via Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Renewed violence broke out between rival forces in the South Sudanese capital, Juba in July, forcing thousands to flee the young nation into its neighbouring countries.
According to the UN refugee agency, many refugees report that they are leaving South Sudan due to the deteriorating security situation, including fighting in Yei and Wonduruba areas, looting of properties, and rumours of upcoming attacks by armed actors in the Equatorias.
“In addition to those fleeing to Uganda, there are an increasing number of people fleeing to Kenya from areas such as Lainya, Wonduruba, Yei, Juba and Torit,” it said.
Meanwhile, refugees arriving into Kenya told the UN humanitarian agency they chose the route as roads to the Ugandan border are increasingly dangerous, with armed actors harassing, robbing and targeting those fleeing.
Since July 2016, more than 394,500 South Sudanese have arrived in Uganda, bringing the total number of refugees there to over 584,000, OCHA further says in its new report.
It added, “There are now over 92,000 South Sudanese refugees in Kenya”.
Fighting and insecurity continue to cause displacement and rising humanitarian needs in the Greater Equatoria region.
In Central Equatoria, OCHA said it its report, internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Yei town and surrounding areas remain unable to move freely because of checkpoints along the main roads, including to Juba, DRC and Uganda.
In Western Equatoria, there are an estimated 28,000 people displaced from Yambio, 16,000 displaced from Ezo, and 50,000 displaced from Mundri East, Mundri West and Mvolo. (ST)
December 28, 2016 (JUBA) – South Sudan president, Salva is considering, as a New Year “gift”, an amnesty for several inmates imprisoned for various offenses across the nation, a senior official said.
South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, addresses the media in Juba on 2 May 2013 (Photo: Reuters/Paul Banks)
While addressing inmates at Juba Central Prison on Tuesday, Vice President, James Wani Igga says the president’s national dialogue initiative is a program designed to bring real peace in the country.
“When the president spoke in parliament to deliver the speech on national dialogue, he asked for forgiveness for any mistakes he may have committed during his time in office,” said the Vice-President.
He explained that the peace “vehicle”, embedded in the president’s national dialogue initiative, will also cover prison inmates.
“If you are released from here and you go and commit the same mistake that you was brought here in the first place, then it will be unfortunate and you will face your own crime under law without further help,” stressed Igga, amidst cheers from the various inmates.
The Vice-President, formerly a speaker of the country’s Parliament, vowed to meet the president and First Vice-President, Gen. Taban Deng Gai to reach a decision regarding the prisoners’ complaints.
Igga said although the inmates have been convicted for different offenses, others have been convicted due to “rumor” and “ear say”.
He added, “Others [inmates] may have committed a crime without knowing and others may have been brought here by other powerful forces, but all in all, we are reaching out to all the people of South Sudan to embrace peace and close dark chapters of our country’s history and to start the New Year 2017 as the year of peace”.
The Vice-President shared some light moments and shook hands with former senior officials from the president’s, who were convicted in June and are now serving life imprisonment at Juba Central prison.
A former official from the presidency congratulated the South Sudanese President and his entire leadership in the country for forming the national dialogue initiative that seeks to bring peace.
Speaking during the same occasion, a prisoner, only identified as Kaunda, highlighted some of the challenges facing his colleagues.
“On behalf of all my colleagues, we want to appeal to our President General Salva Kiir Mayardit to forgive us as we are his children. You cannot kill your child because they have made a mistake, but you should correct them not to make the same mistake again,” he said.
Kaunda, however, faulted the country’s judiciary mismanaging cases.
“There are people remanded for more than 10 years because the complainants have either forgotten they arrested somebody or no longer interested in the case, but police investigators and prosecutors are still holding such people in prison here,” he stressed.
He complained about cases before the Court of Appeal; the nation’s second highest court, saying it does not work in public interest.
“People wait for their appeal result between five to 10 years for a case to be concluded. The common jargon in the appeal court is that the first opinion is finished and from there you will never hear of the second and third opinion anymore”, Kaunda said on Tuesday.
“Lawyers and family will also forgot you in the process of this long wait,” he added.
The Director of Juba prison, Brig. General, Michael Malou Makuach told the inmates that their complaints would be forwarded to relevant authorities.
He encouraged inmates to support the president’s dialogue initiative.
“Start making peace with yourself, your children, wife and neighbors to achieve peace and attain unity in the country,” said Makuach.
Tribal politics done by some politicians is the cause of this war in our country. We must now all unite behind our president through the national dialogue to forgive each other as the president has done it. He may also forgive you in return, you never know,” he stressed. (ST)
A tea stall under a tree on one of Khartoum’s busiest roads doesn’t look like much to pin your hopes on when seeking to cure a sick child. But dozens of anxious parents and unrelated strangers rush to places like this across Sudan every day – the former to press prescriptions and the latter cash into the hands of volunteers managing a crowdfunding operation that saves children’s lives.
