FULL TEXT: UNITAMS Volker Perthes Remarks to UN Security Council Meeting on Sudan 09 August 2023

Report from Sudan Tribune - sudantribune.com

Dated 09 August 2023 - here is a full copy:

UNITAMS Volker Perthes remarks to the Security Council on August 9, 2023

Image: Volker Perthes briefs the Security Council about the situation in Sudan on May 22, 2023

August 9, 2023 (KHARTOUM) – Hereunder is the briefing that the banned UN Secretary-General Special Representative to Sudan, Volker Perthes, had to present to the Security Council members on Sudan.

Following threats by the Sudanese military-led government to end the UNITAMS if he briefs the Council, the UN decided to prevent him from speaking to the 15-members body and replaced him by Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa.

 

Security Council session on Sudan

9 August 2023

 

Madame President

Members of the Security Council,

Thank you for this opportunity to brief you on the situation in Sudan.

More than one hundred days have passed since the eruption of fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces.

Clashes between these parties continue in various parts of the country, particularly Khartoum, Bahri, Omdurman and Darfur, with neither side achieving victory nor making any significant gains. Khartoum State remains an epicentre of the conflict, with major combat concentrated around key SAF installations including the Sudanese Armed Forces General Command Headquarters.  Fighting is continuing in neighbourhoods. This week the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces both ordered residents to leave their homes in a part of Omdurman, declaring it “an area of operations”.

The parties have exacted tremendous suffering on the people of the Darfur region.  The fighting in Darfur continues to reopen the old wounds of ethnic tension of past conflicts in the region. The brutal violence experienced in El Geneina and Sirba are particular examples of this situation.  This is deeply worrying and could quickly engulf the country in a prolonged ethnic conflict with regional spillovers. The initiative by Chad to convene a grouping of Darfurian stakeholders to address the situation in the region is therefore welcome and should be built upon while ensuring the participation of a broad range of stakeholders, including armed groups, tribal leaders, civil society, and women’s groups.

The situation in the two Kordofan and the Blue Nile States of Sudan continues to be fragile, with persistent military actions and frequent road closures.  In North Kordofan, SAF controls El Obeid city while RSF is controlling areas around the city.

Since June, the SPLM-North Al Hilu faction has continued to make military advancements in SAF-controlled areas in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, in which SPLM N claims is an attempt to take back territory previously taken from them.

While the East is relatively calm, there are indications of active mobilization efforts in support of SAF, with the emergence of mobilization committees and establishment of military training camps. The mobilization is particularly worrisome and risks plunging the East into conflict along ethnic lines, further highlighting the fragility of the region.

The Northern part of the country remains under Sudanese Armed Forces control.

Excellencies,

The conflict in Sudan continues to have immense repercussions on the country and its people who continue to face unimaginable suffering [The humanitarian and protection needs are rising by the day with no signs of a reprieve.  My humanitarian colleague Ms Edem Wosornu will brief you in detail on the mounting humanitarian needs and response efforts.

The indiscriminate and sometimes targeted attacks on civilians and civilian objects and infrastructure continue, particularly in Khartoum, Darfur, and North Kordofan, as the parties continue to disregard calls to protect civilians and uphold their international human rights and humanitarian law obligations.

Sexual violence continues to be perpetrated on a large scale, while children continue to be killed or victimized or are at risk of being recruited to fight.

The systematic abductions and killings of human rights defenders in Darfur and Khartoum are on the rise. The parties to the conflict must take concrete actions to end and investigate these violations, and support must be provided to strengthen human rights defenders’ networks and better protect human rights defenders.

UNITAMS and the wider UN have on several occasions denounced specific egregious violations such as ethnically-motivated attacks in West Darfur, systematic looting and rape, or aerial bombardments, and have named those responsible.

Hostilities in the country must come to an end and perpetrators should be held accountable for crimes committed, including sexual violence.

Excellencies,

We welcome the ongoing efforts by the African Union and IGAD to end the conflict in Sudan. UNITAMS remains committed to support these efforts, including through the AU-led Expanded Mechanism and its Core Group – which the UN is a part of. We also welcome the continued efforts of the US and Saudi Arabia to facilitate negotiations between the conflicting parties in Jeddah, as well as the initiative of Sudan’s neighbouring countries to help resolve the conflict. The common thread among these initiatives is the call for a permanent cessation of hostilities, facilitation of humanitarian access, and engagement with civilian stakeholders in an inclusive political process.

Coordination between the existing regional and international mechanisms and fora remains essential to maximize the collective leverage of regional and international actors and enhance the effectiveness of mediation efforts. The United Nations is supporting a joined-up approach towards facilitating a comprehensive solution and will continue to work closely with our partners – particularly the African Union and IGAD in this regard, in coordination with others.

We must also highlight that a broad range of civilians remain committed to ending the war and a resumption of a transition leading to a democratic state. Civilians, tribal leaders and others are coming under increasing pressure to take sides in the war, and we continue to urge against this. Such pressure will only lead to a civil war with ethnic and regional repercussions for decades to come. In fact, UNITAMS is supporting efforts by local leaders to prevent or de-escalate conflicts, particularly in Darfur.

UNITAMS also welcomes the ongoing efforts by civilian leaders to consolidate various civilian initiatives under one umbrella to unify anti-war forces in one broad front and prepare for an inclusive political process. It is important to include civil society, women’s rights groups, youth, trade professions, and resistance committees whose voices and engagement are particularly significant in any efforts to end the conflict in Sudan.  UNITAMS continues its outreach with these initiatives and encouraging broad-based inclusivity.

Let me also highlight the important role Sudanese women are playing by leading several anti-war initiatives that call for the immediate cessation of violence, accountability for human rights violations, including sexual violence, and for women’s participation in ceasefire negotiations and any future political process. Their voice must be heard.

Excellencies,

Let me close by reiterating that there needs to be a negotiated solution to end this war as soon as possible. There is no other alternative. Calls by some to continue the war in order to achieve a military victory will only contribute to destroying the country. The longer this war continues, the greater the risk of fragmentation, and foreign interference and erosion of sovereignty, and the loss of Sudan’s future, particularly its youth. Now is the time to end this senseless war and return to negotiations. UNITAMS, along with its partners, will continue to engage with both sides towards this goal and we count on the united support of this Council.

Thank you, Madam President.

View original: https://sudantribune.com/article275981/

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South Sudan: Suspected disease outbreak, symptoms resembling Viral Hemorrhagic Fever. VIDEO cholera

SYMPTOMS observed in the affected individuals include high fever, bloody vomiting and stool, rash, cough, sore throat, red eyes, runny nose, blurred vision, and generalized weakness. NIDO reported that the disease had affected approximately 150 people, resulting in 23 deaths. These deaths occurred within three days of the onset of the disease. However, those who survived past the initial five days showed signs of improvement. Read more.

Article at Outbreak News Today
NewsDesk @bactiman63
By PRESS RELEASE
Published Thursday 3 August 2023 - here is a full copy and video on cholera.

South Sudan: Suspected disease outbreak, Symptoms resembling Viral Hemorrhagic Fever

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is working closely with the Ministry of Health in the Republic of South Sudan to manage a suspected disease outbreak, exhibiting symptoms similar to those of Viral Haemorrhagic Fever (VHF) in the remote areas of Dukubela, Pacime, and Dajo areas of Longechuck County, Upper Nile State.

The outbreak was initially reported on June 16, 2023 by the Nile Initiative Development Organization (NIDO) during a supervisory visit to Dajo Primary Health Care Unit. NIDO found that the disease seemed to have originated from Dukubela, a mountainous area of Longechuk county that borders the Southern Blue Nile in Sudan and Assosa areas in Ethiopia. This area has recently seen an influx of returning residents and refugees from the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

The Africa CDC deployed technical experts to support the Ministry of Health in conducting a comprehensive risk assessment, support the development of a comprehensive national response plan, and strengthen capacity in coordination, surveillance, laboratory operations and risk communication and community engagement (RCCE).

Symptoms observed in the affected individuals include high fever, bloody vomiting and stool, rash, cough, sore throat, red eyes, runny nose, blurred vision, and generalized weakness. NIDO reported that the disease had affected approximately 150 people, resulting in 23 deaths. These deaths occurred within three days of the onset of the disease. However, those who survived past the initial five days showed signs of improvement.

In response to the health crisis, the Ministry of Health, alongside the World Health Organization, swiftly dispatched a multidisciplinary Rapid Response Team to Longechuk. This team delivered medical supplies, carried out disease-specific consultations and conducted active case finding in the Dajo & Pacime communities.

After a thorough field investigation, the Rapid Response Team line-listed 227 suspected cases and 29 related deaths. Laboratory tests for 45 samples confirmed cases of malaria and measles, with 71% of samples testing positive for malaria, 58% for measles and a co-infection rate of 45%. Despite that all the 45 samples tested negative for viral haemorrhagic fevers, ruling it out as a potential source of the outbreak, health authorities remain on high alert by maintaining surveillance measures in place to promptly identify and respond to any disease threat.

“Our strategy includes escalating preparedness and response activities, intensifying cross-border collaboration for improved surveillance and information sharing, and rolling out an integrated campaign for Measles vaccination and Malaria control in Longechuck County and surrounding areas. We are appealing to our partners, including Africa CDC, to strengthen our laboratory capacity, particularly in pathogen genomic sequencing for timely detection of diseases threat,” said Hon. Dr. Ader Macar Aciek, Undersecretary, Ministry of Health.

Longechuck is a remote location bordering Ethiopia and Sudan, and the difficult terrain, particularly in Pacime, poses unique challenges to managing this health crisis. Residents face a challenging nine-hour walk to the nearest healthcare facility in Dajo. The influx of returnees and refugees further strains the existing scarce medical resources in the area.

Communication infrastructure like phones and the Internet are unavailable in the area, leaving the only feasible means of communication as satellite phones. Despite these hurdles, an integrated response plan is underway.

Africa CDC is working closely with the Ministry of Health to identify priority areas of intervention with greater impact. Ongoing initiatives include coordinating emergency response systems at national and sub-national levels, procuring lab equipment and supplies, and boosting laboratory capabilities for efficient sample handling. Communications are underway between the Ministry of Health and Africa CDC’s technical team to explore the possibility of institutionalizing sequencing capacities in the Republic of South Sudan.

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VIDEO Cholera: A significant global health concern

Source: YouTube https://youtu.be/z51b-IKuqLE

View original: https://outbreaknewstoday.com/south-sudan-suspected-disease-outbreak-symptoms-resembling-viral-hemorrhagic-fever-14543/

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Sudan crisis: Is Hemeti dead or alive or what?

HERE is a copy of a tweet dated Monday 17 July 2023 at Twitter account Mohamed Hamdan Daglo @GeneralDagllo. It contains a voice message claiming to be Hemeti. Is he dead or alive or in Chad or what? Why's no-one saying? His toe rag rebels are on the loose and out of control, many captured on film look young and high, excitedly looting to survive. In desperation, they killed some animals in a zoo on the outskirts of Khartoum and took them away to eat. How are they paid? If they're not paid what will become of them? There's very little hard news coming out of Sudan. It's difficult to ascertain what is going on and how bad things are, especially in Khartoum, Blue Nile State and South Kordofan. 

What is clear is this: an army of men are jetting around the globe in their best suits enjoying VIP treatment, all expenses paid, having photos taken with VIPs to show off at home. Let's hope they've now rolled up their sleeves and are working as hard and fast as humanly possible to help save Sudan.

كلمتي الى جماهير شعبنا العظيم في جميع انحاء الوطن وللأشاوس في ميادين القتال pic.twitter.com/fBgSVKE1mW

— Mohamed Hamdan Daglo (@GeneralDagllo) July 17, 2023

The tweet is timestamped 5:30 PM · Jul 17, 2023. Note, someone posted this witty comment at the tweet: How is the treatment in the grave.

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Cairo summit held 13 July drives Sudan's seven neighbours toward unified stance on ending conflict

A high-profile summit held in Cairo on Thursday 13 July that brought together Sudan's seven neighbouring countries reached a comprehensive effort that has the potential to succeed in resolving the deepening conflict in the African country, according to political analysts. 

The African leaders agreed on forming a ministerial mechanism comprised of the foreign ministers of Sudan's neighboring states to formulate an executive action plan to end the fight. Its first meeting will take place in Chad. Read more.

Analysis at chinaview.cn - www.news.cn
Source: Xinhua - www.xinhuanet.com
By Marwa Yahya
Editor: huaxia
Published Saturday 15 July 2023; 21:46:15 - here is a full copy:

New Analysis: Cairo summit drives Sudan's neighbors toward unified stance on ending conflict

CAIRO, July 15 (Xinhua) -- A high-profile summit that brought together Sudan's seven neighboring countries reached a comprehensive effort that has the potential to succeed in resolve the deepening conflict in the African country, according to political analysts.

The summit, held in Cairo on Thursday, was attended by leaders of Egypt, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Chad, Eritrea, the Central African Republic and Libya, as well as high-ranked officials from the African Union and the Arab League.

"It is a fresh bid to revive international moves via the mediation of neighboring countries to halt fighting between rival Sudan's military factions that triggered a humanitarian crisis," said Salah Halima, former chairman of the Arab League office in Sudan.

The African leaders agreed on forming a ministerial mechanism comprised of the foreign ministers of Sudan's neighboring states to formulate an executive action plan to end the fight. Its first meeting will take place in Chad.

In the communique issued on Thursday, the leaders expressed full respect for Sudan's unity and sovereignty and called for non-intervention in the domestic conflict. They also agreed to facilitate aid delivery through neighboring countries in coordination with international agencies and organizations concerned.

Sudan's military-led Transitional Sovereign Council lauded the communique as constructive toward the restoration of security and stability in the country and expressed willingness to cease military operations when the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stops attacks on civilians and public facilities and engages in inclusive political dialogue.

The RSF also reiterated support for regional and global efforts to end the war in Sudan and called for combined efforts of relevant parties to reach a comprehensive solution for Sudan as soon as possible.

Sudan has been rocked by violent conflicts since April 15 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the RSF. The ongoing war in Sudan has left more than 3,000 killed and at least 6,000 injured, according to the Sudanese Health Ministry.

More than 2.8 million people have been displaced, mostly internally, since the conflict broke out in Sudan, according to figures released by the United Nations.

Halima explained that both sides affirmed their readiness to collaborate with regional players to settle the war because the summit's communique in Cairo put a comprehensive plan for a cease-fire away from any foreign intervention.

The timing of the meeting in Cairo was significant given the armed conflict in Sudan's capital Khartoum has extended to the troubled Darfur region and Blue Nile state, raising more concerns about worse deterioration of political, economic, and humanitarian conditions and destruction of many facilities and substructure services, he told Xinhua.

Halima, also vice president of the Egyptian Council for African Affairs and former assistant to the Egyptian Foreign Minister, noted that the ongoing violence in Sudan will not only threaten the unity of Sudan but challenge the security of Sudan's neighboring countries, the African Horn region, and the countries along the Red Sea.

Amany Al-Taweel, chairman of the African program at Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, described the outcome of the Cairo summit as "satisfactory and constructive," because bringing together all Sudan's neighbors, which bear the burdens of the conflict, will unify their positions and pressure the conflicting parties in Sudan to end the war.

"The summit in Cairo was a platform for integrating all regional initiatives into collective efforts without regional competition, which will lead to achieving comprehensive success of all neighbors' endeavors," she said. 

View original: http://www.chinaview.cn/africa/20230715/65f81abe5230481d920c94931e417dbc/c.html

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Sudan Watch - Sunday 16 July 2023

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https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/07/communique-of-sudans-neighbouring.html

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Arab countries welcome the final communique of Sudan’s Neighbouring States Summit in Egypt

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/07/arab-countries-welcome-final-communique.html

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https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2023/07/communique-of-1st-meeting-of-igad.html

Cartoon by Omar Defallah (Radio Dabanga)

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Sudan: Only a united civilian coalition can bring peace

Article at World Politics Review - worldpoliticsreview.com
Written by Yasir Zaidan 
Published Thursday 22 June 2023 - here is a full copy:

Only a United Civilian Coalition Can Bring Peace to Sudan

People chant slogans during a protest in Khartoum, Sudan, Oct. 30, 2021 (AP photo by Marwan Ali).

The current conflict in Sudan between the armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group is a security and humanitarian crisis. But more importantly, it is a political crisis, one that grows out of the failure to build a sustainable democratic transition after the popular uprising that removed former dictator Omar al-Bashir from power in April 2019.

That failure can be traced through the various transitional deals that have been signed and then either ignored or violated since 2019. In that time, the civilian political actors in Sudan’s transition have been unable to overcome their deep divisions, giving free rein to the armed forces under Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF under Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo—known as Hemedti—to seize and now compete for control of the country. Tragically, the same thing is recurring now, meaning that when the guns are finally silenced, Sudan’s civilian political actors will be unable to play a meaningful role in steering the country to a sustainable peace.

Sudan’s first transitional agreement was a power-sharing constitutional declaration between the military and the Forces of Freedom and Change, or FFC, the civilian alliance that led the negotiations with the army after the removal of Bashir’s regime. The declaration laid the groundwork for the formation of a joint military-civilian government whose goal was to ultimately guide Sudan back to civilian rule by 2022. But it failed to achieve the uprisings’ demands because of political disputes between rival groups among the civilian participants.

The FFC represented a broad range of political parties that opposed the Bashir regime as well as rebel groups from Darfur, Blue Nile and Southern Kurdufan. That and its unity gave it a powerful position in leading the uprising that erupted in December 2018 and negotiating with the Transitional Military Council, TMC, once Bashir was deposed. However, differences started to emerge between the FFC’s civilian members and the rebel groups, who criticized the Khartoum-based FFC parties’ decision to begin talks with the TMC before the rebels were able to participate.

After signing a peace agreement with the transitional government in October 2020, representatives of the rebel movements were able to return to Khartoum, where they were incorporated into the transitional governing institutions as political actors. But the distrust that was created within the FFC only increased, due to serious concerns among the rebel groups over how the structures of the power-sharing government benefited the group of parties that negotiated the transitional agreement with the military.

As a result, the FFC split into two factions. The first, known as the FFC-Central Committee, or FFC-CC, compromises the Umma Party, the Unionist Assembly and the Sudanese Congress. The second faction, which included the rebel groups and the Unionist Party, called itself the FFC-Democratic Bloc, or FFC-DB. In addition, the Baathists and communists left the coalition entirely and created a new front called the Radical Alliance. The resulting political disputes combined with the country’s economic deterioration opened the door for the military takeover in October 2021.

Instead of finding a common position to propose a political roadmap out of the current crisis, Sudan’s civilian actors are busy repeating their previous mistakes.

These divisions were exploited and leveraged by Hemedti, who has proved to be a skillful political operator. Hemedti initially sought to inherit Bashir’s political machine, appointing many Bashir loyalists as advisers during the first months of the transition. He also sought the backing of Sudan’s tribal chiefs and traditional institutions by showering them with gifts and financial favors.

But after the military takeover in 2021, Hemedti also sought to mend fences with civilian actors by publicly apologizing for supporting the coup in the months that followed. He subsequently moved closer to the FFC-CC and eventually became an ally. In September 2022, he announced his support for the interim constitutional draft proposed by the FFC-CC to guide the country back to civilian rule, putting him at odds with the armed forces’ position of supporting only initiatives that included all political stakeholders in Sudan and not only the FFC-CC.

Meanwhile, the United Nations-led political process to facilitate talks between the FCC-CC, FCC-DB and the military initiated after the October 2021 military takeover further exacerbated the divisions among Sudan’s civilian factions. The U.N. Integrated Transition Assistance Mission in Sudan, or UNITAMS, deliberately designed the talks to exclude other important civilian actors, such as the Resistance Committees—the neighborhood groups that have led Sudan’s pro-democracy movement since 2019—and traditional tribal chiefs, and sidelined the FFC-DB from the outline agreement signed in December 2022.

That agreement ultimately served as the catalyst for the current conflict, because it called for integrating the RSF into the Sudanese armed forces, which has been a critical national security fault line ever since the 2019 uprising. Created during the Bashir regime’s war in Darfur, the RSF subsequently maneuvered between several institutional umbrellas. After the war in Darfur subsided in intensity, Bashir used the RSF to protect against potential military coups by the armed forces. Hemedti used that privileged status to gain control of lucrative commercial interests, including gold mines, front companies and banks. After Bashir’s ouster, the RSF further expanded militarily and financially.

The disagreement over the timeline for integrating the RSF into the armed forces—the military proposed a two-year transition, while Hemedti argued the process should take at least 10 years—intensified pre-existing tensions between the two sides as the deadline for signing the finalized UNITAMS-brokered agreement approached. Soon after the deadline was postponed in April, both forces mobilized their troops in Khartoum, with the fighting beginning on April 15.

But if Hemedti sought to leverage the FFC-CC in his rivalry with al-Burhan in the run-up to the conflict, the FFC-CC had similarly aligned with the RSF in an effort to play the different armed services against each other. In September 2022, for instance, Yasir Arman, an FFC-CC leadership council member, said that “the RSF represents a force to build the national army,” giving the RSF equal institutional status as the armed forces. And since the outbreak of war, the FFC-CC has refused to denounce Hemedti’s move to seize power.

There is now an urgent need to stop the war, which has left at least 900 civilians killed and 1.3 million displaced and risks triggering a regional conflagration. So far, talks between the armed forces and RSF hosted by Saudi Arabia have struggled to achieve more than shaky cease-fires and intermittent humanitarian access. In the meantime, instead of finding a common position to propose a political roadmap out of the current crisis, Sudan’s civilian actors are busy repeating the same mistakes. Several Resistance Committees have announced their withdrawal from the FFC-CC-led Civilian Coalition to Stop the War due to the FFC-CC’s neutral stance in the war as well as its narrative equating the RSF with the armed forces.  

Above all, Sudan urgently needs a new broad national front to correct the errors—in particular, the narrow and divisive political process—that led to the war. To be effective, however, any new political alliance should stand with Sudan’s remaining state institutions and insist that ultimately Sudan’s civilians must decide the fate of their country, for only that will sustainably end the war.

Yasir Zaidan is a doctoral candidate at the Jackson School for International Studies at the University of Washington.

View original: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/conflict-sudan-crisis-civil-war-democracy-rapid-support-forces/

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