RSF's future plans for parts of Darfur, Sudan

NOTE that the following report is over three and a half years old.

From Lighthouse Reports

By Klaas Van Dijken, Nouska du Saar 

Published 19 February 2020 - here is a full copy:

Sudan’s violent new rulers

Traveiling with perpetrators of Darfur atrocities illuminates self-styled saviors

After Sudan’s long-serving dictator Omar al-Bashir was toppled by protesters in 2019, the country was back in the headlines early in 2020 when its transitional government handed him to the International Criminal Court to face charges of war crimes. Bashir’s alleged crimes took place in the western region of Darfur between 2003 and 2008 after he tasked a notorious Arab militia with crushing an insurgency by African tribes with the backing of the Sudanese army. Known then as the Janjaweed, or “devils on horseback,” these fighters have since restyled themselves as the Rapid Support Forces. Their leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – better known as Hemedti – has also rebranded himself, as the guardian of democratic transition in Sudan. His influence stretches from Sudan’s borderlands to the capital, Khartoum, where he shakes hands with world leaders. But a guided tour through a sleepy desert city reveals how Bashir’s heir apparent really sees Sudan’s future, and exposes the devastation and division wreaked by his forces.

METHODS

Combining a range of research methods including travel writing and traditional war reporting with the analysis of satellite imagery, this investigation seeks to shine a torch on the true violent nature of Sudan’s self-professed democratic guardian, and his paramilitary force. Embedded with members of Hemedti’s Rapid Support Forces in a tour to remote parts of North Darfur, we secretly collected coordinates of areas being targeted by Hemedti’s paramilitary forces. Extending the investigation, we obtained and analyzed leaked documents on future plans of Hemedti and his forces for parts of Darfur. To corroborate our findings and deepen our insights, we also interviewed confidential sources in secret locations  and spoke to  Hemedti himself in his luxury residence in the capital Khartoum. Finally we analyzed satellite imagery of destroyed villages in North Darfur and linked them to reports of attacks by the paramilitary group.

STORYLINES

Our reporter travelled to Zurrug, an outpost of Darfur so remote that it has yet to appear on Google maps.  A desert outpost whose sparse shacks are illuminated by campfires that throw shadows over pick-up trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns – the only hint of the violent past of this city-in-the-making in Sudan’s troubled western province.

The town is under the control of Sudan’s most powerful man, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, or  Hemedti., head of a paramilitary group that was one of the world’s notorious militias, the janjaweed, or devils on a horseback. Flanked by his fighters, rebranded as Rapid Support Forces, Hemedti plans to build a city on the spoils of a brutal war, according to official plans that may rely on funding from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to materialize.

But community leaders from camps in North Sudan claim to have been violently driven off land they had inhabited for centuries by Hemedti’s henchmen. They are among hundreds of thousands scattered across camps in Darfur who claim to have been violated and forced from their homes by the RSF after bearing the brunt of the war crimes ascribed to Bashir.

Satellite images have revealed the extent of the destruction wreaked by Hemedti’s fighters to villages to date, attacks corroborated by independent media and other sources.

Although Hemedti insists he has the best interests of all the Sudanese people at heart — claims he pressed during an exclusive interview — the grand plans of Bashir’s would-be successor for Zurrug rather point to a a winner-takes-all vision that could spell new upheaval for the strife-torn nation. Already disenfranchised ethnic groups, their appeals for a resolution snubbed, are warning of armed insurrection.

COPUBLISHED WITH

Trouw

The Guardian

Co-publications from this investigation

• The Guardian: Blood, sand and gold: victor’s city rises from ashes of Sudan’s civil war
• Trouw: Built on stolen land
• Trouw: He wants to do the right thing for Sudan - he says

View original: https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/sudan-violent-new-rulers/#impact

[Ends]

South Sudan voices alarm over US warning to businesses about the risks of business dealings

NOTE from Sudan Watch Editor: No matter what the UN, US et al want to impose on South Sudan and pressure it into doing in the coming year, Messrs Kiir and Machar are the best and most experienced leaders to steer South Sudan through global recession and peace. Everyone's time could be best spent on working to hold South Sudan together and stop civil war in Sudan.

The last thing South Sudan needs is Americans breathing down its neck and twisting arms for a democracy that doesn't work in Africa. I say, African solutions to African problems! Libya's Col Gaddafi strongly supported a United States of Africa and championed African land for African people!

All African states are members of the African Union.  

Map of the African continent as in 2011-07. -Wikipedia

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From AFP News via The Barron’s Daily

By AFP - Agence France Presse
Dated Tuesday 15 August 2023 - here is a full copy:

S.Sudan Voices Alarm Over US Warning To Businesses

South Sudan voiced alarm on Tuesday over a US warning about the risks of business dealings in the troubled country, which is facing a myriad of problems more than a decade after independence.

The United States and South Sudan's other international partners have been piling pressure on its leaders over their failure to meet a raft of deadlines in the country's transition process.

The government in Juba said it was "seriously alarmed" by the advisory issued on Monday to US businesses in South Sudan.

The US Departments of State, Commerce and Labor warned of "the growing reputational, financial and legal risks" to transactions linked to the government or companies controlled by officials' families.

The advisory called on US businesses to do "due diligence on corruption and human rights issues" and to avoid any dealings that involve South Sudanese officials who are under sanctions.

And it faulted the transitional government for its "failure to adhere to its own laws" including on transparency over oil revenue.

Business dealings could "adversely impact US businesses, individuals, other persons and their operations in South Sudan and the region," it said.

Two-way trade totalled $88 million in 2019 according to US data.

South Sudan's foreign ministry said it respected the right of the US to issue such advisories and acknowledged challenges in the government's efforts to implement a 2018 peace agreement, particularly in economic reforms and public financial management.

But it added: "The government believes that cooperation and partnership are more effective than confrontation and isolation in achieving mutual interests and objectives."

Since becoming the world's youngest nation in 2011 when it achieved independence from Sudan, South Sudan has been bedevilled by crises including a five-year civil war that cost nearly 400,000 lives before a 2018 peace deal was signed.

But the fragile unity government led by President Salva Kiir and his rival and deputy Riek Machar has largely failed to deliver on its promises.

Kiir has vowed to hold South Sudan's first ever presidential poll by the end of 2024 after the government a year ago controversially extended the transition period outlined in the peace deal.

But Western powers accuse him and Machar of dragging their heels in order to cling on to power in one of the poorest and most corrupt countries on the planet.

"There has been neither any meaningful progress since (the extension) nor evidence of political will," the so-called Troika of the United States, Britain and Norway said last week.

"Deadline after deadline has been missed, laws remain unpassed, commissions unformed and implementation bodies unfunded."

The Barron's news department was not involved in the creation of the content above. This story was produced by AFP. For more information go to AFP.com.

View original: https://www.barrons.com/news/s-sudan-voices-alarm-over-us-warning-to-businesses-9e66d19f

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Further reading

Press Release at US Department of Commerce

By Office of Public Affairs

Dated Mon 14 Aug 2023 

US Government Issues a Business Advisory for South Sudan

For more information, see the complete advisory.

View original: https://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2023/08/us-government-issues-business-advisory-south-sudan

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Report at VOA (Voice of America News)

By Henry Wilkins

Dated Thur 17 Aug 2023 2:05 PM - excerpt:

Northern South Sudan's Economy 'Decimated' by Sudan Conflict

Sudan's conflict has caused prices in the border region of neighboring South Sudan to rise sharply, according to local market traders. Meanwhile, the production and export of South Sudanese oil through Sudan, which the World Bank says makes up 90% of the country’s revenue, is being strangled by the conflict too. Henry Wilkins reports from Renk, South Sudan.

See video report: https://www.voanews.com/a/northern-south-sudan-s-economy-decimated-by-sudan-conflict-/7229419.html

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Report at DW (Deutsche Welle)

Why fewer Africans are able to own land

By Martina Schwikowski

Dated 19 Jan 2021 - excerpt:

Research has shown that inequality in access to land is increasing across the African continent. Experts are calling for more rules and controls on the sale of land to counteract poverty.

https://www.dw.com/en/dwindling-number-of-africans-own-land/a-56273543

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Report at land coalition.org

NEW REPORT REVEALS LAND INEQUALITY IS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT AND IS FUELING OTHER INEQUALITIES

Dated 24 Nov 2020 - excerpt:

The International Land Coalition is a global network of over 250 organisations around the globe working together to put people at the centre of land governance, responding to the needs and protecting the rights of women, men and communities who live on and from the land. For more information, visit: www.landcoatition.org and www.unevenground.org - and  Uneven Ground: land inequality at the heart of unequal societies

https://www.landcoalition.org/en/newsroom/new-report-reveals-land-inequality-worse-we-thought-and-fueling-other-inequalities/

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South Sudan: Terkeka county official says about 40 people were killed last Sunday in clashes over grazing land along border of Aliap and Terkeka

This week, all news reports at the website of Sudan Radio Service (SRS) have disappeared due to technical issues. Here is a report, received via email, from SRS, dated Thursday, November 19, 2009:

(Terkeka) - The commissioner of Terkeka county says about 40 people were killed last Sunday when the two communities clashed over grazing land along the border of Aliap and Terkeka counties.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service on Wednesday by phone from Terkeka, Commissioner Juma Ali said the incident happened when a pastoral community from Terkeka attacked a pastoral community from Aliap over contested grazing land.

[Juma Ali]: “It was last Sunday on the 15th, the Mundari and Dinka clashed in a place where cattle graze. It is a contested area, and of course there is a shortage of water, that’s why they all gathered there. When they gathered there, the misunderstanding arose. As you know, the Mundari and the Aliap Dinka have some grievances, that’s why they clashed. The Dinka were heavily armed and they overcame the Mundari. The Mundari killed about 9 people and wounded another 18 people. On the Mundari side, there was very heavy losses, about 31 men was shot dead but the number of wounded is not yet known."

Mr. Ali added that during the incident, the Aliap community claimed the aggressors from the Terkeka community abducted five women and four children and stole 20 cows.

In a telephone interview, the deputy governor of Lakes state, David Ngok, described how the injured were evacuated.

[David Ngok]: “Yesterday, the wounded were taken from Awerial to Bor town because there is no way of taking them to Rumbek due to the poor state of the road and the floods, so they were taken by motor boat to Bor town.”

Ngok appealed to the Government of Central Equatoria state to broker a peace agreement between the two communities.