Sudan: Clashes between Nuba and Arab Bagara tribes in Al Hujairat village of Ar Rahad, North Kordofan

From DTM Sudan's Early Warning Flash Alerts - Update One

Dated Thursday, 28 December 2023 - here is a full copy with map:

Inter-communal conflict in Ar Rahad (Al Hujairat Village), North Kordofan

On 22 December 2023, inter-communal clashes erupted between Nuba tribesmen and Arab Bagara tribesmen in Al Hujairat village of Ar Rahad locality, North Kordofan. The incident reportedly occurred following a dispute over livestock. Field teams reported that the majority of the Nuba residents in Al Hujairat village were displaced to Ad Dambaer village of the same locality, and have since returned. Field teams further reported that Arab Bagara were displaced to Um Rawaba town of Um Rawaba locality, North Kordofan and to other localities within South Kordofan. The situation remains tense and unpredictable. 

DTM is monitoring the situation closely and will provide further information on displacement and population mobility across Sudan, on a weekly basis, via its Weekly Displacement Snapshot. 

DTM Sudan's Early Warning Flash Alerts provide immediate updates on incidents and sudden displacement in Sudan. These Flash Alerts aim to notify humanitarian partners of sudden events where DTM's Emergency Event Tracking (EET) may subsequently take place.

Disclaimer: Due to the current circumstances, the DTM network is relying on remote interviews with key informants and further verification is not possible at this time.

Source: DTM https://dtm.iom.int/reports/dtm-sudan-weekly-displacement-snapshot-14

ENDS

Sudan: UN OHCHR calls for ‘urgent action’ to end attacks on people fleeing El Geneina, West Darfur

Report at UN News Centre - news.un.org
By Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - ohchr.org
Published Saturday 24 June 2023 - here is a full copy:

Sudan: OHCHR calls for ‘urgent action’ to end militia attacks on people fleeing El Geneina

©UNHCR/Modesta Ndubi Violence between communities in West Darfur has forced many people to flee their homes around El Geneina town.

The UN human rights office (OHCHR) on Saturday said it was gravely concerned at reports of “wanton killings” by “Arab” militia in Sudan’s West Darfur backed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), primarily targeting men from the Masalit community.

The explosion of ethnic violence in Darfur largely by nomadic “Arab” groups in alliance with the RSF who have been battling national army forces for control of the country since mid-April, has led tens of thousands to flee into neighbouring Chad.

‘Horrifying accounts’

In a statement, OHCHR Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said interviews with people fleeing the decimated city of El Geneina have revealed “horrifying accounts” of people being killed on foot by the RSF-supported militia.

“All those interviewed also spoke of seeing dead bodies scattered along the road – and the stench of decomposition”, she said. “Several people spoke off seeing dozens of bodies in an area referred to as Shukri, around 10km from the border, where one or more of the Arab militias reportedly has a base.”

She said immediate action to halt the killings was essential.

“The High Commissioner for Human Rights calls on the RSF leadership to immediately, unequivocally condemn and stop the killing of people fleeing El-Geneina, and other violence and hate speech against them on the basis of their ethnicity. Those responsible for the killings and other violence must be held accountable.”

Safe passage

She added that people fleeing El Geneina must be guaranteed safe passage and humanitarian agencies allowed access to the area so they can collect the bodies of the dead.

“Out of 16 people we have so far been able to interview, 14 testified that they witnessed summary executions and the targeting of groups of civilians on the road between El-Geneina and the border – either the shooting at close range of people ordered to lie on the ground or the opening of fire into crowds.”

The civilian exodus from the city intensified following the killing of the state governor on 14 June just hours after he accused the RSF and militias of “genocide” – raising the spectre of the hundreds of thousands killed between 2003-2005 during a Government-orchestrated campaign of violence.

Ms. Shamdasani said the testimonies recounted killings that took place on 15 and 16 June, but also during the past week.

Deadly hate speech

“We understand the killings and other violence are continuing and being accompanied by persistent hate speech against the Masalit community, including calls to kill and expel them from Sudan.”

One 37-year-old told the UN that from his group of 30 people fleeing to the Chad border, only 17 made it across, the Spokesperson recounted.

“Some were killed after coming under fire from vehicles belonging to the RSF and ‘Arab’ militia near the Chad border, while others were summarily executed, he said. Those who survived had their phones and money looted from them by armed men shouting: ‘You are slaves, you are Nuba’”.

A 22-year-old woman gave similar accounts of killings. She told how one badly wounded young man had to be left on the ground: “We had to leave him because we had only one donkey with us".

“El Geneina has become uninhabitable”, said Ms. Shamdasani with essential infrastructure destroyed and movement of humanitarian aid to the city, blocked.

“We urge the immediate establishment of a humanitarian corridor between Chad and El-Geneina, and safe passage for civilians out of areas affected by the hostilities.”

View original: https://news.un.org/en/story/2023/06/1138072

[Ends] 

Sudan UN OHCHR: El-Geneina uninhabitable, infrastructure destroyed, aid continues to be blocked

Report at Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - ohchr.org
Published Saturday 24 June 2023 - here is a full copy:

Comment by UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani, raising alarm on killings of people fleeing El Geneina in West Darfur, Sudan

Interviews with people who have fled El-Geneina, West Darfur, into Adre in Chad have revealed horrifying accounts of armed “Arab” militia backed by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) killing people fleeing El Geneina on foot. Our UN Human Rights officers have heard multiple, corroborating accounts that “Arab” militia are primarily targeting male adults from the Masalit community. All those interviewed also spoke of seeing dead bodies scattered along the road – and the stench of decomposition. Several people spoke off seeing dozens of  bodies in an area referred to as Shukri, around 10km from the border, where one or more of the Arab militias reportedly has a base.

We are gravely concerned that such wanton killings are ongoing and urge immediate action to halt them. People fleeing El-Geneina must be guaranteed safe passage and humanitarian agencies allowed to access to the area to collect the remains of those killed.

Out of 16 people we have so far been able to interview, 14 testified that they witnessed  summary executions and the targeting of groups of civilians on the road between El-Geneina and the border – either the shooting at close range of people ordered to lie on the ground or the opening of fire into crowds. The testimonies recounted killings that took place on 15 and 16 June, but also in the past week. We understand the killings and other violence are continuing and being accompanied by persistent hate speech against the Masalit community, including calls to kill and expel them from Sudan.

One 37-year-old man said that from his group of 30 people fleeing to the Chad border, only 17 made it across. Some were killed after coming under fire from vehicles belonging to the RSF and “Arab” militia near the Chad border, while others were summarily executed, he said. Those who survived had their phones and money looted from them by armed men shouting: “You are slaves, you are Nuba”.

A 22-year-old woman gave similar accounts of killings. She told how one badly wounded young man had to be left on the ground, as they had no way of carrying him to safety across the border. “We had to leave him because we had only one donkey with us,” she said. It is difficult to estimate how many injured people may have been left to die in such circumstances.

Two interviewees testified separately that they, along with a group of people, were ordered by the RSF to leave El-Geneina. One said she was hit with sticks while being told to “get up and go to Chad – this is not your country.”

The High Commissioner for Human Rights calls on the RSF leadership to immediately, unequivocally condemn and stop the killing of people fleeing El-Geneina, and other violence and hate speech against them on the basis of their ethnicity. Those responsible for the killings and other violence must be held accountable.

El-Geneina has become uninhabitable. Essential infrastructure has been destroyed and movement of humanitarian aid to El-Geneina continues to be blocked. We urge the immediate establishment of a humanitarian corridor between Chad and El-Geneina, and safe passage for civilians out of areas affected by the hostilities. ENDS

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Geneva
Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org or
Liz Throssell + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org or
Jeremy Laurence +  +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org or
Marta Hurtado - + 41 22 917 9466 / marta.hurtadogomez@un.org

In Nairobi
Seif Magango - +254 788 343 897 / seif.magango@un.org

Tag and share

Twitter @UNHumanRights
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View original: https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2023/06/comment-un-human-rights-spokesperson-ravina-shamdasani-raising

[Ends]

Film: MEET THE JANJAWEED - Hemedti is positioning himself as paramilitary ruler of Darfur (Alex de Waal)

Note from Sudan Watch Editor:  Here is another great essay by Africa and Sudan expert Dr Alex de Waal.  It is a profile of Mohamed Hamdam Dagolo 'Hemedti' who is positioning himself as paramilitary ruler of Darfur. Yellow highlighting is mine for future reference.  At the end I have posted a link to a film entitled "MEET THE JANJAWEED" referred to by Alex in his essay as a 'television documentary'.  It is a must-see.

Article by Dr Alex de Waal

Dated 03 July 2019

General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo ‘Hemedti’

General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo “Hemedti” is the face of Sudan’s violent, political marketplace. 

Hemedti’s career is an object lesson in political entrepreneurship by a specialist in violence; his conduct and (as of now) impunity are the surest indicator that mercenarised politics that have long defined the Sudanese periphery, have been brought home to the capital city. Hemedti’s Rapid Support Force (RSF), a paramilitary led by Darfurian Arabs—and commonly decried as “Janjaweed”—are today the dominant power in Khartoum.

During the peaceful democracy protests in Khartoum, demonstrators chanted “we are all Darfur” as a rebuttal to regime propaganda, trying to portray them as rebels from the far periphery. During the crackdown of June 3, in which well over 100 protesters were killed, armed men wearing RSF uniforms chanted “You used to chant the whole country is Darfur. Now we brought Darfur to you, to Khartoum.”

“Hemedti” is the diminutive, endearing name for ‘little Mohamed’, which Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo has ironically kept because of his fresh-faced, youthful looks. For a moment, in the days after the April 11 overthrow of President Omar al Bashir, some of the young democracy protesters camped in the streets around the Ministry of Defense embraced him as the army’s new look.

Hemedti’s grandfather, Dagolo, was the head of a subclan of the Mahariya Rizeigat Arab tribe that roamed across the pastures of Chad and Darfur. 

Young men from the camel-herding Mahariya—landless and marginalised in both countries—became a core element of the Arab militia that fought in the vanguard of Khartoum’s counterinsurgency in Darfur. 

Hemedti is from the farthest of Sudan’s far peripheries, an outsider to the Khartoum political establishment.

Hemedti is a school dropout turned trader, without formal education or military staff college—the title ‘General’ was awarded on account of his proficiency in fighting and bargaining. He was a commander in the Janjaweed brigade in Southern Darfur at the height of the 2003-05 war, proving his mettle on the battlefield.

In 2007-08—the year of a widespread but inchoate rebellion by many of the Janjaweed against their patrons, Hemedti was a prominent mutineer. 

He led his forces into the bush, promising to fight Khartoum “until Judgment Day,” shot down an army helicopter, negotiated for an alliance with the Darfurian rebels, and threatened to storm the city of Nyala. 

Hemedti then cut a deal with the government, settling for a price that included payment of his troops’ unpaid salaries, compensation to the wounded and to the families of those killed, promotion to general, and a handsome cash payment. A television documentary captures his parallel negotiations with the Darfur rebels and his own government, his charm and concern for his troops—and the fact that he enlisted Arabs and non-Arabs alike in his ranks.

After returning to the Khartoum payroll, Hemedti proved his loyalty. Pres. al-Bashir became fond of him, sometimes appearing to treat him like the son he had never had. Al-Bashir reportedly called him “Hamayti”—my protector.

Hemedti has ably used his commercial acumen, military prowess—and the fact that the Sudanese establishment consistently underestimates him—to build his militia into a force more powerful than the waning Sudanese state.

On returning to the government fold, Hemedti’s troops constituted a brigade of the “Border Guards” headed by Musa Hilal, the leader of the Janjaweed. But he soon became a rival to his commander, and al-Bashir constituted his forces as a separate force in 2013, initially to fight the rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-North in the Nuba Mountains. The new Rapid Support Forces (RSF) came off second best. 

But, with a fleet of new pickup trucks with heavy machine guns, the RSF became a force to be reckoned with, fighting a key battle against Darfurian rebels in April 2015.

Following the March 2015 Saudi-Emirati military intervention in Yemen, the director of al-Bashir’s office, Taha Hussein, cut a deal with Riyadh to deploy Sudanese troops in Yemen. One of the commanders of the operation as Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan (current chair of the TMC). But most of the fighters were Hemedti’s RSF. This brought hard cash direct into Hemedti’s pocket.

And in November 2017, when his arch-rival Hilal rebelled and was captured, Hemedti’s forces took control of the artisanal gold mines in Jebel Amer in Darfur—Sudan’s single largest source of export revenues. Suddenly, Hemedti had his hands on the country’s two most lucrative sources of hard currency.

Hemedti is adopting a model of state mercenarism familiar to those who follow the politics of the Sahara. 

President Idriss Déby of Chad rents out his special forces for counter-insurgencies on the French or U.S. payroll in much the same manner. Hemedti has recently hired the services of the Canadian lobbying firm Dickens & Madson, which has previous contracts with Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe and Libyan militia commander Khalifa Haftar, with the explicit aim, among other things, of obtaining U.S. recognition and Russian funding. Expect to see RSF troops deployed to Libya any day soon.

Meanwhile, with the routine deployment of paramilitaries to do the actual fighting in Sudan’s wars at home and abroad, the Sudanese army has become akin to a vanity project: the proud owner of extravagant real estate in Khartoum, with impressive tanks, artillery and aircraft, but few battle-hardened infantry units. 

Other forces have stepped into this security arena, including the operational units of the National Intelligence and Security Services, and paramilitaries such as special police units—and the RSF. When the democracy demonstrators surrounded the Ministry of Defense on April 6, demanding that al-Bashir must go, Hemedti was one of the security cabal whom al-Bashir convened to decide how best to break this unarmed siege. Hemedti was caught on video arguing for the use of force, though he later claimed it was his brother speaking, not him. But on the morning of April 11, he joined the army generals in deposing al-Bashir, rather than massacring the protesters. For that he won a moment of celebrity.

Unnoticed by the eyes of the media, which are focused on Khartoum, the RSF has been taking over the camps of the UN-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) as that peacekeeping operation scales down. Hemedti is positioning himself as the de facto paramilitary ruler of Darfur. (That takeover was ordered to be halted after UN protests.) [ http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article67678 ]

Since revolution day, unlike the army generals who have been cautious, even timid, and the leaders of the democracy protests, who have been painstakingly consultative, Hemedti has acted boldly and decisively. He saw that state power was lying in the streets of Khartoum to be seized by whoever had the audacity to take it. Hemedti took it: he realised that after decades of eviscerating political institutions, power in the capital functioned no differently to in lawless Darfur.

As negotiations between the generals and the democracy protesters dragged on, Hemedti repeatedly threatened to clear the streets by force—and several times, his soldiers opened fire, killing or wounding one or two.

Then, after al-Burhan and Hemedti visited Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, the TMC appears to have decided that it could impose military rule without facing anything more than empty protests from the international community. On June 3, Hemedti’s RSF brought his Janjaweed methods to Khartoum. His forces rampaged through the city, beginning with the camps of the protesters, burning the tents, often with people inside. More than 100 were killed. Many were raped. Many were chased through the streets, hunted down in their neighborhoods. They rampaged through the university campus. The RSF fighters terrorised Khartoum.

Hemedti denies this, and avers that an independent investigation will exonerate him. And indeed, most close observers think that it is possible that he intended a limited attack, and that elements from the ousted intelligence services of the former regime took the opportunity to escalate the violence, tarnish Hemedti’s reputation and divide him from the generals in the Transitional Military Council.

Whatever the true story, Hemedti is a specialist in violence and should have seen it coming; he can’t complain if his own methods are used against him.

On 29 June, the TMC accepted to negotiate on the basis of a power-sharing formula proposed by the Ethiopian mediation. But the same day, the RSF broke up a press conference by the AFC, and the following day—30 June, the African Union deadline for a handover of power to a civilian authority—broke up the democracy forces “millions march” with tear gas and live bullets, killing seven.

But there’s also a twist to the story. Every ruler in Sudan, with one notable exception, has hailed from the “Awlad al Balad”—the heartlands of Khartoum and the neighboring towns on the Nile. The exception is deputy and successor to the Mahdi, the Khalifa Abdullahi “al-Ta’aishi” who was a Darfurian Arab, whose armies provided the majority of the force that conquered Khartoum in 1885. The riverian elites remember the Khalifa’s rule (1885-98) as a tyranny. They are terrified it may return. Hemedti is the face of that nightmare, the first non-establishment ruler in Sudan for 120 years.

The other side of this coin is that Hemedti has opened negotiations with the armed rebels in Darfur and the Nuba Mountains, and he may have the clout and the credibility to cut a deal with them. Despite the grievances against Hemedti’s paramilitaries, the Darfur rebels still recognise that he is a Darfurian, and they have something in common with this outsider to the Sudanese establishment.

When the Sudanese regime sowed the wind of the Janjaweed in Darfur in 2003, they did not expect to reap the whirlwind in their own capital city. In fact the seeds had been sown much earlier, when previous governments adopted the war strategy in southern Sudan and southern Kordofan of setting local people against one another, rather than sending units of the regular army—manned by the sons of the riverain establishment—into peril. Hemedti is that whirlwind. Immediately, he is the boomerang of Janjaweedism that has returned to strike Khartoum. But his ascendancy is also, indirectly, the revenge of the historically marginalised. The slogan “we are all Darfur” must be more than an expression of solidarity with the victims of the Janjaweed, but also a far-reaching restructuring of Sudan to address the causes of the recurrent wars in the peripheries.

The tragedy of the Sudanese marginalised is that the man who is posing as their champion is the ruthless leader of a band of vagabonds, who has been supremely skillful in playing the transnational military marketplace.

“Hemedti” is employee of the month as the representative of that inhuman logic of paramilitary mercenary politics.

Note: The CRP blogs gives the views of the author, not the position of the Conflict Research Programme, the London School of Economics and Political Science, or the UK Government.

This blog post was originally published by the World Peace Foundation; our partners on the Conflict Research Programme.

About the author

Alex de Waal is the Research Programme Director for the Conflict Research Programme and Director of the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University.

VIDEO 

Title: Sudan: Meet the Janjaweed

7 years ago 7.3K views

sudanewsmedia

This report comes from Darfur, where the team secured unprecedented access to a key Arab armed group accused of being part of the infamous Janjaweed militia  

SUDAN WATCH UPDATE - Tue 13 Aug 2019 11:09:  This film report made at least seven years ago comes from Darfur where the UK TV Channel 4 News team secured unprecedented access to a key Arab armed group accused of being part of the infamous Janjaweed militia.

Title: Sudan: Meet the Janjaweed 

Producer: Channel 4, Unreported World, Andrew Carter, Nima Elbagir – reporter Nima Elbagir meets an Arab militia accused of being an important element of the Janjaweed, blamed for the atrocities in Darfur. Note, Nima Elbagir is a sister of Yousra Elbagir @YousraElbagir, another great journalist. An amazing pair.

Verified account@YousraElbagir

To visit the film click here: https://dai.ly/xtxd8n

SOURCE: https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/crp/2019/07/03/general-mohamed-hamdan-dagolo-hemedti/

Further Reading

1,000 of Sudan RSF fighters deployed to warlord Haftar's Libya offensive

REPORTEDLY, four thousand members of Sudan’s notorious RSF militia are thought to be deployed to protect Haftar’s oil resources during the offensive on Libya's capital Tripoli.

Sudan Watch - Thursday, August 01, 2019

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/08/1000-of-sudan-rsf-fighters-deployed-to.html

Sudan militia chief Hemeti hires Canadian lobbying group for $6m to influence US, Russia, Saudia Arabia, UN, AU, Libya in favour of TMC

Article from The Financial Times.com

Sudan Watch - Tuesday, July 02, 2019

https://sudanwatch.blogspot.com/2019/07/sudan-militia-chief-hemeti-hires.html

Spare a thought for the other Sudanese (Julie Flint)

Photo: Julie Flint, co-author, with Alex de Waal, of “Darfur: A New History of a Long War,” has written extensively on Sudan. Further details below.

From THE DAILY STAR :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb
Spare a thought for the other Sudanese
Commentary by Julie Flint
Friday, 14 January 2011
Full copy:

As southern Sudanese celebrate their self-determination referendum, spare a thought for those they leave behind – all those in northern Sudan for whom the birth of an independent state in the south of the country will be the death of a dream: the democratic, decentralized “New Sudan,” united and free of racial, ethnic or religious prejudice, which was the stated aim of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (S.P.L.M./A.) under the leadership of John Garang.

Conventional wisdom has tended to be that the National Congress Party (N.C.P.) of President Omar al-Bashir would fight tooth and nail to prevent the South seceding. Prominent commentators, especially in the United States, have warned that another “genocide” was on the cards. One went as far as to say the violence was likely to resemble “what happens in a stockyard.” Instead, Bashir recently traveled to the southern capital, Juba, on the eve of the vote and promised “to respect the choice of the citizens of the South.”

The North-South understanding is of course fragile. There are many flashpoints, many spoilers, and many people in Khartoum who think Bashir has given away too much (a third of the country, three-quarters of national oil production, and much rich grazing land that is of critical importance to northern pastoralists). Generally, however, the approach of the president’s N.C.P. seems to be that the S.P.L.M. has set secession as its objective, and the N.C.P. will accept it, but also make the price very high.

Part of the price is that the S.P.L.M. will not be permitted to continue as a political party in the North. The S.P.L.A., the armed wing of the S.P.L.M., will be permitted no presence – except for a minority that could be integrated into the Sudan Armed Forces (at the discretion of the N.C.P., and on its terms). The S.P.L.M. and its international backers must accept that they will have no role or access across the new border after partition.

Already there are signs that the N.C.P. is closing down in terms of tolerating dissent in the North – military offensives in Darfur, arrests of journalists and activists in Khartoum, inflammatory statements from the very top of the N.C.P., especially regarding the future of southerners in the North. Notice to quit has been served on the United Nations peacekeeping force, or U.N.M.I.S.

There is special concern among the Nuba people of Southern Kordofan state, “African” tribes at the southern limit of the Arabized North, many of whom fought alongside the southern S.P.L.A. for 15 years, at the cost of tens of thousands of lives. A special protocol in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (C.P.A.) that ended the civil war failed to satisfy the aspirations of S.P.L.M. supporters in the Nuba region and the second “protocol state,” Blue Nile – most importantly, their demand for self-determination.

The Nuba war was a civil war in its own right, an indigenously mobilized rebellion with strong local roots. With international attention focused on the conflict in southern Sudan, Khartoum sealed the region off from 1991 until 1995. At its height, the war was not only a war to defeat the rebels; it was a program of forced relocations designed to empty the mountains and resettle the Nuba in camps where their Nuba identity would be erased. Humanitarian access was denied. Educated people and intellectuals were detained and killed, according to a security officer who later fled the region, traumatized by what he himself had overseen. The aim, as he recalled, was “to ensure that the Nuba were so primitive that they couldn’t speak for themselves.”

After 1991, cut off even from the S.P.L.A. in southern Sudan, the Nuba fought alone, without resupply from the South. In the middle of a three-year famine, they established a civilian administration and judicial system, organized a religious tolerance conference, and took a popular vote on whether to fight on or surrender.

The unique nature of the rebellion was one of the reasons why the Nuba became something of a cause célèbre for a few years, once the atrocities of the government’s war in the mountains were exposed. Then came the C.P.A., and the war in Darfur. The Nuba fell off the agenda and implementation of the provisions relevant to them in the C.P.A. was neglected – jobs, development, and, critically, the formation of a new national army incorporating S.P.L.A. units.

On July 9, the C.P.A. will end – and with it the agreements that determine the fate of the Nuba people. A leaked N.C.P. document has identified them as “new southerners,” who must be “weakened … controlled [and] pulled out at the roots.” Secessionists, in other words. Rightly or wrongly, many Nuba fear the worst, beginning now.

The promised “popular consultations” for the two protocol states to review C.P.A. implementation remains a weak and ill-defined mechanism that can be drawn out indefinitely by disagreement with the center – even if the concept survives a North-South split. Southern Kordofan needs more than a popular consultation. It needs an internationally mandated mechanism to oversee implementation of unfulfilled C.P.A. commitments beyond the end of the C.P.A. It needs agreement on a new international presence, with examination of non-U.N. options in case Khartoum remains opposed to U.N. troops. It needs security mechanisms acceptable to and involving S.P.L.A. units. Northern Sudan as a whole needs the democratization the C.P.A. promised to deliver, but didn’t.

Southerners may feel they have won their battle. Northerners have not.

- - -

BOOK: "DARFUR: A NEW HISTORY OF A LONG WAR"
Authored by Julie Flint and Alex de Waal




Image courtesy: Amazon. Further details online at:

(UK) http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darfur-History-African-Arguments-Short/dp/1842779508

(USA) http://www.amazon.com/Darfur-History-Long-African-Arguments/dp/1842779508
- - -

LATEST NEWS FROM SRS - SUDAN RADIO SERVICE:

Thursday, 20 January 2011 (Kadugli) – The people of southern Kordofan are still waiting for a response from the national election commission on when the new voter registration exercise will start.

The SPLM spokesperson and the information secretary in Southern Kordofan Mohammedan Ibrahim spoke to SRS on Thursday from Kadugli.

[Mohammedan Ibrahim]: “Now we are organizing for the elections in southern Kordofan so that afterwards we go for a popular consultation. We are now in the process and the Election Commission is insisting that they will work with the old register. However, all the political parties in the state are rejecting that. Last week citizens of South Kordofan went on a peaceful demonstration. They took a letter from the political parties to the commission rejecting the old register. Finally the commission stopped the process. The commission in Khartoum held a meeting and we reached a solution that they will work with the new census result. However up to now the election commission hasn’t announced the new timetable for the registration exercise in southern Kordofan.”

Mister Mohammedan Ibrahim explains the controversy behind the delay of the new voter registration exercise for elections scheduled two months after the southern Sudan Referendum.

[Mohammedan Ibrahim]: “There are two sides on the story. One, the people of southern Kordofan have rejected the first census result. The census was done yes but there are new geographical constituencies. Again there are some elements in Khartoum who are trying to delay the elections. But this will be the deadline and we will organize a popular consultation which will be peaceful. If there is anyone who doesn’t want popular consultation to take place thinking that if it doesn’t happen it will kill the will of the people of Southern Kordofan then that person is mistaken. Our will, will never die. We will struggle to tell them we got the right of our people.”

Initially, the registration was scheduled to start on January 16th but has now been postponed till further notice.

Over the weekend citizens of Southern Kordofan held a peaceful demonstration against what they call inappropriate procedures of the voter registration process.

According to the CPA, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states will hold elections before the popular consultation exercise in the two regions.
- - -

Thursday, 20 January 2011 (Khartoum/UK) – The United Nation Security Council is urging the federal government not to get involved in aerial bombardments in Darfur but work towards a ceasefire arrangement with the anti-government groups in the region.

On Wednesday, the federal Advisor to the minister of information, Dr. Rabie Abdulaati accused some elements inside the UN-SC of wanting to create a new conflict in Darfur.

Abdulaati says this call by the UN Security council comes after the federal government has fulfilled its commitment to the people of Southern Sudan by conducting a self determination referendum.

[Rabie Abdulaati] “It is clear that this call in which the Security Council urges to stop air raids in Darfur comes at a time when the comprehensive peace agreement was implemented. They fully know that the Sudanese government originally aimed at peace stability, not only in Southern Sudan, but all over Sudan.

This call only came to draw attention once again, after peace was established in Southern Sudan, and chance was given to Southern population to decide its fate through the ballot box, for whether to secede or unite, this achievement should have been the axis upon which Western countries should concentrate. Instead of calling to stop air rides which don’t exist.”

However, the anti-government group the Justice and Equality Movement welcomes the call for negotiation by the Security Council.

The Justice and Equality Movement leader Al-Tahir Al-Faki told SRS about their readiness to reach a peace agreement with the federal government if the latter shows serious willingness to negotiate a political solution in Doha.

[Al-Tahir Al-Faki] “JEM accepts that the ideal solution for Darfur is a peaceful agreement and the last part is that the solution must be a comprehensive one. Not that a single movement to sign an agreement with the Sudanese government. The movement praises the stand by the UN and assures that, the movement believes in the strategic peaceful resolution, and it will be available at Al-Doha for that purpose.”
JEM delegation in Doha started last December talks on a cessation of hostilities agreement with the federal government. The mediation team said the movement is committed to engage political talks after the agreement.
- - -

Thursday, 20 January 2011 (Abyei) – Tensions are once again rising in Abyei, with SPLM accusing the Messeriya community in Abyei of continuing road blocks in the region.

This comes just a week after the Ngo’k Dinka and Messeriya communities signed an agreement on secession of hostilities and a peaceful co-existence in Kadugli in Southern Kordofan.

The deputy SPLM chairman for Abyei area, Juach Agok, spoke to SRS on Thursday from Abyei.

[Juach Agok]: “Yes, the road has been blocked and commodities and the IDPs are being prevented from coming in to Abyei .Possibly, the Messeriya are behind this, but, behind them is the popular defense force which was formed by the government. So, I still do not point a finger to the Messeriya alone; the Central Government is behind it also. This started long before the start of the referendum and up to now, they are still blocking roads, looting and raping. They say it is the Messeriya but actually, it is the NCP because the NCP is using the Messeriya so that they Claim Abyei through the Messeriya.”

Juach Agok is urging the federal government and the Government of Southern Sudan to resolve the matter rather than considering it a problem of the Abyei people.

[Juach Chol]: “This thing should not be left to the people of Abyei because this road is connecting the whole of Warrap state , part of Unity state, Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, Western Bahr el Ghazal , even Central Equatoria and Western Equatoria use this road .So, it should be taken seriously by the Government of Southern Sudan . And, the humanitarian issue because some people have now spent more than 20 days on the road, suffering of hunger just because of this blockade. So, we appeal to the Government of Southern Sudan to take this as an important issue and not just leave it like that.”

Efforts to reach the federal government for a response were unsuccessful.
- - -

Thursday, 20 January 2011 (Wau) – The residents of Wau town, capital of Western Bahr El-Ghazal State have expressed satisfaction with the preliminary results of the self-determination referendum in their state.

The state referendum high committee announced on Wednesday that Western Bahr El-Ghazal state scored ninety-five percent secession votes during the polling process.

Sudan Radio Service spoke to some residents of Wau town on Thursday.

Mister Faohat Richard Hasssan Maburuk is the Secretary-General of the Islamic Council for Southern Sudan:

[Faohat Richard Hasssan]: “What happened was expected because the people of Wau actually truly they are always with what Southern Sudanese are up to. Whatever a Southerner wants to do he would do it. As such, our opinion is that this referendum has come and passed peacefully and its result is what pleases the citizens of Western Bahr El-Ghazal State now. Every Southerners must accept this result and be pleased by it. All of us must accept this result because it was what was expected”.

Madam Antonit Benjamin Bubu is a woman activist in Wau:

[Antonit Benjamin Bubu]: “As a woman in Western Bahr El-Ghazal State, I am very happy indeed about the results announced yesterday and I have accepted these results, because truly there was a spirit of democracy manifested and truly the referendum was free and fair, because there is no where all the people are the same. If the results were to be hundred percent secession then there would be nothing like that it wouldn’t have been free because everybody has their own opinion. When it was reported that there were unmarked papers, it means there were people who were neither for unity nor for secession.”.

Madam Angelina No is another woman activist in Wau:

[Angelina No]: “I am very happy indeed with the result which scored the percentage of ninety-five secession votes. I am talking in the name of women of Western Bahr El-Ghazal State and a citizen, I am urging those who voted for unity to change their opinion, I am demanding that let them change their opinion because our aspiration in the referendum was that we determine our destiny as Southern Sudanese. For anybody who voted for unity should change their mind. People say it was democracy, but we as southerners all of us were supposed to vote for secession because we want to determine our destiny as southerners in order to be free so that we don’t continue to be second-class citizens, we want to be first-class citizens in our own country Southern Sudan”.

Michael Manyel Masheik is a youth in Wau:

[Michael Manyel Masheik]: “We were expecting the result to be more than that, but the result which is ninety-five percent is a honorable result, it is good. I would like to congratulate the people of Western Bahr El-Ghazal State for having scored this result and I would like to say they are not less nationalistic than the other states. What they have done is a great work, and I am one of the people who voted for secession and what I am left with is only to wait for the result which will be announced officially in February”

Those were views of some residents of Wau town.
- - -

Thursday, 20 January 2011 (Wau) – The Governor of Lakes State has condemned the police in Rumbek for lashing girls allegedly dressed indecently in Rumbek town.

Governor Chol Tong Mayay said the act was done out of ignorance by untrained policeman in the state.
He spoke to SRS on Thursday in Rumbek.

[Chol Tong Mayay]: “I have to say it was total ignorance that the untrained police which we used by then to help us in maintaining security during the referendum polling as you may have observed were not carrying arms. They were just carrying sticks. It was part of training that they have to be exposed on how to be policemen. However they went ahead and took the law into their own hand and started beating up the girls”

Governor Chol said that the policemen who were involved in the act have been arrested and the matter is being looked into.

[Chol Tong Mayay]: “We have to say we regret as the government. There is no government body which has ever issued such kind of directives. So we have condemned it and measures have already been taken. Those who have committed this unlawful incident are now in jail and all measures are being taken against them. From that day they were immediately flashed out from the market and taken back to the training centers. So now they are being trained.”

The governor added that there has been no order to slash girls on what is termed as indecent dressing in the state.
- - -

MORE NEWS FROM SRS - SUDAN RADIO SERVICE

19-Jan-2011

• More Joint Integrated Units To Be Deployed In Abyei
• Referendum Taskforce Secretariat Pleased With Impledmentation Of The Referendum
• Western Bahr El-Ghaza Announces Referendum Preliminary Results
• Prices Of Food And Non Food Items Increases In Juba
• Arab League Says Some Bit Of Irregularies In The Conduct Of The Referendum
• Only 26 Registered Voters For The Referendum In The South Voted For Unity In Ethiopia
• Malakal Prison In Dire Need Of Renovation

18-Jan-2011

• Al-Turabi Arrested In Khartoum
• IGAD Applauds Conduct Of Referendum
• Referendum Preliminary Results In Wau In Favour Of Secession
• Commissioner Says Referendum Results Reflects The Will Of The People Of The South
• Yei River County Announces Referendum Preliminary Results
• Drastic Increase Of Prices In Rumbek
• Acute Water Shortage Hit Lakes State

17-Jan-2011

• Salva Urges Southerners To Remain Calm During Counting Of Votes
• Referendum Preliminary Results In Kenya Announced
• Investors To Worry Not On Investing In The South
• SPLM-DC Satisfied With Conduct Of Southern Sudan Referendum
• S. Sudan Police Service To Uphold Ties With Its Northern Counterpart
• 98 Percent Total Votes Cast In Western Bahr El-Ghazal
• Bishops Warns Of Early Celebrations On Referendum Results
• Other Regions In Sudan To Demand A Right to Self Determination

15-Jan-2011

• Jimmy Carter Says Referendum For South Sudan A Success
• SPLA Cast Their Ballots Peacefully In Their Barracks
• WFP To Pre-position 75,000 Metric Tonnes Of Food For Returnees
• Referendum Process To End Saturday But With Some Challanges Experienced
• 85 percent Cast Their Votes In Unity State
• High Percentage Of Voter Turn Out In Wau
• South-Kordofan Residents Demonstrate Against Registration Process For Elections In The State
• Hollywood Star George Clooney Impressed With Peaceful Referendum Voting

14-Jan-2011

• Dinka Ng'ok And Messiriya Sign Agreement To Stop Hostilities In S.Kordofan
• UN Impressed With Voter Turn Out
• Most Centres Conclude Voting In Malakal
• More Than 70 Percent Vote In WES
• 95 Percent Registered Voters Cast Their Votes In Egypt
• Community Leaders Urge Registered Voters To Turn Up And Vote
• Northern Traders In Malakal Worried Of Their Security If The South Seceeds

13-Jan-2011

• African Union Observer Mission Says Referendum Free And Fair
• 60 percent Registered Voter Turn Out Achieved For A Valid Referendum-SPLM
• US Special Envoy Visits Bentiu
• Presidential Advisor Says Referendum A Good Decision To Lasting Peace In Sudan
• NCP In WBG Accused Of Instigating Voters Not To Go To The Polls
• No Casualties Reported During On-Going Referendum Voting Process In WBG
• WBG State Among States With Highest Voter Turn out
• 80 Perccent Registered Voters In Warrap Cast Their Votes
• More Than 90 Percent In Cairo Cast Their Votes
• Upper Nile State Concludes Votting In Some Counties.

12-Jan-2011

• Abyei Will Remain In The South: Pagan Amum
• Federal Government Will Not Shoulder Sudans' Debts
• Polling Officials In Wau Experience Challanges
• Egypt Polls Exceed 60 percdent Voter Turnout
• Returnees Stranded Along The River Line
• Malakal,Yambio,Wau Hit 60 percent Registered Voter Turn out
• Malakal Residents Unite To Make History In The Sudan

11-Jan-2011

• Obama To Lift Sanctions In Sudan If Referendum is Credibly Conducted
• Some States To Complete Voting Before 15th January
• Wau and Malaka Registered Voters To Meet Deadline Of Polling
• 10 Returnees Killed In An Ambush
• Returness Arrive Juba From Khartoum Amidsts Hardships
• Yei Residents Determined To Vote In The Referendum
• Voting Extended Till 6pm
• Let The People Decide Where They Want To Live
• Polling Marks The Dawn Of Freedom For Southeners
• UNMIS And Police Force Oversee Security In WES During Polling
• Abyei Referendum To Be Resolved By The Two Signatories To The CPA
• Last Minute Rush Voting To Be Avoided

10-Jan-2011

• At least 40 Die In Clashes Between Messeriya Nomads And Dinka Ngok Communities In Abyei
• Gier Chuang Assures Southeners Of Security During Polling
• Thabo Mbeki Tours Upper Nile State During Referendum Voting
• Resolve Remaining Conflicts Southern Sudan
• Practice Good Governanace And Maintain Peace
• 30 Percent Voted On 9th January In WBG State
• WGB State Bans Selling And Drinking Of Alcohol During Polling Period
• John Garang Mausolem Polling Centre Kicks Off With Big Voter Turnout
• Big Turn Up For Voting On 9th January In Eldoret Kenya

09-Jan-2011

• Salva Kiir Calls For Patience During Polling Period
• Malakal, Wau, Yambio Juba Cast their Votes To Determinte Future Of Southern Sudan
• Sudanese ambassador to Kenya Votes
• Vote Correctly And Wisely Says GOSS Undersecretary
• Rebecca Nyandeng Pays Tribute To Fallen Heroes
• Polling A Sign Of Progress And Good Political Will, US Senator
• Kenya Assure Sudanses Living In Kenya Of Cordial Relationship With Kenyans After The Referendum
• Relative Peace In Most States In The South As Referendum Polling Begins
• Sudanese Voter Arrested In Kenya On First Day Of Polling
• SPLM Hints On Talks On Abyei Next

08-Jan-2011

• SSRC Confirms Readiness For The Referendum
• GOSS Gives Equal Opportunity to both Proponents Of Unity And Secession To Express Their Views
• Referendum A Time To Salute Fallen Heroes And Heroines, Thabo Mbeki
• Head Of Mission In Kenya Says Referendum A Historic Moment
• Kenyan Delegation Arrive Juba To Witness Referendum Preparations
• All Preparations For The Referendum Set In Yei River County
• Returnees From North Pose A great Threat
• Referendum Civic Educators Conducting Voter Awareness Activities
• Southeners Express Their Views On The Referendum

07-Jan-2011

• SSRC Confirms Procedures And Voting Materials Ready For Conduct Of Referendum
• Opinion Poll Suggests 96 Percent To Vote For Secession Says
• Central Equatoria State Referendum Chairperson Calls For Calm During Referendum Period
• SPLM-DC Member Captured With 909 Voter Referendum Registration Cards
• North And South To Strike New Oil Deal Says Global Witness
• Yei River County Prepared To Vote On Sunday
  Media Training Workshop For Women Journalist

06-Jan-2011

• Renegade General George Athor Signs Ceasefire With SPLA Days Before Referendum
• IGAD Deploys Observers For The Referendum In The Ten Southern States
• South Sudan To Dominate 100 percent Oil Revenue Incase Of Secession
• Sudanese Political Analyst Predicts Secession In The South
• Independent Media Committee Says National Media Advocating For Unity Option Only
• Yei County Issues A Standing Order Ahead Of The Referendum
• Southeners Associate Referendum With Freedom
  
  

06-Jan-2011

• Renegade General George Athor Signs Ceasefire With SPLA Days Before Referendum
• IGAD Deploys Observers For The Referendum In The Ten Southern States
• South Sudan To Dominate 100 percent Oil Revenue Incase Of Secession
• Sudanese Political Analyst Predicts Secession In The South
• Independent Media Committee Says National Media Advocating For Unity Option Only
• Yei County Issues A Standing Order Ahead Of The Referendum
• Southeners Associate Referendum With Freedom

05-Jan-2011

• SLM Leader To Leave Southern Sudan Before The Referendum
• Security Beefed Up Ahead Of The Referendum In The South
• Abyei Residents Still Hopeful For A Referendum
• Preparations For Referendum In The South In WBG Completed
• JEM Pulls Out From Peace Talks

04-Jan-2011

• President Bashir Visits Juba 4 days Ahead Of The Referendum
• GOSS Welcomes Bashir's Visit To Juba
• PCP Announces Position To Overthrow NCP Regime
• Yei Rive County Prepares For The Referendum Voting Day

03-Jan-2011

• Bashir To Visit Juba On Tuesday
• NCP Acknowledges A Possible Independene Of Southern Sudan
• UMMA Reform And Renewal Party Reintegrates Into National UMMA Party
• Bashir Calls For Formation Of Broad-Based Government

- - -

From The New York Times -

Headlines Around the Web

What's This?

SUDAN WATCH

JANUARY 6, 2011

FULL TEXT of AU AUHIP Chair

Mbeki's Speech at Khartoum

University: "northern Sudan is no

less "African" than southern Sudan"

OPINIO JURIS

JANUARY 6, 2011

Southern Sudan:

Drawing Citizenship Boundaries

FINANCIAL TIMES

JANUARY 6, 2011

Sudan is a warning to all of Africa

FOREIGN POLICY

JANUARY 6, 2011

The World's Newest Capital? - An

FP Photo Essay

THE HUFFINGTON POST

JANUARY 6, 2011

As Sudan Referendum Nears,

Northerners Brace for Backlash

More at Blogrunner »

- - -

Postscript from Sudan Watch Editor
Shortly after publishing the previous post here at Sudan Watch on January 6th my computer was hacked to such an extent that it crashed and died. On January 10th I purchased a new £2.5K system, hence the reason for not being able to blog until now. Also, I was unable to receive a satellite signal or use digital radio to tune into BBC World Service. Until the other computer is repaired, I have no access to six years of data and email addresses. I have spent the past week reconstructing 1000+ news feeds and bookmarks from memory. If you are a friend of Sudan Watch and wish to keep in contact or I owe you an email please send me your email address asap. Thanks.