Sudan conflict spilling into oil-rich Abyei. South Sudan postpones its December 2024 election by two years

THE WORLD must not forget what is happening in South Sudan and Abyei, an oil-rich area on the border of South Sudan and Sudan. South Sudan postponed its first elections scheduled for December. Read more below.

Report from defenceWeb
Dated 07 November 2024 - full copy:

 Sudan conflict spilling into Abyei

UNISFA peacekeepers on humanitarian duty. Picture: United Nations.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) this week heard ongoing conflict in Sudan is “exacerbating instability” in Abyei, a 10 000 plus square kilometre contested area between Sudan and the world’s youngest country, South Sudan.

According to the world body, which has a peacekeeping mission on the ground in the oil-rich area, Abyei is claimed by both sides – RSF (Rapid Support Forces) and the Sudan Armed Force (SAF). The UN mission – UNISFA (UN Interim Security Force for Abyei) was first deployed in June 2011 and currently has 4 190 uniformed members and 3 743 civilians on its personnel strength.

Martha Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa at the UN Department of Peace Operations, told ambassadors on the Security Council the Sudan war continues to have a profound impact on the security, economic and humanitarian situations in South Sudan and Sudan.

Since the power struggle between rival militaries in Sudan began last April, Abyei and its neighbours have grappled with disruptions in oil production and surging refugee arrivals. These setbacks left already stretched resources in South Sudan under greater strain, with thousands of refugees enduring shortages of clean water, food and healthcare services.

Pobee highlighted continued proliferation of arms and heightened tensions, as observed with the recent incursion of RSF combatants into Abyei’s Aman-Aquak and Mijak counties, with reports of looting.

“The movement of armed groups is compounding the fragile security situation in South Sudan and Abyei,  particularly in relation to the pre-existing tensions between the Twic Mayardit and Ngok Dinka communities across Warrap state and Abyei,” she said.

Also this week, the African Union (AU) by way of its special envoy on the prevention of genocide and mass atrocities, added its condemnation of the ongoing Sudan conflict.

A statement has Adama Dieng saying reports of “grave crimes” including mass killing, summary executions, sexual assault, abduction, torture and looting have emerged despite a telecommunication black-out. As special envoy he urges the leaders of the two main fighting forces General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and General Mohamed Dagalo “Hemedti” to de-escalate the fighting and, among others, refrain from targeting civilians.

View original: https://www.defenceweb.co.za/african-news/sudan-conflict-spilling-into-abyei/

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Related reports

From Al Jazeera 

Dated 14 September 2024 - excerpt:

South Sudan postpones December election by two years

Government says it needs more time to complete a census, draft a permanent constitution and register political parties.

President Salva Kiir, who has led South Sudan since it became independent from Sudan in 2011, had promised to hold elections in 2024 

[File: Gregorio Borgia/AP Photo]

South Sudan’s government has announced it is postponing long-delayed general elections until December 2026, citing a lack of preparedness. This is the second time the country, which gained independence in 2011, is postponing elections and extending a transitional period that started in February 2020. 

Full story: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/9/14/south-sudan-postpones-december-election-by-two-years

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From What's In Blue 

Dated 06 November 2024 - excerpt:

South Sudan: Briefing and Consultations

An expected focus of tomorrow’s [07 November] meeting is the 13 September decision by the signatories to the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS) to extend the transitional period by 24 months. The decision postponed again the country’s first post-independence elections, which were scheduled for December 2024, until December 2026, and extended the transitional period until February 2027. The original transitional period outlined in the R-ARCSS was set to end in February 2023; it had been extended until February 2025 through a roadmap adopted in August 2022. (For background and more information, see the brief on South Sudan in our November 2024 Monthly Forecast.)

Full story: https://www.securitycouncilreport.org/whatsinblue/2024/11/south-sudan-briefing-and-consultations-26.php

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From The Conversation 

By Steven C. Roach

Dated 08 November 2024 - excerpt:

Salva Kiir: South Sudan’s president fought for independence, but then fuelled division, violence and corruption

Salva Kiir Mayardit has served as South Sudan’s president since the country’s independence in 2011. South Sudan’s secession from Sudan came on the heels of a long and bloody civil war that resulted in a referendum on independence. The initial optimism about the new state faded within two years when Kiir fell out with his vice-president, Riek Machar. The resulting civil war displaced some four million people and killed an estimated 388,000 people. With the two warring sides unable to reach agreement, the government postponed elections indefinitely in 2015 amid continuing civil strife.

Full story: https://theconversation.com/salva-kiir-south-sudans-president-fought-for-independence-but-then-fuelled-division-violence-and-corruption-242747

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From The East African 

By Garang Malak

Dated 08 November 2024 - excerpt:

South Sudan holdouts agree to resume peace talks in Nairobi

President Ruto says parties to the South Sudan peace process have agreed to resume mediation

Kenya's President William Ruto makes remarks, during the swearing-in ceremony of his new Deputy President, Kithure Kindiki, at the Kenya International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi on November 1, 2024. Kindiki is an academic turned politician who was thrust into the limelight when he defended his boss President William Ruto at the International Criminal Court. The 52-year-old millionaire served as interior minister for more than two years before taking over as deputy president on November 1, 2024 following the historic impeachment of his predecessor, Rigathi Gachagua. (Photo by SIMON MAINA/Agence France-Presse (AFP)/AFP

South Sudan’s holdout groups, the non-signatories to the 2018 peace agreement, have agreed to resume peace talks in Nairobi after months of expressing security concerns and dissatisfaction with the process. This development follows Kenyan President William Ruto’s visit to Juba on Wednesday, where he held talks with President Salva Kiir, First Vice President Riek Machar and other key stakeholders in the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU).

Full story: https://www.zawya.com/en/economy/africa/south-sudan-holdouts-agree-to-resume-peace-talks-in-nairobi-a3ontus8

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Sudan & S. Sudan: Fiji's Merelea Dileba Drotini will be the second female going for the UNISFA in Abyei

UN peacekeepers risk their lives for people in countries far from home. They are well respected. Any attack on a peacekeeper constitutes a war crime. 

From FBC News, Fiji
By Ema Ganivatu
Dated Wednesday, January 3, 2024, 5:44 AM

ASP Drotini leaving for UN Mission

Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew (left), Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police Merelea Dileba Drotini 

[Source: Fiji Police Force/ Facebook]

Officer in Charge of Criminal Records Office, Acting Assistant Superintendent of Police Merelea Dileba Drotini will be the second female going for the United Nations Interim Security Forces in Abyei.

Acting Commissioner of Police Juki Fong Chew congratulated ASP Drotini for her appointment and reminded her of the image of the Fiji Police Force.

Chew has also advised ASP Drotini to make the most of any training chances during her time in the mission areas.

ASP Drotini will be departing our shores for UNISFA this Friday.

View original: https://www.fbcnews.com.fj/news/asp-drotini-leaving-for-un-mission/

ENDS

S. Sudan: UNSC condemns violence in Warrap State, Abyei underscoring the importance of UNISFA role

From Radio Tamazuj
Dated Tuesday, 12 December 2023 - here is a copy in full:

UN Security Council condemns violence in Warrap State, Abyei

The members of the UN Security Council on Monday [11 Dec] strongly condemned the violence in Warrap State in South Sudan and the southern parts of the Abyei Administrative Area that claimed approximately 75 lives in November 2023, and 10 lives in Abyei in early December 2023 respectively.

In a statement extended to Radio Tamazuj, the members of the Security Council noted with grave concern the continued presence of some forces as well as armed elements of the local communities in Abyei, and reiterated that the Abyei Area be fully demilitarized without delay, recalling in this regard the 2011 Agreement and relevant Security Council resolutions.

“The members of the Security Council echo the calls of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, stressing the need for the transitional government of South Sudan to investigate the killings and attacks on civilians in Warrap and the Abyei Area,” the statement read in part. “They call on the transitional government of South Sudan to contain the violence and defuse tension between the affected communities.”

“The members of the Security Council underscore the important role the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA) should play in the protection of civilians, including refugees, and in supporting community dialogue and facilitating reconciliation, and with the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring Mechanism (JBVMM) in support of achieving peace, security, and stability in Abyei and the broader region,” it concluded.

View original: https://radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/un-security-council-condemns-violence-in-warrap-state-abyei

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