Khartoum Criminal Court judge adjourned Lubna Hussein's trouser trial for a month

Today, while the police broke up the demonstration outside the Khartoum Criminal Court, the judge adjourned Lubna Hussein's trial for a month to seek clarification from Sudan's foreign ministry.

Defence lawyer Jalal al-Sayed told reporters Tuesday the judge wanted to know whether Hussein still has immunity because her superiors have not yet accepted the resignation. Further details from Associated Press here below.



Photo: A Sudanese activist march in support to Lubna Hussein, who faces a punishment of 40 lashes on the charge of "indecent dressing." Tuesday Aug. 4, 2009, outside a Khartoum court where Hussein is going on trial for wearing trousers in public, a violation of the country's strict Islamic laws. Arabic slogan read as "Lubna case, is all women case". (AP Photo/Abd Raouf)



Photo: Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein, right, who faces 40 lashes on the charge of "indecent dressing", flashes a victory sign to her supporters as she enters the court in Khartoum Tuesday Aug. 4, 2009, where she is going on trial for wearing trousers in public, a violation of the country's strict Islamic laws. Arabic slogan read as "No, for exporting our rights by the name of law". (AP Photo/Abd Raouf)



Photo: Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein, right, is kissed by a supporter as she enters court in Khartoum, Sudan, Tuesday Aug. 4, 2009, on charges of wearing trousers in public. Hussein faces a punishment of 40 lashes on the charge of "indecent dressing", a violation of the country's strict Islamic laws.(AP Photo/Abd Raouf)

Police beat women opposing Sudan dress code trial
AP report by Mohamed Osman, Tuesday, 04 August 2009 - excerpt:

KHARTOUM, Sudan — Sudanese police fired tear gas and beat women protesting outside a Sudanese court Tuesday during the trial of a female journalist accused of violating the Islamic dress code by wearing trousers in public.

Police moved in swiftly and dispersed about 50 protesters, mostly women, who were supporting Lubna Hussein, a former U.N. worker facing 40 lashes on the charge of "indecent dressing." Some of the women demonstrators wore trousers in solidarity with Hussein while others wore more traditional dress.

Trousers are considered indecent under the strict interpretation of Islamic law, adopted by Sudan's Islamic regime which came to power after a coup led by President Omar al-Bashir in 1989. But activists and lawyers say the implementation of the law is arbitrary.

Hussein was among 13 women arrested July 3 in a raid by the public order police on a popular cafe in Khartoum. Ten of the women were flogged at a police station two days later and fined 250 Sudanese pounds, or about $120.

But Hussein and two others decided to go on trial. She has sought to publicize her case internationally, inviting human rights workers, Western diplomats and fellow journalists to witness her trial.

"I am not afraid of flogging. ... It's not about flogging. It's not about my innocence. It's about changing the law," Hussein said, speaking to The Associated Press after the hearing Tuesday.

She said she would take the issue all the way to Sudan's constitutional court if necessary, but that if the court rules against her and orders the flogging, she was ready "to receive (even) 40,000 lashes."

Hussein wore the same clothes Tuesday she wore when arrested, including the dark-colored pants that authorities found offensive. Although she was required to wear the same outfit to court so the judge and others could see the clothing, Hussein said she's been wearing it every day to highlight her case.

In the clashes outside the courtroom, witnesses said police wielding batons beat up one of Hussein's lawyers, Manal Awad Khogali, while keeping media and cameras at bay. No injuries were immediately reported.

"We are here to protest against this law that oppresses women and debases them," said one of the protesters, Amal Habani, a female columnist for the daily Ajraas Al Hurria, or Bells of Freedom in Arabic.

While the police broke up the demonstration outside the Khartoum Criminal Court, the judge adjourned Hussein's trial for a month to seek clarification from Sudan's foreign ministry.

Defense lawyer Jalal al-Sayed told reporters Tuesday the judge wanted to know whether Hussein still has immunity because her superiors have not yet accepted the resignation.

Hussein's hearings first opened last Wednesday but immediately adjourned to give her the opportunity to resign.

Hussein has lauded her supporters, saying they showed that "Sudanese women from different political parties and groupings stand with us."

Click on label in footnote here below for previous reports and updates.

Tear gas fired at protesters outside Lubna Hussein trial

Times Online - Tristan McConnell - ‎6 hours ago‎

Lubna Hussein, a widow in her 30s, has drawn attention to her case in a bid to change clause 152 of the Sudanese penal code that makes women liable to be ...

Sudan: Lubna Hussein to learn if she will be flogged for wearing ... Telegraph.co.uk

Police beat women opposing Sudan dress code trial The Associated Press

Protesters back woman in trousers case Reuters

The Week Magazine - CBC.ca

all 520 news articles »

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S. Sudan: SPLA accuses Sudanese army of involvement in Akobo, Jonglei clashes

The Commissioner of Akobo County, Goi Jooyul Yol, told Miraya FM that the recent death toll from the clash in Akobo, Jonglei State, southern Sudan has risen to 185 including twelve soldiers. 

Jooyul said that bodies are being retrieved from the river for burial, adding that most of the dead are women and children. Further details here below.  

Repeat.  The clashes claimed the lives of more than 180 people, mostly women and children.  

This terrible story does not make sense.  Sudanese men killing defenceless Sudanese women and children?  Why?  Surely, there is more to this story than meets the eye.    



Photo: A Murle gunman moves with his rifle in a village. (Photo Source: Bor Globe/Sudan Tribune)

From Sudan Radio Service, Tuesday 04 August 2009:
SPLA Accuses SAF of Involvement in Akobo Clashes

(Juba) – The SPLA has accused SAF of being behind the fighting on Monday which left more than 180 people dead after clashes in Akobo county, Jonglei state, between Lou Nuer and Murle communities.

SPLA spokesman Major General Kuol Diem Kuol spoke to Sudan Radio Service from Juba on Tuesday.

[Kuol Diem Kuol]: “Before the civil war, the Jonglei area was well-known for cattle rustling incidents. The situation escalated when the Sudanese army armed the people in these areas with automatic weapons, including Kalashnikovs, RPGs and Doshkas. There are clear indications that SAF is behind all the problems in southern Sudan. We have information that helicopters belonging to SAF fly over Murle areas, and that some injured Murle people are being taken to hospital in El-Obeid. The National Congress Party is arming both communities. Riak Gai is arming the Lou Nuer and other elements are arming the Murle.”

SAF has dismissed the SPLA accusations.

SAF spokesman Lieutenant-colonel Abdul Sameei Haj Ahmed described the allegations by SPLA as “baseless” and “nonsense.”

[Abdul Sameei Haj Ahmed]: “These are incorrect and baseless accusations and the situation doesn’t exist on the ground. How can SAF arm militias in southern Sudan to create conflict? They always accuse SAF whenever they have problems in the south. I don’t know why they accuse us. Our army has nothing to do with what is happening in the south, this is nonsense.”

Lieutenant-colonel Abdul Sameei Haj Ahmed was speaking to Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum.

From Miraya FM Tuesday, 04 August 2009
Calm presides over Akobo following tribal clashes

Calmness returned to River Geni area in Akobo County in Jonglei state, following tribal clashes on Sunday between the Murle and Lou Nuer. The clashes claimed the lives of more than 180 people, mostly women and children. The Deputy Governor of Jonglei State, Hussein Mar Nyot, told Miraya FM the region is totally calm now after sending military forces to the area.

Mar Nyot said the humanitarian and health situations are extremely poor which calls for immediate assistance.

The Commissioner of Akobo County, Goi Jooyul Yol, told Miraya FM that the recent death toll from the clash has risen to 185 including twelve soldiers.

Jooyul said that bodies are being retrieved from the river for burial, adding that most of the dead are women and children.

Meanwhile, a delegation from the government is expected to visit Akobo County today, to inspect the security and humanitarian situation on the ground.

In the same context, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, expressed his sorrow over the magnitude of the developments in Akobo.

Moon expressed his condolences to the Government of South Sudan and the families of the victims.

He also directed the UN Mission in Sudan, UNMIS, to extend all possible assistance to those affected by this heinous act and work with local authorities to restore calm.

Ban Ki Moon further urged the local authorities in south Sudan to bring to justice all those responsible for these events.

Some of the many comments at Sudan Tribune article [by Philip Thon Aleu, 04 August 2009 - Bloody day in Sudan’s Jonglei, U.N. chief condemns violence] suggest that the attack in Akobo, Jonglei State was engineered.  

Note the following report from GoSS USA website dated last April and the text I have highlighted in red:

Jonglei clashes stakeholders commit to peace
THURSDAY, 30 APRIL 2009
Source: Miraya FM

The leaders of the warring tribes in Jonglei State have pledged to end the fighting and refrain from violence.

This came following mediation efforts led by a joint fact-finding committee from the State government and the United Nations Mission in Sudan.

Speaking to Miraya FM, the Governor of the Jonglei State, Kuol Manyang, said the fact-finding committee managed to convince the leaders of the Lou-Nuer and Murle tribes to stop fighting each other.

In return, the State government said it will implement a disarmament plan in their areas and provide them with basic services.

The Governor described the visit to the affected areas as successful.

Meanwhile, Governor Manyang hinted that parties from outside the region may have stood behind the tribal clashes which claimed the lives of hundreds of people in the last few weeks.

Governor Manyang said he cannot name these parties adding that all indicators show they are instigating the fighting by smuggling arms into the area.

He further called on the Government of South Sudan to investigate the matter.

Click on Jonglei label here below for related reports and latest updates.

Also, note Sudan Watch, January 14, 2009: Ugandan LRA are agents of forces who are against South Sudan's peace agreement

U.S. reshaping Darfur policy - Statement of Senator Barack Obama on negotiations with the Government of Sudan

From Los Angeles Times August 4, 2009:
U.S. reshaping Darfur policy
The Obama administration is working on a new approach that may soften some sanctions against the Sudan government, which is implicated in the killing and displacement of tens of thousands.

By Peter Wallsten and Edmund Sanders
Reporting from Washington and Nairobi, Kenya

After years of worldwide outrage over suffering in Darfur, the Obama administration will soon launch a new policy that could soften some longtime U.S. sanctions against the Sudanese government implicated in the large-scale killings and displacement of African tribespeople.

White House officials say that specific conditions would have to be met before sanctions would be lifted, and that Sudan could face even tougher sanctions if its leaders act in bad faith. But President Obama's handpicked envoy to Sudan, J. Scott Gration, said in an interview Monday that the Khartoum government, which expelled humanitarian groups this year after an international court accused Sudan's president of war crimes in Darfur, has shown a willingness to work toward stabilizing Darfur in order to allow aid to be delivered.

"We see that there is a spirit of cooperation and an attitude of wanting to help," Gration said.

The American envoy acknowledged that lifting sanctions could help bolster the Sudanese government, but he said the new policy would be prudent and cautious.

"There's ways that we can roll back these sanctions in a way that allows us to lift the restrictions we need, such that the government continues to be sanctioned and military equipment continues to be sanctioned," he said.

The new approach has sparked fierce debate among Obama's advisors and is causing consternation among some of his strongest supporters, who had expected the president to toughen U.S. policy toward a government that he had sharply criticized as untrustworthy during last year's presidential campaign.

Broad restrictions were enacted by the Clinton administration 12 years ago against the Islamist-led regime in response to Khartoum's alleged harboring of terrorists such as Osama bin Laden in the 1990s and to the oppression of Christians and other minorities as part of Sudan's civil war.

U.S. foreign aid and almost all commercial ties are severely restricted.

Even floating the idea of lifting some sanctions -- something the Bush administration also contemplated -- is politically controversial.

Darfur has for years unified an unusual and vocal coalition of Hollywood stars, human rights activists, African Americans and evangelicals. As candidates last year, Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton all vowed to maintain a hard line with Khartoum.

Obama's United Nations ambassador, Susan Rice, who as an advisor to the Clinton administration helped draft the sanctions, has argued for a tougher stance, declaring that genocide continues in Darfur.

Supporters of the more cooperative approach, such as Gration, argue that deaths have declined in Darfur and that U.S. sanctions are hurting efforts to build roads and other projects in southern Sudan that need to be in place by 2011. That is the year the region is expected to vote to secede from the country in a referendum that is a key component of a 2005 U.S.-brokered peace treaty that ended Sudan's 21-year civil war.

Gration cited as evidence of Khartoum's new cooperation the government's willingness to ease its stance against several international humanitarian organizations that had been forced to leave the country and accused of spying after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir in March.

Nearly a dozen aid groups were kicked out, but now several others have been granted entry -- though critics note that the initial banning has hampered delivery of aid.

The new White House policy is not likely to be announced for several weeks, but in interviews and congressional testimony, administration officials have begun to sketch it out.

They say the new policy would not contradict the president's campaign promises -- and would result in tougher restrictions if Khartoum failed to adhere to promises.

A White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity while discussing internal policy deliberations, said any possible incentives would be presented as part of a package to entice the Sudanese regime to bring peace to Darfur and abide by the terms of the 2005 peace accord.

The International Criminal Court estimates that about 35,000 people have been killed by government troops and allied militias in the six-year war in Darfur against rebellious tribes. At least 100,000 more have died from disease and starvation, the ICC says.

The Obama policy will outline "what sort of steps we'd be prepared to take that would be attractive to the government of Sudan in response to changed conditions on the ground," the White House official said.

The official said the new approach would be contingent upon concrete action by the Khartoum regime to stabilize security nationwide and end the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

"We have to see verifiable change for the Sudanese people," said the official, calling it a "misconception" that "somehow we want to take the [regime] out for ice cream and then think that that changes everything in Sudan."

Potential conciliation is particularly sensitive because of the war crime charges against Bashir. Some advocacy groups are planning for a marketing blitz designed to convince the White House to maintain pressure on Sudan in light of Gration's push to engage Khartoum.

The media effort will include YouTube videos and viral ads highlighting campaign promises from Obama and his team pledging tough action to save Darfur.

"We fear [Gration is] being too concessionary," said Randy Newcomb, president of Humanity United, a foundation that gets its money from the founders of EBay and is bankrolling the publicity campaign.

"These are people in the administration we've been friendly with, but we've got to keep the pressure on them to make sure they are very aggressive," Newcomb said.

Another advocate for a continued strong stance against Khartoum is Sen. Russell D. Feingold (D-Wis.), chairman of an Africa subcommittee, who said Gration's approach sounded "a little too gentle considering what [the Sudan government is] doing and what they've done in the past."

One quote likely to be used in the advocacy groups' effort comes from an Obama statement in April 2008, still available on the campaign website, in which he blasted possible normalization of relations with Sudan as "reckless and cynical" because it would "reward a regime in Khartoum that has a record of failing to live up to its commitments."

Administration officials said that engaging the Sudanese government reflects Obama's broader foreign policy goals of talking with adversaries, and it also fits with his outreach to the Muslim world.

But the deliberations have been contentious.

Gration, who traveled with then-Sen. Obama to Africa in 2006 and has developed a close rapport with the president, has pushed for engagement. He has even broken with official U.S. policy in declaring that the Darfur genocide is over, and only "remnants" remain.

Obama, like U.N. Ambassador Rice, has continued to use the term "genocide" in reference to current conditions in Darfur. However, he has remained in touch with Gration, meeting with him privately as recently as last week in the lead-up to the envoy's appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in which he argued for rolling back sanctions.

Gration said Monday that his actions and statements fall solidly within the bounds of what he expects the U.S. policy will be. "Obviously I'm staying in that framework, because I know what we're debating," he said.

Support for that change is driven in part by the Khartoum government's close cooperation with the CIA and FBI in sharing anti-terrorism intelligence related to Iraq, Pakistan and Somalia -- although some critics say Sudan's help has been exaggerated and began only after Sept. 11, when the regime feared being targeted by the U.S.

Sudanese officials accused the Bush administration of reneging on a promise to normalize relations in exchange for agreeing to the 2005 peace deal.

Now officials in Khartoum are praising Gration.

The envoy is "creating a healthy environment, rather than poisoning it, which will lead us to a place where people can sit and talk," said Sudanese State Minister for Foreign Affairs Samani Wasila.

He added that the government in the past has been alienated by U.S. envoys who have tried to rush through reforms or condemn the government.

Still, Wasila declined to say what steps his government has taken or will take in the coming weeks in exchange for improved U.S. relations.

More than 2.5 million people remain displaced in Darfur, where the crisis continues.

peter.wallsten@latimes.com

edmund.sanders @latimes.com

---

From www.barackobama.com:
Statement of Senator Barack Obama on negotiations with the Government of Sudan
Chicago, IL, April 18, 2008

"I am deeply concerned by reports that the Bush Administration is negotiating a normalization of relations with the Government of Sudan that would include removing it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. This would reportedly be in exchange for Khartoum's agreement to allow Thai and Nepalese troops to participate in the joint African Union-United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur.

This reckless and cynical initiative would reward a regime in Khartoum that has a record of failing to live up to its commitments. First, no country should be removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism for any reason other than the existence of verifiable proof that the government in question does not support terrorist organizations. Second, the Bush Administration should be holding the Government of Sudan accountable for its past promises to let UN peacekeepers operate within its borders – Khartoum's record of inaction and obstruction when it comes to the deployment of the AU-UN force must not be rewarded. Third, the Bush Administration should be holding Sudan accountable for failing to implement significant aspects of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), imperiling the prospects for scheduled multiparty elections in 2009. Finally, Khartoum has yet to fully account for the murder of John Granville, the American citizen and USAID official gunned down on New Year's Eve.

A grassroots movement of Americans has joined with Congress to push for implementation of the CPA, and to push the Bush Administration to acknowledge that the Government of Sudan has pursued a policy of genocide in Darfur. Hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children have been killed in Darfur, and the killing continues to this very day. Meanwhile, lasting peace will not come without implementation of the CPA. The Bush Administration and Congress have imposed sanctions in an effort to change Khartoum’s behavior; to suddenly offer to normalize relations before that change takes place, particularly without close consultation with Congress, makes no sense.

Washington must respond to the ongoing genocide and the ongoing failure to implement the CPA with consistency and strong consequences. For years, the Government of Sudan has thwarted the will of the United States and the international community, and offended the standards of our common humanity. Before we improve our relationship with the Government of Sudan, conditions must improve for the Sudanese people. We cannot stand down – we must continue to stand up for peace and human rights.”

S. Sudan: Jonglei Governor returns from U.S - Insecurity = no development

From Sudan Tribune by Philip Thon Aleu, Monday 03 August 2009:
Jonglei Governor returns from U.S

August 2, 2009 (BOR TOWN) – Jonglei Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk arrived Sunday to the state capital after a month-long official visit to the United States of America.



Gov. Kuol Mayan (R), Agot Alier, State minsiter of health (C) Speaker Jodi Boyoris (L) move at Bor airstrip on Sunday August 2, 2009 (Philip ThonAleu - ST)

Gov. Kuol lauded the hospitality of Sudanese communities in the US and described that country as "a home to respected people because they [Americans] are hard working." The governor was instrumental in finding refuge for the Lost Boys here in America.

It’s Mr. Manyang first visit to the U.S and the long lasting strip outside the state since becoming Governor of Jonglei state 19 months ago. The governor met during his visit with US business community to encourage them to invest in the oil rich southern Sudan state.

State Minister of health Agot Alier Leek and Speaker of state assembly Jodi Boyoris received Mr. Kuol at Bor airstrip. A long queue of other ministers including Timothy Taban Jouch of information and communication and Gabriel Gai Riam of Parliamentary affairs align at the thin airstrip to meet the Governor.

 Commissioners from various counties and governor’s advisors turn-up for the tremendous reception to the state leader.

Mr. Manyang told the state chiefs later in a briefing at the state guest home that Southern Sudanese in the U.S – most of them known as ’lost boys of Sudan’ accorded him warmth welcome as well as the American people.

"U.S is developed is well developed," he said. "It’s a home to respected people because they are hard working."

Gov. Kuol – based on his 30 days trip to the U.S, said salary payment there is based on work output unlike here. Kuol challenged his people to copy that devotion to national development and change the face of Jonglei state.

Health Minister Agot Alier Leek briefed the Governor on current affairs in Jonglei stating that also were manageable.

On Twic East attack last week, Mr. Kuol will be told that Deputy Gov. Mar Nyuot and South Sudan Minister of Trade Commence and Supply Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin left for Uror on Saturday to in trying to ease tension there.

Copy of a comment at the article:

3 August 2009 by Mabach Kuol
It is absolutely hard work that developed the United States of American and the Americans people are still working tirelessly day and night to push their country development into the future. Therefore, as a governor of Jonglei state in Southern Sudan, you must address the insecurity in Jonglei state because insecurity =no development and I think the Americans business people are not ready to take the risks if you are not serious about doing business with them. Our people are too lazy and too ignorant, and therefore, they need to change. In America, any work is considered as an employment, but our people are too selective and yet they don’t have the education or technical skills required to do their jobs of choice.

S. Sudan: 161 people killed, 29 injured in fighting between Lou-Nuer and Murle in Akobo County, Jonglei State

More terribly sad news coming out of southern Sudan.  Reportedly, some 161 people from Lou Nuer group have been killed and 29 injured in an attack on Geni River at Mareng, 40 Kilometers south west Akobo Town in Jonglei State, South Sudan following an attack by gunmen yesterday, Sunday, August 2nd.  

Apparently, the fighting broke out yesterday between Lou-Nuer and Murle communities. According to news filed here below, the attackers, who carried out their raid at dawn, are believed to be one of the groups of Murle tribesmen that had attacked Lony village on July 29 and reportedly killing a couple and abducting a child.  Further details here below.

From Sudan Radio Service, Monday, 03 August 2009:
161 People Killed in Akobo County Attack

(Khartoum) – One hundred and sixty-one people have been killed in an attack in Akobo county, Jonglei state.

The attackers, who are allegedly from Pibor county, attacked Mareng payam in western Akobo on Sunday. One hundred women and fifty children were killed in the attack. Eleven SPLA soldiers also died as they tried to defend the civilians.

Our correspondent in Bor, Sirocco Mayom sent this report:

[Sirocco Mayom]: “The commissioner said that 161 people were confirmed dead in the Akobo county clashes. The fighting broke out on Sunday between Lou-Nuer and Murle communities. According to the commissioner, five attackers were killed but they killed 100 women and 50 children, and 11 SPLA soldiers who were deployed around the civilian camp who were displaced during the first violence three months ago. When the attack took place, the SPLA were attempting to defend the civilians or end the fighting. When some of them were killed, the force decided to withdraw. The cause of the fighting is still not clear because the area that was attacked doesn’t have cows; people there were just depending on food relief.”

That was our correspondent, Sirocco Mayom, reporting from Bor, the capital of Jonglei state.

From Sudan Tribune by Philip Thon Aleu, Monday 3 August 2009:
BREAKING NEWS: Gunmen kill 161 people in Jonglei’s Akobo

August 3, 2009 (BOR TOWN) – Some 161 people from Lou Nuer group are counted dead and 29 injured in Akobo County following gunmen attack on August 2, officials say here.

Speaking at an emotional press conference in Bor Town Monday, Commissioner Goi Jooyul Yol detailed that 100 women, 50 children and 11 SPLA soldiers are among the dead during the attack on Geni River at Mareng, 40 Kilometers south west Akobo Town.

"Of the 29 wounded, 3 are SPLA and the rest are civilians,” he added.

The attackers, who carried out their raid at dawn, are believed to be one of the groups of Murle tribesmen that had attacked Lony village on July 29 and reportedly killing a couple and abducting a child.

Rest In Peace + + + God bless the children of Sudan.

Click on Jonglei label here below for previous reports and latest updates.

« View story overview

Official: 185 killed in Sudan tribal violence The Associated Press - ‎26 minutes ago‎ CAIRO — A local south Sudanese official says gunmen have attacked a group of displaced people camping near a river close to the Ethiopian border, ... South Sudan ethnic clashes kill 160: local official AFP - ‎1 hour ago‎ JUBA, Sudan — Fierce clashes between rival ethnic groups in south Sudan have killed more than 160 people, most of them women and children, ... More than 160 killed in South Sudan tribal raid Reuters - Skye Wheeler, Andrew Heavens - ‎3 hours ago‎ JUBA, Sudan, Aug 3 (Reuters) - More than 160 people were killed when heavily armed South Sudan tribal fighters launched a dawn raid on a ... SUDAN FIGHTING Dawn raid kills 160 Bild.com - ‎48 minutes ago‎ More than 160 people, the majority of them women and children, have been killed in an attack on a camp in South Sudan. A group of men stormed the camp of a ... SUDAN: Fresh attack could “worsen food crisis” IRINnews.org - ‎1 hour ago‎ JUBA, 3 August 2009 (IRIN) - Fighting between rival ethnic groups that has left at least 160 people dead near Akobo in Southern Sudan's Jonglei State could ... Over 160 dead in South Sudan tribal clashes Monsters and Critics.com - ‎1 hour ago‎ Nairobi/Juba - More than 160 people, many of them women and children, have died in the latest of a series of clashes between the Murle and Lou Nuer tribes ... South Sudan ethnic clashes kill 160 Melbourne Herald Sun - ‎53 minutes ago‎ FIERCE clashes between rival ethnic groups in south Sudan have killed more than 160 people, most of them women and children, a regional official said on ... Scores dead in South Sudan clash BBC News - ‎1 hour ago‎ At least 185 people - mostly women and children - have been killed in ethnic violence in South Sudan, officials say. Members of the Lou Nuer community had ... More than 160 people - mostly women and children - have been ... BBC News - ‎32 minutes ago‎ Members of the Lou Nuer tribe had gone fishing south of the town of Akobo amid a severe food shortage when Murle tribesmen reportedly attacked them. ... Clashes in South Sudan 'kill 160' BBC Afrique - ‎2 hours ago‎ More than 160 people - mostly women and children - have been killed in violence in South Sudan, reports say. A group of men from the Murle community ...

S. Sudan town of Ezo attacked recently by the LRA

From BBC News at 21:58 GMT, Sunday, 02 August 2009 22:58 UK:
Ugandan rebels 'launch new raids'

Civilians in both the Central African Republic (CAR) and south Sudan have come under from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), aid agencies have said.

The Ugandan rebel group is said to have killed people in several CAR towns, forcing survivors to flee.

The south Sudanese town of Ezo was also attacked recently by the LRA, which has a history of rape and killings.

The LRA uses its base in the Democratic Republic of Congo to launch incursions across poorly defended borders.

A number of people died in the latest attacks, according to United Nations workers and local aid agencies.

It is also being reported that some LRA members were killed as CAR townspeople tried to defend themselves.

The World Food Programme has already provided food aid to 60,000 people fleeing LRA attacks this year.

The rebel group's leaders, notorious for capturing children and using them as fighters, are wanted by the International Criminal Court.

Earlier in 2009 Ugandan troops carried out an operation to pursue the Lord's Resistance Army into north-east Democratic Republic of Congo, intending to put a stop to attacks into neighbouring countries.

But the landscape of dense jungle and swamps has made the group very hard to pin down.

S. Sudan: Twic East County, Jonglei Cattle Raid, 6 killed, 9 wounded in 'suspected militia' attack by Nuer?

On Friday, Sudan Tribune reported that suspected militia were involved in an attack in Twic East County where five civilians are killed and 9 others injured. The article, copied here further below, has attracted many comments.  A report here below from New Sudan Vision suggests that as the style of fighting the attackers used is like that of Nuer, the suspects are Nuer.

From Sudan Radio Service, Friday 31 July 2009:
Six Killed and Nine Wounded in Jonglei Cattle Raid

(Khartoum) – At least six people have been killed and nine others wounded by cattle raiders in Twic East County in Jonglei state.

This comes just a month after a peace conference was held in the state at which community leaders pledged to put a stop to cattle raiding and the killing of civilians.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service from Bor on Friday, the deputy governor of Jonglei state, Hussein Mar, explained what happened.

[Hussein Mar]: “Raiders attacked a village in Twic East County two days ago. They came in the night, they went into one of the “Luaks” and they stole a cow. The following morning, the local people, twenty of them, wanted to follow the people who raided their village. They went and fell into an ambush by the raiders. In that ambush, six people were killed, nine were wounded and five others were unharmed. The Uror county commissioner said the culprits are not from Uror because they can not pass Duk which is in between. But we told them that these days criminals can go anywhere. But we left it open because we don’t want to defend who actually did the crime. As a government we condemn this and we can not tolerate it."

Hussein Mar said that this is the second incident after the May peace conference was held. The first incident occurred in Duk East County. Cattle were raided and one person was killed.

Hussein said civilians are causing these crimes because they still possess arms illegally but he said plans to disarm them are underway.

From and written by The New Sudan Vision, Wednesday, 29 July 2009:
Five die in Twich East County attack--UPDATED

(WANGULEI)--The number of people killed in yesterday's Twich East County attack, especially on the side of Wanglei, has reduced to five people after one Dachuek youth member who was presumed dead was found to have crawled away from the scene of the fighting after he was wounded.

The number of Dachuek youth who fell into the ambush of the attackers was nineteen. Five were killed and nine wounded, leaving only five unharmed. Those five people were the ones who evacuated the eight wounded people from the scene of ambush.

During the night of July 29, 2009, Dachuek youth from far away cattle camps joined those who were waiting for day break to figure out what to do with the attackers. The youth then launched a major attack on the attackers on the morning of July 30, 2009. The attackers decided not to fight back for long time this time. They fled and were still being chased by the time this report was written.

There are still no confirmed casualties from the attackers’ side.

Although the identity of the attackers remains unclear, expert civilians in both Nuer and Murle fighting said that the style of fighting the attackers used is like that of Nuer. "Murle does not camp before attacking a place. Murle also does not defend one place for two days unless they have cattle in their possession." Therefore, according to these civilian experts, the suspects are Nuer.

There is also a report coming from Wernyol payam of Twich East County and Duk County that the attackers attacked these two areas at the same time they attacked Wanglei area. No casualties have yet been reported from Wernyol and Duk attacks.

Both Jonglei State government and the Government of South Sudan are yet to comment about what role the army should play in the attack of civilians by other civilians.

From Sudan Tribune by Philip Thon Aleu, Friday 31 July 2009 04:30:
Jonglei mark Martyrs Day as 5 people die in ’suspected militia’ attack

July 30, 2009 (BOR TOWN) – Celebrations to mark Sudan’s Martyrs in Jonglei state are marred with "suspended militia" attack in Twic East County where five civilians are killed and 9 others injured, officials say.



Organized forces march at Bor Town Freedom Square on Thursday July 30. (By Philip Thon Aleu -ST)

Clashes erupted Wednesday between Twic East cattle keeping youths and "heavily armed" gunmen from Lou Nuer areas at Nyaken, east Nyuak Payam, when a heifer stolen at Baping was found and rescuers entered in an ambush.

There is no confirmation from Lou Nuer authorities and Uror in particular which borders Duk County that youths headed for raiding at Greater Bor territory. Deputy Governor Hussein Mar Nyuot condemned the killing at the celebration of Sudan’s Martyrs Day here today saying: "Those people have no reason to die."

At Tuesday/Wednesday night in Baping village, armed men – speaking Nuer language took a heifer while holding residents at gun point, said Commissioner Diing Akol Diing from Panyangor on phone.

"On Wednesday morning, Nyuak youths followed the direction of raiders only to fall into an ambush in Nyaken – a cattle camp deserted long ago," Mr. Akol said.

"We are suspecting them [attackers] to be militia because they are more than 200… and heavily armed," he further said.

The situation remains tense but fighting had stopped by press time after the alleged raiders from Lou Nuer defeated Nyuak youths. "There are rumors going on around that all cattle camps" [in Twic East] are under raiders threats," he said when asked to speak about the security situation at the time.

The dead – all civilians, are from Twic East side, Commissioner Diing Akol told Sudan Tribune by phone from Panyagor – the headquarters of Twic East County.

There is also "periodic raiding" in neighboring Duk County, Mr. Akol further stated without accusing a particular group of raiders.

Cattle rustling is a common activity in South Sudan among pastorals communities carried out by men who refused to join organized armed forces following 2005 peace. Jonglei , inhabited substantially by pastoralists, among other Southern states, is gravely affected by raiding usually between tribes.

Past efforts to disarm civil population have not materialized and South Sudan authorities have pledged new approach this year. Politicians are always at the core of tribal wrangles because civilians obtain new riffle and ammunition with less difficulty.

Speaking at a rally to mark Sudan’s Martyrs Day at Bor Town Freedom Square on Thursday, Deputy Gov. Mar attacked unspecified politicians of inciting tribal conflicts.

"The politicians start it [tribal conflict] and innocent people suffer," he said in Arabic.

However, local clashes in South Sudan are not limited to ethnic diversity. 38 people are hospitalized in Bor Civil hospital following Tuesday fight among Kolnyang Boma youths, Bor County. Though modern riffles were not used, some of the victims, of the wooded-made-sticks war over sentimental marital differences, are in critical conditions.

Meanwhile, celebration to mark the Martyrs’ Day went on peacefully in the state capital on Thursday with attendance of organized forces, schools, churches and town residents.

Jonglei Speaker Jodi Boyoris, Bor County Commissioner Maker Lual Kuol, State ministers Agot Alier of health, Gabriel Gai Riam of Parliamentary affairs, Timothy Taban Jouch of Information and communication, Mach Malual the commissioner of headquarters among others attended the tremendous ceremony.

South Sudan citizens observe today Martyrs day to commemorate the people who lost their lives during the civil war with the north. In year 2007, the President of the Government of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit, declared July 30th an annual public holiday in south Sudan to commemorate the memorial of SPLM/A leader, Dr. John Garang, who died in a plane crash in the south in 2005 and other deaths from war and related circumstances.

Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Army (SPLM/A) have lost about eighty thousand fighters during the North-South civil war, while about two million civilians have died during the war and its following repercussions.

The State chiefs spoke at length for the half-day event held in heavy sunshine of Bor on possibility to cease tribal conflicts and open new phase of liberation once led by their own son Dr. John Garang de Mabior.

Developmental prosperity and peaceful coexistence are sorts of ’new phases of liberation’ sought by local leaders. A role model state – as Jonglei is always referred to, influences southern politics and stability of the region.

Deputy Gov. Mar told the diminishing gathering scared by strong sun heat, that investment in agriculture has been observed keenly by state leadership. He announced offering of vast open land in the east of Bor County and shared by many Counties to American agriculturalist for farming.

Mr. Mar says efforts to disarm civil population as stipulated by the Government of Southern Sudan are "highly welcome by Jonglei State" to get rid of illegal small and light weapons.

A workshop held on Saturday July 25, 2009 by Small and Light Weapons group , a local association, claims that civilians are "waiting when the government will collect guns" which are more destructive at families’ level.

A 2006 disarmament exercise turned violent in Lou Nuer killing hundreds of people including south Sudan army soldiers, the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA). (ST)

See many comments at this article.

Click on Jonglei label here below for previous reports and latest updates.

Sudanese official: Obama supports lifting sanctions on Sudan

Ghazi Salah Al-Din, a senior advisor to the Sudanese president who is in charge of Sudan-U.S. relations, said that Obama endorsed the call made by U.S. special envoy to Sudan Scott Gration to lift the sanctions on Sudan, as well as Gration's July 30, 2009 testimony before the Congress. He said that Gration's position represented a significant step forward in the relations between the two countries, even though there were still internal disagreements in the U.S. regarding normalization with Sudan.

Source: Al-Hayat (London), Sunday, August 02, 2009 - via The Memri Blog

In a Sudanese court on Tuesday Lubna Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged

Lubna Hussein, the Sudanese woman who is daring Islamic judges to have her whipped for the "crime" of wearing trousers, has given a defiant interview to The Sunday Telegraph. Her interview with the Telegraph was her first with a Western newspaper. Here, for the record, is a copy in full.

From The Sunday Telegraph, UK, 01 Aug 2009
'Whip me if you dare' says Lubna Hussein, Sudan's defiant trouser woman
By Talal Osman in Khartoum and Nick Meo



In court on Tuesday Mrs Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged. 

(Photos by Talal Osman)

As the morality police crowded around her table in a Khartoum restaurant, leering at her to see what she was wearing, Lubna Hussein had no idea she was about to become the best-known woman in Sudan.

She had arrived at the Kawkab Elsharq Hall on a Friday night to book a cousin's wedding party, and while she waited she watched an Egyptian singer and sipped a coke.

She left less than an hour later under arrest as a "trouser girl" - humiliated in front of hundreds of people, then beaten around the head in a police van before being hauled before a court to face a likely sentence of 40 lashes for the "sin" of not wearing traditional Islamic dress.

The officials who tried to humiliate her expected her to beg for mercy, as most of their victims do.

Instead she turned the tables on them – and in court on Tuesday Mrs Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged, as she makes a brave stand for women's rights in one of Africa's most conservative nations.

She has become an overnight heroine for thousands of women in Africa and the Middle East, who are flooding her inbox with supportive emails. To the men who feel threatened by her she is an enemy of public morals, to be denounced in the letters pages of newspapers and in mosques.

As she recounted her ordeal in Khartoum yesterday Mrs Hussein, a widow in her late thirties who works as a journalist and United Nations' press officer, managed cheerfully to crack jokes - despite the real prospect that in a couple of days she will be flogged with a camel-hair whip in a public courtyard where anyone who chooses may watch the spectacle.

Her interview with The Sunday Telegraph was her first with a Western newspaper.

"Flogging is a terrible thing – very painful and a humiliation for the victim," she said. "But I am not afraid of being flogged. I will not back down.

"I want to stand up for the rights of women, and now the eyes of the world are on this case I have a chance to draw attention to the plight of women in Sudan."

She could easily have escaped punishment by simply claiming immunity as a UN worker, as she is entitled to under Sudanese law. Instead, she is resigning from the UN – to the confusion of judges who last Wednesday adjourned the case because they did not know what to do with her.

"When I was in court I felt like a revolutionary standing before the judges," she said, her eyes blazing with pride. "I felt as if I was representing all the women of Sudan."

Like many other women in the capital, Mrs Hussein fell foul of Sudan's Public Order Police, hated groups of young puritans employed by the government to crack down on illegal drinkers of alcohol and women who, in their view, are insufficiently demure.

Despite their claims of moral superiority, they have a reputation for dishonesty and for demanding sexual favours from women they arrest.

Mrs Hussein was one of 14 women arrested at the Kawkab Elsharq Hall, a popular meeting place for the capital's intellectuals and journalists, who bring their families. Most of them were detained for wearing trousers. The police had difficulty seeing what Mrs Hussein was wearing under her loose, flowing Sudanese clothes. She was wearing green trousers, not the jeans that she said she sometimes wears, and wore a headscarf, as usual.

"They were very rude," she said. "A girl at a table near mine was told to stand up and told to take a few steps and then turn around, in a very humiliating way. She was let off when they 'discovered' she was not wearing trousers."

After her arrest, on the way to a police station, she tried to calm the younger girls.

"All the girls were forced to crouch on the floor of the pick-up with all the policemen sitting on the sides," she said. "They were all very terrified and crying hysterically, except me as I had been arrested before during university days by the security services.

"So I began to try to calm the girls, telling them this wasn't very serious. The response of the policeman was to snatch my mobile phone, and he hit me hard on the head with his open hand.

"On the way I felt so humiliated and downtrodden. In my mind was the thought that we were only treated like this because we were females."

Christian women visiting from the south of Sudan were among the 10 women who admitted their error and were summarily flogged with 10 lashes each. But Mrs Hussein declined to admit her guilt and insisted on her right to go before a judge.

While waiting for her first court appearance, she said she was surprised to find herself held in a single cramped detention cell with other prisoners of both sexes. "How Islamic is that?" she asked. "This should not happen under Sharia."

Mrs Hussein is a long-standing critic of Sudan's government, headed by President Omar al-Bashir, the first head of state to face an international arrest warrant for war crimes. Sudan has been accused of committing atrocities in the Darfur region.
Before her arrest she had written several articles criticising the regime, although she believes she was picked at random by the morality police.

The regime has often caused international revulsion for religious extremism. In 2007 British teacher Gillian Gibbons was briefly imprisoned for calling the classroom teddy bear Mohammed.

The government is dominated by Islamists, although only the northern part of the nation is Muslim. Young women are frequently harassed and arrested by the regime's morality police.

Mrs Hussein said: "The acts of this regime have no connection with the real Islam, which would not allow the hitting of women for the clothes they are wearing and in fact would punish anyone who slanders a woman.

"These laws were made by this current regime which uses it to humiliate the people and especially women. These tyrants are here to distort the real image of Islam."

She was released from custody after her first court appearance last week, since when she has appeared on Sudanese television and radio to argue her case - which has made headlines around the world.

She is not only in trouble with police and judges. A day after her court appearance she was threatened by a motorcyclist, who did not remove his helmet. He told her that she would end up like an Egyptian woman who was murdered in a notorious recent case.

Since then she has not slept at home, moving between the houses of relatives. She believes her mobile telephone has been listened to by the security services using scanners.

But she has pledged to keep up her fight. "I hope the situation of women improves in Sudan. Whatever happens I will continue to fight for women's rights."

Photo: Former journalist Lubna Hussein leaves the cafe where she was arrested in Khartoum, July 31, 2009. Hussein, facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public, made her first appearance in a court packed with supporters on Wednesday, in what her lawyer described as a test case in Sudan's decency laws. (Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallh (SUDAN CRIME LAW SOCIETY)



Photos: Former journalist Lubna Hussein poses for a photograph at the cafe where she was arrested in Khartoum, July 31, 2009. (Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallh (SUDAN CRIME LAW SOCIETY) 

Full coverage of articles, images, quotes and videos

"The UN will take every effort to ensure that the rights of its staff members are protected," Ban told a news conference on Wednesday. more by Ban Ki-moon - Jul 31, 2009 - eTaiwan News (99 occurrences) UN Staff Union urges Sudan not to flog woman eTaiwan News - Edith M. Lederer - ‎Jul 31, 2009‎ AP The UN Staff Union urged Sudan on Friday not to flog a Sudanese woman working as a journalist for the United Nations for wearing ... In praise of… Lubna Hussein guardian.co.uk - ‎Jul 30, 2009‎ It is so much easier to demand change from the outside than to challenge convention from within. Lubna Hussein was among a group of 13 Sudanese women ... Sudan 'trousers trial' will go ahead ITN NEWS - ‎Jul 30, 2009‎ A Sudanese journalist facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers is to waive her immunity from prosecution in order to face trial and try to change the law. ... Sudanese Woman Uses Trousers Trial To Fight Decency Laws RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty - ‎Jul 30, 2009‎ A Sudanese woman who faces 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public is using the case to challenge the country's tough decency laws. ... Sudanese lawyer calls woman's flogging punishment 'degrading' CNN International - David McKenzie - ‎Jul 30, 2009‎ (CNN) -- The lawyer for the woman who faces 40 lashes for wearing clothes that Sudan deemed indecent called the law "degrading." Lubna al-Hussein was told ... UN woman faces 40 lashes - for wearing trousers Scottish Daily Record - ‎Jul 30, 2009‎ A WOMAN facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public appeared before a court in Sudan yesterday - wearing the same garment. There were chaotic scenes as ... All 56 related articles »

Click on label Sudan women 'lashed for trousers' (here below) to see related reports and photos of Ms Hussein wearing "indecent" trousers.

ICC: Uganda came close to war with Sudan - Bashir blocked but is Museveni off the hook?

Photo: Ugandan President Museveni and ICC chief prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo at State House. (The Independent)

Mr Ocampo's profile is included in a cover story from The Independent, Uganda - Bashir blocked but is Museveni off the hook? - 29 July 2009 by Rosebell Kagumire. Click into link here below.

Cross posted from Sudan Watch's sister site Uganda Watch:

Jul 29, 2009 - Bashir blocked but is Museveni off the hook?

Aug 02, 2009 - ‘Uganda came close to war with Sudan’

CAF Champions League: Sudan's Al Hilal beat Zesco - Pillars beat El Merreikh 3-1

Sudanese giants Al-Hilal earned their first win of the group phase of the CAF Champions League with a lone goal victory of Zambian debutants Zesco United in Omdurman on Friday.

Kano Pillars of Nigeria, yesterday romped onto the top of Group A with an emphatic 3-1 victory over Sudan's El Merreikh at the Sani Abacha Stadium, Kano.



Photo source: Confederation of African Football (CAF), Saturday, 01 August 2009 - Al Hilal beat Zesco United for first win

See BBC Sport, Saturday, 1 August 2009 Hilal, Pillars win in Group A.

Champs League win for Al Hilal

BBC Sport - ‎Aug 1, 2009‎

Sudan's Al Hilal moved to the top of Group A of the African Champions League with a 1-0 victory over Zesco United of Zambia in Khartoum. ...

Al-Hilal beat Zesco in CAF Champions League Soccerway

Al Hilal beat Zesco United To Top Group (A) SOL

Zesco engage Al Hilal postzambia.com

The Guardian - Nigeria - Lusaka Times

all 12 news articles »

Click on CECAFA label here below for related reports on football in Sudan and latest updates.