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.

US sanctions hurt Sudan: envoy Scott Gration

Good news from Associated Press Thursday, 30 July 2009 (via News 24):
US sanctions hurt Sudan: envoy

Washington - President Barack Obama's special envoy to Sudan says there is no evidence to back up the US designation of Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Scott Gration told lawmakers on Thursday at a hearing that US sanctions linked to that designation hurt the work he and others are trying to do to rebuild and help people suffering in the war-torn country.

Gration bluntly called the sanctions a "political decision" and said that at some point the US was going to have to "unwind" them.

Gration says that the Khartoum government has been helpful in stopping the flow of weapons and in dealing with key members of the terror group al-Qaeda.

Democratic Senator Russ Feingold disagreed, saying statements of Sudan's co-operation are "overstated."

Read report from website of United States Senate (Washington, DC) - via AllAfrica - Sudan: Testimony of Special Envoy Scott Gration for Hearing on Sudan, 30 July 2009.

Sudan: Testimony of Special Envoy Scott Gration for Hearing on Sudan

From United States Senate (Washington, DC) - (via AllAfrica)
Sudan: Testimony of Special Envoy Scott Gration for Hearing on Sudan
Jonathan S. Gration 30 July 2009

Washington, DC — Testimony of Jonathan S. Gration, Maj Gen, USAF (Ret), the President’s Special Envoy to Sudan, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, July 30, 2009:

Chairman Kerry, Ranking Member Lugar, Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss our strategic objectives in Sudan and to outline what we are doing to make them a reality.

Mr. Chairman, let me begin by acknowledging your leadership on these issues. We greatly appreciate your commitment to finding solutions to the many challenges confronting the people of Sudan. That commitment is widely shared by the members of this committee, including Senator Feingold, Chairman of the Africa Subcommittee, with whom I have recently met, and Senator Isakson, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee. We are especially grateful to you, Mr. Chairman, and Senators Corker and Isakson for participating in the State Department’s Forum for Supporters of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which we held here in Washington last month. I will say more about those proceedings in a few moments, but I want to thank you now for your support.

The great human tragedies that have occurred in Darfur and the rest of Sudan are deeply embedded in our memories. Many people in Sudan suffer terribly from the pain and loss brought by conflict, and it is these people who deserve our support.

We have made progress in recent months, but we have much work ahead. From my visits to Sudan, the region, and throughout the international community, I have found the challenges in Sudan to be complex and our timeline compressed. Because of the complicated nature and urgency of the tasks at hand, we have helped to craft a strategic approach that blends all elements on national power and a methodology that is integrated, comprehensive, and based on a policy of dialogue and engagement.

I want to take a moment to discuss our engagement. Engagement is not something we pursue for its own sake, and it is not about accommodating the status quo. Engagement does not mean the absence of pressure, or doling out incentives based on wishful thinking. On the contrary, it is about working to change conditions on the ground. Engagement means frank dialogue about what needs to be accomplished in the months ahead, how we can help make those accomplishments happen, how the bilateral relationship could improve if conditions on the ground transform, how the Government of Sudan could become even more isolated if it does not act now, and how we ensure that all parties are held accountable.

First let me tell you what we want to achieve. We want a country that is governed responsibly, justly, and democratically, a country that is at peace with itself and with its neighbors, that is economically viable, and a country that works together with the United States on common interests. We want an inclusive and durable peace in Darfur. We want full implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and a peaceful post-referendum period whether as a single, stable, and unified Sudan or a Sudan that divides peacefully and orderly into two separate states. We want only what is best for the Sudanese people.

This is our vision. Now let me tell you how we’re going to make it a reality. We are using diplomacy, defense, and development—all the elements of national power—to achieve our strategic objectives.

We are engaging directly with all of the relevant parties inside Sudan to bring peace and stability to the country. This includes the two main parties of the Government of National Unity (GNU)—the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM), as well as other political parties and movements and civil society. We have traveled to the country three times since my appointment in March, and returned just a few days ago from our last trip. We were in Khartoum to facilitate trilateral talks to advance timely implementation of the CPA and in Darfur to review our progress on facilitating humanitarian assistance and to promote the Doha peace process. I visited several camps for internally displaced persons, met with camp leaders, and saw firsthand the day-to-day struggles these Darfuris must face. Ultimately, the Government of Sudan must be accountable to its people and bear responsibility for peace within Sudan’s borders.

To achieve our goals, we must also engage with Sudan’s neighbors and the international community. This is why we have traveled around the world to Chad, China, Egypt, France, Libya, Norway, Qatar, and the United Kingdom to meet with key leaders who share our common concern and want to work together toward shared objectives. This is why, at the end of June, we convened the Forum for Supporters of the CPA here in Washington to bring together representatives from over 30 countries and international organizations to renew the global commitment to seeing a peaceful and stable Sudan. We are confident that this multilateral group will work closely together to achieve a lasting peace in Sudan by keeping Sudanese parties positively engaged in implementing the peace agreement and preparing for the future, increasing the capacity of the Government of Southern Sudan, and helping to keep all Sudanese government institutions accountable to their people.

We are dedicated to carrying this vision to success. I have built a team of sharp and dedicated individuals who, along with our colleagues based in Sudan, are working tirelessly to achieve our objectives. My role is to guide our vision, and I will do all that is in my power to see this vision come to fruition. I report regularly to President Obama and Secretary Clinton about our progress and have visited Congress to exchange views with you and a number of your colleagues.

I look forward to speaking with many more of you in the weeks ahead. We are committed to working together as a strong and united team to achieve our objectives of a politically stable, physically secure, economically viable, and peaceful Sudan.

Now let me tell you more about the four pillars required to support this vision of Sudan. Most urgently, we want a definitive end to conflict and gross human rights abuses in Darfur and justice for its many victims. We can never forget the lives needlessly lost in the last five years, and the millions who continue to be displaced. As I witnessed last week, families still crowd into makeshift housing in IDP camps, women continue to gather firewood in fear, and children grow up without hope for a better tomorrow.

To resolve this humanitarian tragedy, we believe only a negotiated political settlement between the government of Sudan and all parties to the conflict will bring sustainable peace to Darfur. Our goal is to conclude an agreement that will allow people to go back to their home villages or a place of their choosing to resume their lives in safety, stability, self-sufficiency, and security.

Past peace negotiations have faltered, and we have learned from these experiences. We are collaborating with the African Union and United Nations joint chief mediator, Djibrill Bassolé, to ensure that the peace process is inclusive and that it adequately addresses the grievances of the people of Darfur. We are engaging with the fragmented movements in Darfur to help them unite and to bring them to the peace table with one voice. We are working with Libya and Egypt to end the proxy war between Chad and Sudan that has ignited further conflict. We are supporting the full deployment of the African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) as a critical mechanism for protecting Darfuri civilians. We are determined to work toward a peaceful Darfur where displaced families can resettle and reestablish their homes. We must act without delay—innocent Darfuris have suffered for too long.

Our second pillar focuses on sustaining peace between the North and the South. In January 2005, the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement signed the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, ending a 22-year war. Four and a half years after the signing of the CPA, peace remains fragile. In just eight months, Sudan will hold national elections in April 2010 and referenda in Southern Sudan and the Abyei region beginning nine months later in January 2011. Our timeline is so very short; it is urgent that we act now to support the full implementation of the CPA.

This will not be easy. Just over a week ago, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague announced its arbitration decision on the Abyei border delineation—a highly sensitive and emotional issue for both parties to the CPA. Before the boundary decision was handed down, we spent a significant amount of time with the parties, working to ensure the decision would be accepted and fully implemented. Tensions in Abyei remain high and the international community must continue to be vigilant. As we have seen before in that area, tensions between the Ngok Dinka and Misseriya can quickly erupt into violence, resulting in a conflict that could bring the SPLM and NCP into direct confrontation and threaten to derail the CPA.

We will also need to continue support for the UN Mission in Sudan, help the parties prepare for elections in April, and ensure legitimate popular consultations in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states. Collectively, we must assist the parties as they prepare for the January 2011 referenda and their consequences. These are just a few of the major challenges ahead as we help the parties implement the remaining milestones in the CPA.

It is critical that we work with the parties to begin the process of democratic transformation and decentralization, so that in January 2011, the voices of the people of Southern Sudan will be heard and we can witness a unified and peaceful Sudan or a Sudan that is on an orderly path toward becoming two separate and viable states at peace with each other. Resolving the issues of North and South is critical to tackling challenges in Darfur and other parts of the country.

These twin challenges must be addressed with equal attention and vigor.

The third pillar calls for a functioning and stable Sudanese Government, and one that will either include a capable Government of Southern Sudan or coexistpeacefully with an independent southern Sudan. Our strategy seeks to help the South improve its security capacity to defend against external and internal threats while striving to ensure a potentially independent Southern Sudan is politically and economically viable.

Our fourth and final pillar is to seek increased and enhanced cooperation with the Sudanese government to counter terrorism and to promote regional security, consistent with—and not at the expense of—our overall objectives of peace and security in Sudan. We also seek an end to Sudan’s efforts to weaken or marginalize opponents abroad or align with negative state and non-state actors.

Our whole-of-government approach is integrated and comprehensive. It is firmly founded in the belief that engagement with all of Sudan, the region, the international community, and civil society is essential if we are to secure our vision of a Sudan that is ruled more justly and democratically, is at peace with itself and with its neighbors, is economically viable, and works together with the United States on our shared interests. Further, our strategy is deeply rooted in a conviction that we must do all we can to end the human suffering in Sudan.

As you can see, we are aiming high, thinking big, and expecting much. We do so because we believe innovative concepts and ideas, coupled with detailed planning and sufficient resources, are the only way to achieve big results. Big results are exactly what we need in Sudan at this critical moment.

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee, I would like to thank you for your leadership and support on efforts to end the suffering in Darfur and the rest of Sudan. Again, thank you for allowing me to be here today to discuss these issues that are so important to us all, and especially to the Sudanese people.

Click on Gration label here below to see related reports and latest updates.

Join Cause on Facebook to Support Lubna: We All together to Support the Sudanese Journalist Lubnaصفاً واحداً لمناصرة الصحفية السودانية لب

Further to yesterday's blog post here at Sudan Watch [Wednesday, July 29, 2009:  Shocking photo of Lubna Ahmed Hussein wearing "indecent" trousers in Sudan] I have today added my name to the 1,117 fans at Lubna Hussein's Facebook page. 

Also, I posted the following message on my wall at Facebook (where I rarely visit or update because most of my time online is taken up with reading and blogging):

Here's hoping people will help generate publicity for Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed Hussein in support of her courageous attempt to change a dress code law in Sudan that recently resulted in 10 women in Sudan being lashed for wearing trousers. If Ms Hussein is found guilty of wearing trousers (considered as "indecent" clothing) she faces the prospect of 40 lashings. Further details here below.

Sudan Watch, Wednesday, July 29, 2009:  Shocking photo of Lubna Ahmed Hussein wearing "indecent" trousers in Sudan - In the news today (see here below) the BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum (click here to see his video report) says Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed Hussein, who works for UN mission in Sudan and faces the prospect of 40 lashings if found guilty for wearing "indecent" clothing. [Facebook hyperlinked the blog post]

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Join the Cause to Support Lubna



Click here to join the Cause to Support Lubna:

We All together to Support the Sudanese Journalist Lubnaصفاً واحداً لمناصرة الصحفية السودانية لبنى

Seeking to make Ms. Lubna Case issue of Public Opinion نسعى لجعل قضية الأستاذة لبنى قضية رأي عام

Suggest to Friends, View Updates, Subscribe via SMS.

Send a message to Ms Hussein via her other Facebook page: Lubna Ahmed Hussein

Basic info from the page:

Lubna Ahmed Hussein
Location:  Khartoum, Sudan, 11111 - 429
Phone: 00249122965011

Website: We All together to Support the Sudanese Journalist Lubnaصفاً واحداً لمناصرة الصحفية السودانية لبنى

Personal Information:

Lubna Ahmed Hussein, a well known Female Journalist in Sudan. She writes a regular column "Men Talk" in Alsahafa newspaper, one of most popular Arabic daily newspaper, and founded by her late husband Abdul Rahman Mukhtar. In her column she criticizes courageously the situations in Sudan as well as the orientations of the Sudanese sitting government and the militant fanatic Islamists alike.

Lubna currently work as the spokesperson office of the United Nations Mission in Sudan and as well public... (read more)

Contact Info

Email: lubbona@hotmail.com

Photos

"My Clothes when the Public Order Police Arrest me" by Lubna Ahmed Hussein.



Photo: "I was wearing this clothes when he Public Order Police Arrest me and accused me as "dressed, contrary to public sense". 

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Here is some news just in from Sudan Radio Service, Thursday, 30 July 2009:
Politicians and Lawyers Condemn Journalist's Trousers Arrest

(Khartoum) – Following the arrest of a female journalist by the public order police in Khartoum, a number of prominent politicians and lawyers are calling for a revision of the Public Order Act. The journalist, Lubna Ahmed Hussein, was detained by the authorities because she was wearing trousers.

Article 152 of the Act stipulates that: “any person who acts or behaves shamefully in a public place, or dresses indecently, in a way that could disturb the feelings of the public or violate public morality, will be prosecuted with not more that 40 lashes or a fine, or both.”

Sudan Radio Service spoke to some of the politicians and lawmakers who came to the Khartoum court on Monday out of solidarity with the accused journalist.

The SPLM deputy secretary-general, Yasir Arman, described the public order law as a violation of the interim constitution.

[Yasir Arman]: “We consider the public order act as a law which violates human rights and violates the constitution itself. It is not compatible with the constitution and it should be canceled. We had discussed this issue with the NCP in our last session, in the presence of the US Special Envoy Scott Gration. We are calling for the cancellation of this law and we think that this trial is a violation of all the rights and freedoms which are stipulated in the constitution.”

The leader of the opposition Umma National party, Dr. Mariyam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi, said that the law discriminates against women.

[Dr. Mariyam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi]: “I will talk as a Muslim and a politician. As a Muslim, I think this is an extreme violation of my religion and it intimidates and underestimates women. As a politician, I think this is a violation of the constitution, but no wonder, this government is used to violating the constitution and continues to do so without shame.”

The leader of the Democratic Force Movement, Hala Mohamed Abdulhalim, also spoke to Sudan Radio Service.

[Hala Mohamed Abdulhalim]: "The accusation against the journalist Lubna, under what is called the Public Order Act, is a violation of the constitution and the CPA. It is one of the acts that was supposed to be canceled under the terms of the Cairo agreement, together with the Media Act and the National Security Act. This law is being used only against women, we have never heard of a man being arrested because he was accused of dressing indecently.”

Hala Mohammed Abdulhalim was speaking to Sudan Radio Service from Khartoum.

Click on label here below - Sudan women 'lashed for trousers'  - to see related reports and latest updates.

Snapshot of Google's newsreel on Thursday, 30 July 2009, 19:08 GMT UK:

Full coverage of articles, images, quotes and videos

UPDATE: Thursday, 30 July 2009, 20:26 GMT UK:
Thanks to CNN for linking to Sudan Watch. See CNN's video report published today.

Shocking photo of Lubna Ahmed Hussein wearing "indecent" trousers in Sudan

In the news today (see here below) the BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum (click here to see his video report) says Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed Hussein, who works for UN mission in Sudan and faces the prospect of 40 lashings if found guilty for wearing "indecent" clothing (see photo here below), is determined to generate as much publicity as she can in an attempt to get the law changed.

So, further to Sudan Watch, July 13, 2009 Sudan women 'lashed for trousers', here is my contribution, with best wishes and good luck to Ms Hussein in her courageous stance. I think lashing is physical and mental torture and that any type of cruelty is unlawful.  Men in Sudan are free to wear gowns, dresses, skirts, trousers.  Women should have equal rights and not be punished for wearing trousers.  

Note that in a report here below, another female journalist who wrote an article supporting Ms Hussein has been charged with defaming the police, which can carry a hefty fine:  Amal Habbani wrote an article for Ajrass Al-Horreya newspaper following the arrests entitled 'Lubna, a case of subduing a woman's body'.  I have not seen the article but in a protest against any journalist being punished for writing in support of Ms Hussein's effort to get the law changed on dress codes for women in Sudan, the title I am giving this blog post is as follows:

Lubna, a case of subduing a woman's body

Here is a shocking photo of Lubna Ahmed Hussein wearing "indecent" trousers in Sudan.



Photo: Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed Al-Hussein wearing her trousers. Source: The Daily Mail, 13 July 2009 - Sudan women sentenced to 40 lashes each... for daring to wear trousers in public. Here is a copy of some comments at The Daily Mail article:

If it's against the law I wonder why they were wearing trousers? Not that I would ever condone women being lashed, I hasten to add. Totally babaric.
- susan, london, 13/7/2009

If you want to live in North Sudan you must adhere to its Islamic principles and most of all its Islamic Sharia law. If you do not like this then move to the Secular southern Sudan.  Sudan is not the West and there should not be this arrogant hegemony that whatever the West does it right and whatever the East does is wrong. Western civilization has massacred tens of millions with its blind arrogance. People fully know the law, if you do not dress modestly according to Sudanese standards there will be consequences, it's silly to commit a crime and pretend like you're the victim.
- Steven, London, 13/7/2009

Photo: Lubna Ahmed Hussein (Source: The Seferm Post, Wednesday, 29 July 2009 - Woman Faces Flogging 40 Times For Wearing Trousers)



Photo: Women in northern Sudan usually dress in traditional outfits that
include a large shawl (Source: Gallo/Getty/Aljazeera, Wednesday, 29 July 2009 - Sudan court adjourns 'trouser' case)

Further reading

From L'Indipendente, Italy, Wednesday 29 July 2009:
The Silence of Women

Lubna Ahmed Hussein (or Al-Hussein) is a well known female journalist living in Sudan. She writes a regular column entitled "Men Talk" in "Al-Sahafa" (i.e. “The Press”), one of most popular Arabic daily newspaper, and founded by her late husband Abdul Rahman Mukhtar in 1961. In her column she criticizes courageously the situations in Sudan as well as the orientations of the Sudanese sitting government and the militant fanatic Islamists alike.

Today, on July 29th, 2009, Lubna will face 40 lashes because she was wearing trousers. She and twelve other women wearing trousers were recently arrested in a restaurant in the capital, Khartoum. Ten of the women had pleaded guilty to the charges and had 10 lashes immediately even if several of them were from the mainly Christian and animist south, and in Sudan non-Muslims are not supposed to be subject to Islamic law, even in Khartoum and other parts of the mainly Muslim north.

In spite of that, Lubna was condemned to 40 lashes and to a 250 Sudanese pounds fine (about 74 euro). So, she posted the invitation to her friends and supporters to «stir up a scandal around her case». She said that «this is not a matter of a personal attack against me as a journalist, nor of preserving my personal dignity. Far from it … The issue has taken on a different character, [and I call] on the public to be [my] witness and [to judge for themselves whether this incident] is a disgrace for me or for the public order police. You will decide after hearing the charges and the prosecution witnesses, rather than [only] my side of the story».

This is a fact, but there is something worst about this story. If you search for Google about Lubna corporal punishment, you will soon realize that a deafening silence is fallen on this event by most women who has power in the world. Female politicians, entrepreneurs, journalists, professionals seem to ignore such a cruel sentence. No struggles, no demonstrations, no public declarations. Apart some comment on Facebook and some other social network, few blogs, and some on-line newspaper, the women universe is incredibly quiet about Lubna's fate.

I am astonished, surprised, angry about that. Where are the rich and powerful women who always speak of equal opportunities and rights of women? Where are the politicians, the feminists, the female bloggers? I do not understand and, as a man, I feel ashamed for them too.

Latest news

The decision of a Sudanese judge in charge of Lubna Ahmed Hussein’s trial has postponed his decision to August 4th. It seems that Lubna refused to use her UN immunity in the trial, which she could have done, to save herself the lash.

So, women: you have a second chance to voice your disagreement and your protest. Please, use it!

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From BBC News, Wednesday, 29 July 2009 13:27 UK:
Sudan 'trousers trial' adjourned

The trial of a Sudanese woman charged with wearing "indecent" clothing has been adjourned, but will continue after she decided to waive her immunity.

A Khartoum judge told Lubna Ahmed Hussein she could have immunity because she works for the UN.

But Ms Hussein, who claims she was arrested for wearing trousers, said she wanted carry on with the trial because she wanted to get the law changed.

Under Sudanese law she could face 40 lashes if she is found guilty.

"I wish to resign from the UN, I wish this court case to continue," she told a packed courtroom.

The woman - a journalist who works for the UN mission in Sudan - had invited journalists and observers to the trial.

She was arrested in a restaurant in the capital with other women earlier this month for wearing "indecent" clothing.

'Unconstitutional law'

She said 10 of the women arrested with her, including non-Muslims, each received 10 lashes and a fine.

Ms Hussein and two other women asked for a lawyer, delaying their trials.

She says she has done nothing wrong under Sharia law, but could fall foul of a paragraph in Sudanese criminal law which forbids indecent clothing.

"I want to change this law, because hitting is not human, and also it does not match with Sharia law," she told the BBC.

The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says Ms Hussein is determined to generate as much publicity as she can.

Meanwhile another female journalist who wrote an article supporting Ms Hussein has been charged with defaming the police, which can carry a hefty fine.

Amal Habbani wrote an article for Ajrass Al-Horreya newspaper following the arrests entitled "Lubna, a case of subduing a woman's body".

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From Sudan Radio Service, Wednesday, 29 July 2009:
Trial of Woman in Trousers is Ajourned

(Khartoum) – The first hearing session in the case of the journalist who was accused of dressing indecently early this month has been ajourned.

Lubna Hussein, who works in the office of the UNMIS spokesperson in Khartoum, was arrested by the public order police, together with other 8 women. They were arrested on a charge of wearing provocative clothing.

Sudan Radio Service spoke to Lubna Hussein’s defence lawyer, Nabil Adib, immediately after the session.

Adib said that his client had insisted on waiving her immunity so that she could face prosecution.

[Nabil Adib]: “A lawyer from the UN, came to the court on behalf of UNMIS and he appealed to the court to drop the case because according to the agreement between the UN and the Sudan government, UN workers have immunity against prosecution. I as the defence lawyer for Lubna, did not object to this appeal, but I appealed to the court to give her time because Lubna does not want to hide behind any immunity. So we urged the court to give her time so she can resign from UNMIS and continue with the case, because Lubna thinks that just dropping the case because she has immunity will damage her dignity and she claims that it was defamation, so she wants to prove her innocence.”

Adib described the accusations against the journalist as a “very weak case.”

[Nabil Adib]: “Personally I think this case is very weak, there is no accusation against Lubna totally, the proof for this is that she came to the court today in the same clothes she was arrested in, and it didn’t draw the attention of any one.”

Nabil Adib was speaking to Sudan Radio Service in Khartoum on Wednesday.

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Some comments on Sudan women 'lashed for trousers'



Photo:  from a comments thread at English baby! a forum for learning English. Here is a copy of some of the comments discussing BBC News report, Sudan women 'lashed for trousers'

I have some questions
* Do these women know that Sudanese law prohibited wearing troussers?
* If the answer is yes. Does the law of Sudan says that they should be lashed?
for this reason they lashed her, but not for any other reason
Does this apply for the other 29 women?
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Probably 30 women have the same ideas or political thoughts, which aren't compatibility with government.  Repressive regimes always find religious excuse to cover their pressure on press freedoms.  Nothing in Islamic laws like this punishment but its just in Taliban's Islam there is like that law.
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I understood this article so that the women are lashed because they wear trousers. I myself wear trousers because it's comfortable. On the other hand why should always the men dictate which dressing is "indecently" and which not. Why do men think that women want just to seduce men? Aren't the women able to decide for themselves what's bad moral and what's not? I am so sorry that the men still dictate what the women have to do and what not. This article grabed my attention.
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I have no idea whether they know it or no. Nevertheles it is discriminating women.
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That's barbaric. In other countries police officers would be suspended and go to jail for doing something like that. This world is really crazy.

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Snapshot of Google's newsreel on Wed, 29 July 2009, 20:20 GMT UK:

Woman in court in trouser "test case"

Reuters India - Andrew Heavens - ‎1 hour ago‎

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - A Sudanese woman facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public made her first appearance in a court packed with ...

Woman Threatened With Lashes for Wearing Pants

ABC News - Dana Hughes - ‎2 hours ago‎

A Sudanese journalist sent out hundreds of invitations to people to attend her trial today where she is accused of indecency - and threatened ...

Sudanese woman risks flogging over 'indecent' trousers

Times Online - Tristan McConnell - ‎2 hours ago‎

A Sudanese woman has said she will give up her immunity as a United Nations worker in order to undergo a public trial that could could result in her being ...

Sudanese woman to give up immunity to stand trial

The Associated Press - Mohamed Osman - ‎2 hours ago‎

KHARTOUM, Sudan — A Sudanese female journalist facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public in violation of the country's strict Islamic laws told a ...

Sudanese woman 'faces 40 lashes'

BBC News - ‎7 hours ago‎

A Sudanese woman who is due to appear in court in Khartoum says she faces up to 40 lashes for wearing trousers. The woman, Lubna Hussein - a former ...

Sudanese Woman Faces Flogging for Wearing Trousers, AFP Reports

Bloomberg - Paul Richardson - ‎9 hours ago‎

July 29 (Bloomberg) -- A female Sudanese journalist will be flogged 40 times today for wearing “indecent” clothes, Agence France-Presse ...

Sudanese journalist facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers waives ...

Daily Mail - ‎3 hours ago‎

By Mail Foreign Service A Sudanese woman facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers has waived her immunity to force her case to come to trial. ...

Sudan court adjourns 'lashes for trousers' case

AFP - ‎7 hours ago‎

KHARTOUM — A Sudanese court on Wednesday adjourned the case of a woman journalist facing 40 lashes for wearing "indecent" trousers, with 10 women already ...

UN Worker May Be Flogged Over Attire

Washington Post - Stephanie McCrummen - ‎13 hours ago‎

A Sudanese woman who works for a UN peacekeeping mission in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, is bracing to be flogged 40 times Wednesday, the penalty under ...

All 17 related articles »

Click on label - Sudan women 'lashed for trousers' - here below for related reports and latest updates.