The Chairman of the Non-Muslim Rights Commission, Joshua Dau, said that the president of the republic has ordered the Commission to produce proposals on the rights of women and Non-Muslims in the Khartoum State. Speaking to Radio Miraya, Dau said that the Commission has proposed amending 29 laws which include the definition of indecent clothing and the incidence it has on Non-Muslims.
Dau said that such power reinforces the rights of the Non-Muslims in the Khartoum State.
The Director General of Education in North Kordofan State, Ismail Maki, has said that at least five pupils died when their class collapsed in Zang area of Wad Banda. Radio Miraya Correspondent in the State said that with this death, the number of those killed by rains and floods in the State have reached 37 people.
The Correspondent said that schools were amongst the main buildings destroyed by heavy rains and floods.
Frank Wilson, World Politics Review
JUBA, Sudan -- In an exclusive interview, Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit told World Politics Review that he doesn't think "there is any point where southerners will declare a unilateral independence."
The semi-autonomous region of Southern Sudan will hold a referendum in January 2011 on whether to secede from the North. The vote is one of the final steps of a comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) signed in 2005 that ended the country's two-decade long civil war.
At a Congressional hearing (.pdf) last year, former U.S. envoy to Sudan Roger Winter said the South's ruling party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), may "be forced into unilaterally declaring its independence because its CPA-mandated referendum is frustrated by Khartoum's actions and/or the hollow commitments of the international community."
More recently, Nafie Ali Nafie, the deputy leader of Sudan's ruling political party, the National Congress Party (NCP), told reporters in Khartoum on Aug. 19 that the South's leaders are "not supportive of Sudan's unity and want to go around the country's issues." He said a unilateral declaration of independence would be "political suicide," according to local media.
In his interview with WPR, Kiir ruled out the possibility. "It is not in our agenda, and we don't think that there will be a condition that will force us in the South to declare an independent Southern Sudan without the process that we have agreed upon," he said.
Inside his office in Juba, Kiir told WPR that both sides should ensure that the referendum moves forward as agreed. "Both parties should be committed to the conduct of the referendum, freely without any hindrance," he said. "So I'm sure -- and I hope -- the referendum will be conducted according to the agreement that we have signed."
Southerners are widely expected to vote overwhelmingly for secession. If they do, a six-month interim period would follow before independence takes effect. Details surrounding the process are still being worked out by the referendum commission.
Sudan's ruling partners, the SPLM of the mostly Christian South and the NCP of the predominantly Muslim North, have been bickering over the appointment of a secretary general to the referendum commission, which will organize the vote.
Last week, both parties agreed to name a northerner to fill the position, with the deputy secretary general coming from the South. A local news outlet, the Sudan Tribune, reported that U.S. envoy Scott Gration "persuaded the SPLM's leadership to concede the position."
While officially remaining neutral as one of the backers of the CPA, the United States has been supporting the South's independence movement. The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum announced in a press release last week that it has sent retired Ambassador Princeton Lyman to Sudan to help with negotiations between the North and South before the critical vote.
Much of the discussion will focus on the boundary demarcations along the oil-rich North-South border. Oil money accounts for 93 percent of the South's budget, and the think tank, Small Arms Survey, reports (.pdf) that the South now controls about 82 percent of Sudan's oil fields.
However, the South has no oil refineries and no ports to export the oil on its own. A proposed pipeline would transport the oil south to Kenya for export, instead of sending the South's oil up to the northern-controlled city of Port Sudan as is currently the case.
"This is something we are going to talk about in the coming period," Kiir explained in the WPR interview. "In the post-referendum arrangements, there is the issue of oil, not only whether to be pumped through Port Sudan or a new pipeline going southwards. But also, do we share it with the North or don't we share it? All these things, we are going to talk about them."
But the North has been trying to stall the referendum, questioning the stability of Southern Sudan.
The U.N. recently reported that continued attacks by the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) against civilians in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and the Central African Republic have killed nearly 2,000 people and displaced another 30,000.
Kiir said the violence is not going to affect the referendum. "It is not the first time that the LRA has been killing people in Southern Sudan," he said, describing the LRA fighters as "terrorists" who "terrorize the civilian population [and] innocent people."
"There are people who are sending them," Kiir said, adding that the LRA continues to get its "logistics" from the government of Sudan's President Omar al Bashir in Khartoum. "This is something that will live with us and we'll have to sort it out," he continued.
Another security issue potentially jeopardizing the referendum is the mini-rebellion of former Sudan People's Liberation Army Gen. George Athor. The renegade general ran for governor in the country's April elections and lost. He now claims the vote was rigged. Troops loyal to Athor have since clashed with the SPLA, resulting in dozens of deaths.
"The rebellion of Gen. George Athor is not the first in the history of the world. There are people, when they lose elections, they tend to resort to rebellion, like what George Athor has done," said Kiir. "Now that he's a rebel, there are ways of bringing him back: through peaceful means, which he is resisting. And if the peaceful negotiations fail, of course, to deal with the rebels, you fight them. That is the last resort for us, and we will have to do it."
The SPLM's secretary general claimed in July that the NCP is providing material support to Athor in an attempt to destabilize the region ahead of the independence referendum.
At the swearing in of members of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission this weekend, the U.N.'s special representative in Sudan said the United Nations is "committed" to seeing the referendum carried out in "a free, fare and transparent manner." Much now depends on whether Khartoum is, too.
Frank Wilson is a freelance reporter based in Southern Sudan who also works for a non-governmental organization in Sudan. He used a pseudonym for this article to avoid potential conflicts with local authorities.
Photo: President of the Government of Southern Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit (Photo by wikimedia user Jenny Rockett, licensed under the Creative Commons ShareAlike 2.0 Unported Agreement).
The United Nations/African Union Joint mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has increased its security measures at all its bases in Darfur following an attempt by unidentified men to break into a UNAMID compound in Mellit, located approximately 65 kilometers north of El Fasher, North Darfur. However, the suspects fled when a warning siren was sounded.
In a statement released by the mission Sunday, it was stated that a similar incident took place on 26 August at the mission's teamsite in Kutum, situated roughly 100 kilometers northwest of El Fasher.
In a related development, Radio Miraya's correspondent confirmed that three Russian pilots working for Badr Airlines were kidnapped Sunday in Nyala. He also stated that for now authorities are denying knowledge of the incident.
By Scott A Morgan www.borglobe.com
We have seen the Statements by the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice regarding the horrific rapes that occurred earlier this month in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is a investigation underway by the United Nations regarding the actions taken by the Peacekeepers. But what of the United States itself?At this time the US Military is conducting training for Elements of the Congolese Army to respect Human Rights. It is indeed possible by the end of the year that a Covert Operation against the LRA could Operate on Congolese Soil. This appears to be a Cookie Cutter Solution imposed by an outside force. The Congolese People deserve better from the United States………
The Orange Democratic Party on Saturday distanced itself from the unexpected invitation of President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan during Friday’s promulgation of the new Constitution.
Even as ODM secretary-general Anyang’ Nyong’o said the blame rested squarely at the Foreign Affairs ministry, MPs have vowed to demand an explanation on Tuesday in Parliament over the surprise visit.
“We would like to assure Kenyans that ODM will do its best, as a partner in the coalition government, to obtain proper explanation from the ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Prof Nyong’o at a Press conference in Nairobi.
“We will seek to know how President Bashir came here and why the government as a whole was neither consulted nor informed before such an unfortunate invitation was issued.”
Prof Nyong’o, who was accompanied by ministers Amason Kingi (Fisheries) and James Orengo (Lands), said the issue of good neighbourliness did not stand in the way of the international law.
Co-operation with ICC
Only last year, Kenya domesticated the International Criminal Act that demands, among other things, that there has to be co-operation with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“This is definitely not a good beginning to compound a new Constitution with an act of impunity,” Mr Orengo said adding that besides the explanation, Kenya had to take full responsibility.
“We first have to give an explanation to ourselves because we broke our law that is supreme, besides violating an international agreement that we are a signatory.”
Further, a group of MPs who are members of an international lobby of Parliamentarians for Peace, led by assistant minister for Defence David Musila, said their chairman Nominated MP Musa Sirma also demanded the statement.
Mr Musila, Mr Sirma, Mr Abdul Bahari and Mr David Were said the Kibaki Administration did not include the name of President Bashir in the list of invited guests that was sent out to other dignitaries to avoid a possible backlash from the international community.
“We were shocked beyond words when we heard the master of ceremonies announce the arrival of President Bashir at Uhuru Park,” said Mr Musila.
“His name was not in the list of invited guests that we had and some of us had been assured by a government official that Sudan would be represented at the function by President of the South Mr Salva Kiir.”
The National Coordinator of the Bunge La Mwananchi George Nyongesa on Saturday protested the arrest of two people for holding a demonstration on the streets of Nairobi on Friday afternoon to demand the arrest of President Bashir.
“It is ridiculous that innocent Kenyans are gracing police cells while the real criminal is wining and dining with our President on taxpayer’s money,” he said, while demanding their release from Central Police Station where they were being held.
Addressing a news conference at Parliament Buildings yesterday under the auspices of Parliamentarians for Global Action, a lobby that campaigns for adherence to international laws, Mr Musila described the presence of Mr Bashir as a blot to the otherwise successful day for Kenya.
The MPs said their headquarters in New York had earlier sent them an alert informing them of a possible visit by President Bashir and when they sought to confirm with the Government, they were reportedly assured the Sudanese leader would not be visiting.
The MPs called for an immediate explanation from the government. The MPs were concerned that the presence of Bashir in Nairobi would send a message to The Hague that Kenya would not cooperate with the ICC to arrest key suspects of the post-election violence.
Imenti Central MP Gitobu Imanyara said the Bashir issue would make the country face unnecessary international scrutiny.
He also said the visit was not made public and the government had questions to answer.
“This brings into question our commitment into bringing to justice perpetrators of the 2007 post-election violence and the government’s commitment to Agenda 4 reforms,” said Imanyara.
Mr Wetang’ula confirmed that President Bashir had been invited by the Kenya Government which he said had already made its position known that it would abide by the African Union decision to defy any indictment facing a sitting President (Daily Nation).
The Commissioner of Nasir County of Upper Nile State, Dak Tab Chuol, has said that the security situation in the county is stable after the incident of cattle raid. Speaking to Radio Miraya, Chuol, said that the security authorities discovered the looted cattle and returned them to their owners. However, he said that the County is in need of health and educational services.
The Chairman of the Local Administration of the Messiriya, Nuer and Dinka tribes, Bashtana Mohamed Salim, said that the Messiriya welcomed the organizing of the Peaceful Coexistence Conference in Abyei area. He added that the conference is an initiative from the African Organization-main stream. Salim told Miraya that the purpose of the conference is to discuss the disputed issues and how to solve them.
Khartoum, Aug. 23 (SUNA)- President of the Republic, Field Marshal Omer Al-Bashir, announced that the government campaign for the referendum will be launched from south Sudan in accordance with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which stipulated that the two partners of the agreement shall work for the unity of Sudan
He affirmed the government pledge to provide all the requirements for the campaign and acquainting the southern citizen with the importance of unity and the risks of the separation, stressing that the majority of the southerners are supporting to the unity
Authors: SUNA - Sudan News Agency English Latest News
By Justin Ambago Ramba, MD
No postponement of the referendum.
August 23, 2010 (SSNA) -- Many international observers including the Sudanese themselves have since long warned against the slow pace at which the Sudanese Presidency is moving around implementing the different parts of the CPA. Time and time again it has also been brought to the notice of the Khartoum NIF dominated government that the referendum cannot be delayed as the interim constitution has no room for any such extension, all to no avail.
However on the other hand it cannot be overstressed that the CPA has brought them much closer than ever before to their national dream of an independence south Sudan nation. At this particular moment in history as a struggling people, there is a need to stick together for the timely implementation of the remaining issues on the paper. There is also a need to show to the international community that we are doing our best until we reach the 9th of January 2011. The GoSS and the SSLA and the entire population of south Sudan are clearly against any postponement to the referendum, how little that maybe. Worrying though is the conceding pattern that has come to dominate Salva Kiir’s leadership records.
My sincere hope is that the SPLM and the NCP realise the fact that a delay to the referendum is not an option for the south, and that the hopes and expectations of the people of south Sudan are so pinned on that date that it would be dangerous to postpone it because the level of frustration and disappointment would be too high for anybody to manage. I also hope that the President Omer al Bashir appreciates the protection that he enjoys as a result of the CPA against his crimes committed in Darfur. However his recent behaviours may cause this protection to wean out faster, thus making him more vulnerable to appear before the ICC before long.
Today the panicky NIF/NCP gurus and ideologues can be seen crisscrossing the whole length and width of the Sudan as if it was only in the August of the year 2010 that lastly the Self Determination clauses in the CPA are beginning to sink into the bigoted northern mindset. It is all about keeping up appearances, which is well summarised in Ali Osman Taha’s speech to the members of the Ansar Al Sunna Islamic Sect in Khartoum when he said, “We are never going to surrender to the campaigns that portray the secession of the south as inevitable. We will continue to work to retain the unity of this country till the last minute”, (al Sharq al Awsat).
Somewhere in a report written Nurelddin Satti (ret) UNISCO consultant, he was quoted to have said that the NCP are will to cooperate more in avoiding any return to wars with the south should the result of the 2011 referendum come anything short of secession. (Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars –AFRICA, August 2010). In another similar development as if the south needs a reminding on how the north have thrived through the political bullying of the other Sudanese, Nafie Ali Nafie, a senior advisor to president Omer al Bashir, wasted no time in warning the SPLM against any unilateral declaration of independence by the South Sudan legislative Assembly (SSLA) as an alternative to the referendum. He emphasized that such an attempt by the SPLM would amount to "political suicide".
Considering the common background from which these bigoted and chauvinistic Islamists of the NIF/NCP crept into the mainstream of Sudan’s politics, the fate of this country will continue to exist on the balance. Anybody of average sensibility can never fail to see the apparent justification to conclude that these guys’ understanding of the rest of the country has been negatively prejudiced by a false sense of superiority which unfortunately is built of the evils of the gross Socio-economic disparities of the Sudan, which gave the Arab riveran’ elites their present day status quo.
In line with the aforementioned reasoning, the NCP Secretary for Organizations Qutbi Al-Mahdi, found it completely uncomfortable to accept the newly adopted position of the SANU chairman who changed from championing a campaign for unity barely two weeks ago to a new position that is supportive of the independence of the South per the press release signed by Dr. Toby Maduot Parek Machar personally (Sudan Tribune 20th august 2010).
"This party has lost the road since a long time ago and its current leadership is unable to continue to walk on the line adopted by the party founder, William Deng and his colleagues who argued that the federal system is the best solution." Qutbi AL-Mahdi said.
However Qutbi himself was quick to acknowledge the overwhelming support for secession and Independence that exists in the South, when he went on to say.
“SANU leaders could not walk on with the idea and finally gave in to the general atmosphere prevailing in the south”, Qutbi further stressed.
From what can be gathered so far, it is clear that the SPLM and its slippery partners in the NCP are so much getting consumed most of the time in keeping up appearances. Many things are already happening which are primarily intended to compromise the outcome of the referendum if not straight away deny the people of south Sudan they constitutional right to Self Determination as stipulated in the 2005 CPA.
On August 23, 2010 the online Sudan Tribune Daily runs this report: — “The Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) has agreed to let a Northerner hold the post of the Secretary General of the referendum commission, multiple sources told Sudan Tribune”. This though is a disappointment to the southern masses, however it serves as a reminder first as to what SPLM can and cannot do. Secondly it also teaches us a lesson to vividly see what unity with the Arab north entails. They get the top positions and the rest are forever resigned to lower jobs.
Every peace loving nation of the world and their silent citizens may be held accountable as they stand by while the NCP and their fellow Arab allies are allowed to openly conspire using the states’ manipulative machinery with the sole intent of rigging the will of the people of south Sudan. It is nowhere more apparent that the NCP is working to pre-fix the results of the referendum more than when it resorts to engage in psychological warfare with the SPLM over the latter’s position on unity.
However the realities of things are beginning to surface one by one proving that the North – South confrontations were wrongly assumed to have been brought under control by the power and wealth sharing agreements between the two traditional foes. The more we approach the end of the CPA period; the more the truth about the truce is undoubting beginning to reveal every bit that was taken for granted while the two sides were hurried up in 2005 to seal a deal.
The CPA remains threatened and vulnerable given the worrying fact that President Omer al Bashir and his dominant NCP are beginning to feel uneasy towards the anticipated pro- secession victory in the coming referendum. Even more disturbing is their irritating attitude in engaging with the citizens of the south in what clearly says that unless the north is sure of maintaining the unity of the Sudan, otherwise it won’t allow the conduct of the referendum to proceed. This confirms the scepticism of many who never trusted the NCP to live to honour the CPA especially that it declares in the most an unequivocal terms the Right of the people of south Sudan to Self Determination.
‘Political Suicide’, or not, it is imperative for Nafie Ali Nafie to realise that the real suicide about to be committed by his NCP is if the Presidency fails to secure an on time referendum. This is equally important for his boss president al Bashir and his several aides that any return to north-south war will see an all out war in the whole Sudan. With the different people of the South, the Nuba Mountains, the Southern Blue Nile and the Beja Eastern Front, all confronting Khartoum, the northern Arab riverans should be prepared to fight in the four geographical directions if they are to retain power in Khartoum. Never again will Khartoum thrive in the luxury of killing two birds with one stone when it used the people of Darfur, Kordofan and Eastern Sudan as war fodders in its Holy War against the South.
The author of this article: Dr. Justin Ambago Ramba, MB, BCh, DRH, MD is a South Sudanese residing in the United Kingdom. He can be reached at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
