---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Fri, 26 Aug 2011 11:19:08 +0300 Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fw: A letter from the Nuba Mountains To: Group <[email protected]>
It seems rather bizarre that the USA is calling on SPLM-N to join the cease-fire (article 3, below) when there are indications from the ground that Khartoum itself is not honoring its self-declared truce. One would have thought a prior call to Khartoum to do so might be appropriate. In article 4 below, Sudan's UN Ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman is still trying to perpetrate the myth that it is southern forces which are fighting in South Kordofan: "there have undoubtedly been numerous casualties in the region but [he] said they were caused by the army of newly independent South Sudan". There are no southern forces there. This is a northern civil war between Nuba (who are indigenous to the Republic of Sudan) and the forces of the Khartoum regime. John BEGIN 1. E-mail dated 25th August 2011 from the Nuba Mountains, forwarded to me: "I wanted to write you earlier but the sun didn't come out early and the solar didn't charge. Therefore I left for a meeting, then off to market and am back just now. You were damn right about Bashir, he is a big liar indeed. The truce he announce was a big play, cease-fire my ass (excuse my french)!! Today around 05:10 a.m and while everybody was sleep, a huge sound of antonov woke all up. Jesus, we run to the hide-out some with only underwear, lucky enough, it didn't bomb and after it pass, people went to bed back but am sure no one slept again. Tried to get in touch with people to know which place were attacked but till now no available information. Perhaps, later, I will get some and feedback you. You know, it is very hard for me to understand why the government is using MIG and antonov against civilians?!! And how the hell a country use such weapons to fight one ethnic group and only one state?? For me, Antonov is not a weapon that should be used for civilian. It is a cargo plane, full of barrel that loaded with metal, steel, knife, car junks, expaired spare parts, etc.... and stiffed with gunpowder and dynamite. Try to imagine with me the voice of barrel when it dropped from the plane at 8-10 thousand feet. voooooooooooo and then boooooooooooom. Can you feel the fear of the people specaily children? For us we run to the hide out if we are at offices or home or we lie down at streams or just lie in the open space face-down to avoid any injury to face, eye or throat... although is not guaranteed. But what about the old people (grandmas and grandpas)? How they can run? What about kids and we both know that neither both can be faster than the plane or the bomb itself. After the antonov passed by at 05:10 a.m I stared thinking of the moms who got four or more kids, how they act?? How a mom can carry four kids and take all of them to the hideout?? How the kids feel and how traumatize they can be? If I'm still young, I do find difficulties to take care of myself sometimes what about those poor ladies??? Most of the educated people here (including me) we grow up in the cities and never suffered but people in Nuba Mountains generally suffered alot. Most of the Nubas still live in small mudy houses, get water from hand-pump, eat from what they plant during rainy season and if they are lucky enough, they will have cows, goats or ships. I wonder what they have done to be treated like this?? Women and children are traumatized and they will need a long way to heal. Sometimes, antonov pass by just to scare the people and prevent them from cultivating/working at farms, the season will fail and people will suffer from hunger as soon as the current stock finish. A bad scenario is expected as the international community did not manage/find a way to deliver relief. All above, didn't De-moralize us, we still keep the spirit, meet our colleagues at the market, make fun at each other and on our reactions during antonov visit specially when the hideouts become full of water after the rain. when people jump inside, they come out covered with mud and dirty water. We chat when able take care of each. Sorry for taking you long but this is what I planned to do early today. Just keep showing to other activists/journalists that Bashir is a lair and NCP are just playing games. They won't be serious and they will never be." END1 2. Sudan's unfinished business: fighting in Southern Kordofan South Sudan has gained independence but in Sudan the conflict continues in the contested border state of Southern Kordofan, and the UN has compiled reports of atrocities Posted by Sara Pantuliano Thursday 25 August 2011 07.00 BST guardian.co.uk While the world focused on the historic creation of the state of South Sudan last month, UN officials and investigators were busy compiling reports of atrocities in Southern Kordofan, a contested border state in north Sudan. It is partly populated by Nuba communities – who took up arms alongside the Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) during Sudan's long-running civil war. The investigations, one published by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (pdf) (OHCHR) and the other leaked from the UN Mission in Sudan (Unmis), conclude that serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law were committed after conflict erupted in Southern Kordofan on 5 June between the government of Sudan and the northern remnant of the SPLM/A, now referred to as the SPLM/A North (SPLM/A-N). The 2005 comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) between the government of Sudan and the SPLM ended decades of north-south civil war but failed to make adequate provision for the border regions in the north of Sudan where many had fought alongside the southern forces. In Southern Kordofan in particular, the process of administrative and military integration between the government and the local branches of the SPLM/A was never genuinely realised. The resurgence of conflict in Southern Kordofan did not take Sudan observers by surprise. But the brutality in the first few weeks was chilling. The UN reports contain a catalogue of atrocities, including extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, disappearances and looting. An estimated 200,000 people have been displaced after daily bombardments of densely populated civilian areas by the Sudanese military. The reports describe how civilians fleeing the violence sought refuge where there was none – first, in the police compound; then in the churches; then in the "protective perimeter" established next to the UN compound in Kadugli, where thousands sought protection. The reports document how Unmis was unable or unwilling to intervene as armed men entered the perimeter site targeting ethnic Nuba and those suspected of SPLM/A-N affiliation. They also document how local Unmis staff were dragged from their vehicles and detained. Unmis's mandate expired on 9 July, the date of South Sudan's independence, and peacekeepers and civilian staff have started withdrawing from Southern Kordofan. Most international aid organisations have also left the area or have withdrawn staff following the outbreak of the fighting. Each side accuses the other of starting the conflict and dragging the region back into war. Khartoum's enemies accuse it of ethnic cleansing against Nubas, and speak of another Darfur. Khartoum accuses South Sudan of sponsoring a campaign to further undermine President Omar al-Bashir – already indicted by the international criminal court for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. The Sudanese government has rebutted the OHCHR's findings, as no UN human rights monitors were able to conduct field investigations. As the propaganda war escalates, it is essential that independent investigators are allowed in by both parties, in order to establish what has happened in Southern Kordofan since 5 June. Khartoum announced last Saturday that it will permit six UN agencies to take part in a government-organised mission to Southern Kordofan to assess the human rights situation and humanitarian needs. This is a welcome move, as is Tuesday's declaration by the government of a two-week unilateral ceasefire. However, the presence of government officials on the assessment mission means that there is a danger access will be restricted to areas under government control, and that the human rights investigation will be constrained. Regarding the humanitarian assessment, it is vital that humanitarian organisations be allowed to access areas controlled by the SPLM/A-N. Displaced people in these areas have so far been assisted by local aid workers using the minimal relief supplies left behind by international organisations. These stocks have now been exhausted, and conditions will further deteriorate as hunger increases and respiratory diseases are exacerbated by the rains. All parties to the conflict must grant unimpeded access for humanitarian organisations, to enable them to reach affected populations. Many Nuba in Southern Kordofan were victims of a 13-year de facto humanitarian blockade during the civil war. This denial of aid must not happen again. While safe access for aid agencies must be a priority, the key to resolving humanitarian issues lies in reaching a negotiated solution to the conflict. The previous conflict in the area has shown how difficult it would be for either party to achieve a total military victory. A lasting political solution to the conflict, which addresses its root causes, is critical for the long-term security and stability of both Sudan and South Sudan. Two comments posted to this Guardian story: John Ashworth: Excellent article by Sara, who knows what she is talking about. She has apparently been overtaken by events now, though, as President Bashir has reportedly announced that international agencies will not be allowed in for an assessment. Instead only the Sudanese Red Crescent will be allowed access. Their credibility is already in question after government security agents impersonated SRC staff in the early period of the South Kordofan civil war, and they are now being linked by the Satellite Sentinel Project to the apparent mass graves which have been discovered. Peter Moszynski: "conditions will further deteriorate as hunger increases and respiratory diseases are exacerbated by the rains." Sara is right: the already dire humanitarian situation could seriously deteriorate in the next few months unless concerted international action is taken immediately. Now is the onset of the annual pre-harvest "hungry season" and next October's harvest will be disastrous, given the disruption to agriuclture caused by the outbreak of conflict and mass displacement at the start of planting. I wonder if the Sudanese Armed Forces offer of a temporary ceasefire at this point is connected to their recent disastrous military performance since the onset of the rains. If Khartoum is determined to pacify the Nuba Mountains by force, it can only really attempt this during the dry season, when it has the military advantage. http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/poverty-matters/2011/aug/25/sudan-unfinished-business-southern-kordofan END2 3. US calls on SPLM-N to join S. Kordofan truce August 25, 2011 (WASHINGTON) – The United States called on the northern sector of Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM-N) to join the two-weeks truce declared by president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir in South Kordofan this week. The oil-rich state has been the scene of intense fighting between Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and SPLA since early June. Each side blamed the other for provoking the fighting. UN estimates that at least 200,000 people in South Kordofan have been killed, injured or forced to flee their homes and lands since the fighting erupted. A UN report this month documented wide-ranging atrocities it alleges were committed by the SAF and its allied paramilitary forces during South Kordofan’s conflict. The report said that the actions could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, calling for an independent probe into the situation. But as the fighting dragged on, Khartoum appeared to soften its stance and expressed readiness to hold talks with SPLM-N for a negotiated settlement. Bashir has scrapped a framework agreement brokered last June by the African Union in Ethiopia that would have paved the way for a ceasefire. He called on SAF to continue military operations and arrest the state’s former deputy governor Abdel-Aziiz al-Hilu who is also the SPLA leader there. But on Tuesday Bashir unexpectedly announced a temporary ceasefire for two weeks. The U.S. state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on Thursday said Bashir’s move is a positive one. "This week’s announcement by the Government of Sudan to establish a two-week unilateral ceasefire in Sudan’s Southern Kordofan state is a positive initial step toward bringing stability and relief to those affected by violence since early June" Nuland said in a statement. "The United States strongly urges the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North to show the same leadership and declare a two week ceasefire as well" she added. The U.S. official added that "the parties must immediately return to talks to agree to a full cessation of hostilities and a resolution of the political future of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile." She said the voided agreement inked in Addis Ababa "is a strong foundation for these talks" and also stressed that Khartoum "must allow immediate and full access to humanitarian organizations so that they can provide much needed relief to the people of Southern Kordofan". Bashir’s truce declaration was coupled with his instructions that no foreign NGO’s are to be allowed into the state. Nuland further said that the US supports the call by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for a full investigation of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in Southern Kordofan. "Those responsible for attacks on civilians must be held accountable for their actions" she said. But today the Sudanese foreign ministry issued a statement saying that Khartoum rejects the UN report saying that it sought to reach a set conclusion through inserting "false" and "misleading" information and using a flawed methodology. It claimed that non-existent localities were included in the report and that it sought to place the blame entirely on SAF while ignoring the other side. (ST) END3 4. Sudan says no proof of mass graves in conflict area Wed Aug 24, 2011 4:53pm GMT * Report: Two new mass graves found in Southern Kordofan * UN: violence in region may be crimes against humanity By Louis Charbonneau UNITED NATIONS, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Sudan's U.N. envoy dismissed fresh allegations by a U.S. group that says it has identified a total of eight mass graves in the African country's conflict-ridden Southern Kordofan region. The Washington-based Satellite Sentinel Project said in a report released on Wednesday that it discovered two more mass graves in the oil-rich Southern Kordofan state in addition to six it had reported previously. "There is no proof of mass graves there," Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Daffa-Alla Elhag Ali Osman told Reuters. Osman added that there have undoubtedly been numerous casualties in the region but said they were caused by the army of newly independent South Sudan, which seceded from Khartoum last month. Southern Kordofan holds most of Sudan's known oil reserves after the south split away and took its oilfields with it. Activists have accused Khartoum of launching airstrikes and attacks in Southern Kordofan, targeting the state's ethnic Nuba group, in a bid to stamp out opposition and assert its authority after South Sudan's independence. The United Nations said tens of thousands have fled the violence in the territory, which borders South Sudan. Sudan's government has dismissed the accusations and accused local armed groups, many of which fought alongside the south during decades of civil war with the north, of launching a rebellion to try to control the territory. LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE Osman said people should focus on positive developments, such as the unannounced visit of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to Southern Kordofan on Tuesday. Bashir, indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity in Darfur, announced a unilateral two-week ceasefire. "People should concentrate on what is positive," he said. "What has happened has happened." Bashir also said that foreign organizations would not be allowed into Southern Kordofan and that any aid would be delivered only through the Sudanese Red Crescent organization. But the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) said the Sudanese Red Crescent has been digging mass graves and burying bodies. "The Sudanese Red Crescent Society excavated mass graves and filled them with corpses in South Kordofan, according to evidence gathered by SSP," the group said "The evidence includes eyewitness reports obtained by SSP, and statements from the SRCS, substantiated by DigitalGlobe satellite imagery," it said. The SSP report also includes what it says is an official Sudanese Red Crescent photo of the body disposal team. A U.N. human rights office report last week documented alleged violations in the state capital Kadugli and surrounding Nuba mountains, including extrajudicial killings, illegal detention, enforced disappearances, attacks against civilians, looting of homes and mass displacement. Such violence, if substantiated, could amount to crimes against humanity or war crimes, the United Nations said. The United Nations said it could not confirm the SSP report. "The U.N. doesn't have a mandate anymore there, so it's not possible for us right now to verify these allegations," spokeswoman Vannina Maestracci told reporters. She noted that U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay had so far been unable to get access to South Kordofan. Since July 9, when the UNMIS peacekeeping mission's mandate expired, the 10,000-strong U.N. force that monitored compliance with a fragile 2005 north-south Sudan peace deal cannot carry out regular patrols and is being forced to withdraw. (Editing by Vicki Allen) http://af.reuters.com/article/sudanNews/idAFN1E77N10J20110824?sp=true END4 5. "Yet More Compelling Evidence of Atrocity Crimes in South Kordofan" Three more mass gravesites identified by the Satellite Sentinel Project, along with clear evidence of advance planning by Khartoum for the slaughter in Kadugli Eric Reeves August 25, 2011 The most recent report on atrocity crimes in South Kordofan was published on Tuesday, August 23, by the Satellite Sentinel Project ("Special report: evidence of burial of human remains in Kadugli"). It provides compelling evidence---satellite photography and eyewitness accounts---of three additional mass gravesites in and around Kadugli, capital of South Kordofan, and scene of well-documented attacks on the Nuba ethnic group. The UN High Commission for Human Rights has released its own report, which also presents compelling evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity (the un-redacted and more revealing version is available here). The weak head of UNHCHR, Navi Pillay, has declared that it is "essential [that] there is an independent, thorough and objective inquiry with the aim of holding perpetrators to account"; she has been echoed in this insistence by other senior UN officials and diplomats from member states. But as I've recently argued, this will be adamantly refused by Khartoum; and---protected by China on the UN Security Council---the National Islamic Front/National Congress Party regime will be in a position to reject any non-consensual investigation. This will be an extraordinary moment of political and moral clarity for the world body, and for whatever remains of the ideal of a "responsibility to protect." There will simply be no way in which to finesse international failure to investigate at this moment, with such compelling evidence. To be sure, Khartoum has now offered the UN the opportunity for a brief "assessment mission" in South Kordofan, which will be strictly controlled by the Sudan Armed Forces and Military Intelligence; it will be a thoroughly sanitized view. At the same time the regime has created a new "committee" charged with monitoring the situation in South Kordofan. This will be the ongoing reply to any further insistence on the need for an independent human rights investigation. Accepting this "assessment mission" and Khartoum's factitious monitoring committee in place of the demanded independent and thorough investigation will be to admit the most abject failure. What gives special importance to this new report from the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP), in addition to the evidence it provides, is the editorial comment that accompanies it. This "Note from the Editor" makes clear just how perversely unwilling the Obama administration has been to accept the overwhelming evidence of mass gravesites and extensive atrocity crimes in Kadugli, including widespread, ethnically-targeted human destruction. This has entailed what is finally no more than a feckless and disingenuous skepticism, deployed for reasons of diplomatic expediency rather than any reasoned concern about pre-judging the situation on the ground. The "Note from the Editor" provides a brief, perspicuous survey of all the evidence now available, and thus provides a devastating account of how untenable the Obama administration's continuing skepticism and counter-claims have become. It also provides clear evidence that the Khartoum regime had prepared in advance for the mass killings that began on June 5: "Statements and press releases by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the SRCS, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have also confirmed that mass body recovery and disposal operations have been occurring in Kadugli. A 1 July report released by IFRC verifies the SRCS, reportedly acting on instructions from the Government of South Kordofan, has been actively collecting dead bodies in Kadugli town, and had at least 415 body bags and 2,000 plastic tarps recently transferred to it from the IFRC prior to the fighting in June. By the end of June, the SRCS was publicly saying it needed more body bags." (emphasis added) In this context, the conclusion to this "Note from the Editor" has an inescapable authority: "It is now two months since reports of the systematic killing of civilians in Kadugli by Government of Sudan-aligned forces first emerged. The debate continues about what further steps the US and the international community should take in response to the gross violations of human rights that have been reported. What should no longer be debated, however, is that these alleged crimes, including mass killing and subsequent mass burial of the dead, have happened and continue to occur." ********************************** Editor’s Note Satellite Sentinel Project, August 23, 2011 "Special report: evidence of burial of human remains in Kadugli" The Satellite Sentinel Project's (SSP) identification on 14 July 2011 of a cluster of white bundles in Kadugli as consistent with human remains wrapped in white plastic tarps or body bags was controversial at the time. Although publicly questioned by a U.S. government official, it has now been established by SSP through the collection of additional imagery and eyewitness reports. This report presents more visual evidence and new information by eyewitnesses who spoke directly to SSP of the collection and burial of human remains wrapped in tarps and/or body bags by the Sudanese Red Crescent Society (SRCS). The bundles were buried at an additional two new apparent mass graves in and around Kadugli. To date, SSP has identified a total of eight mass graves in and around Kadugli, as well as evidence of corpses wrapped in what appear to be body bags and/or tarps at four sites. Also, SSP's imagery of apparent mass graves has been reviewed by Stefan Schmitt, International Forensic Program Director for Physicians for Human Rights, who has concluded that the images "provide enough credible evidence to suggest the presence of mass graves." Despite the visual evidence corroborating the eyewitness accounts, as well as images of three mounds consistent with reported mass graves nearby, the US government claimed that SSP's satellite imagery provided "no clear evidence of mass graves." In a 20 July 2011 Washington Post article, "US Government Cannot Confirm Mass Graves in Sudan," a US government official stated that, "What they (SSP) identify as body bags, we see those same items in those same places before the fighting started." The US government has released no eyewitness report or imagery in support of its assertion. SSP has determined, though, that these same items were not present in those same places on 7 June or 17 June or 20 July. Since the 14 July report, SSP has published reports from additional eyewitnesses who have seen corpses wrapped in what appear to be white body bags or white plastic tarps. And satellite imagery shows the dumping and subsequent burials of what appear to be white bundles of human dimensions, wrapped in some sort of tarps, and bent in the shapes of the letters "C" or "J," consistent with human bodies bent at the waist or knees, on a remote, wooded mountainside. Statements and press releases by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the SRCS, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have also confirmed that mass body recovery and disposal operations have been occurring in Kadugli. A 1 July report released by IFRC verifies the SRCS, reportedly acting on instructions from the Government of South Kordofan, has been actively collecting dead bodies in Kadugli town, and had at least 415 body bags and 2,000 plastic tarps recently transferred to it from the IFRC prior to the fighting in June. By the end of June, the SRCS was publicly saying it needed more body bags. This, paired with a 7 July statement by the ICRC stating that it "provided Sudanese Red Crescent emergency action teams with technical advice on the management of dead bodies, and with the body bags they needed to recover the dead," corroborates SSP’s assertion that the white or light-colored objects are consistent with body bags. Eyewitnesses have described to SSP seeing a yellow front-end loader with a backhoe digging mass graves in and around Kadugli at sites in which an SRCS Land Cruiser and SRCS workers were also present. One eyewitness described a yellow excavator digging two pits at a site where men dressed in a manner consistent with SRCS workers subsequently threw bodies into the pits. These eyewitness reports, obtained by SSP, are consistent with a statement to the press by the executive director of the South Kordofan branch of SCRS that the locality of Kadugli provided the SRCS corpse management team with "a loader for excavation." It is now two months since reports of the systematic killing of civilians in Kadugli by Government of Sudan-aligned forces first emerged. The debate continues about what further steps the US and the international community should take in response to the gross violations of human rights that have been reported. What should no longer be debated, however, is that these alleged crimes, including mass killing and subsequent mass burial of the dead, have happened and continue to occur. [footnotes in PDF at http://www.satsentinel.org/reports ] END5 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. 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