---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Fri, 2 Sep 2011 11:09:00 +0300 Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fw: The Republic of Sudan: Crisis Within To: Group <[email protected]>
The two-month old rump Republic of Sudan now has three simultaneous civil wars: Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. As attention shifts to the latter, let the others not be forgotten. John BEGIN 1. The Republic of Sudan: Crisis Within Arjun Sethi, Litigation associate, Covington & Burling LLP Posted: 9/1/11 05:31 PM ET Huffington Post The Republic of Sudan's recent decision to permit UN relief agencies into South Kordofan for a humanitarian assessment is a smokescreen. The international community must demand more, including unfettered humanitarian access to the region as well as an independent investigation into accusations that the ruling National Congress Party and its military wing committed war crimes and crimes against humanity against South Kordofan's Nuba population. Lost in the international celebration accompanying the formal secession of the Republic of South Sudan is the human tragedy unfolding just across the border in South Kordofan, a state in the North. The violence stems from years of repression experienced by the Nuba, the largest ethnic group in South Kordofan. Khartoum historically discriminated against the Nuba, prompting them to align with Southerners and their revolutionary party, the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement, during Sudan's civil war. Under the January 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the Nuba were promised a free election, followed by a consultation with their elected leaders. This was supposed to be a channel for them to raise grievances and discuss their political future. After years of delay, South Kordofan's gubernatorial election was held in May amid political tensions between the NCP and SPLM. Violence quickly erupted. Soon the UN mission reported that the NCP's military wing had committed major human rights atrocities against the Nuba, including targeted killings, attacks on churches and dwellings and indiscriminate aerial bombardments. The report also referred to a "list" of Nuba wanted for being sympathetic to the SPLM. My client, Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail, who is responsible for all Episcopal parishioners in South Kordofan, is believed to be on this list. He was in the United States when the violence began and he remains under our protection as he applies for political asylum. The UNHCR corroborated the UN mission's findings earlier this month. That violence began to flare in South Kordofan just prior to the creation of the Republic of South Sudan is not particularly surprising. What is surprising is the lack of international attention to protect the people of South Kordofan. The humanitarian assessment currently underway is at best futile or at worse a distraction. The UN agencies are working under local supervision and do not have unfettered access to the region. Moreover, the government is still banning free access to humanitarian aid and has threatened to shoot down UN flights over South Kordofan. Likewise, the recommendations of the UN agencies could be mitigated or perhaps even vetoed by a Sudanese government task force specifically created to monitor the crisis. This is to say nothing of the human rights crisis in South Kordofan. Khartoum's UN envoy has suggested that the decision to allow the humanitarian assessment disproves the human right abuse allegations. The international community should ignore this self-serving rhetoric and, in addition to demanding unfettered humanitarian access, must demand access to preserve evidence of human rights abuses and vow to prosecute those responsible for the abuses. Secession may be an appropriate tool to address ethnic, religious or political disenfranchisement with a central government. But it must be accompanied by durable measures to protect minority communities who are abandoned on the other side of the border. Here, the 2005 peace agreement and its lackluster provisions concerning popular consultations were never enough to protect the Nuba. A focus on succession and borders can also unwittingly exacerbate extremist elements. This appears to be happening in the Republic of Sudan, where some are calling for a "purified" Republic consisting exclusively of Arab Muslims. The crisis in South Kordofan is far from over. Both President Bashir, and the NCP governor of South Kordofan, Ahmed Mohammed Haroun, have a proven track record of human rights abuses. Both men were previously indicted by the ICC for war crimes and crimes against humanity, and some analysts have suggested that the violence in South Kordofan parallels the violence that characterized the early days of Darfur, a campaign masterminded by Haroun. In addition, the violence in South Kordofan has disrupted the planting season which may lead to a deadly famine in the coming months. Khartoum can no longer be permitted to act with impunity. The international community must respond strongly to facilitate an end to this crisis by demanding unobstructed humanitarian and human rights access to South Kordofan. Arjun Sethi is an attorney at Covington & Burling LLP and currently serves as counsel to Bishop Andudu Adam Elnail. Bishop Andudu is the Episcopal Bishop for South Kordofan, Sudan and also serves as the Sudanese Episcopal Church's National Chairman of Interfaith. With Arjun's assistance, Bishop Andudu is applying for political asylum in the United States because of the crisis currently unfolding in South Kordofan. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arjun-sethi/the-republic-of-sudan-cri_b_945714.html END1 2. Sudan rebels say Khartoum using food as a weapon Thu Sep 1, 2011 11:14am GMT * Rebels also say Khartoum govt breaks own ceasefire * Khartoum denies accusations * Conflict in area of border with new state of South Sudan JUBA, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Rebels from South Kordofan, Sudan's main oil-producing state, accused Khartoum on Thursday of using food as a weapon against the Nuba community and breaking its own ceasefire, charges denied by the Sudanese government. Fighting broke out between the rebel Sudan People's Liberation North (SPLM-N) and government forces in June. The region is viewed one of several flashpoints along the border with newly independent South Sudan, which seceded from the rest of the country in July following a referendum in which southerners voted for a split. Rebels in South Kordofan want a no-fly zone over the Nuba mountains to stop what rights groups call indiscriminate bombing of civilians, which has killed at least 26, injured at least 46 and caused some 150,000 to flee their homes. "The use of food as a weapon is the most effective weapon they used against the Darfurians," SPLM-N deputy chairman Abdelaziz el-Helu told Reuters by telephone from South Kordofan. He was referring to Darfur in west Sudan, where the government has also fought with rebels. "Now they are bombing (Nuba) civilians on their farms and preventing them from tending to their crops, so that in the next dry season people are hungry and will be forced to take refuge in the towns and then isolate the SPLM-N," he said. Rights groups say many families have sought shelter under boulders and in caves, and are eating wild berries and leaves. Sudan's army denied the charges and said rebels had closed roads and prevented aid from reaching people. An army spokesman said the government was working with local and international groups in South Kordofan's capital Kadugli to deliver aid. "The army does not carry out aerial bombardment of civilians. It does not violate human rights. It is not possible to ever use food as a weapon," army spokesman Al-Sowarny Khaled Saad told Reuters. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) fought alongside its southern counterpart against Khartoum during the civil war in which some two million people died. The peace deal in 2005 led to the referendum on secession. A report by the United Nations human rights office in August documented alleged violations by the Sudanese army in Kadugli and the surrounding Nuba mountains including extrajudicial killings, illegal detention, enforced disappearances, attacks on civilians, looting of homes and mass displacement. The reports, "if substantiated, could amount to crimes against humanity or war crimes", the U.N. report said. Sudan's government dismissed the report as "unfounded" and "malicious" and said last week it would form its own committee to assess the human rights situation there. Sudan sent a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday accusing South Sudan of supporting the SPLM-N, a charge the south denies. Helu described the two-week ceasefire declared on Aug. 22 by Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir as a "deception for the international community." "There is no ceasefire. Bashir is not serious. He declared a ceasefire from one side and he is the first one to violate it the next day by sending airplanes, especially Antonovs and MiGs," Helu said. He accused Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes committed in Darfur, of using the ceasefire to buy time in order to prepare a bigger offensive. "We want protection for civilians from aerial bombardment. If a no-fly zone is imposed to protect the civilians, we are ready to defend civilians from ground attacks," he said, also calling for access for humanitarian aid. (Additional reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz in Khartoum; Editing by Edmund Blair and Mark Heinrich) http://af.reuters.com/article/sudanNews/idAFL5E7K10SL20110901?sp=true END2 3. U.S. Urges Sudan To Halt Southern Kordofan Bombings 9/1/2011 7:32 AM ET (RTTNews) - The United States has urged the Government of Sudan to adhere to its commitment to a unilateral two-week ceasefire and to immediately cease aerial bombings of civilian areas in Southern Kordofan. In a statement issued on Wednesday, U.S. State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said the United States remains deeply concerned about reports of continued bombings by the Sudanese Air Force. It also expressed concern over allegations of support from the Government of South Sudan to military forces aligned with Sudan People's Liberation Movement--North in Southern Kordofan. The United States called on both sides to allow unfettered humanitarian access to affected populations in Southern Kordofan and urged the parties to resume formal negotiations to reach a permanent cessation of hostilities and a political settlement. by RTT Staff Writer http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1704730&SM=1 END3 ______________________ 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. 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