Yesterday, November 23rd, marked the International Day to End Impunity, a day to demand justice for the hundreds of journalists worldwide who have been murdered because of their work. A free and open press is vital for the growth and development of a democratic society.
Sudan is notorious for its lack of free speech. One of the most high profile cases to emerge in recent years was the case of Lubna Hussein in 2009; though Lubna is a journalist, she was arrested by Sudan's Pulbic Order Regime police for wearing trousers and sentenced to forty lashes after refusing on principle to pay a fine. Ten journalists who reported Lubna's case inside Sudan were subsequently imprisoned also.
The worlds newest state, South Sudan, a mere five months old, is already displaying a worrying tendency to imprison journalists critical of the government. Only this week, two journalists were released after being imprisoned for two weeks, just for writing an editorial which criticised the South Sudanese President.
There are many more cases, too numerous to cite here, of journalists being persecuted and prosecuted for merely doing their job and carrying out an invaluable democratic service. We should all defend press freedom; without it, we have no society.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
US warns South Sudan against supporting SPLM-N; meanwhile Congress representatives call for policy shift towards Sudan
Yesterday the US demanded South Sudan cease giving any assistance or support to the SPLM-N, who are fighting against the Republic of Sudan in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
The message came during a visit to Juba and Khartoum by the White House Deputy National Security Advisor Denis Mc Donough which began last week. A statement released by the National Security Council furthered it was neccessary for South Sudan to respect the sovereignty of the Republic of Sudan and not provoke an inter-state conflict by providing support to rebel groups fighting within another state.
White House Deputy National Security Advisor, Denis McDonough
Khartoum has already lodged two complaints with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that Juba has been providing support to rebel groups fighting against it; this latest statement by the US will provide a certain level of justification for those claims.
Khartoum is not fully embracing the US however and has accused it of "conspiring" against it with the government of South Sudan, after the UN said this month that Sudan was responsible for the bombing of a refugee camp within South Sudan.
Staying with the US, this week a bipartisan group of 62 members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama, calling on the administration to recalibrate US policy towards Sudan, taking into account the most recent eruption of violence and the ensuing humanitarian crisis.
The representatives argue that the conflicts in Sudan can no longer be views as distinct entities but must be seen as the result of a consistent, centralised policy of political and economic marginalisation of peripheral areas by Khartoum.
The message came during a visit to Juba and Khartoum by the White House Deputy National Security Advisor Denis Mc Donough which began last week. A statement released by the National Security Council furthered it was neccessary for South Sudan to respect the sovereignty of the Republic of Sudan and not provoke an inter-state conflict by providing support to rebel groups fighting within another state.
White House Deputy National Security Advisor, Denis McDonough
Khartoum has already lodged two complaints with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) that Juba has been providing support to rebel groups fighting against it; this latest statement by the US will provide a certain level of justification for those claims.
Khartoum is not fully embracing the US however and has accused it of "conspiring" against it with the government of South Sudan, after the UN said this month that Sudan was responsible for the bombing of a refugee camp within South Sudan.
Staying with the US, this week a bipartisan group of 62 members of Congress sent a letter to President Obama, calling on the administration to recalibrate US policy towards Sudan, taking into account the most recent eruption of violence and the ensuing humanitarian crisis.
The representatives argue that the conflicts in Sudan can no longer be views as distinct entities but must be seen as the result of a consistent, centralised policy of political and economic marginalisation of peripheral areas by Khartoum.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
What's going on in South Kordofan?
Not quite sure what's going on?
If you're new to the issues surrounding the conflict in South Kordofan, visit our page Why is there conflict in South Kordofan? for a simple and accessible history to the conflict.
If you're new to the issues surrounding the conflict in South Kordofan, visit our page Why is there conflict in South Kordofan? for a simple and accessible history to the conflict.
Nuba Diaspora urged to mobilise and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calls for "Action, not words" in Sudan
Mohammed Yassin, on behalf of Nuab Diaspora and in coalition with a number of Italian NGOs, has released an appeal to halt the violence in the Nuba Mountain region. The appeal calls on the wider Numba diaspora and INGOs to mobilise efforts to lobby the international community and Khartoum to act in order to save lives.
The document details the recent escalation of violence by the Khartoum government and lists a litany of human rights abuses directed at the people of South Kordofan, including political, cultural and social oppression. It calls on the NGO community to act now to save lives.
The appeal is an attempt to replicate, in part, the highly successful "Darfur Consortium" , a coalition of African based and/or focused NGOs who began to work together in 2004 to mobilise the general public and lobby policymakers for action in Darfur.
From their vocal condemnations, it would seem the current US administration is eager to act on Sudan; they have been overt in their calls for action on the Sudan issue. But they themselves are not acting on the issue. Former member of US Congress, Tom Andrews, writes an interesting piece on the issue in the Huffington Post http://www.huffingtonpost.com/tom-andrews/sec-clinton-action-not-wo_b_1100110.html, in which he lays out five simple steps the US administration could take to help end the violence.
The US Administration has consistently failed to act upon their calls for peace in Sudan.
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
UN Peacekeeping Chief labels Sudan rebel alliance as "counter-productive"
Herve Ladsous, head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations, has condemned an alliance between rebel groups from Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile, calling it "counter-productive"
The UN has called for an official inquiry into the bombing of a South Sudan refugee camp.
Ladsous made the comments in an effort to calm the political situation in the region, which is tense following the bombing of a refugee camp in South Sudan by Sudan government forces. The most recent conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile erupted in June of this year and has continued since; violence is once again occurring in Darfur and with South Sudan claiming it is ready for a war with Sudan, the situation is extremely fragile.
Ladsous stressed the need for calm and warned against any moves by leading political figures which could spark more violence.
He was referring to the alliance announced last week by rebel leaders in the troubled east and south regions of Sudan, who called for the government of Omar Al-Bashir to be overthrown and replaced with a "democratic regime"
Refugee camp in South Sudan
The UN has called for an official inquiry into the bombing of a South Sudan refugee camp.Ladsous made the comments in an effort to calm the political situation in the region, which is tense following the bombing of a refugee camp in South Sudan by Sudan government forces. The most recent conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile erupted in June of this year and has continued since; violence is once again occurring in Darfur and with South Sudan claiming it is ready for a war with Sudan, the situation is extremely fragile.
Ladsous stressed the need for calm and warned against any moves by leading political figures which could spark more violence.
He was referring to the alliance announced last week by rebel leaders in the troubled east and south regions of Sudan, who called for the government of Omar Al-Bashir to be overthrown and replaced with a "democratic regime"
Refugee camp in South Sudan
Staff Profiles
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Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Genocide in South Kordofan?
Type "genocide Sudan" into Google and all that appears are articles about Darfur. If Google doesn't acknowlege something, does it exist?
Back in August, a senior US lawmaker urged the US government to immediately deploy peacekeepers in South Kordofan due to an imminent threat of genocide (find an enlightening report on this here http://jonestream.blogspot.com/2011/08/sudan-south-kordofan.html); nothing happened, despite an emergency congressional hearing being called by House Foreign Affairs Committee. The International Community is either unconvinced of a real threat of genocide in the region, or unwilling politically and militarily to intervene, exhausted by previous interventions in Darfur and Chad.
Operation Broken Silence, an NGO dedicated to ending mass atrocities and modern slavery, is convinced the situation in South Kordofan merits the term genocide and has been trying to mobilise a civil society campaign on the issue in the US and Europe: http://www.operationbrokensilence.org/?p=6395
Despite these few campaigners, there is a complete lack of recognition, or even debate, within the International Community about genocide or the threat of genocide in South Kordofan. Perhaps they're suffering from genocide fatigue?
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