---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 10:21 AM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fw: South Kordofan ethnic cleansing updates To: Group <[email protected]>
"This should be clear to the whole world that, this is not a case of fighting between two parties, it is very clear that is a deliberate plan and policy to by the NCP to kill it is own citizens, it is ethnic genocide; this has really repeated itself because it happened in 1990s. The killing has to stop." "there [are] reports of killings targeting... any Nuba person including women and children" "The killing by the Government appears to be similar to that of the 1990s when ethnic cleansing was active in the area" "The [EU] High Representative is also gravely concerned about reported acts of violence against individuals based on their political or ethnic affiliation" 1. From a church leader in the Nuba Mountains, 11th June 2011: The NCP have sent more Antonov planes and they are bombarding heavily concentrating where the civilians are majority, increase of death among the civilians continuously reported. This should be clear to the whole world that, this is not a case of fighting between two parties, it is very clear that is a deliberate plan and policy to by the NCP to kill it is own citizens, it is ethnic genocide; this has really repeated itself because it happened in 1990s. The killing has to stop. The UN missions in Nuba Mountains (the Egyptians) have not only betrayed the civilians but they have betrayed the great UN mission, betrayed their mission, their mandate and violated their principles and laws. The Egyptians troops prove to cooperate with Sudan army forces (SAF) and the government militias who are now killing randomly without mercy. Since the war started in N.M 5th June, the Egyptians have been assisting the SAF by hunting whoever is been suspected SPLA member or civil society activist hundreds of them have become victims (there were killed at the sport) many reported missing to this criminal acts by the Egyptians. People in any crises situation in anywhere in the world like that of the N.M, people feel safe, comfort, and courage when they see UN missions around them, but this is an opposite to the people of the Nuba Mountains, they want to hide themselves from the UN troops, this is really shame. This is an urgent call to the UN mission head quarters to stop and withdraw Egyptians immediately from the UN mission compound in Kadugli; they are not in support of civilians. Call for the government of Sudan to stop arresting activists’ members’ weather civil society or members of SPLA in Khartoum. Call for international communities to humanitarian assistance for the people are starving with hunger, no water, no shelter, no medicine and it is raining season now days in Nuba mountains. END1 2. From a church leader in Khartoum, 12th June 2011: In support of this claim [above], it has been confirmed from Kadugli that those who camped in front of the Egyptian/UNMIS in Kadugli have been forcefully dispersed by the SAF in agreement with the Egyptian/UNMIS yesterday to go back to their homes in town where the SAF hunting and killing them. Those among them who tried to escape have been reported arrested at the many roadblocks mounted for that purpose. Some of them have reported murdered immediately and other led away to security agents posts. There are several others still hiding in their homes without water and food fearing execution but they are starving to death. We don't know what is happening in the rural areas where there is no access to communication. I am also told that even Khartoum or any northern town in the north is no more safe for the Nuba people. I want to agree with [the church leader in the Nuba Mountains] that it is not a normal fighting between the two armies, because there reports of killings targeting SPLM sympathizers, Christians, but then any Nuba person including women and children. The International Community must rescue the Nuba people... END2 3. Information from various sources on the ground, 11 June 2011: - Protection of civilians is the greatest emergency and need. - Towns such as Kauda, Kadugli, Talodi, Delami, Um Durain are being bombed by MIG fighter jets and Antonovs. Artillery shelling has been reported in El Azarak. - Two church personnel were seized and killed within a SAF detention centre (NB: already reported). People are being picked up from the street and their houses if they are suspected of supporting “rebel movements”. The Northern Government is allowing the local militias a freehand to do what they want. Homes being destroyed and offices looted. Thousands of IDPs are flooding into towns such as El Obeid. - Fighting is focused mostly on flushing rebels out of the towns while women and children are running for the mountains. SPLA are in control of Nuba Mountains while the SAF are attempting to control the towns. - The killing by the Government appears to be similar to that of the 1990s when ethnic cleansing was active in the area. - The UN Peacekeeping Force is not working. – The UN in Kauda, Dilling and Kadugli has been instructed to evacuate. There is mistrust between local communities and the UN; they are not perceived as a neutral presence. They are largely staying in their barracks and in some cases may be complicit of what is taking place. The UN is not circulating reports which speak to the violations and atrocities being committed. END3 4. Sudan: Border fighting could unravel the peace process Conflict in 'contested areas' on the new border is jeopardising peace on the eve of South Sudan's independence o Peter Moszynski o guardian.co.uk, Sunday 12 June 2011 12.59 BST With South Sudan on the verge of independence, a new wave of fighting and displacement is spreading across the disputed border areas. The northern government in Khartoum appears determined to impose its rule across the remainder of the country by force, calculating that the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) will not want to jeopardise the south's secession by responding militarily. Unless robust action is taken by the UN security council now, we might see further Darfur-style mass displacements and the entire peace process unravelling. Sudan's peace deal, which expires on 9 July – the date the southern region is officially due to secede – was called the comprehensive peace agreement (CPA) because it was supposed to find a solution to all of the country's interlocking conflicts, not merely to end the war in the south. As well as granting southern Sudan's people a vote on independence last January, there were special protocols dealing with the three "contested areas" that straddle the new border: Abyei, South Kordofan and Blue Nile. These are predominantly inhabited by pro-southern African tribes that supported the SPLA during the war. Abyei's inhabitants were granted a referendum on joining the south, while the people of South Kordofan and Blue Nile were offered an ill-defined process of "popular consultation" on their future status. None of these aspects of the CPA have yet been implemented. Although the southern referendum went more smoothly than most people expected and more than 98% of southerners voted peacefully to secede, the situation has deteriorated across the contested areas, culminating in last month's invasion of Abyei by northern Sudanese armed forces and the displacement of its indigenous population of Ngok Dinkas. The UN estimates that nearly 100,000 people have fled from Abyei. Last week, the security council demanded the Sudanese army withdraw but Khartoum has failed to comply – and now the conflict appears to be spreading across the disputed border region, with fighting within South Kordofan's capital Kadugli and northern aircraft reported to be bombing the surrounding Nuba mountains as well as SPLA positions south of the border. John Ashworth of the Sudan Ecumenical Forum says: "Military activities by [the Sudanese army] in South Kordofan are beginning to look increasingly like ethnic cleansing, and are raising fears of a repeat of the genocide which took place in the Nuba mountains in the early 1990s … The military takeover of Abyei was relatively easy, but the Nuba mountains and Blue Nile will be a different matter. Already heavy fighting is taking place in South Kordofan, with [the army] using jet fighter-bombers and Antonovs to bomb villages." In both states there are indigenous fighters, experienced after many years of guerrilla warfare on their home turf, ready to defend their homes against aggression. The SPLA still has an estimated 40,000 troops north of the border, natives of South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Following last month's occupation of Abyei, Khartoum gave an ultimatum that these forces had to be transferred to the south before June. When this deadline expired, the northern army began to move against them. South Kordofan is crucial to Khartoum: not only was it a key battleground in the last civil war and is adjacent to Abyei, Darfur and the undemarcated border with South Sudan, it also contains all the oilfields still remaining in north Sudan. The UN and NGOs have had to evacuate staff from Kadugli, and thousands of its inhabitants have fled since fighting broke out. About 10,000 are sheltering near the UN compound outside Kadugli. Trouble began brewing after last month's disputed gubernatorial elections in South Kordofan, won by the ruling National Congress party's Ahmed Mohammed Haroun (indicted by the international criminal court for allegedly masterminding the atrocities in Darfur ). The Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) refused to accept the result, claiming widespread fraud. The SPLM candidate, deputy governor Lieutenant General Abdelaziz Adam al-Hilu (who had led the SPLA forces in South Kordofan prior to signing the Swiss-brokered Nuba mountains ceasefire agreement in January 2002), has now fled Kadugli with many of his troops. The SPLM complains that the Egyptian contingent of UN peacekeepers stationed in South Kordofan failed to act to protect civilians – which, as the UN concedes, also occurred with the Zambian contingent in Abyei. It is calling on the UN security council "to raise their mandate from chapter VI to chapter VII, replace the Egyptian forces, impose a no-fly zone in the region, and force [northern troops and militia] to move out the region immediately". Suleiman Musa Rahhal of Nuba Survival says: "Haroun is wanted by the ICC for the genocide in Darfur but he was also responsible for many of the atrocities committed in the Nuba mountains in the last war. Now it is happening all over again. The Nuba people were forgotten by the CPA and have been ignored by the international community. Unless there is a robust response from the security council, we could see a repeat of Darfur." The ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, recently told the security council that President Omar al-Bashir was "continuing to commit crimes against humanity in Darfur" and that Haroun's subsequent record in Abyei and South Kordofan "provides a clear demonstration of the risk of impunity and ignoring information about crimes". http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jun/12/fighting-sudan-border-unravel-peace-process END4 5. Fear Pervades Nuba Mountains that Sudan Government Intent on Genocide By: Samuel Totten Sat, Jun 11 2011 | The Armenian Weekly [NB The Armenian Weekly and Samuel Totten obviously do not believe in crediting the people whom they quote directly! See penultimate paragraph.] Tucked away in the hilly mid-section of Sudan lie the Nuba Mountains, an isolated region that was the target of genocidal actions by the Government of Sudan (GoS) in the early 1990s. This past week the Nuba Mountains has exploded in violence again, and many of the inhabitants fear that Sudanese President Omar al Bashir may be planning to complete what he left unfinished many years ago. 2.5m Nuba mtns DSC 0097 300x199 Fear Pervades Nuba Mountains that Sudan Government Intent on Genocide Villages perched on steep hillsides in the Nuba mountains. (Source: http://postconflict.unep.ch) Left out of the referendum that resulted in southern Sudan severing its relationship with the north, the people of the Nuba Mountains and the Blue Nile region were, per the internationally brokered Comprehensive Peace Plan, forced to remain with the north. That left many in the Nuba Mountains devastated, frightened, and angry. After all, boys and men from the Nuba Mountains fought for their freedom with the south during the 20-year war between the north and south, which resulted in some two million deaths. Not only that, but many fear that without the support of the south’s massive military might, the Nuba Mountains might, once again, face the scorn of the GoS, be it in the way of a scorched earth policy and/or forced starvation. Exacerbating the entire situation was the recent “election” of Ahmed Haroun to the position of governor of South Kordafan, the state in which the Nuba Mountains is situated. Running against a popular former commander (Abdul Aziz) of the Sudanese Liberation Movement/Army, the rebel group responsible for forcing the north/south referendum, Haroun, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on over 40 charges for crimes against humanity and war crimes for atrocities committed in Darfur, won what many in the Nuba Mountains perceive as a rigged election. For the past six months the people of the Nuba Mountains have held one rally after another, sometimes numbering in the thousands, which is something to behold in such an isolated and sparsely populated area, calling on Haroun to give himself up to the ICC. Cognizant of such rallies, just three weeks ago Omar al Bashir flew to Kadugli, the capital of South Kordafan, and warned, “If the people here [meaning those in the Nuba Mountains] refuse to honor the results of the [gubernatorial] election, then we will force them back into the mountains and prevent them from having food just as we did before.” According to Article 2C of UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crimes of Genocide (UNCG), under certain conditions, purposely and systematically depriving a people of food constitutes genocide. The people of the Nuba Mountains take his threat very seriously, for they know what he and his cohorts are capable of doing. Unfortunately, the threat turned into reality within a week’s time. Over the past two weeks the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have attacked one town after another in the Nuba Mountains, killing people indiscriminately and destroying farms and people’s tukuls (homes). Many people have fled into the mountains, just as they did in the 1990s. Having left behind their only means of livelihood and source of food, their farms, the Nuba Mountains people may be facing a repeat of the 1990s in which they had no resort but to scour the rocky land for leaves, roots, and weeds to eat. Now is the time for the international community to act—before starvation becomes a fact of life and before the attacks morph into massive crimes against humanity and/or genocide. The current and ongoing attacks sound very much like those that the GoS has carried out in Darfur for the past eight years. Ample proof of that is the following description of a recent attack on the Nuba Mountains’ village of Fet, which I just received from an individual, who must remained unnamed, residing in the heart of the Nuba Mountains: “At 8 a.m., approximately 350 men dressed in green army uniforms attacked. Some civilians ran inside their homes for protection but when the attackers approached the homes they started burning them and they continued to burn people that were hiding inside their homes. One of the first houses attacked was burned with three women locked inside. One of the women was pregnant. As the civilians were running away they were shot. The attackers burned everything in site (sic).” While this all-day attack was carried out, the national police, SAF troops and national security troops looked on and did nothing. In fact, “it is reported that the forces were ordered not to shoot.” The most recent update I received today was ominous: “More and more voices on the ground are now describing this as ‘ethnic cleansing’ and comparing it to the genocide which took place in the Nuba Mountains in the early 1990s. Urgent international response is critical!” While the ongoing crisis in Darfur, which the U.S. Government in 2004 deemed to be genocide, and the recent referendum that resulted in the south splitting from the north, thus creating the new nation of South Sudan, have been spotlighted by the international media and various human rights campaigns, the crises in the Nuba Mountains have largely gone unnoticed. That must change, and now! http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/06/11/fear-pervades-nuba-mountains/ END5 6. Fighting In South Kordofan Caused Destruction In The Church In Kadugli News from Sudan Radio Service 10 June 2011—(Juba) —A representative of the Episcopal Church in Kadugli, South Kordofan says the fighting that broke out between SAF and SPLA has caused destruction in the Diocese of Kadugli. Speaking to SRS from Juba shortly after evacuation from Kadugli by the Arch Bishop of the Episcopal Church of Sudan, Luka Bulus describes the destruction caused in the Diocese. [Luka Bulus]: “At first Popular Defense force attacked the church compound and went away with all our properties in the guest house. They took away with motor bikes, projectors and a number of our things that were kept there. The next day they attacked the Headquarters of the Diocese. The first place they attacked was the Bishop’s office, the internet area and burnt the office. After that they proceeded to the Church of Christ, burnt the church and destroyed the Cathedral, but they did not succeed to put it down completely. In the Catholic Church, they beat up people although they did not use any guns. I have to urgently leave Kadugli for Juba because of the security problem in the area. The Arch Bishop has swiftly organized for my urgent evacuation to Juba to save my life." That was Rev. Luka Bulus speaking to SRS from Juba on Friday. END6 7. EUROPEAN UNION Brussels, 12 June 2011 A 231/11 Statement by the spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative, on the recent violent clashes in Southern Kordofan The spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued the following statement today: "The High Representative is deeply concerned about the rapidly deteriorating security situation in Southern Kordofan state. She deplores the escalation of fighting, loss of life and displacement of civilians in the state capital Kadugli and many other areas of Southern Kordofan and strongly condemns reports of aerial bombardment and indiscriminate attacks on civilians. The High Representative is also gravely concerned about reported acts of violence against individuals based on their political or ethnic affiliation and calls for these actions to be halted and investigated by the UN. The High Representative urges the Government of Sudan to halt its pursuit of a military solution to disarm the Sudan People's Liberation Army in Southern Kordofan and to dissolve the Joint Integrated Units established under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and to agree on security arrangements through direct, high-level negotiations, not by the use of force. The High Representative calls on all parties to cease hostilities immediately, take all necessary measures to protect civilians and resume negotiations under the auspices of President Mbeki. Unhindered humanitarian access must be allowed by all parties to those in need of assistance." __________________ PRESS FOR FURTHER DETAILS: Michael Mann +32 498 999 780 - +32 2 299 97 80 - [email protected] Maja Kocijancic +32 498 984 425 - +32 2 298 65 70 - [email protected] [email protected] www.eeas.europa.eu END7 8. SPLM in S. Kordofan wants new security arrangements, accuse UNMIS of rape June 11, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) in South Kordofan downplayed prospects of solution to the situation in the oil-producing state during Sunday’s meeting between president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir and his First Vice president Salva Kiir in Ethiopia. More than a week of clashes between the SPLA and Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in the state led to the displacement of as many as 75,000 people according to the United Nations. The number of casualties have yet to be affirmed by independent sources. This week Afaf Taour Kafi, a South Kordofan MP from the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) said that bodies are lying on the streets of the capital town of Kadugli. Southern Kordofan is home to thousands of fighters from the Nuba mountains region who fought with both Khartoum and SPLA during the civil war. The Sudanese government said that the SPLA began the attack on police station in Kadugli and stole its weapons forcing a response from SAF. However, the SPLA accused the Khartoum-based government of seeking to disarm its members in South Kordofan by force. The NCP declared the situation in the state as an armed mutiny that would be dealt with only in a military manner and not through political dialogue. Yesterday the NCP-affiliated governor of South Kordofan Ahmed Haroun said that SPLA’s Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu who was his deputy prior to last month’s elections will be held accountable for the violence and killings of civilians. Haroun is one of the suspects charged by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes and crimes against humanity he allegedly committed in Sudan’s western region of Darfur. Gamr Dalman, the media adviser to Al-Hilu, told Sudan Tribune by phone from Juba that the issue is no longer related to South Kordofan but to the entire country. He said that the NCP is using militias to fight on its behalf similar to the way it did in Darfur adding that Arab tribes in the region refused to be part of it prompting Khartoum to recruit from elsewhere. On the military front the SPLM official claimed downing two Antonov and MIG SAF planes yesterday in Kauoda and Kloud respectively after flying on a low altitude making them an easy target. There was no confirmation of this report from an independent source. Dalman said that the Sudanese government must declare Al-Hilu the winner in the gubernatorial elections of last May. Al-Hilu who ran on the SPLM ticket against Haroun claimed the vote was rigged and vowed that his party will not take any part in the state’s government. International monitors however, said the polls were credible. On top of that Dalman said that the SPLM wants new security arrangements which would allow them to keep their weapons until ’popular consultations’ are held and their outcome implemented. As part of the 2005 peace deal that ended the conflict and granted South Sudan the right to self determination, the two states were accorded ’popular consultations’ to consider whether the Comprehensive Peace Agreement addressed their grievances and to propose what their future relationship with Khartoum might look like. KADUGLI AIRPORT CLOSED In a related issue the spokesperson for the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) spokesman Kouider Zerrouk said that authorities on Friday closed down Kadugli’s airport. "The closure of the airport by the SAF will dangerously hamper the U.N. humanitarian operations in Southern Kordofan, as thousands of civilians are in urgent need of emergency assistance," he was quoted as saying by Reuters. Zerrouk added that “localized fighting with sporadic artillery fire and continuing military build-up were reported during the last 24 hours in the state.” Al-Hilu’s adviser on the other hand said that there was a lull in fighting between the two sides on Saturday. UNMIS RAPE ALLEGATIONS Dalman also directed criticism at UNMIS and accused the Egyptian contingency in the area of raping six women. He said the incident took place after civilians fleeing the fighting took shelter at the headquarters of the peacekeeping force. This comes on the heels of a statement issued by Al-Hilu this week in he which he said that the Egyptian peacekeepers are complicit in the attacks by SAF in the state revealing that a letter was sent to them asking for clarifications. "We are investigating serious accusations against the Egyptian forces, and we have doubts on its role, especially that its history in the region shows that they are not straight and have abnormal and criminal tendencies," Al-Hilu said. He alleged that the Egyptian peacekeepers turned away civilians who sought refuge and even handed over some of them to SAF who killed them on spot. (ST) END8 9. North Sudan army denies mutiny, downing of warplane in South Kordofan June 11, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – North Sudan army has categorically denied reports of a mutiny within its ranks as well as claims by the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) on downing one of its warplanes in the central state of South Kordofan. Since Sunday, 5 June, Sudan’s oil-producing state of South Kordofan, which borders the soon-to-be independent region of South Sudan, has been the scene of violent clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), north Sudan army, and elements of the SPLM’s military wing, Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). The fighting, which erupted in and around the provincial capital of Kadugli less than a month after the result of South Kordofan’s gubernatorial elections was announced in favor of north Sudan ruling National Congress Party’s (NCP) incumbent Ahmad Haroun, has hitherto displaced as many as 75,000 people, according to UN figures, and claimed an unknown number of lives. SAF claimed that the fighting was ignited after SPLA forces attacked a local police station and made away with a stash of weapons. According to the SPLA though, the fighting was caused by SAF’s attempt to forcibly disarm its members. Aerial bombardment and heavy artillery were reported as late as Friday morning in the vicinity of Kadugli amid reports of dead bodies being seen on the streets. On Saturday, Gamar Dalman, the media secretary to the SPLM’s leader in South Kordofan and candidate in the state governor elections Abdul Aziz Adam al-Hilu, told Sudan Tribune via the phone from South Sudan capital Juba that SPLA forces on Friday downed two Antonov and MIG SAF planes in Kauoda and Kloud respectively after flying on a low altitude, making them an easy target. “There is no truth whatsoever in the claim that warplanes belonging to SAF had been downed in the area,” SAF’s official spokesman, Al-Sawarmi Khalid Sa’ad said in a statement reported on Saturday by Sudan’s official news agency SUNA. On Friday, the SPLM in South Kordofan called on members of the regular forces to defect to the ranks of the uprising to topple the government of president Al-Bashir. The army spokesman went on to deny the veracity of reports on the existence of a mutiny within SAF ranks as well as reports that some SAF soldiers had defected to the SPLM’s side. “The situation is now stable due to the consistency of the armed forces and their performance which refutes any claim of a mutiny…such claim has no basis in reality,” al-Sawarmi was quoted. Concurrently, SAF issued a press release in which it claimed it had detected “suspicious movement” by SPLA troops in South Kordofan since April. According to SAF’s statement, these movements were observed around areas such as Buhaiyrat Al-Obaiyd as well as eastern and western Nuba Mountains. SAF further expressed regret at the “uneven condemnation” by the UN Mission in Sudan which accused SAF of using “excessive force,” saying that it was the UN who failed to condemn those who started the “aggression against unarmed civilians.” (ST) END9 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor Sudan Ecumenical Forum [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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