---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 12:15 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fw: Bashir officially renounces South Kordofan accord To: Group <[email protected]>
"Too many agreements dishonoured" - and Khartoum has officially dishonoured this one within days of signing it. This is a serious development. Note that these articles still refer to around 70,000 displaced people. This figure is guesswork, apart from being several weeks old, and the true figure is almost certainly much higher, with some sources on the ground suggesting it is now over 400,000. The Nuba Mountains is not "an area between north and south Sudan" (first paragraph in article #3). It is part of north Sudan (as the second paragraph points out correctly). Also, it is arguable whether the beliefs of the people technically constitute "animism" (later in article); it is more usual to refer to it as "African traditional religion". I suspect these are errors by the sub-editors rather than the author! Article #4 contains a serious error: "the ethnic Nuba people who voted for the secession of the south of the country". Of course the Nuba did NOT vote for the secession of the south as they are northerners and were not entitled to vote. John 1. Sudan President Al-Bashir officially renounces S.Kordofan accord July 7, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan president Omer Al-Bashir has officially scrapped the accord his ruling National Congress Party (NCP) signed last month with the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) to contain violence in South Kordofan state, blowing the lid off NCP’s divisions over the deal. Al-Bashir spelled out the obituary of the deal as he addressed a public rally held on Thursday in the White Nile State, saying his party had rejected the accord inked by his assistant and NCP’s vice-president Nafi Ali Nafi in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on 29 June. The accord, which was facilitated by the African Union High-Implementation Level on Sudan headed by Thabo Mbeki, states that the NCP shall recognize the SPLM as a “legal political party in the north,” in sharp contrast with previous assertions by NCP officials that the north Sudan section of the ruling party in South Sudan will not be allowed to operate in the north after the south secedes as scheduled on 9 July. It also provides for the integration of SPLM fighters in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan into north Sudan army known as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) as well as the initiation of talks to reach an agreement to cease hostilities in South Koordofan, which continues to chafe under heavy fighting between SAF and SPLM. Signs of rifts within the NCP over the agreement began to emerge after Al-Bashir declared last Friday that he had instructed the army to continue its operations in South Kordofan until it is “purged” and the SPLM’s leader in the state, Abdul Aziz Al-Hilu is “arrested.” The picture became clearer following angry reactions to the agreement by some NCP hardliners as well as supporters of the anti-SPLM party, the Just Peace Forum, which mobilized its widely-circulated mouthpiece, Al-Intibaha newspaper, to wage a public campaign against the accord. In his address, Al-Bashir openly faulted his negotiators for signing the deal, and dictated new terms for any future talks with the SPLM, which he accused of committing an act of “treason” in South Kordofan. “After the betrayal, treason and displacement in South Kordofan they come to propose a political partnership, there is no partnership before security arrangements are put in place and the [Comprehensive] Peace Agreement is implemented, and we must sit with them here inside [the country] not in Addis [Ababa] or outside Sudan,” Al-Bashir told the crowd. Earlier on the same day, in statements to the privately owned daily newspaper Al-Akhbar, Al-Bashir confirmed his rejection to Addis Ababa deal in both its political and military aspects. Al-Bashir told the paper that his party had agreed with a body “lacking legitimacy,” explaining that the legitimate SPLM had ceased to exist in the north with the secession of the south and that its leaders had perforce become citizens of another country. Yasir Arman, the secretary-general of the SPLM’s northern sector, warned this week that any attempt by the NCP to wriggle out of the Addis Ababa accord would lead to an all-out war in the transitional areas of Blue Nile and South Kordofan. Since the eruption of violence in South Kordofan in early June, more than 70,000 people have been displaced, according to UN figures. The clashes escalated into artillery and aerial bombardment amid reports of ethnic targeting of the Nuba population which largely fought alongside the SPLM during Sudan’s second North-South civil war. (ST) END1 2. Sudan’s NCP denies collapse of S. Kordofan accord July 6, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) denied that an accord it signed with the Northern sector of Sudan people Liberation Movement (SPLM) last month on South Kordofan has collapsed. Ibrahim Ghandour, the NCP spokesperson, said in press statements that President Omer Hassan al-Bashir’s meeting today with African Union (AU) mediator Thabo Mbeki shows that the agreement is still alive and that consultations are continuing regarding it. Former South African president Mbeki helped broker the understanding between the two sides in an attempt to end the clashes in the oil-rich border state that erupted early last month. He told reporters after meeting with Bashir that they discussed South Kordofan and Blue Nile. The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) blamed the violence on SPLA units led by Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu claiming that they attacked a police station in the state capital and stole weapons from there. But the SPLM said that the Northern army wanted to disarm its fighters by force. More than 73,000 civilians have fled since the clashes between the northern army and south-linked forces started, according to UN reports. Under the Addis Ababa agreement, the NCP would recognize SPLM-North to continue "as a legal political party in Sudan". Officials in North Sudan have said in the past they will not allow the SPLM-North to exist after July 9th calling it an extension of a foreign party. The NCP and SPLM-North agreed to form a joint political committee to ensure that "the issue of governance in South Kordofan shall be discussed and resolved amicably ... within thirty days". The agreement also states that the two sides should begin working on a cease-fire and allow humanitarian access into Southern Kordofan. The accord also SPLA fighters in the North "shall be integrated, over a time period and with modalities to be agreed, into the Sudan Armed Forces" and that "any disarmament shall be done in accordance with agreed-upon plans and without resorting to force." But last Friday president Bashir appeared to discount the accord and instructed SAF to continue military operations in South Kordofan. He also said that SPLM-North will be allowed to become a political party only when it conforms with the pertinent laws on establishing parties. Many analysts have speculated that there is a rift within the NCP on the agreement which was signed by Bashir’s assistant Nafie Ali Nafie. But Ghandour today denied any divisions saying that the NCP is united on this issue. (ST) END2 3. UN says Sudan's army continues attacking civilians By MAGGIE FICK and JASON STRAZIUSO Associated Press Posted: 07/06/2011 01:50:18 PM PDT Updated: 07/06/2011 02:32:21 PM PDT JUBA, Sudan—The U.N. said in a report Thursday that Sudan is denying it full access to tens of thousands of civilians near an area between north and south Sudan where violence continues less than 10 days before Southern Sudan becomes the world's newest nation. The Nuba people—black Africans who have opposed the rule of Sudan's Arab north—have streamed into the Nuba Mountains in search of safety from attacks by Sudan's military in Southern Kordofan, a part of Sudan's north. At least 73,000 have fled. An internal U.N. report has said that dozens have been killed by aerial bombardments and gunfire attacks amid reports of door-to-door searches for black Nuba tribesman by the northern military. Because the U.N. and other aid groups cannot access the area, there are no firm numbers. Attacks on the Nuba began on June 5 and included the bombing of a U.N. airstrip in Kauda—a large town and Nuba stronghold—preventing aid workers and U.N. personnel from flying in. The Nuba people generally support Southern Sudan and have fought alongside its military against the north during a decades-long civil war that ended in 2005. A U.N. Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs report issued Thursday said that it received reports of aerial attacks from June 25-27 that weren't verified but were supported by photographic evidence and eyewitness reports. The U.N. report says that the Sudanese government has granted humanitarian access to limited areas of Kadugli where aid groups have offices, but that "access to all other locations continues to be denied." The International Rescue Committee said Thursday that international aid agencies also can't access Southern Kordofan. Nearly all international staff working for aid groups and the U.N. peacekeeping mission have been evacuated. "We're extremely worried about the safety and well-being of people who live there. We're hearing stories of horrible atrocities," said Susan Purdin who oversees International Rescue Committee programs in Southern Sudan. "There have been numerous reports of targeted ethnic and political killings, the burning and looting of homes and businesses and intense aerial bombardments by the northern military." Also on Thursday, a U.S.-based group that monitors violence in Sudan said it has visual evidence to corroborate reports that Sudan has bombed 10 towns and villages in the Nuba Mountains. The Satellite Sentinel Project said its satellite imagery captured four airplanes and five helicopters at Sudan's El Obeid air base. The group said the planes support allegations that Antonov and ground strike fighters are bombing targets in South Kordofan. "The government of Sudan's bombardment of its own civilian population in the Nuba Mountains is in common with its previous ethnic cleansing campaigns in Darfur and in the disputed border region of Abyei," said John C. Bradshaw of the Enough Project. The Nuba people—who practice Islam, Christianity and animism—have been targeted by Khartoum before. A northern military campaign in the 1990s killed as many as 200,000 Nubans. Many experts deemed the attacks a genocide. Some Sudan experts are using the same words to describe the recent violence. "The Sudanese Army and militias are systematically hunting down and murdering all Nuba who could fight back, that is who previously have experience fighting with the (southern army)," said Gregory Stanton, professor of genocide studies and prevention at George Mason University and the president of the U.S.-based group Genocide Watch. "They are also murdering, raping, and pillaging all over the Nuba mountains. This is already genocide," said Stanton. A spokesman for the north said military forces are not targeting civilians. Samuel Totten, a genocide scholar at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, said the violence in the Nuba Mountains "could very well be genocide" but that evidence to substantiate such a declaration does not exist. He said that now is not the time to debate whether genocide is taking place, but to halt the atrocities, protect civilians and arrest those in charge who ordered the killings. The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide says that genocide happens when acts are committed with the intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. "Clearly you have ethnic cleansing going on, and if this is not genocide, this is clearly the road to genocide and will lead to genocide under anyone's definition unless strong action occurs," said Thomas Andrews of the Washington-based Genocide Intervention Network. Internal U.N. security reports obtained by The Associated Press since the violence began June 5 show that Sudanese staff, particularly those from the Nuba ethnic group, working for U.N. agencies have been attacked, and some shot or disappeared, in their attempts to flee the state. A U.N. report dated Wednesday said that two U.N. staff members are being held by Sudanese officials in Kadugli. Three staff members previously held have been released. In a related development on Tuesday, the northern government and representatives of the southern-aligned opposition forces they are fighting in Southern Kordofan signed an agreement aimed at restoring peace in Southern Kordofan and neighboring Blue Nile. Support is strong for the south's ruling party and the southern army in these two northern states. A spokesman for Sudan's ruling National Congress Party said Khartoum is working to achieve peace in Southern Kordofan. "It is not correct that our forces are targeting civilians in the area, on the contrary the government is trying to establish security," said Rabie A. Atti. "No killing. No looting." Atti said that Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu, who lost elections held in the state last month is leading an "illegal" political party due to the group's alliance with the south's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement. "They are now working against the legal government," he added. The deal brokered Tuesday by the African Union's panel on Sudan is not a ceasefire, but calls on southern-aligned forces active in the two northern states to be integrated into the northern army. Although the agreement specifically notes that force will not be used to disarm any opposition fighters, a Sudan expert said he doubted men from the Nuba Mountains would relinquish their weapons without a fight. "Considering the current context, there is little reason to believe they will trust the commitments that were made the other day," Matthew LeRiche, a fellow at the London School of Economic who studies conflict in Sudan. "Disarmament inevitably leads to a fight." Straziuso contributed from Nairobi, Kenya. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18419920?nclick_check=1 END3 4. More evidence of killing of civilians in South Sudan Wednesday 06 July 2011 Lindsey Hilsum International Editor Channel 4 News Our International Editor Lindsey Hilsum has been to Panyang in Sudan where people have been telling her shocking stories of being bombed by their own government. As I reported on Saturday, reports from Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan state, spoke of soldiers going house to house, pulling out Nuba men for detention or worse. Now, there is more evidence that the ethnic Nuba people who voted for the secession of the south of the country, are being targeted by the Khartoum government. We drove up to the border area to find those who've fled to South Sudan, a new country which will get its independence from the north on Saturday. In the village of Panyang we found a group of men who'd escaped the town of Kadugli, terrified of Sudanese government soldiers. One told us: "These people are creating war. They're entering our homes, killing and shooting us. "Really, very many have died. That is why I'm here. Many are hiding in the bush. No-one has remained in town." Nuba soldiers fighting back Some of the refugees have walked for days from the heart of the Nuba Mountains, but others have come from just two hours up the road, a place called Jaw. It's actually in South Sudan but the northern government is bombing it nonetheless. That doesn't augur well for this new nation and relations with its northern neighbour. They've come to a place which has scarcely enough to sustain its own people. South Sudan has endured decades of war with the north - the fear is that renewed conflict in the Nuba Mountains will spill over the border. Nuba soldiers are fighting back. After South Sudan's independence, they were meant to join the northern army but they've rebelled. They're seizing government weapons and ammunition in battle, and say they want to rule themselves. The Sudanese government says they must be crushed. It seems the government in Khartoum has decided that force is the only way to deal with a people who resent its authority. Next week South Sudan will celebrate Independence. The Nuba know they won't get Independence but they'd like more autonomy. 'Three of the dead were children' - eyewitness A man who says he is a baker from Jaw told us: "First the Antonov just flew overhead, and then it returned and bombed us. Then everyone ran to hide. "I could see the plane with my own eyes. After the bombing, I went to see if people were still in their houses but they had all fled, so I fled too. "Three of the dead were children. There was an older person, one of my age, and another around 11 or 12. One was cut in half and his guts were spilling out." In Panyang, the refugees are struggling to survive. This is the new Darfur, a cruel conflict, in which the Sudanese government shows no mercy, as it tries to subdue its own citizens. http://www.channel4.com/news/more-evidence-of-killing-of-civilians-in-south-sudan END4 5. Sudan's Bashir puts up bold front before split * South Sudan to secede on July 9 * Bashir to visit Juba, promises friendship * Puts up bold front to north rebels, critics By Andrew Heavens KHARTOUM, July 7 (Reuters) - Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir vowed to fight northern rebels and boycott future international peace talks on Thursday as he put up a bold front two days ahead of the secession of the south of his country. South Sudan is due to declare independence on Saturday -- a long-awaited separation it won at the climax of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war with the north. Bashir, who will lead north Sudan after the split, said he would travel to the southern capital Juba on the south's independence day and promised friendly relations. His presence in Juba will reassure diplomats who are worried a series of unresolved disputes over the details of the secession -- most importantly how oil revenues will be shared -- could spark another bloody north-south conflict. But the aggressive tone of most of Bashir's speech to supporters in the north's White Nile state signaled he was keen to show he was not open to similar deals with insurgents inside his own territory. The speech also may have been a bid to satisfy opponents to southern secession inside his own party and opposition groups in Khartoum. Sudan stands to lose about a third of its territory and around three quarters of its oil reserves when the south leaves. Some northerners see the loss as a national humiliation. The northern government is fighting armed groups demanding more autonomy in Darfur and Southern Kordofan - both northern regions that border south Sudan. Analysts have said the south's successful independence would embolden other rebels. "After the betrayal in Southern Kordofan they come and want to hold talks ... But we will not hold any talks in Addis Ababa or elsewhere with those who take up arms," Bashir said in a speech interrupted by mass chants of support. "Anyone who takes up arms against us will be dealt with decisively." The crowd sang military songs, praising Sudan's historic sword fighters and other war heroes. Bashir at one point mentioned Ahmed Haroun, the governor of Southern Kordofan, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court to face charges of war crimes, allegedly carried out during the separate insurgency in neighbouring Darfur. Bashir also has been indicted by the ICC over war crimes charges stemming from fighting in the Darfur region where at least 300,000 people have been killed. "I will travel to Juba in two days to congratulate them on their new state and wish them security and stability," Bashir said in the televised speech. He said he was seeking friendly relations with the south. "We gave them a complete state with oil. All they need to do is to switch on the engine," he said. Heavy gunfire and bombardments were heard in Southern Kordofan every day from June 30 to Tuesday, the United Nations said in a report on Thursday. Media access is restricted and government authorities have barred the United Nations and aid groups from working outside the state capital Kadugli. Aid officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said they were worried about what would happen to civilians after the withdrawal of the U.N. Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) and its peacekeepers on July 9 -- the south's independence day and the end of the mission's mandate. "There is a really serious scaling up of military hardware and supplies," one source said. "There are Antonovs flying overhead in the late evenings and in the morning. Heavy machinegun fire. The odd use of artillery and mortars and the dropping of bombs in the surrounding hillsides in Kadugli. That is our staple diet," the source added. Bashir said he would see through the ongoing peace talks with a small groups of Darfur rebels in Qatar's capital Doha and would reach a final settlement later this month. North and south Sudan still have to settle a list of unresolved issues, including the position of their shared border, how they will split debts and manage oil revenues. The south currently has to transport its oil through northern pipelines but had not agreed how it will pay for the service. (Additional reporting by Ulf Laessing and Khaled Abdelaziz in Khartoum and Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa; Editing by Michael Roddy) 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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