---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Thu, Jul 28, 2011 at 3:52 PM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fwd: South Kordofan articles To: Group <[email protected]>
There is no independent confirmation of the SPLM report that Khartoum is using foreign mercenaries from Iran and elsewhere in its civil war against the Nuba, but it would not be a new thing for them. About 40 miles from Juba on the road to Yei is a hill known locally as Jebel Iraq. I remember SPLA taking me to the front line there in 1997 to see the bodies of Iraqi mujahidiin who had died in the battle for Kubri Arbai'in (bridge 40). About ten years earlier I lived in the northern part of Omdurman and regularly saw non-Sudanese personnel commuting to and from the big Wad Sayidna air force base. John BEGIN 1. Sudan People’s Liberation Movement( SPLM) Southern Kordofan/ Nuba Mountains Albashir Utilizes Forces from Iranian Revolutionary Guards in Nuba Mountains July 27, 2011 After militarily defeats on the ground and big numbers of Sudan Army Force (SAF) joining Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), Albashir regime in Khartoum has sought military support from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to fight against civilians in South Kordofan. SPLM’s sources yesterday monitored the arrival of 200 officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, accompanied with 10 advanced tanks to Kassala airport in Eastern Sudan. High security measures were on place by the time the Iranian Guards arrived to the airport. Kassala airport has previously witnessed the arrival of some Somali’s Islamic militia who was seen heading to South Kordofan two weeks ago. In the light of this development the SPLM South Kordofanis now certain that the NCP’s regime is utilizing and deploying militias from outside the country in their ethnic cleansing war. In addition to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards that are heading to the area, the regime has already brought the militia of Peter Gadet from South Sudan, Somali’s fundamentalist groups and Janjweed militias from Niger and Chad. The SPLM in South Kordofan condemns and denounces such irresponsible practices which will put the conflict in the area in a dangerous phase by deploying terrorist groups against the people of South Kordofan. The SPLM, once again, call upon the United Nation Security Council to form an international committee of inquiry to investigate crime against humanity and ethnic cleansing, and in particular to investigate the military deployment of these exported militias of terrorist groups. Struggle Continue. Gamer Delman Media adviser to SPLM South Kordofan July 27, 2011 END1 2. Sudan admits to moving corpses via trucks in S. Kordofan July 27, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government on Wednesday acknowledged that authorities in South Kordofan collected dead bodies on trucks for burial during the course of fighting in the oil-rich state. The foreign ministry spokesperson Al- Obaid Marawih said that the scattered corpses were rained on prompting the local government to transport them and bury them later for fear of an epidemics outbreak. He added that the governor of South Kordofan Ahmed Haroun instructed the Red Crescent aid group to bury the bodies after verifying their identities though he noted that some were in a decomposed state requiring special handling. Marawih said that the process has been documented and pictures were taken. However, the Sudanese official provided no figures or dates to when this occurred. He also did not say whether those killed were civilians or military personnel. This month, Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) released what it claimed to be satellite imagery supporting eyewitness accounts of mass graves being dug in South Kordofan capital town of Kadugli. Citing eyewitnesses, SSP said dead bodies had been picked up from the market area of Kadugli, and from the nearby villages El Gardud and Tilo, and dumped in open pits less than a kilometer (mile) south of the Tilo Secondary School. "[An] eyewitness said... he estimated that 100 or more bodies were deposited at the site on the evening of June 8," the monitoring group said. But Marawih denied the allegations about the existence of mass graves as posed by SSP though he did not disclose if the bodies he referred to were buried individually or collectively. "The talk about mass graves is misleading and a misrepresentation of facts. The truth is that the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) is the one that started the military action and... it has chosen the civilians as victims for the battle," he said. "Any talk about the abuse or violation of the law by the government of South Kordofan remains a claim with no support and will not be taken into account" Marawih added. He also chided U.S. ambassador to the UN Susan Rice who said last week that the reports coming out of the state include “acts of extreme cruelty” against civilians. "The U.S. ambassador to the UN Security Council and other pressure groups want to initiate hostile acts against Sudan and they are working to issue decisions against the government to force it to change its position and accept UN forces in South Kordofan," Marawih said. Princeton Lyman, the U.S. special envoy to Sudan, said last week that although mass graves might exist, it was impossible to verify because of a lack of access to the region. “We can’t confirm the conclusion in the Sentinel project that there are mass graves in Kadugli,” Lyman said, citing U.S. intelligence reports. But today’s statements by Khartoum will likely boost allegations made by SSP. Ivan Simonovic, the United Nations assistant secretary general for human rights, said in an interview that the peacekeeping mission in Sudan had not been able to verify the existence of mass graves but that the allegations it had received were from witnesses and not satellite pictures. “We can say they are serious allegations and do require further investigation,” Simonovic said. Tens of thousands of civilians have fled since clashes flared in early June between Sudan’s Armed Forces (SAF) and SPLA fighters, many of them from South Kordofan’s ethnic Nuba group. Sudan has accused the SPLA of launching a rebellion inside South Kordofan to try and control the region, and team up with rebels in other areas to challenge the national government in a manner similar to Libya. The state, which borders Darfur and the new country of South Sudan, is home to large groups who fought alongside the south during the second civil war and are now seeking greater autonomy inside what remains of Sudan. Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir reneged on an agreement signed by one of his key aides in Ethiopia last month that was brokered by the African Union. He instructed that military operations continue to crush the SPLA and arrest its leader Abdel-Aziz al-Hilu who was deputy governor of the state. Al-Hilu lost in gubernatorial elections held last May to incumbent governor Ahmed Haroun who was running on National Congress Party (NCP) ticket. He accused Khartoum of rigging the vote and vowed not to recognize the results. Haroun and Bashir are both wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes they allegedly masterminded in Sudan’s western region of Darfur. In recent days Sudanese officials softened their stance and offered dialogue with al-Hilu which observers attributed to a military stalemate in the fighting despite utilizing air force to bomb rebel positions. (ST) END2 3. Sudan slams U.S envoy’s remarks on South Kordofan July 27, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s government has described as baseless allegations of abuses echoed by Susan Rice, the U.S envoy at the UN Security Council, against the country’s army in South Kordofan State. Since 5 June, north Sudan army known as the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and its allied paramilitary forces have been fighting elements previously aligned with the army of the new Republic of South Sudan, Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), in the oil-producing state of South Kordofan which lies inside the north. In a statement delivered to the UNSC on 22 July, Rice expressed her country’s deep concern about “alarming and credible allegations” of violence committed by SAF South Kordofan. “These include acts of extreme cruelty and abuse against civilians that, if true, may constitute crimes against humanity – extra-judicial killings, house-to-house searches, abductions, arbitrary arrests, and violence motivated by differences of religion or ethnicity,” the statement added. South Kordofan, which saw fierce battle during Sudan’s second north-south civil wars, is home to the African Nuba population which largely backed the south. The state also borders Sudan’s western region of Darfur, a scene of a long-running conflict between the central government and ethnic rebels accusing it of marginalizing the region. The fighting, which is believed to have been ignited by SAF’s attempt to disarm SPLA Nuba fighters, has escalated into heavy artillery and aerial bombardment, leading to the displacement of more than 72,000 people, according to UN estimates. A report prepared by the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) documented “especially egregious” acts committed by SAF during the fighting, saying they may amount to “war crimes and crimes against humanity” which merit investigations. UNMIS report also complained that humanitarian access to the affected population was hampered throughout the conflict. It further accused SAF and its allied forces of treating the mission with “gross contempt and a total disregard” of its status as a UN body. “The United States strongly supports an investigation by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights into these allegations and calls on all parties to provide unfettered access and cooperation to any investigation,” the US envoy said. She went on to say that her country condemns “in the strongest terms any deliberate targeting of civilians, including UN humanitarian personnel.” Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) withdrew commitment to a framework agreement it signed under AU mediation on 29 June in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa with the SPLM to deescalate the situation in South Kordofan. President Al-Bashir openly faulted his negotiators for signing the deal and said that the SPLM must conform to the rules regulating political parties in the north. Thus, he ordered the army to sustain its operations in South Kordofan until it is “purged” and the SPLM’s leader Abdul Aziz Al-Hilu is arrested. “We are particularly disturbed by the decision of the Government of Sudan not to honor the June 29 agreement on political and security arrangements in the region. These developments are deeply regrettable,” Rice said. “Today,” she added “we call upon the Government of Sudan to agree to a robust UN presence in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile that will assist the parties as they agree to future political and security agreements.” Rice’s call for the deployment of foreign troops in South Kordofan drew rebuke from the Sudanese government whose spokesman, Al-Obayid Muruoah accused the U.S envoy and other lobby groups of intending to instigate hostile actions against Sudan. The Sudanese spokesman suggested that the call for intervention in South Kordofan might include a no-fly zone, stressing that the government refuses to accept more foreign troops in the country. On allegations of a genocide committed by Sudanese forces, the country’s spokesman said that such “propagated claims were misleading and subjective.” “Any talk on the government’s committal of atrocities or outlawed acts in South Kordofan remains an allegation without base and will not be taken into account,” AL-Muruoah said. (ST) END3 4. End S. Kordofan conflict, rights groups tell international community July 27, 2011 (JUBA) - Alarmed by fighting in Sudan’s state of South Kordofan, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has appealed to the international community to take all necessary steps towards resolving the crisis in the region. Over 70,000 civilians, according to humanitarian agencies, have been displaced following violence that erupted on June 5, between Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) aligned to the recently independent South Sudan. In a strongly-worded statement issued on July 25, IFHR, working in collaboration with its Sudanese counterparts, the African Center for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) and the Sudan Human Rights Monitor (SUHRM) said they were deeply concerned about the serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law being perpetrated in the war torn region. “Our organizations call upon the international community to take all necessary measures to ensure that the parties immediately cease hostilities in the region,” partly reads the group’s statement. Fighting in the region further says the group, has escalated despite the June framework agreement reached between the warring parties on political and security arrangements, reportedly leading to serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law. The group relied on testimonies collected on the ground, saying areas densely populated by members of the Nuba group were reportedly subjected to aerial bombings by the northern army. Also accused for ground attacks, alongside SAF are the Popular Defense Forces (PDF), Central Reserve Forces (CRF) and the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS). “These attacks include targeted summary and extrajudicial killings against perceived supporters of the SPLM-N [Sudan People Liberation Movement-Northern sector] and members of the Nuba ethnic group, arbitrary arrests and detentions, house-to-house searches, enforced disappearances, acts of torture, destruction of churches, and looting. Recent reports also indicate the existence of mass graves in Kadugli,” says the group. Humanitarian access, it adds, remains severely circumscribed, with aid distribution reportedly restricted to national organizations, many of whom, it argues, lack capacity to reach South Kordofan’s displaced communities. Souhayr Belhassen, FIDH’s president said, “The crimes being perpetrated since 5 June against civilians in South Kordofan may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity”. A leaked UN report earlier this month suggested that South Kordofan be referred to the International Criminal Court for investigation. “There is an urgent need for international action to ensure the parties put an immediate end to these atrocities. The international community has the duty to attain a comprehensive and sustainable solution of the conflict, which addresses both political and military matters,” she added. According to the group, earlier reports that the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) - a Darfur rebel group - were fighting alongside rebels in South Kordofan could jeopardize the group’s already sporadic involvement in the Darfur peace process in Doha. The governor of Blue Nile, Malik Agar, has warned that if the agreement signed with Khartoum earlier this month is not respected then Khartoum would have a to deal with from across Blue Nile and South Kordofan and in Darfur. In his address during the July 9 independence occasion, Salva Kiir, South Sudan’s SPLM president pledged to play an instrumental role in resolving the outstanding issues of Sudan’s 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which allowed the South to secede through a referendum. The contested border area of Abyei has not held its scheduled referendum to decide whether it will be part of North or South. In South Kordofan and Blue Nile popular consultations on the result of the CPA and defining their future relationship with Khartoum have not been started or completed respectively. Many groups in the so-called three areas fought alongside the SPLM during the civil war but after the South’s secession are in North Sudan with the same regime they fought against in power in Khartoum. “I want to assure the people of Abyei, Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan that we have not forgotten you. When you cry, we cry. When you bleed, we bleed. I pledge to you today that we will find a just peace for all”, Kiir said, moments after he took oath as South Sudan’s first President. (ST) END4 ______________________ 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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