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------Original message------ From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> To: "Group" <[email protected]> Date: Friday, March 1, 2013 3:16:59 PM GMT-0500 Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Sudan: crackdown on civil society, an endless political game 1. Crackdown on civil society in Sudan emboldens hardliners and detractors Sudan does not need more civil war - the pathway to peace is "open dialogue, democracy and respect for human rights". Princeton N Lyman Last Modified: 28 Feb 2013 08:07 In my many travels to Khartoum, Sudan, over the years, I have been inspired by the resilience, courage and vision of civil society leaders and activists. I am impressed by the commitment of these non-partisan Sudanese citizens to advancing the interests of their country through open public consultations on creative proposals to resolve long-standing national problems. These leaders have, on occasion, organised peaceful protests against government policies they consider harmful to the nation's interests and abusive of the rights of Sudanese citizens. Unfortunately, these efforts have often met with intimidation and arrests from the state. In reality, the actions undertaken by civil society organisations and activists help strengthen the culture, politics and economy of this dynamic country, and create hope for a better future. Their efforts should be seen as a means to a more peaceful and prosperous Sudan. I am concerned that the government has recently been increasingly engaged in a "crackdown" on civil society organisations and leaders. Indeed, the civic space for individual citizens to freely express their views and to organise events with like-minded fellow citizens has drastically narrowed over the past few months as the government of Sudan has responded to civil society criticism by attempting to silence these Sudanese voices rather than giving them the respectful consideration they deserve as citizens whom the government is meant to serve. For example, in December 2012, the government of Sudan arbitrarily shut down four civil society organisations operating in Khartoum and blocked activists from demonstrating against these closures outside the National Human Rights Commission a few days later. State agents arrested three of the demonstrators and beat a journalist covering the incident. Subsequent attempts to peacefully engage the government have resulted in further acts of aggression and intimidation by the security services. In addition to the recent arrests and closures of NGOs, the government of Sudan has launched a campaign of censorship and reprisal against newspapers critical of the government. This crackdown on civil society, the media and opposition parties worsened last month after the signing of the so-called "New Dawn Charter" between the movements making up the Sudan Revolutionary Front and the non-violent opposition political parties gathered in the National Consensus Forces. The government of Sudan has further arrested six opposition politicians for signing the Charter; five of them remain in arbitrary detention without charge. The UN's Independent Expert recently expressed his regret over the government of Sudan's failure to respect the fundamental freedoms of its people and, like him, we urge the government to create an environment for free and open political discussion. The government of Sudan's deliberate constriction of the space for free political expression does not serve its interests or those of the Sudanese people. Instead, the government's repression of peaceful dissent only serves to bolster the arguments of those who claim that petitioning the government is pointless, and therefore armed confrontation is the only viable means of achieving political objectives. Critical issues of governance, participation and human rights are the subject of opposition concerns and indeed of many Sudanese. These issues are at the heart of the conflicts in Darfur, Southern Kordofan, and Blue Nile and the widespread discontent and unrest in the rest of the country. The government of Sudan could greatly reduce the influence of those advocating violent change by opening genuine negotiations with the opposition parties, including the armed movements who themselves call for political dialogue, to address grievances that have long fuelled conflict. As friends of the Sudanese people, having provided a great deal of humanitarian relief to Sudanese suffering from the disastrous conflicts in Sudan, we again urge commitment to a fair and transparent constitutional process that will include all Sudanese voices and opinions. We also urge Sudan and the armed movements to engage in a negotiated peace process and a return to civil political discourse. Sudan does not need more civil war; the pathway to peace is open dialogue, democracy and a profound respect for human rights. As my tenure as Special Envoy to Sudan and South Sudan draws to a close, I regret deeply that peace has not yet been the reward for the people of Sudan who have searched for it so long. It is achievable, however, not by suppression of dissent, but by embracing an open and fruitful dialogue that leads to democracy and inclusiveness for all Sudanese. Ambassador Princeton N Lyman is United States Special Envoy to South Sudan and Sudan. He previously worked as an adjunct senior fellow for Africa policy studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). He is also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. From 1999 to 2003, he was executive director of the Global Interdependence Initiative at the Aspen Institute. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/02/20132287340413606.html END1 2. Sudan vs. South Sudan: An Endless Political Game S. Sudan has the oil, Sudan has the pipelines By Kremena Krumova Epoch Times StaffcCreated: February 13, 2013cLast Updated: February 14, 2013 For more than a year and a half, since South Sudan seceded from Sudan, presidents Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir and Salva Kiir Mayardit have failed to find common ground. Disagreements over dividing oil revenue, border demarcation, the fate of the disputed region of Abyei, and the ongoing fights in the states of Kordofan and Blue Nile, linger without any prospect of resolution. “The main problem is in Khartoum,” said Nico Plooijer, manager of the Africa Program at IKV Pax Christi, a peacekeeping organization based in the Netherlands. President al-Bashir’s regime in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum is delaying any steps toward resolution, hoping South Sudan will fall, explained Plooijer. “It is Khartoum that doesn’t want to find any solution.” Last September, during a summit under the auspices of the African Union High Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) and the government of Ethiopia, in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, the two neighboring countries signed nine agreements. The agreements concern oil and economic matters, and include mechanisms for peacefully settling disputes. However, since then, none of the agreements have been implemented. “They keep adding criteria and other things to the agreements that have already been agreed upon,” said Plooijer. Plooijer, who travels regularly to Juba, the capital of South Sudan, says that by doing so, Khartoum is trying to make the south collapse. “They think that if they cannot ruin [South Sudan] directly, they can ruin it indirectly. They want to show that the Southerners cannot govern by themselves, that they would be best to connect to Khartoum again.” According to a peacekeeping expert, Khartoum wants the south to remain fragile, because if South Sudan collapses, it will no longer be a threat to the north’s power. Khartoum is blocking oil flow in an attempt to weaken South Sudan. South Sudan has the oil, while Sudan has the pipelines. If Khartoum does not implement the oil agreement, South Sudan will have no interest in maintaining good relations with the north and will dare to do anything. Although blocking the oil hurts Sudan’s economy as well as South Sudan’s, Khartoum apparently has some reserves to keep it running, and hopes more damage will be done south of the border. “It might not be completely rational, you might say,” said Plooijer. “They can make an agreement and can [keep] the oil flowing, but apparently they make a different calculation. Apparently [Khartoum has] some money to waste away in a way that they can still provide for the finances to flow through the security system. They run the country through the security, so as long as they can pay them, they can be afloat.” According to a Sudan Tribune article, the leadership of the National Congress Party (NCP) has decided not to implement the nine agreements because the party has deemed them “detrimental for their survival.” Some NCP leaders anticipate that the Juba government will fall within six months. South Sudan gets 75 percent of oil revenue, while Sudan gets 25 percent, reports the Sudan Tribune. Halting oil flow will thus have a greater impact on the south. Nonetheless, just over a year ago, Juba halted oil production after accusing Khartoum of theft. This despite the fact that oil represents nearly 100 percent of the South Sudanese national income. Personal grudges also seem to play a role in the stalemate between Khartoum and Juba. “It is an open secret that the two presidents have bad blood toward one another,” said an author and member of the South Sudanese diaspora who wished to remain unnamed. According to the source, there are three main reasons for the stalemate: Firstly, each side has governance issues and serious economic downturns at home and has to gain political capital from winning control over the areas where the border is disputed. Secondly, each side has spent massive resources forming alliances with groups that antagonize the opponent’s government. Both parties are now finding it difficult to compromise on the contentious issues for fear of breaking the strategic bonds with key allies. Thirdly, the parties believe there are serious cracks in the regime of the other, which they hope to exploit to conquer the other side and possibly regain control of the whole “old,” post-colonial Sudan. “Al-Bashir believes South Sudan is behind the movement to overthrow his government,” wrote the source. “In order to gain support of his subjects, he is drumming up pan-Arab sentiments, always insinuating that the Arab ethnic groups are targeted by the non-Arab movement. Such prejudice is heightening the existing animosity, jeopardizing any peace-building gestures.” Large portions of al-Bashir’s allies are Islamists. On the other hand, the south has shown willingness to implement the agreements with the north. According to Luka Biong Deng, South Sudanese and a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, South Sudanese President Mayardit is willing to strike a deal. “He is not a very complicated politician; he is very simple and straightforward,” said Deng in a telephone interview. “But, I think he has been disappointed many times by Khartoum, to the level that he has come to a conclusion that Bashir is insisting to topple him. And that itself will not provide any basis for any deal between the north and the south.” Analysts warn that if Sudan and South Sudan do not work for common economic interests, this will be a sure recipe for increasingly hostile relations. “If they don’t eat from the same dish on the same table, then they are going to be enemies,” said John Akec, vice chancellor of the University of Northern Bahr El Ghazal in South Sudan. Akec warns that if Khartoum does not implement the oil agreement, South Sudan will have no interest in maintaining good relations with the north and will dare to do anything. “If you have interest, then you will be afraid to do bad things, but if you don’t have interest, you will dare to do whatever, even in daylight,” added Akec. So far, however, what we see is a strategy of confrontation. Akec predicts that Sudan will try whatever it can to unsettle the government in Juba, and Juba is likely to react strongly. “If the cooperation agreement collapses, the next step will be conflict. That is the most likely scenario at the moment,” Akec said. The only way forward for the south is not to depend on oil to be transported through the north, according to Akec—not to wait for the government in Khartoum to fall, and come up with a different strategy of becoming more self-sufficient. “You can’t just wait. You cannot tie your economy on the expectation of the government of another country to fall,” Akec said. “You have to get control of your own destiny. It us up to the Southerners to change their own country, it is not up to the north.” http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/world/s-sudan-sudan-at-stalemate-in-endless-political-game-347256.html END2 3. Sudan reiterates commitment to implementing accords signed with Juba February 28, 2013 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese foreign ministry issued a statement today reaffirming its desire to implement cooperation agreements signed last September with South Sudan that was brokered by the African Union (AU) mediation team. "The Government of the Sudan would like to reiterate its commitment to the comprehensive and coordinated implementation as provided for in the Cooperation Agreements of 27 September 2012 and the outcomes of the Heads of State summit report of 5th January 2013," the statement carried by state media said. The statement comes days after remarks attributed to South Sudan president Salva Kiir in which he told African leaders that he is not interested in talks with Khartoum that dragged on indefinitely The September deals are on hold as the two countries have yet to finalize security arrangements that involve setting up the buffer zone. Sudan insists that the security aspect is concluded before implementing the other deals particularly one pertaining to restarting oil flow from South Sudan through the north’s pipelines. Juba shut down its output of 350,000 barrels day a year ago in a row with Khartoum over pipeline fees. As well as getting oil flows restarted, both sides also need to decide on ownership of large strips of the almost 2,000 km (1,200 miles) long border. The Sudanese foreign ministry stressed that the implementation of the agreements "is to be comprehensive, in a coordinated manner and without selectivity or conditionality". "The Government of the Sudan is willing and resolved to continue positively the negotiations on implementation of all agreements reached by the two sides and urges the other side to honor its obligations and avoid backtracking in order to ensure smooth and unhindered implementation of the agreements" read the press release. The two countries recently exchanged accusations or cross-border attacks and amassing troops on both sides of the borders. (ST) http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article45690 END3 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan, South Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile) +27 82 050 1235 (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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