South Sudan Ceasefire Agreement

23 January 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations Security Council today welcomed the signing of an agreement between anti- and pro-Government forces in South Sudan, a step towards a comprehensive deal that would halt the violence that has engulfed the country for more than a month.

Representatives of President Salva Kiir and former deputy president Riek Machar signed the agreement on cessation of hostilities, following three-weeks of talks mediated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

Mr. Ban "calls on the parties to immediately implement this agreement," his spokesperson said in a statement, which also congratulates IGAD on its "successful mediation."

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The Crisis in South Sudan

Over the past few weeks, crisis has gripped the world’s newest nation, South Sudan, after an internal political conflict spilled into violence which has left thousands dead.

So far, there have been reports of mass graves, as well as one instance where rebel forces killed UN peacekeepers that would not let them get to the frightened civilians behind the gates of a UN compound.

These images are reminiscent of scenes from Hotel Rwanda. The conflict in South Sudan already shows patterns that we have seen in mass atrocities elsewhere: armed militias operating outside traditional military chains of command; forcible recruitment of civilians; and intimidation of the United Nations. It seems that the nation is falling apart, but what is actually behind the violence?

Timeline of events

Violence first broke out at the compound of South Sudanese president Salva Kiir on December 15 last year between soldiers loyal to him and those loyal to his former deputy, Riek Machar, who attempted to overthrow Kiir.

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Marines Evacuate US Embassy in South Sudan

By Cheryl Pellerin
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2014 – Marines evacuated about 20 U.S. Embassy staff members from the deteriorating security situation in Juba, South Sudan, on the same day the State Department announced it will add $49.8 million to humanitarian assistance the United States has provided to help victims of the conflict there.

The new aid brings to $300 million the assistance the United States has provided in fiscal years 2013 and 2014 to help South Sudanese victims of conflict and refugees seeking asylum in South Sudan, according to a media note released today by the State Department.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Army Col. Steven Warren briefed the press about the evacuation from Juba requested by the State Department.

"Early this morning," he said, "the Department of Defense sent two KC-130 aircraft [pre-positioned in Entebbe, Uganda, and] assigned to the Special-Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force-Crisis Response, also called the SPMAGTF-CR, … to Juba to evacuate approximately 20 personnel."

Soldiers from the East Africa Response Force, assigned to U.S. Africa Command and under the command and control of Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, will continue to provide security reinforcement to the U.S. Embassy in Juba, according to an Africom statement also issued today.

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Related reading: State Department Intensifies Evacuation; Marines in Uganda to Aid Evacuation from S. Sudan

Sudan Bombs South Sudan's Heglig Oilfield

JUBA/KHARTOUM — South Sudan accused Sudan of bombing a disputed major oil field "to rubble" on Sunday but Khartoum denied that and said it would not negotiate until Juba withdrew all its troops from the same area.   

South Sudan's Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin told reporters in Juba the aerial bombardment of the facility - in the Heglig region - had caused serious damage.

"They are bombing the central processing facility and the tanks to rubble as we speak," he said.
Sudan's state minister for information denied the charge, however, telling Al Jazeera television that Sudan "did not and will not" destroy the oil facilities.


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Kiir's Daughter Marries Ethiopian, Ayok Reports and is Threatened

SOURCE: Arabic Network for Human Rights Information/IFEX - 12 December 2011 - ANHRI expresses its concern about Sudanese journalist Dengdit Ayok, deputy editor of the English-language newspaper "Destiny", who received a death threat via email for publishing an article critical of the country's president, Salva Kiir.

In November, Ayok was detained for two weeks and "Destiny" was suspended after publishing its first two issues, after it reported on the marriage of the president's daughter to an Ethiopian. The authorities deemed the article as "unethical to the profession of journalism". One of the reasons given for the decision, which was signed by the director of the Internal Security Agency in Juba, Akol Koor Kuc, is that it is noted that on many occasions, the newspaper continued reporting on "isolated topics that should not be published for the public".

Although five months have passed since independence, journalists in Southern Sudan are working without any legislative instruments that regulate the press and publications, or any code that guarantees the rights of journalists and protects them from detention and fines. Hence, the ruling authorities have full power to assess what is professional and objective and what deserves to be sanctioned with a detention or brought to trial.

"The closure of a newspaper and death threats for a journalist are not the best start for the authorities in Southern Sudan when it comes to addressing journalistic freedoms. As a matter of fact, it is obliged to behave differently than Northern Sudan, in terms of newspapers being confiscated, websites being blocked, and the detention of journalists. It is quite unfortunate that this nascent state pursues the same infamous practices," said ANHRI.

"The authorities must introduce a law protecting press freedoms and guaranteeing freedom of opinion and expression in its peaceful form, so as not to drift to the list of restrictive anti-press states," added ANHRI.

For more information:

Arabic Network for Human Rights Information
10 Elwy Street
Apartment 5
Behind the Central Bank
Downtown Cairo
Egypt
info (@) anhri.net
Phone: +202 239 64058
Fax: +202 239 64058
http://www.anhri.net/