Sudan Bombs Nuba Mountain Villages

Silent Death From Above

The people of war-torn Sudan learned long ago to take cover when planes roared overhead, but the latest tactic being used on them -- parachute bombs -- is raining silent death down on innocent villagers, say alarmed activists.

The country’s extremist Islamic regime in Khartoum has stepped up the practice in the Nuba Mountains, dropping deadly bombs by parachute from high altitudes as president and accused international war criminal Omar al-Bashir seeks to rout rebel forces opposed to his brand of radical Islam.

In recent years, the Nuba Mountains, where Christians and Muslims live side by side, have become a battleground for the forces of al-Bashir's forces and the Sudanese People Liberation Army.

Caught in the crossfire are innocent civilians, especially children, who live in the mountainous region just north of the border of Sudan and South Sudan, the nation carved out of Sudan in 2011.

“Some people ran away as soon as they saw the plane, while others stayed out of curiosity, they thought that they were parachuters landing.”- Ahmed Khatir, NubaReports.org

"Children living in the Nuba Mountains grew up amid almost daily aerial bombardment,” Akshaya Kumar, a Sudan and South Sudan policy analyst with the Center for American Progress, told FoxNews.com. “They have learned how to quickly duck into makeshift bomb shelters when they hear a bomb dropping.

"Now, in a brutal shift in tactics, the Sudanese government has refined its assault," she continued. "With parachute bombs, the bombs drop silently and then only explode after a delay, when those sheltering emerge from safety."

Religious Intolerance in Sudan

The Secretary of State first designated Sudan as a CPC in 1999, and most recently redesignated it in August 2011. Consequently, the country was ineligible for aid under Section 116 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. Sudan’s Interim National Constitution (INC) and other laws and policies restrict religious freedom and, in practice, the government generally enforced legal and policy restrictions on this right. The trend in the government’s respect for religious freedom did not change significantly during the year. The government at times enforced laws against blasphemy and defaming Islam. Authorities harassed religious practitioners of unregistered groups and limited the freedom of the four registered religious groups. There were instances of abuse and mistreatment. The security services detained foreign English teachers on suspicion of proselytizing, and ultimately deported them, along with several family members, without court proceedings. State governments and local authorities razed two churches.

In Sudan, most non-Muslim groups refrained from public proselytizing due to a vaguely worded law that allowed the government to charge them with supporting apostasy. The government stepped up its efforts to prosecute suspected proselytizers. In October the security services detained several foreign English teachers, who were Christians, on suspicion of proselytizing, which the teachers denied. Authorities held two teachers for several weeks before ultimately deporting them, along with several family members, without court proceedings.

In Sudan, there were credible reports that state governments and local authorities razed two churches. In June, authorities in Khartoum State overrode a longstanding informal agreement and destroyed a building used as an Episcopal church, and two days later, a Catholic church. In Eritrea, the government continued to harass members of unregistered religious groups, and detained many without due process, occasionally for long periods of time, sometimes by informally charging them with threatening national security. At year’s end, NGOs estimated the total of those imprisoned because of their religious beliefs at 1,500, including several dozen members of Jehovah’s Witnesses.

In April, in Sudan, rioters in Khartoum brushed aside inadequate local police forces and burned an evangelical church compound used by a mix of Eritrean, Ethiopian, and Sudanese worshippers. The authorities did not charge any of the attackers by year’s end.

Information from International Religious Freedom Report for 2012

Sudanese poet Abdelmoniem Rahma Condemned to Death

(WiPC/IFEX) - The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of PEN International is extremely concerned about the condition and whereabouts of the Sudanese poet Abdelmoniem Rahma, who was arrested on 2 September 2011 in Blue Nile State, Sudan. He was reportedly tried in a military court in November and there have been alarming reports that he has since been sentenced to death. It is unclear, however, on what charges he has been convicted. He has been denied access to a lawyer and his family do not know his whereabouts. There are also credible reports that he has been tortured. The WiPC calls on the Sudanese authorities to release Rahma, to repeal the reported death sentence against him, to clarify on what grounds he has been convicted and to allow him access to legal counsel.

Abdelmoniem Rahma is well-known as a journalist, poet and activist. He co-founded the daily newspaper Ajras al-Hurriya (Bells of Freedom), which was shut down by the Sudanese authorities days before South Sudan's independence on 9 July 2011. He is also the former head of Sudana, an arts and literature organisation. During the 1980s he was a member of the Sudanese Writers' Union and between 2003 and 2005 Rahma headed the Arabic section of the Sudan Radio Service network in Nairobi. Rahma also developed a travelling theatre to promote peaceful dialogue among Sudan's diverse cultures.

Reports coming out of Sudan regarding Abdelmoniem Rahma are scant and difficult to verify. However, the belief held by his former colleagues that Rahma was targeted because of his affiliation with the political movement The Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) is convincing. Rahma was reportedly tried alongside 18 members of the SPLM-N in November 2011.

In March 2012, it was reported that the Attorney General's office had completed investigations on 132 detainees, including Rahma and that all had been accused of crimes against the state and espionage. However, lawyers following the case have not been given any details of the charges.

BACKGROUND:

On 1 September 2011 fighting broke out in Blue Nile State, bordering South Sudan, between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudan People's Liberation Army-North (SPLA-N). On 2 September, Sudanese President al-Bashir declared a state of emergency in Blue Nile and appointed a military governor to the state.

The fighting in Blue Nile followed tensions between Sudan's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) over security arrangements in the border areas prior to South Sudan's independence on 9 July 2011. Following South Sudan's independence, the SPLM-North, which was previously part of the southern SPLM, was formed in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

Over 55,000 people have been displaced from Blue Nile State and have sought refuge in neighbouring Ethiopia and South Sudan. Independent observers and aid workers have been prevented from entering Blue Nile State since the fighting broke out.


RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Please send appeals:
- calling on the authorities to release Rahma
- calling on the authorities to repeal the death sentence if Rahma has been sentenced to death before a military court
- urging the authorities to ensure that Rahma is not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment
- calling on the authorities to grant Rahma immediate access to his family and lawyers, and to any medical treatment he might require following allegations of torture


APPEALS TO:

President Omar Hassan Ahmad Al Bashir
Office of the President
People's Palace PO Box 281
Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: 00249 183 782 541
Salutation: Your Excellency

Minister of Justice
Mohammed Bushara Dousa
Ministry of Justice, PO Box 302
Al Nil Avenue
Khartoum, Sudan
Fax: 00249 183 764 168
Salutation: Your Excellency

Please send appeals immediately. Check with PEN International if sending appeals after 14 August 2012.


For more information:

Writers in Prison Committee, PEN International
Brownlow House
50-51 High Holborn
London WC1V 6ER
United Kingdom
wipc (@) pen-international.org
Phone: +44 20 74050338
Fax: +44 20 74050339
http://www.pen-international.org

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.


Read it all here.

Violence Continues in S. Kordofan, Sudan

ANHRI/IFEX) - Cairo 15 June 2011 - ANHRI has condemned the brutal attack by Sudanese security forces on an Al Jazeera team in South Kordofan state, Sudan. The team was beaten by the security forces, then driven away by force for an investigation.

The Al Jazeera team, consisting of reporter Osama Sayed, photographer Ahmed Yassin, engineer Ali Abu Shala and driver Moussa Blou, was heading to Deling city in South Kordofan to cover news when they were stopped by local soldiers at a checkpoint. The soldiers started to punch and beat the team with their rifle butts and threatened to shoot them. This brutal attack occurred while the team was escorted by the Sudanese army forces, which did not step in to defend them.

The driver was injured in the attack and his camera was briefly confiscated. The team was then driven to the Security Authority Headquarters where they were placed under investigation before they were taken to the Police Station for questioning under article 147 of the Sudanese Criminal Law. Afterwards the team was released and went back to the capital of North Kordofan state, according to ANHRI sources.

ANHRI said, "The brutal attack on journalists and reporters in the presence of army forces is aimed at concealing the deteriorating human rights situation in Kordofan state, where severe fighting is taking place and many civilians are killed every day."

ANHRI added, "Sudanese authorities have to stop suppressing freedom of the press and the media, and provide a safe environment to ensure respect for the fundamental human right of freedom of expression that should not be violated."

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: +20 239 64058
Fax: +20 239 64058
http://www.anhri.net/

Sudan: Activist Tortured and Journalists Harrassed

(CPJ/IFEX) - New York, June 6, 2011 - The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Sudan to drop criminal charges and abandon all other tactics of harassment employed against at least 10 journalists who have reported on the alleged rape and torture of a youth activist. The activist said she was raped after participating in a demonstration in January.

"Rather than address the systematic failures that enable torture and rape, the Sudanese government has chosen to subject journalists who cover them to politicized legal proceedings," said CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Mohamed Abdel Dayem. "The problem is rape and torture in government custody and a political culture that tolerates such acts."

Democracy youth activist Safiya Ishag was reportedly tortured and raped repeatedly in custody after being detained following her participation in a January 30 demonstration, CPJ research shows.

In a March 8 article for pro-opposition daily Ajras al-Huriya entitled "Rape . . . under Sharia Law," Omar al-Gerai, one of the journalists who have been targeted, delved into the details of Ishag's ordeal. The article also looked critically at the Sudanese justice system and the tens of thousands of detainees that have been subjected to it.

The prosecutor of Sudan's Press and Publications Court informed al-Gerai and "Ajras al-Huriya" editor Abdullah Shaikh and their attorneys that they would be charged under the 1991 criminal code but failed to inform them of the specific charges, local media reported. On May 29, prosecutors charged al-Gerai and Shaikh with defamation in a Khartoum court; the trial was adjourned till June 21, Sudanese human rights activists told CPJ. According to Osman Hummaida, the executive director of the African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies, seven separate complaints have been filed against Shaikh by the National Intelligence and Security Service, the military and other organs of the state.

Al-Gerai wasn't the only one charged. Fayez al-Silaik, the former acting editor-in-chief of "Ajras al-Huriya", also faces a defamation charge in connection with older articles about Ishag, Hummaida told CPJ. He has also been charged six other times in connection with different articles about prisoner abuse that have appeared in "Ajras al-Huriya", Hummaida told CPJ. Al-Silaik's court date has been set for June 12.

Prosecutors have also charged Amal Habbani, who wrote about Ishag's case in "Ajras al-Huriya". She is al-Siliak's codefendant in the June 12 trial. Journalist Fatima al-Ghazali and her editor-in-chief at the daily "Al-Jarida", Saad Eddin Ibrahim, will also stand trial for al-Ghazali's articles about Ishag's case on June 12, local media reported.

In addition, Faisal Saleh, who also wrote about Ishag's case for the daily "Al-Akhbar", has been charged with defamation. His trial commences on June 28. Mohamed Latif, the daily's editor-in-chief will stand trial as a co-defendant in the same legal proceeding. Nahid al-Hassan, a physician who has frequently written about torture and other forms of abuse that occur while alleged perpetrators are in police custody in "Ajras al-Huriya" has also been charged, for writing about the case. She has been scheduled to appear in court to defend herself against undetermined charges on July 6.

Finally, Ahmad Osman, editor-in-chief of the English-language paper "The Citizen", received a summons from the court clerk. He has not yet been given charges or a court date, however, Hummaida told CPJ.

The charges against the ten journalists are very much in keeping with how Sudan reacts to critical media, CPJ research shows.


For more information:

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 7th Ave., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001
USA
info (@) cpj.org
Phone: +1 212 465 1004
Fax: +1 212 465 9568
http://www.cpj.org/

Voting in Sudan

Staff helps woman vote in al-Jereif, a Khartoum suburb, on January 14, 2011.
Photo Credit: Associated Press

Sudan's referendum on independence kicked off on Jan. 9 with reports of peaceful voting in most parts of the country but with news that violence in the disputed Abyei region had erupted, claiming lives and injuring people after militia attacked a polling station.

Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Episcopal Church of Sudan joined his Roman Catholic counterpart, Archbishop Paulino Lukudu, and other religious leaders as they cast their ballots at 4 p.m. on Jan. 9 at the Hai Jalaba Junior School polling station in Juba, capital city of southern Sudan.

Accompanying the archbishops was a delegation from the All Africa Conference of Churches, which had traveled to Juba as an ecumenical body of referendum observers, according to a Rebecca Coleman, international coordinator in Deng's office.

"On arrival, and with big smiles and waves, the archbishops greeted the crowd of fellow Sudanese citizens who had also turned up to vote," Coleman said, in an e-mail sent to Episcopal News Service. "They proceeded inside the station and after a brief explanation of the process from the polling station officials, they finally voted."

"We have been waiting 55 years for this day. This is the day, this is our time," Deng said, according to Coleman, adding that all Sudanese had now proved to the world that they could reach this day peacefully.

Meanwhile, more than 40 deaths were reported in Abyei following violent clashes between the Misseriya Arab tribe of the north and Ngok Dinka of the south. Abyei is a border region which is holding a separate referendum to determine whether it will belong to the north or the south.

"It is very sad news about Abyei," Bishop Joseph Garang of the Diocese of Renk, which lies on the border between the north and south, told ENS during a Jan. 10 telephone from his home. "The militia arrived well-prepared and attacked a polling center. We are all trying to be peaceful."

In Renk, Garang said the referendum is "going very well" and being conducted peacefully. "It's a celebratory time for everybody," he told ENS, adding that the vast majority of people had already cast their ballots and that he expected voting would conclude in the next day or two. The official final day for voting is Jan. 15.

But Garang's main message was that he believes in the power of prayer. "Everything now is in the control of God. If it were not, there would be much more violence," he said. "God is so good always and people are praying, which is why things are going so smoothly. I believe that God has answered our prayers that the referendum goes forward on time. Now we continue to pray that the voting can finish peacefully."

The referendum is a main provision in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that brought an end to a 21-year civil war that claimed 2 million lives and displaced many more.

The results of the referendum are expected to be announced by Jan. 25 and should the south vote to secede from the north a transitional period will commence, with the official start of a new nation scheduled for July 9.

Millions of refugees are expected to return to the south from the north and the Diocese of Renk is in a strategic position to welcome them. Garang said that Renk's Christians were rejoicing that UNICEF had delivered food and medicine over the weekend to ensure that the region was prepared for the mass migration. He urged ongoing prayers from the international community.

Back in Juba, Episcopal Church missionary Robin Denney explained that the thousands of people who lined up outside polling stations were patient and joyful. "People congratulated each other as they voted," she said in a Jan. 9 e-mail to ENS. "There was a general feeling of solemnity in the air, a state of awe at the historic event we were witnessing and participating in. It is hard to describe the intensity of the overarching feeling of joy and pride that pervaded Juba today."

Among the international observers in Juba were former U.S. president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn. "Jimmy Carter greeted the archbishops, and all the people gathered there," Denney said. "He thanked the other observers for their presence, and encouraged the voters with confident words and a glowing smile. He spent a few minutes speaking with the archbishops about their experience of the vote, and telling them about his own commitment as a Christian."

"We praise God for this joyful peaceful day, and we continue to pray for peace in all corners of Sudan as these events unfold," Denney added.

From here.

Related reading:  Southern Sudan to Take a Biblical Name?; Prayer Needed in the Midst of Sudan Vote; Who Were the Kushites?

Southern Sudan to Take a Biblical Name?

Cynical as it sounds, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has a point when he says that an independent southern Sudan will be a “failed state” from its inception, though in truth his own misrule and warmongering in the south has caused much of the suffering and destruction there, and hence the southerners’ desire for independence.

A U.S.-backed 2005 peace deal, which ranked among President George W. Bush’s main foreign-policy successes, gave the mainly Christian south a degree of self-government.

“The northerners tried to impose Arabism and sharia across Sudan,” said Father Peter, a parish priest at St. Teresa’s Cathedral in Juba, the region’s capital. “Imagine if we tried to impose canon law on others in Sudan. You cannot govern a country with so many ethnic groups and identities with such a system.”

He said the Catholic Church was targeted by Khartoum throughout the 1983-2005 war.

“We were depicted as agents of the imperialists, or agents of Rome out to undermine Islam,” he said.

However, the Church and affiliated aid organizations and charities helped people suffering from war, disease and hunger, without fear or favor, he said. “Some people saw us for what we really are. We helped other Christians, Muslims, people from traditional beliefs, if they were hungry, thirsty, homeless, hurt. We did not ask for conversion or anything like that in return,” he said.

Now, as he asked during Mass here, he hopes that people vote peacefully, “in an orderly manner, and not to cause trouble.”

On the first day of voting, Sunday, Jan. 9, Father Peter’s church saw a visit from U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Salva Kiir, president of the government of Southern Sudan.

Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has made three trips to Sudan in recent months on behalf of the Obama administration. In an address to the congregation at St. Teresa’s, the former presidential candidate paid tribute to the people of southern Sudan.

Biblical Name?

Southern Sudan’s vote has attracted a foreign press entourage to an area that does not receive much media coverage, despite the history of war, famine, disease and the geopolitical contest being waged between the United States and China, which is a key investor in and buyer of Sudanese oil.

Earlier, at the Mass conducted in Bari, one of many local languages, Western journalists scurried in and out of the church, to the consternation of the nuns working as ushers. “Please, this is the consecration,” one implored, to which the cameraman and reporter responded, as if not hearing her pleas, “Is the president here? When will he be here?”

Father Peter estimates that two-thirds of southern Sudan’s Christians are Catholic, though in an area bigger than France, with no paved roads outside Juba, the infrastructure means that it is difficult to get around and establish exactly how many people live there.

Some of those clamoring for independence seem eager to establish historical and Christian credentials, and names such as Azania and Cushitia have been suggested as possible names for the country. The latter refers to the biblical land of Cush, which is thought to approximate this region.

Asked if he wants to see an independent southern Sudan, Father Peter commented, “This is an opportunity for us to express our will in a way that we have never had before.”

“We have our own culture and history here in the south,” he added. “It is better for us to be on our own.”

From here.

Related reading:  Who Were the Kushites?

Slaves as a Military Caste in Sudan

Read it here.

World Watches Sudan

April 21, 2010 (KHARTOUM) — The ruling Sudanese National Congress Party (NCP) accused opposition leaders of seeking to travel abroad and begin a campaign to smear the image of the recently held elections in the country.

Sudanese voted from April 11-15 for president, legislative and local representatives in the country's first multi party election since 1986. Southerners also voted for the leader of their semi-autonomous government.

 Several heavyweight opposition parties boycotted the proceedings before voting started citing irregularities, and observers have already said the elections did not meet international standards. Those who participated later announced later they will not recognize its results.

The presidential adviser Mustafa Ismail who is also the NCP external relations chief was quoted by state media as saying that they have received intel indicating that opposition leaders want to tour abroad and "spoil the excellent results achieved in the recent elections through the media".

Ismail said the NCP is "carefully" monitoring the movements and actions of these opposition figures and attempt to abort their pursuits but declined to give the names of those individuals in question.

The NCP figure who headed a meeting at the party’s headquarters today said that it is important that the party "besieges party leaderships who flew abroad in an efforts to smear the image of the elections" adding that this electoral experience belongs to the people.

The leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani issued a statement this week denouncing the conduct of the elections saying that it "were exposed to fraud and rigging". He left to Egypt afterwards will also head to Saudi Arabia from there. His office denied that he has gone to a voluntary exile over the electoral dispute.

The Islamist opposition leader Hassan Al-Turabi said this week that all options are open in face of the "blatant rigging" in the elections but did not specify the measures on the table.

Today the governor of Khartoum who was announced a winner in the gubernatorial elections warned against violent protests after results are officially announced.

"Everyone can demonstrate if they respect the law, but if there are infringements, they will be dealt with," said Abdel-Rahman al-Khidir.

"We will not allow Khartoum to become Tehran or Nairobi," Khidir, a member of the NCP, told reporters in Khartoum.

He was referring to violent protests that broke out after disputed presidential elections in Iran last June and in Kenya in 2007.

The governor also called on Bashir’s supporters to use moderation when celebrating the expected re-election of the leader, who came to power in a military coup in 1989 backed by Islamists.

The announcement of the election results have been delayed and no new date has been set. Partial results has been announced all throughout the country primarily in the North showing a strong standing for the NCP.

From here.

Sudan Election Website Blocked

SOURCE: Reporters Without Borders

(RSF/IFEX) - Access to the Sudan Vote Monitor website ( http://www.sudanvotemonitor.com/), a collaborative platform created by Sudanese civil society with the aim of facilitating independent monitoring and reporting of the current elections and their results, has been partially or totally blocked for the past six days.

The elections, which began on 11 April 2010 and which are the first multiparty general elections in Sudan since 1986, have been marked by allegations of irregularities.

"We demand the immediate and total unblocking of this website, which is used by NGOs, journalists and ordinary citizens to report fraud and irregularities in these historic elections," Reporters Without Borders said. "Respect for freedom of expression is an essential condition for the holding of free and fair elections."

The press freedom organisation added: "At time when criticism is coming from all quarters, this act of censorship is reinforcing doubts about the transparency of these elections. It sets a dangerous precedent for other upcoming votes, such as the crucial referendum on self-determination for the south that is supposed to be held by next January."

When connections are working properly, Sudanese citizens are able to send information to the Sudan Vote Monitor by going to the website, or by sending email or SMS messages. Visitors to the site can upload videos and establish links to social networks or to sites such as http://www.sudantribune.com/

According to one of the site's spokesmen, Fareed Zein: "our technology is the closest thing to a real-time snapshot of what is happening on the ground during the elections. Users will have access to up-to-date information including streaming videos from all over Sudan, everywhere from an election centre in Khartoum to a polling station in Juba, or a remote corner of the country."

Operated by various Sudanese NGOs such as Sudan Vote Monitor and the Asmaa Society for Development, Sudan Vote Monitor uses volunteers and open source software provided by Ushahidi ( http://www.ushahidi.com ) that allows distributed data to be gathered and visualized on a map or timeline. Created in 2008 to enable Kenyans to locate post-election violence, the Ushahidi platform has since been used in other countries such as Haiti to assist post-earthquake relief work.

Ushahidi was the recent winner in the Best Webblog category of the Best of the Blogs competition organised by Deutsche Welle in partnership with Reporters Without Borders ( http://www.thebobs.com/).

For more information:
Reporters Without Borders
47, rue Vivienne
75002 Paris
France
rsf (@) rsf.org
Phone: +33 1 44 83 84 84
Fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51
Reporters Without Borders
http://www.rsf.org/

China Praises Sudan Elections

China has praised Sudan's first multi-party elections in 24 years as a "success" a day after the United States criticized the vote as neither free nor fair.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Jiang Yu, says a Chinese delegation that monitored Sudan's presidential and parliamentary elections found them to be "smooth and orderly." The polls were held between April 11 to 15.

Speaking Tuesday, Jiang also said the vote will benefit the reconciliation process between Sudan's north and south. He said Beijing will continue to play what he called a "positive and constructive role" in promoting that process.

The U.S. State Department said Monday Sudan's vote did not meet international standards, echoing assessments from election observers of the European Union and the U.S.-based Carter Center.

Early results show Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir heading toward an expected overwhelming victory. His two main challengers of the Umma Party and southern Sudan People's Liberation Movement withdrew ahead of the election, accusing the government of planning to rig it.

China is a major importer of oil from Sudan and a key international ally of the government in Khartoum.
 
From here.

Atrocities in Southern Sudan

Tuesday, 1st September 2009 Juba, Sudan

APPEAL regarding the recent atrocities in Jonglei and Western Equatoria States

On Saturday 29th August 2009 I received reports from Wernyol, Twic East County, Jonglei State, that there had been another attack on the peoples of the area in which over forty people – men, women and children – were killed. Amongst the dead were Ven. Joseph Mabior Garang, Archdeacon of Wernyol and Archbishop’s Commissary in the new Diocese of Twic East, who was shot at the altar of the church in Wernyol during a service of Morning Prayer. Tens of others have been wounded, some very seriously with gun-shot wounds and broken limbs. Only a few of these have been taken to Juba Military Hospital, whilst the rest are still in Bor Hospital.

I have leant from Episcopal Church sources on the ground that the attackers were well armed with new automatic weapons, dressed in army uniforms, and appeared well-organized and properly trained. Instead of attacking a cattle camp, this was an attack on a Payam headquarter town. Consequently in the view of the Church, this was not a tribal conflict as commonly reported, but a deliberately organized attack on civilians by those that are against the peace in Southern Sudan. These reports confirm the suspicions that I aired in my May 2009 appeal to the diplomatic and international community in Sudan.

Last week I received the news from Ezo, Ezo County, Western Equatoria State, that there had been another devastating attack by the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) on Ezo town on 12th/13th August in which three people, including an Episcopal Church lay reader had been murdered. The attack included the abduction of children from the Episcopal church building in Ezo, and several thousand more people have been displaced into Ezo town – people that the local churches are struggling to care for. Ezo Hospital was also attacked, medicine stolen and equipment destroyed.

I hear from Bishop John Zawo of the Episcopal Diocese of Ezo that the attack could have been avoided if better military security had been given to the town.

I am therefore appealing to the government and the international community at large to act swiftly in order to prevent such atrocities from occurring in future. Continuing violence such as this is not only a crime against the innocent people killed and injured, it is a crime against the peace of the Sudan and if left unchecked will do great damage to the smooth implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).

This is especially the case given the strained political situation whereby the two parties to the CPA – the National Congress Party (NCP) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) – are still not coming to an agreement regarding the laws governing the elections and referendum. The time frame given for the elections and referendum is already too short for the democratic processes to be effectively organized, and by the provisional dates chosen for voting in the elections, much of the South will already be suffering from logistics problems caused by the onset of the wet season.This is an indication to the citizens of the Sudan that the people on the ground are not being regarded or included in the politics of peace and that we are vulnerable to future violations of the CPA and an uncertain future for peace in the Sudan.

I refer the government and international community to my May 2009 appeal to the diplomatic community in Sudan, and now strongly reiterate my plea to urge your countries’ governments to do more to guarantee the implementation of the CPA at all levels. As shown from the Twic East example, there is now accurate evidence to suggest that such violence is deliberately perpetrated as I implied in the May appeal. So long as all violence such as that in Jonglei and that perpetrated by the LRA continues – violence which is preventable by better use of security personnel – there is no hope of conducting free and fair elections in these areas in 2010 and no hope of a fair referendum on Southern secession in 2011.

In the mean time I am appealing for humanitarian assistance to those 24,000 displaced and wounded people in Twic East County and those 15,000 displaced and wounded people Ezo County. I would like to especially appeal for help for the widow and children of Ven. Joseph Mabior Garang, who now require food and education.

Unless the guarantor governments of the CPA act now the peace is in grave danger. As the Church, we look for the upholding of the rights of every Sudanese to a peaceful future.

His Grace the Most Rev. Dr. Daniel Deng Bul Yak
Archbishop and Primate of the Province of the Episcopal Church of Sudan

Further details and photos will appear on http://www.sudan.anglican.org/

Sudanese Women Punished for Wearing Trousers

(IPI/IFEX) - 7 September, VIENNA - Sudan has convicted journalist and former UN employee Lubna Hussein of violating the country's decency laws, for wearing trousers, and has ordered her to pay a fine equivalent to about €146 - or spend a month in prison.

"I will not pay the money and I will go to prison," Hussein told Reuters byphone after the verdict.

"IPI has tremendous respect for Lubna Hussein's refusal to pay her fine. This case is a lens through which it is possible to see the repressive nature of Sudanese society and the way it seeks to inhibit freedom of expression," said IPI Director David Dadge.

The court decided not to sentence Lubna to the flogging she could have faced under the law being applied.

Hussein had been charged with violating decency laws in Sudan, which is partly governed by Islamic law. Hussein and 12 other women were arrested on3 July in a restaurant by a group of public order police for wearing trousers. They were accused of "sensational dressing up" and threatening the values of Sudanese society under Article 152 of the 1991 Criminal Code.

Ten of the women opted to plead guilty, immediately received 10 lashes and were fined 250 Sudanese pounds.

Hussein, along with two others, opted to take legal counsel and fight the charges.

In a move lauded by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and other human rights groups, Hussein mailed around 500 invitations to media and rights groups, asking them to attend her trial (originally scheduled for 29 July) and expected flogging.

The trial, which was originally scheduled to take place on 29 July, was adjourned till 4 August to give Hussein time to quit her job with the United Nations, with whom she was employed as a media officer. United Nations employees in Sudan enjoy immunity from prosecution. It was postponed again to 7 September as authorities attempted to determine whether Hussein was still immune from prosecution as a former UN employee.

Lawyers in Khartoum told IPI that the domestic and international attention attracted by the trial had played a role in the judges' decision to postpone it without allowing the defendants to speak.

Police also filed a complaint against female journalist Amal Habbani, editor of the "Tiny Issues" column in "Ajrass Al Horreya" newspaper, over a12 July story entitled: "Lubna . . . A Case of Subduing a Woman's Body," in which she defended Lubna al-Hussein.

Amal was reportedly being charged under Article 159 of the 1991 Criminal Code, which deals with defamation. If convicted, she could face a fine of 10 million Sudanese pounds, or almost $3 million Euros.

http://www.ifex.org/sudan/2009/09/10/hussein_convicted/