Finally In Disgrace: by Gabriel Makuei Tor

Finally In Disgrace

         By, Gabriel Makuei Tor

Is the South Crying for Oil, or Lives?

The Southern Sudanese leadership in Juba and its people care more about lives of the people than the wealth of oil in the land. Khartoum must get this right before she reinstates herself to meddle with Shaira Law victims’ lives. The decision has been taken to the point of no return to Unity. Our Referendum votes are for Freedom not bribery; South Sudan as a Country of its own. Bashir have just said, on the 3rd week of December, 2010 to his leadership thugs. If South Sudan vote for unity of the Country then North would give up their 50% share of oil to give the South full control on South Sudan oil revenues (100%).

Ask yourself!  Why now and why at the eleventh hour? I have seen this as part of NCP’s wishful thinking. You can’t give people power by saying and not by doing it. Southerners knows very much that Bashir’s statement was meant to influence the Referendum outcome but the Northern dirty tricks have been known for years. Khartoum has it as part of it strategy. That, “drop of oil is worth a drop of human blood”. You may be tempted to think that Sudanese presidency has come to term or behalf by thinking this wishful thoughts but this is negative. Why did people starved to death and fell sick and died without treatment, while the oil flows in their soil?

If the North has done nothing to help correct the justice system, freedom of press and speech, power and wealth sharing in the Country during the last five years, then nothing will make them think sharing of power, or wealth should be the way to go. They (Northerners) have fooled the Southern region for decades but nothing, and I said nothing will make them fool, pull or push Southerners to their wishful dream, any more. When Atem Garang of Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) reacted and responded to president Bashir’s talk of “oil for Unity” according to Al Jazeera News. Garang said it all very well – when he said, “it’s a matter of principle” - Meaning South’s separation from the larger and olden Sudan is not about wealth but about justice for all Sudanese citizens, which had never come to exist.

Like the Sudanese YouTube video- woman being beaten with 50 lashes by two Sudanese policemen by turns for wearing a pair of pants, tortured mercilessly by beating with a Hippo treated skin from her head to toe, during the brought day light. And endorsed by Omar El Bashir. A priest who had a chance o watches that tearful-video had to say this: “if they could do this during the broad day light, what can they do in the dark?” -  On Dec. 13^th, 2010 during the Southern Sudanese Leadership Summit in Phoenix, Arizona (organized by American Episcopal Church for Southerners in the United States). The leadership Summit was attended by spiritual and community leaders. From DC to California, from USA to Southern Sudan. His lordship, Bishop of Nzara, South Sudan, Bishop of Arizona Diocese, and Southern Sudanese priests and community leaders from the States were among the attendees.

The meeting under the themes “Considering the past, Contemplating the present and Collaborating for the future” was chaired by Pastor Angela Ifill from Dec. 10^th through the 14^th. The Southern Sudanese priests of Zacharia Char, Abraham Anei, and William Deng and Community leaders of Bul Mabil, Simon Jada among others had a chance to speak to the media about their experiences as war kids inside Sudan, East African Countries and Middle Eastern Countries. Interestingly! There was a Peaceful Demonstration in Washington DC on Dec. 11^th, 2010 by the Sudanese and Friends to remind the world about Sudanese war victims, sharia law victims about their future and their well being from 2011 onward, and the political situation in Sudan in regard to referenda, peace talks and popular consultations.  

Bashir’s NCP has found it shameful to cut the Sudanese Map into parts. It’s because of their shameless rigidity to crisis in the Country. So, trading oil for unity votes for Sudan is never a ticket to Unity still.

South Sudan must succeed as an independent Nation for the Sudanese political grievances’ peaceful settlement.

"No matter what we do we will reach this conclusion which will be recognized by the entire world… we must not deceive ourselves or cling to wishful thinking, we must resign to facts and realities," Nafi Ali Nafie, said to SUNA News on Dec. 16^th, 2010.

      By Gabriel Makuei Tor

George Clooney "Winds of War" Date Line NBC

Aired 11-3-10 and excellent and passionate plea for the world to not allow another disaster to hit southern Sudan after the Referendum.  God to http://www.clicker.com/tv/dateline-nbc/What-brings-George-Clooney-to-Sudan-1220285/

Links to recent Program Video Clips and Articles

From Barbara Rice, Hope With Sudan Board Member

Did you see these recent programs/articles?  This has the media's and Washington's attention.

PBS News hour
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/09/abyei-crucial-in-sudan.html
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/10/sudan-referendum.html
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/july-dec10/sudan_10-18.html
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/10/clock-ticks-toward-sudan-vote.html

NBC
http://allday.todayshow.com/_news/2010/10/10/5266416-ann-curry-george-clooney-visit-sudan

AP via MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39822693
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39820981
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39817978

NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/arts/television/22curr.html
Ms. Curry is on a very short list of American broadcast journalists who have reported even once from Sudan...

:-)
Barbara

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Barbara L. Rice
Marketing Communications
Strategy - Planning - Management

Registration and Polling Staff for Referendum

DRAFT Terms of Reference

Registration and Polling Staff

Southern Sudan Referendum, Out-of-Country Registration and Voting, USA

Duty Station:                          Washington, DC or Omaha, Nebraska or Phoenix, Arizona

Classification:                                     Employee, all-inclusive service fee

Type of Appointment:           Service contract - Registration Staff (approximately) 3 weeks (November 10 – 30, 2010), with possibility of extension by one week to December 7; Polling Staff (approximately) 2 weeks (Jan 5 -18, 2010)

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has been mandated by the South Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC) to organize the Out-of-Country Registration and Voting (OCRV) for people 18 years and older and of Southern Sudanese origin in the United States and seven other countries. The process will consist of in-person voter registration, display of referendum register, and voting.

Under the supervision of the designated IOM OCRV and SSRC staff, Registration and Polling Staff will have the following duties and responsibilities:

1.      As part of a registration or polling team, ensure smooth operation at Voting and Registration Centers, including maintaining order and managing the flow of persons into the Centre, ensuring proper set up and closure of the facility and reporting of daily registration figures;

2.      Conduct voter registration of eligible persons through interviews to establish eligibility and completing relevant registration forms, following determined registration procedures;

3.      Ensure sensitive materials are kept properly secure, and data protection procedures are followed at all times;

4.      If selected as Voting and Registration Station Chairperson, take overall responsibility for operations within the VRS, and supervise all members of the team.  This will also entail taking overall responsibility for the opening and closing of the station, security of registrant and voter data, receiving accredited observers and other monitoring officials, and notifying their designated IOM OCRV manager of any information or activity which might have a bearing on processes; Chairperson assumes full responsibility for accounting for all issued registration material.

5.      Behave impartially and observe confidentiality at all times, in order to support a free and fair registration process;

6.      Report to their designated IOM OCRV manager or trainer for any operational clarification/ issue;

7.      Perform such other related duties as may be assigned.

Desirable Qualifications: A minimum of secondary grade education is expected. Good standing within the community and good communication skills. Ability to work in difficult and demanding environments under pressure.

Languages: Knowledge of Arabic or any indigenous language of Southern Sudan is desirable.  Good English language skills (spoken and written) are also highly preferred.

IOM is an equal opportunity employer. Women are encouraged to apply.

All staffing inquiries and resumes should be emailed to: ssudanocrv.usa@gmail.com

George Clooney & John Prendergast - Another Darfur Can Be Avoided

By George Clooney and John Prendergast  Sunday, October 17, 2010

If you had had the opportunity three months ahead of time to prevent Darfur's genocide, what would you have done?

The world faces such an opportunity today. On Jan. 9, just 84 days from now, the people of southern Sudan and of the disputed region of Abyei -- which straddles northern and southern Sudan -- will vote in referendums on self-determination. If held freely and fairly, these votes will result in an independent, oil-rich Southern Sudan. If not, the catastrophic war between the north and the south that ended in 2005, after 2.5 million deaths, could resume.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, the man responsible for prosecuting both that war and the Darfur genocide, which has resulted in an estimated 300,000 deaths since 2003, doesn't want to be the one who lost the south. We just returned from a fact-finding mission to Abyei and various points along Sudan's north-south border, where we found that Bashir's regime in Khartoum is doing all it can to undermine the coming referendums in the hopes that they will be postponed or cancelled.

The United States and the international community were too late to prevent the conflagration in Darfur, just as they were too late in Rwanda, Somalia, Ethiopia, Congo and Sierra Leone. Usually, the world responds only after wars begin, spending billions of dollars to mop up humanitarian catastrophes.

In southern Sudan, however, the United States has a unique chance to avert war and atrocities. We talked last week to a number of Democratic and Republican leaders, and even in this polarized political environment, all of them strongly agree that more must be done to prevent further conflict in Sudan. It's time now to follow through and to pull the Europeans and America's other partners along with us.

Most Americans have never heard of Abyei. We hope the region does not follow in Darfur's footsteps to become a household name, but it could. An area about the size of Connecticut, Abyei is inhabited mostly by the Dinka, southern Sudan's largest ethnic group. With war again looming, it could become a flashpoint for the world's next genocide. U.S. intelligence officials have already said that southern Sudan is the region of the globe most at risk of mass killing or genocide in the coming year.

Two years ago, the Sudanese army and its allied militias attacked Abyei town and burned it to the ground. When we visited this month, a blind Dinka chief told us about that day. Unlike the straw huts where many of his fellow townspeople lived, his house was made of concrete and bricks, so it didn't burn down. Because he was blind, he stayed behind while most people fled for safety. Four of his nephews huddled with him in his house, hoping to remain undetected. They were not so lucky. The army came and took the four boys away. No more than 30 seconds after they left the house, their uncle heard shots. The boys' bodies were never recovered.

Later in our trip, when we visited a mass grave where hundreds of Abyei's dead were buried, we wondered if those boys were among them.

Over the past 20 years, the regime in Khartoum has armed and politicized the northern communities that border Abyei, using them as a battering ram to drive out residents and ensure control of the area's valuable oilfields. Bashir is reactivating these militias to destabilize the area if things don't go his way in January. This is the same sort of divide-and-destroy tactic he used in deploying the Janjaweed militias to ravage Darfur. Also worrying, the governor of Abyei's neighboring region to the north is Ahmed Harun. Like Bashir, Harun has been indicted by the International Criminal Court for orchestrating war crimes in Darfur.

Will the international community allow Abyei to burn again? Next time, the fire will not be contained to the town we visited. It will ignite a national war, with repercussions throughout the country, including in Darfur, which remains rife with conflict, human rights abuses and insecurity. The Dinka residents of Abyei whom we spoke to were clear about their views. "They better come and kill me in front of my house," one chief told us, "so I can be buried there with honor. We are ready to die for our land."

And, we must note, for what's underneath that land, for what grows on it and for the river that runs through it. As another older Dinka man told us: "We have suffered so much for so long. The oil is a gift for our suffering. We cannot give it away. We just want to feel the winds of freedom."

We met with President Obama last week and found him in command of the facts and seized with the urgency of the moment. Over the past month, his administration has enhanced its diplomatic efforts in support of peace. U.S. proposals on Abyei, however, have led the southern Sudanese to worry that the longtime Dinka residents of Abyei could have their votes drowned out by northern groups being suddenly resettled in the area by the Khartoum government. The United States needs to take a principled stand in support of the Abyei referendum, and it should further step up its diplomacy in pursuit of a grand bargain that would finally address all the issues dividing the north and the south, including the question of who will get to vote in the two referendums, post-referendum arrangements between the north and south (including oil-wealth sharing), border demarcation, citizenship and future relationships with the United States, a matter of great concern to Khartoum.

Sudan presents a Rubik's Cube of interlocking interests, but robust U.S. diplomacy -- including cooperation with the African Union and other partners -- and the right U.S. leverage promise a solution. Bashir and his colleagues want normal relations with the United States, continued access to some of the oil revenues from the south, an end to sanctions against Sudan and some measure of protection from existing and future indictments from the International Criminal Court.
The regime in Khartoum is not like the one in Tehran or, for that matter, the one in Pyongyang: It wants acceptance and legitimacy. The United States and its diplomatic partners can influence Bashir and his administration's calculations over whether to go to war in the south by creating bigger benefits for peace (in both the south and Darfur) and bigger consequences for war than are currently on the table.
Diplomatic opportunities like this one don't come along very often. Right now, the United States has the opportunity to avoid spending billions of taxpayers' dollars on a humanitarian clean-up operation down the road -- and the opportunity to potentially save millions of lives.
"President Bush helped bring peace to southern Sudan five years ago," one southern Sudanese high school student told us at a border point we visited. "It is up to President Obama to help keep that peace."
George Clooney is an actor and a co-founder of Not on Our Watch. John -- Prendergast is a co-founder of the Enough Project and a co-author of "The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa's Worst Human Rights Crimes." Tim Freccia is a Nairobi-based photojournalist and documentary filmmaker who covers conflict and crisis

PBS News Hour Interview with UN Ambassador Rice on Sudan

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/africa/july-dec10/sudan_10-18.html

Watch interview by clicking on link which aired on Monday, October 18.

Sudan's Threatened Peace Deal NYT 11-18-10

Editorial

Sudan’s Threatened Peace Deal

Published: October 15, 2010

Time is running out on efforts to avert another civil war in Sudan. A United States-backed deal in 2005 ended two decades of fighting between the Arab Muslim north and the largely Christian south that killed two million people. That deal is now in danger of unraveling if two referendums set for early January do not go forward.

After neglecting the problem for far too long, President Obama and his top aides are pushing both sides to fulfill their commitments to ensure a credible vote and to accept the results. We hope it is not too late.

Voters in the south, which produces most of the country’s oil, are expected to choose to become independent. In the second referendum, voters in the border district of Abyei must decide whether to ally with the north or the south.

Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has dragged his feet on election preparations. Voter registration is months late. Election officials still must be trained and ballots printed and distributed. The two sides must put up their share of the election costs and resolve an impasse over who gets to vote in Abyei. Other critical issues remain unresolved. South Sudan also has to get serious about creating the structures of a new state.

Mr. Obama and his team vowed to end Mr. Bashir’s rampage in Darfur and to do all they could to ensure peace between north and south Sudan. The president quickly appointed a peace envoy and replaced a punishment-heavy strategy with one that leaned more toward incentives. When Mr. Bashir showed little interest, the policy was allowed to drift.

With activists warning of impending disaster, the administration finally beefed up its diplomatic mission in south Sudan and named a veteran diplomat to help mediate talks that ended without a deal this week and are supposed to resume later this month. President Obama headlined a United Nations meeting last month in which all the major players committed to respecting the “outcome of credible” referendums and holding them on Jan. 9.

But a senior official with the Sudanese government said on Thursday that the Abyei referendum would either have to be delayed or the issue decided in negotiations rather than a vote. This reneges on the 2005 peace agreement and is unacceptable.

The Sudanese government should be able to make a deal with south Sudan — including on sharing oil revenues — that both sides can live with. What it can’t afford is another civil war or more international opprobrium if it is found stealing or stymieing this vote.

Mr. Obama has offered more explicit incentives if Sudan lives up to its commitments — including help with food production, increased trade and eventually an end to all economic sanctions. He and his aides have also threatened more punishments if Sudan does not.

Mr. Bashir has thumbed his nose at an International Criminal Court indictment for war crimes in Darfur. We are not sure what will change his behavior. We are sure that China and the African Union, which have enabled Mr. Bashir for years, need to press a lot harder.

UNPD Southern Sudan Updates - Jobs

August 2010 Volume 2, Issue 8  UN Developent Programme

Sudan’s upcoming referendum, set to take place on 9 January 2011, will be a defining event in the country’s history. It will also be the last major milestone of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), bringing the
interim period to an end in July 2011.  A key priority for the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) is preparing for the post-referendum period. Since 2005, it has worked hard to establish capacities and systems to deliver against the high expectations of its people – notably, the provision of security, law and order and the effective management of public resources. However, it has faced many challenges in doing so due to the considerable skills gaps and lack of institutions that resulted from the long history of war.

Go to jobs.undp.org or sudanjob.net

Opening Address of Salva Kiir to the South Sudan Parliament 10-13-10

Gen. Salva Kiir Mayardit, First Vice President of the Republic of the Sudan and President of the Government of Southern Sudan
Opening Address on the Occasion of the Meeting of ‘All Southern Sudanese Political Parties and Leaders Conference’
Juba, Southern Sudan
Wednesday 13th - 15th October, 2010
 Your Excellencies former Heads of State and Government, Presidents Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi of Kenya,
 Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania,
 Thabo Mbeki of Republic of South Africa,
 Distinguished Leaders and Delegates of Political Parties,
 Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
 Representatives of our Development Partners,
 Religious Leaders,
 Representatives of Civil Society,
 Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am delighted to see all of you in this hall this morning and you are welcome as a family of leaders of Southern Sudan and as friends close to the heart of this part of the country. For those of you who may have come to Juba for the first time, feel at home and for those who have frequented us you are always most welcome!
This gathering today is a rare one but critical because of current developments in our country. The Sudan Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which was signed on January 9th, 2005, is coming to conclusion in a few months. According to this historical Accord, on January 9th, 2011 the people of Southern Sudan and Abyei will vote in referenda to exercise their right to self-determination. The people of Abyei will be voting to join Southern Sudan while Southern Sudan itself will be making the choice of either remaining part of the Sudan or opt to secede and become an independent entity. This is clearly provided for in the CPA and it is not a matter of interpretation.
Distinguished participants, allow me to point out that this august gathering should be a reminder to us that we are members of one family, Southern Sudanese irrespective of political
affiliation, creed, ethnicity, or geographical location. Our destiny is one as a people and we must together work to achieve our common goals. We are all cognizant that throughout our struggle, each and every family has lost a soul if not souls, to whom we must always register our loyalty because without their selfless sacrifices we would not be where we are now.
Distinguished Leaders, you must have heard from the media that I just returned from a long trip to the United States of America, in which I met with various leaders from the US Administration, neighboring countries and other World leaders. I was invited by the United Nations Secretary General in New York, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon and the Security Council, to attend a UN High-Level Meeting on Sudan which was organized at the brink of the UN General Assembly. All the meetings went on well and as you must have already heard and read from the media and press, the full implementation of the CPA up to the timely conduct of the referenda on January 9th, 2011 received international overwhelming support. This has been due to clarity of our message: we want peace and no more to war! The right to self-determination of the people of Southern Sudan and Abyei must be honored in a referendum to take place on January 9th, 2011. This is the bottom line and a hard won right whose ultimate price is more than 4 million lives lost during the long two civil wars since independence in 1956.
This was my message everywhere during the visit and I also expressed words of gratitude to all the friends without whose altruistic support the CPA could not have become a reality. Remember it is the pressures from far away that also contributed immensely to the signing of the CPA. Thus, as we gather here today, we should not lose sight of the much needed support of the region, the international community, civil society organizations, the Churches and all people of goodwill. Such continued interest and support remains critical more than ever in the testing months ahead.
Distinguished Leaders, the CPA remains the vital foundation of peace today, and will remain so in the months ahead. When we met in Nairobi for the first time in early 2005 we all pledged to support and protect the CPA by signing the covenant. We recommitted ourselves here in Juba in 2008 to abide by the rules and we are coming to its conclusion in a period less than one year. During this period we shall be faced with the challenge of organizing the referenda, that of Southern Sudan and Abyei, and to also press for the implementation of the Popular Consultations for the people of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states.
The challenges ahead should constitute the agenda for discussions in the next three days. Therefore, I would like to point out the following:
1. This meeting is about the future of Southern Sudan, which is greater than the interest of each and every one of us as individuals and as political parties. We want to
build consensus in order to guarantee a free, fair, transparent and peaceful referendum exercise throughout Southern Sudan and Abyei. This is our collective responsibility as a people and Southern Sudan belongs to all of us.
2. We want to enlighten Southern Sudanese eligible voters to fully understand the process and the decision they will make in the exercise of the right to self-determination. Thus, there is need to stand together as Southern Sudanese to educate our people fully about the importance of this event because unlike elections that constitutionally occurs on term basis this exercise is once and for all in a life time. It is a golden opportunity that must not be wasted for history will not only honor us but this generation of leaders will never be forgiven by future generations.
3. It is such deep thought and understanding that brought me and brother Dr Lam Akol together last Saturday 09/10/2010 as you saw it in the media and press. Political differences should not become obstacle to the general public good and interest.
4. Similarly, I also declared amnesty for all those who took up arms after the elections like Gen George Athor and also for members of Other Armed Groups (OAGs) of Gen Gordon Koang Chol and Gen Gabriel Tangginya. They should all lay down their arms and join Southern Sudanese in this historical event so that together we collectively determine our destiny.
5. Politically, we are a democratic system of government embedded in our Interim Constitution. No one should ever be mistaken to contemplate that we may be gathering here to abolish political parties. No! Even attempts to merge political parties should be discouraged save for legitimate alliances that are based on synergy. The main objective for gathering here together as Southern Sudanese leaders from various political parties is to build the much needed consensus about the future of Southern Sudan.
6. Following the UN High-Level Meeting on Sudan in New York, there has been meeting of minds worldwide as you may have heard from the pronouncements of various leaders about the timely conduct of the referenda in Southern Sudan and Abyei. Now if such consensus has already been built at the international level why would Southern Sudanese leaders opt to contradict the future of their people?
7. I am convinced that you will all agree with me that the destiny of Southern Sudan belongs to all the people of Southern Sudan. If Southern Sudan secedes in the forthcoming referendum it will not be a nation that belongs to one party, region, ethnic group, or religion but to all of us. If we squandered this opportunity, we will remain in the wrong annals of history and the likelihood of many lives being lost is high because the emotions of the people are charged. This therefore morally demands for responsible leadership and some level of sacrifice.
8. I would like us all to come up with common principles and together agree to facilitate peaceful, free, fair, timely, efficient and democratic process. This is critical to
determine the credibility of the outcome acceptable to all, particularly meeting the standards of the international community. It is in our interest to ensure credible referenda in Southern Sudan and Abyei.
Distinguished Leaders, as I make these statements, I am conscious of the fact that after the elections feelings were hurt because there are those who won and they celebrated and those who lost they agonized and even led to some individuals taking up arms. In the spirit of reconciliation I appeal to all of us to forget the past and let us seize this moment to take the collective responsibility to guarantee the future of our people. At this hour, we must pass the test of unity and nationhood so as to prove many wrong especially those who floated the idea of Southern Sudan becoming a failed state.
Moreover, having differences of opinion does not necessarily disqualify a people from determining their future. Therefore we should live beyond the petty quarrels for survival. We have an opportunity to show to the world that we are ready and I have pointed it out in the past that Southern Sudan is more prepared than some African countries at independence with the exception of South Africa. You will agree with me that no drop of blood should be shed again because of the divisions and disunity amongst us Southern Sudanese. Life is precious and sacred and it should not be sacrificed for the selfish aims of political leaders. I also urge all of us to remain vigilant and guard against war mongers who have not and will not even touch the gun in their life time. I appeal to the gallant armies of the Sudan and all able bodied persons to shun war and value life of their children, women and the old in society. I would like us to honor our distinguished African leaders present here with us today by resolving never to be divided again!
Today, we are left with less than 88 days to reach the vital moment of our history, an extraordinary moment indeed in the history of Africa, January 9th, 2011 the day of the conduct of the referendum in Southern Sudan. We must not let the enemies of peace and spoilers to disrupt the momentous event. As I said, the referendum is a golden opportunity for us and let us work together to let our people make an informed choice of either unity of the Sudan or secession. A leveled ground should be provided for all options during the campaign for unity and secession. Therefore, I want to urge all of us here that our unity and consensus is very critical for the realization of this goal.
Distinguished Participants, as we look forward to this historic event, I ask that we work harder to overcome any limitations in order to fulfill the obligation of letting our people to exercise the right to self-determination. The measure of credibility of the vote should be clear and understood beforehand. I have assured the international community that we are working for a vote that will represent fairly the views of the people. This should be the measure of the
legitimacy of the process. It is not realistic, however, to demand perfection but it is in our interest that a free, fair and transparent process is put in place.
As I said several times, to us the timing of the referenda is Devine. We are pleased and welcome the referendum timeline issued by the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission (SSRC). We as Government of Southern Sudan will fulfill our financial obligations to the Commission to enable the process proceed without any further delays.
At this juncture, allow me now to explain to you about our preparations. The Government of Southern Sudan is preparing the referendum process at the same time negotiating the post referendum arrangements. We have approached these negotiations with seriousness and good intentions. We are genuinely willing to negotiate with our brothers in the North, and are prepared to work in a spirit of partnership to create sustainable relations between Northern and Southern Sudan for the long-term.
It is in our interest to see that the North remains a viable state, just as it should be in the interest of the North to see Southern Sudan emerge a viable one too. We have been negotiating fairly and consistent with international law. We will work to preserve and enhance the livelihoods of all Sudanese people, including those depending on traditional migrations across the North/South border. The issues are very clear and should not be made to become obstacles for the conduct of the referenda. These are issues dealing with Citizenship and nationality; Natural resources and financial matter; Security; and International treaties. They have been elaborated several times in the past and I will not dwell again to belabor myself. What is required is a mutual agreement that is satisfactory to all but with consideration of justice. We believe that there is a very real opportunity to demonstrate how two states can work together cooperatively to bring economic prosperity to both of their nations in the event of secession.
I would like to emphasize about the safety and rights of Southerners in the North and safety and rights of Northerners in the South, as well as for the peoples who have traditionally traveled through the border areas, to be fully protected. On our side, I have reiterated that we are committed to provide and guarantee adequate security for all Sudanese in a manner that respects the rule of law and the rights and freedoms of all individuals, no matter what their tribe, origin, religion, party or ethnicity. We look for a reciprocal commitment from our brothers in the North.
I cannot end my opening remarks without pointing out the issues of Abyei, where stability now and in the future depends. I urge our partners to implement the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s (PCA) decision. We do not want Abyei to become the potential trigger for conflict again between the South and the North. The SPLM and the NCP met in Addis Ababa in
the last few days but failed to agree on the way forward on this issue. I mentioned it before and I will repeat again that there is no reverse to war because of the lack of implementation of the Abyei Protocol and other Protocol. Therefore let us all work for peaceful settlement of all issues so as to guarantee mutual respect and good neighborliness. I have repeated it several times that even if the South secedes, it will not relocate from where it is located now.
In conclusion, As the theme of this meeting is to build consensus on the referendum, I hope that my remarks have laid down some basis of building this consensus. It is my belief that the pillars of this consensus would certainly include:
· Respect for each other - we should respect each other including our political parties, programs and views. Nevertheless the views and ideals of parties should not be those that incite the people or promote hatred and violence.
· The Spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation - let us not look backward but rather focus on the future. We should use past mistakes to perfect future vision. This is what will constitute our maturity, which will in turn be the basis for other people to respect us. Let us forgive one another and pursue common goals and interest to better the livelihood of our people.
· Dialogue is the other pillar - as social beings we will always pursue interests that clash. The only way out is to manage such individual conflict of interest through dialogue and openness. Never harbor or accumulate differences because they will often explode. Share difficulties and seek counsel from your friends in order to avoid unnecessary conflict.
Finally, we are committed to sustainable peace and stability irrespective of the outcome of the referendum. We have achieved a lot in the past few years since the CPA was signed, but we still have a lot of work before us after the referendum. We are committed to establishing transparent and accountable government consistent with the requirements of statehood. We will uphold democratic principles and guarantee all kinds of freedom for all our diverse communities. I urge you all to work with us to ensure that these ideals and goal are achieved.
As Southern Sudanese, together let us defend the rights of our people and Long live the CPA!
Long live the memories of our martyrs!
We remain committed to freedom and peace for our country, the region and the world!
I now declare this Consensus Conference opened.
Thank you for listening and May God bless us and bless Southern Sudan!

George Clooney yells 'fire!' about Sudan - Washington Post 10-14-10

George Clooney yells 'fire!' about Sudan

George Clooney says he recently found himself sleeping overnight in a small hut in southern Sudan. A sign inside offered some blunt advice: If the structure catches fire, run outside and shout, "Fire, fire!"
On Tuesday Clooney came to Washington to do just that. In meetings with President Obama, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Council on Foreign Relations, he did his best to raise the alarm about what threatens to be the world's bloodiest crisis in 2011 -- not Afghanistan or Iraq, but Sudan.
The huge African nation hasn't gotten much attention in the last couple of years, since the warfare and humanitarian emergency in Darfur somewhat subsided. But now a new, potentially even bigger crisis looms. On Jan. 9, a referendum will almost certainly mandate a declaration of independence by Southern Sudan, a large, oil-rich region populated mostly by Christians and animists that fought a two-decade long civil war with the mostly Arab and Muslim north before a 2005 peace deal.

The peace accord mandated the upcoming referendum. But the Sudanese central government, led by the indicted war criminal Omar Bashir, strongly opposes southern independence. Preparations for the referendum are running far behind schedule. Border disputes between the two sides have not been resolved, including control over a key oil-producing region. Both the north and the south have been using oil revenues to stock their armies with tanks and other heavy weapons.
So the danger is clear. "If we do nothing, if we turn our backs and walk away, 100,000 people, half a million people, a million people are going to die," Clooney said to a packed house at the Council on Foreign Relations. "We can either do something now, or come in afterward when there is a terrible mess to clean up."

Clooney recently joined the council, an organization mostly composed of corporate movers and shakers, foreign policy makers, and journalists; he's undoubtedly the only member who can brag, as he did Tuesday night, that "I was the two-time sexiest man alive." But unlike some Hollywood celebrities who dabble in international affairs -- Brad Pitt comes to mind -- Clooney comes across as serious and well-informed about his issue. He has traveled to Sudan several times; he just returned from a trip to the south with John Prendergast, one of the foremost Western experts on the region, who is a co-founder of the Enough Project.
The two concluded, as Prendergast put it, that "it is late, but not too late" for the United States and other nations to prevent a new war. The Obama administration neglected the issue until recently; having vowed in Oct. 2009 to pursue a carrots and sticks policy aimed at Bashir, the administration did little to follow up.
However, Clooney and Prendergast said they found Obama seized with the issue when they met with him and several of his senior advisers at the White House Tuesday. "You could feel the energy when we walked in that room," Clooney said. "It's palpable in the room -- it's, 'let's get on with this.' In the middle of a very political season, he [Obama] is involved. He knows all the things that we know and we were just there."
"President Obama a couple of months ago asked a lot of questions [about Sudan] and didn't like the answers," Prendergast said. "He lit a fire." A new special envoy, Princeton Lyman, has been dispatched to the region to join Scott Gration, the somewhat controversial former general who has worked the Sudan issue for Obama. An interagency group at the White House is meanwhile holding regular meetings to determine how the United States can advance the goal of a peaceful referendum and a settlement between north and south.
So what can the administration do? Clooney and Prendergast advocate a stronger mix of incentives and disincentives for Bashir. They point out that much stronger sanctions are possible, including the targeting of bank accounts and companies linked to the regime and its senior figures. More controversially, they say the United States should be prepared to normalize relations with Bashir and even consent to the suspension of his indictment by the International Criminal Court, if he makes peace with both southern Sudan and Darfur.
In the worst case, Prendergast said, the United States should be prepared to prevent the North from using its air force to indiscriminately attack the civilian population of the South, as it did in Darfur. That implies military intervention.
Though he spent the day meeting high level officials, Clooney said one of his aims was to motivate as many average citizens as possible to contact the White House and Congress and support aggressive U.S. action to prevent a war. "I don't think of myself as a journalist and don't pretend to be a journalist," he said. "My job is to show up, because cameras follow me. That is the best way to spend my celebrity credit card."
Clooney's alarm is a real one -- and "it''s a relief," as he put it, that Obama has focused on it. But preventing a war in Sudan at this late hour will not be easy -- nor will be marshaling support among Americans for an intervention in yet another Muslim nation. "I can be a polarizing figure, too," the actor said. If Sudan gets ugly, so might the debate on what to do about it.

Episcopal Church Resources "A Season of Prayer for Sudan"

For a variety of resources from the Episcopal Church go to: http://episcopalchurch.org/sudan.  This site will be continually updated.

Sudan delegation meets with UN secretary general, 'raises alarm'

By Lynette Wilson, October 11, 2010

[Episcopal News Service, New York] An ecumenical delegation of Sudanese religious leaders met with U.N. officials and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Oct. 11 to express its fear of what might happen if the Jan. 9 referendum in which south Sudan is expected to vote for independence from the north is not carried out as planned. "We told him we came to raise an alarm to the United Nations," said Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Episcopal Church of Sudan during a press conference held at the Church Center for the United Nations, following a day of U.N. meetings.
"We are the church, we are on the ground. We are with the people. And we are knowing every thing that is happening on the ground there. So because of that we are here," Deng said.
The ecumenical delegation is in the United States on an awareness and advocacy campaign in advance of the referendum. The archbishop was joined at the press conference by Roman Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Adwok Marko Kur of Khartoum; Roman Catholic Bishop Emeritus Paride Taban of Torit; and the Rev. Ramadan Chan, general secretary of the Sudan Council of Churches.
The referendum is the final provision of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), signed in 2005 by the two warring parties -- Sudan People's Liberation Movement in the south and the north's Khartoum-based Government of Sudan. The CPA ended a 21-year civil war -- fought by the Arab and Muslim north and rebels in the Christian-animist south -- that killed more than 2 million people and displaced an estimated 7 million more.
"Our fear is going to come if the Comprehensive Peace Agreement is not implemented accordingly, and that is going to be disaster in the country," Deng said. "And the people that are going to die are going to be innocent. And for us at the church we are always careful and mindful for those who cannot speak for themselves."
Deng explained that there is little time left between now and Jan. 9, and the delegation's visit is a signal to the United Nations, those who signed the CPA and the countries that supported the CPA, that many "things" have been left undone, he said.
The northern government has been criticized for not living into the terms of the CPA, and some believe it is deliberately trying to stall the vote, or that it may try to manipulate the outcome.
"There are some fears that the referendum will not take place because the north is not happy," said Chan, the general secretary of the Sudan Council of Churches. "The southerners, you know, are ready to go forward with the referendum because they feel it is a democratic chance and a constitutional chance for them to exercise their rights in determining their political destiny … so any delay is not in favor of anybody, especially the south."
"We feel that if these things are not done properly, it may take the country back to violence and war, which as churches we are not for," he added.
The CPA also calls for equal oil revenue sharing between north and south (oil revenues account for 95 percent of Sudanese export revenues and 65 percent of government revenues, according to the International Monetary Fund); fair demarcation of north-south boundaries; and resolution of citizenship issues.
Tension already is building in the north and south, but mostly in the north, said Adwok, the Roman Catholic auxiliary bishop of Khartoum.
"The north doesn't want the south to secede," he said, adding the north also doesn't want to stop its oppression of the south.
Adwok stressed that the south's freedom to vote for self-determination is a human rights issue.
"At this juncture, in the third millennium, I don't think anybody can really be expected to remain in slavery when people all over the world are fighting for independence, self expression and democracy," he said.
The delegation has two other major areas of concern: that the will of the people be carried out in the transitional areas of Abyei, Nuba Mountains (Southern Kordofan) and Blue Nile; and that the safety and human rights of the internally displaced southerners living in the north be protected.
U.N. officials and Ban assured the delegation that they would have representatives in every county of south Sudan to monitor the referendum and that they are mobilizing U.N. protective forces, said Deng.
Deng also made reference to a recent visit by a U.N. Security Council team to Sudan.
"That is an assurance to our people that the U.N. is here this time," he said.

In addition to meetings with U.N. officials in New York and a panel discussion hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations later this week, the delegation's 12-day awareness and advocacy campaign includes a visit to Washington, D.C., where they will meet with government officials and take part in an interfaith prayer service.
"We are sitting here as the body of Christ, people of faith. We are looking for divine support. Not only political but divine support … we are also appealing to our brothers and sisters in the Lord that they accompany us with their prayers," said Taban, Roman Catholic bishop emeritus of Torit.
In mid-September, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori called on Episcopalians to observe "A Season of Prayer for Sudan."
At the close of the press conference, Jefferts Schori addressed the delegation.
"I am very grateful for your presence here and I want you to know that the people of the Episcopal Church and many, many other churches in this country and the other countries where the Episcopal Church is praying for you, are working to mobilize their governments to join in ensuring peace in Sudan," she said. "We understand that it is an enormously difficult situation and we are in awe of your faithfulness."
The Episcopal Church of Sudan and the Roman Catholic Church in Sudan represent two of the largest non-government organizations in southern Sudan. The Episcopal Church has 31 dioceses, 26 of them in the south. The Roman Catholic Church operates two archdioceses -- one in the north, including one diocese, and one in the south, including eight dioceses.
Deng and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams met Oct.7 with officials in the U.K. Government's foreign office to provide updates on the situation on the ground in Sudan and to ensure that the U.K. government plays a crucial role in supporting peace and stability in Sudan.
On Oct. 10, Deng preached at a late morning Eucharist at Trinity Church, Wall Street.
The Episcopal Church's long-standing support for Sudan is manifested through its partnerships and companion diocese relationships, programs supported by Episcopal Relief & Development, and advocacy work of the Office of Government Relations.

-- Lynette Wilson is an ENS staff writer.