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SAAF Update 14-2010
October 1, 2010
Dear Sudanese Friends and Friends of Sudan,
Clearly the focus of most who are engaged in Sudan is the referenda for Southern Sudan and Abyei. And most would agree that the process is behind schedule. Each issue that impedes progress seems to raise the alarm that if that issue is not addressed immediately, war will follow. Among the most visible of the issues are delayed voter registration, failure to agree on the north-south border, post referendum resource and debt sharing, and who will be allowed to vote in Abyei.
Certainly each of these issues is both timely and vital. But threatening war, if the issues are not resolved, pushes Sudan toward war and reduces the likelihood that those issues will be satisfactorily resolved.
Which of the demands are for justice, and which represent greed? Are the Misseriya threats motivated by economic fear, or is this a deliberate effort to sabotage the process?
How important is the timeliness of the referenda? "The weight of our history, the depths of our peoples' suffering and corresponding expectations, the promises of their leaders both in the North and South, and the guarantees of the international community create no space for wavering on this," said First Vice President Salva Kiir.
SAAF's observation is that public threats normally increase the resolve of the other side and reduce the ability to negotiate. Those who are leading and those who are advising should tone down the rhetoric, evaluate the motivation, and move the process toward justice and equity and away from fear, greed and manipulation. This cannot be easily accomplished, but it is a recipe for success. At the same time, impunity for violating agreements must be ended.
What is at stake? East Africa could become destabilized. Conflict could erupt that would engulf the area from Eritrea in the north to Uganda and Kenya in the south. Millions of lives could be lost. Failure to secure a peaceful transition is not acceptable.
Meanwhile, let us not forget that genocide continues in Darfur. That it is quiet should be a concern rather than an encouragement. A quieter genocide reflects only that the government has accomplished, through a strategy of genocide, its objectives in most of Darfur. Indeed, UNAMID is so cowed that it will not even investigate!
Please pray for courage and wisdom for all as we seek a just and lasting peace for all of Sudan.
In His Service,
Bill
Bill Andress
Sudan Advocacy Action Forum
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In this issue:
- Sudan delays referendum voter registration
- Carter Center sends observers for referendum
- Kiir: International support for referendum is critical for peace
- South African party tells Sudan: Address referendum issues on time
- Former US special envoy to Sudan criticizes Gration over Abyei
- Sudan rejects US referendum incentives
- 74 killed and 97 wounded reported in Darfur market attack
- Sudan's spy agency cooperated with CIA
- World Bank would pave way for independent Southern Sudan
- South Sudanese women fighting for their place in governance
- South Sudan child soldiers need 'opportunities'
Sudan delays referendum voter registration. Sudan has delayed the registration of voters for January's referendum on secession for the south until November 15, raising tensions over the timetable. The chairman of the referendum commission said this was to allow for staff training and delivery of forms. Tanzania's former President Benjamin Mkapa, appointed by the UN to oversee the vote, has told the BBC many challenges lie ahead. But he said if all parties were willing, the timetable would be met. Analysts fear there is a risk of the conflict restarting if southerners feel that Khartoum is trying to delay or disrupt the vote in the oil-rich region. Chairman of the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission, Muhammad Ibrahim Khalil, said the registration had been delayed by three weeks. According to Reuters news agency, registration forms have not yet arrived from the printers in South Africa. Mkapa was appointed last week by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to lead a special monitoring panel to ensure a smooth build up to the polls. (BBC, 09/29/2010)
Carter Center sends observers for referendum. The US-based Carter Center has deployed foreign observers to monitor the referendum process in southern and northern Sudan where southerners are expected to cast their vote. The referendum on southern Sudan independence is a last step and key provision in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed in 2005. It is expected to take (place) on January 9, 2011. Despite the tension between the two peace partners, the NCP and SPLM, over its organization and the delay in the implementation of referendum process, the two parties say they are committed to run it on time without delay. "The Carter Center deployed 16 long-term observers from 12 nations to assess the referendum process in Southern Sudan and in the areas in the North where voting will occur," the Center said in a statement put out today. "Four two-person observer teams have been deployed in Southern Sudan, three teams in Northern Sudan, and one team in Abyei." The monitors will observe all stages of the process, including the voter registration, campaign period, polling, tabulation, and the resolution of disputes. (Sudan Tribune, 09/28/2010)
Kiir: International support for referendum is critical for peace. Southern Sudanese leader Salva Kiir appealed to Washington on September 17 for heightened international engagement in preparations for the January referendum in which southerners are expected to vote to secede from Sudan, Africa's largest country. "The future of Sudan is hanging in the balance," Kiir said in a keynote address to the annual Congressional Black Caucus Africa policy roundtable hosted by Rep. Donald Payne, who chairs the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. Introducing Kiir to an audience of several hundred, Payne promised his continued backing, saying that the Comprehensive Peace Agreement reached in 2005 must be respected. Kiir said "the timing of the referenda is sacrosanct," rejecting suggestions that the vote be delayed while negotiations to settle outstanding issues are resolved. "The weight of our history, the depths of our peoples' suffering and corresponding expectations, the promises of their leaders both in the North and South, and the guarantees of the international community create no space for wavering on this," he said. (AllAfrica.com, 09/18/2010)
"Address referendum issues on time," South African party tells Sudan. With three months left for South Sudanese to determine their right to self-determination, South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC) has urged the Sudanese political parties to address the remaining pressing issues around the referendum on time. The former chairperson of ANC and Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa Miss Baleka Mbethe told the press in Juba that the purpose of her visit to South Sudan was to understand more on the referendum preparations. She arrived in Juba with a delegation to meet the South's political leadership after meeting the Sudanese leadership in the Sudanese capital Khartoum. At the conclusion of her trip, Mbethe told the media that the referendum process needs enhanced intervention from all political parties and the international community. She said that she would share her experiences at the different meetings in Sudan with the South African government in order to ensure a smooth referendum process. "We as a delegation will report fully on what we have observed as well as to clarify some issues to our home government," Mbethe said. (Gurtong.com, 09/12/2010)
Former US special envoy to Sudan criticizes Gration over Abyei. The former US special envoy to Sudan, Richard Williamson, expressed fury over his successor's softened stance on the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) that redefined the borders of the oil-rich region of Abyei. The former north-south foes had referred Abyei's border to the PCA and both had agreed to abide by its ruling in 2009. This week the US special envoy to Sudan, Scott Gration, said that he is working to reconcile the "competing themes" where the Arab Misseriya tribe are concerned about having access to the water and the Dinka Ngok want firm control over the territory. "This is a very emotional issue for both the South and the North, and so there's a wide gulf right now, and it's a passionate issue. And - but we're working very hard to help them find an agreement. The apparent watered-down position sparked anger from Williamson, who told the Boston Globe: "The lesson . . . is that there is no cost to breaking commitments and doing things that cost lives."รข019 (Sudan Tribune, 09/20/2010)
Sudan rejects US referendum incentives. The US State Department on September 14 offered a package of incentives, including restoring full diplomatic relations and allowing some non-oil trade and investment if Sudan held the January 9, 2011 referenda on South Sudan and the disputed Abyei region on time and agreed on post-referendum issues such as wealth sharing and the border between north and south. The package also holds out the threat of additional sanctions against Sudan if progress is not made. "This is threatening and giving a warning to the Sudanese government without any reason," Rabie Abdelati, a Senior NCP official, told Reuters. He said the NCP was committed to holding the referenda on time so threats were not necessary. "This shows intervention in the domestic affairs of a country," Abdelati said. (Reuters, 09/15/2010)
74 killed and 97 wounded reported in Darfur market attack. Seventy four people were killed and ninety seven others wounded September 1 when militiamen loyal to Khartoum opened fire on a crowded market in Tabra, a village in the northern part of Jebel Marra, reported Abdel Rahman Nimir, spokesperson of the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA). Tabra is located in North Darfur state 75 kilometers from Al-Fasher, the headquarters of the hybrid peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) in Darfur. "The assailants are led by a notorious militia leader called Al-Nur Ahmed," he added. The spokesperson of Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) denied the attack. UNAMID told Reuters they had unconfirmed reports about the death of 45 people in the attack, but had been barred from entering the village to investigate the incident. Nimir accused the assailants of robbery saying they captured all the vehicles and goods in Tabra market. "They also threatened to burn the neighboring villages," he said. (Sudan Tribune, 09/03/2010)
Sudan's spy agency cooperated with CIA. The Sudanese National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) responded to a Washington Post report on cooperation with the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) by saying that it is normal for all intelligence agencies around the world to cooperate on matters of mutual benefit. The government sponsored Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) website quoted the unnamed head of information division at the NISS as saying that cooperation of this kind is done in the interests of citizens on both sides. He further added that areas of cooperation includes combating terrorism, money laundering and organized political crimes in all its forms. He however, denied that NISS is receiving equipments from CIA or any other foreign intelligence body. The US has defended its work with the NISS saying that it has not prevented it from being the most outspoken critic of human right violations in Sudan. (Sudan Tribune, 09/02/2010)
World Bank would pave way for independent Southern Sudan. The World Bank would work to make a newly independent Southern Sudan a member by "speedily" paving the way for the region to gain international financing it does not qualify for now, a top bank official said. "If a country is newly independent, we do have precedence for a country to quickly become a member of the World Bank or the IMF, and so we would follow the same process to grant an independent South Sudan its membership of the bank," Obiageli Ezekwesili, the World Bank vice president for Africa, said. The region currently misses as much as $100 million in annual grants and no-interest loans that it might otherwise receive through the bank's International Development Association, which provides financing to low-income nations, said Ezekwesili. The biggest benefit for the South Sudanese would be in making private investment look more attractive, said Ezekwesili. (bloomberg.com, 09/04/2010)
South Sudanese women fighting for their place in governance. The Women Caucus of the Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA) has raised concern with the low representation of women in political and administrative positions. The group said the SSLA and the SPLM have backtracked on their pledge to accord women 25 percent affirmative action. In a letter to the Assembly Speaker James Wani Igga, the group also criticized the Interim Constitution of South Sudan for its reluctance to recognize women in running the affairs of the semi-autonomous region. They also pointed out that Article 20 of the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan requires all levels of government in South Sudan to promote women participation in public life and their representation in the legislative assembly and the executive organs by at least 25 percent as affirmative action to redress imbalances created by history, customs and traditions. "Article 112 (3) provides affirmative action for women as is clearly stated: The President of the Government of Southern Sudan shall ensure that at least twenty five percent of members of the Council of Ministers are women", they said. (Gurtong.com, 09/18/2010)
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