

South Sudan: Kidnapping of the Spokesperson in the Office of the Chairman and Commander in Chief of the SPLM/SPLA(IO) – Cde. James Ga’det Dak (08.11.2016)









07/11/2016: An increasing number of South Sudanese will continue to face difficulty in meeting daily food needs in the coming months despite harvests, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization has warned.
The end of the lean season and start of harvests in South Sudan are traditionally associated with a reduction in food insecurity due to more food stocks and lower food prices in the markets, bringing much needed relief. According to recent FAO assessments, the number of severely food insecure people at this time is 3.7 million people – 31 percent of the country’s estimated population and an increase of an overall 1 million people compared to the same period last year.
Though harvests have provided some reprieve, FAO experts warn that the benefits will be short lived as local stocks will deplete rapidly. Following seasonal patterns food insecurity levels in 2017 is destined to rapidly deteriorate to massive proportions. The risk of famine is increasingly real, especially for South Sudan’s most vulnerable communities.
“The renewed violence has had severe repercussions on agricultural production and stability needs to be restored to enable farmers to return to their fields. We are seeing an unprecedented number of food insecure people at harvest time and many more people at risk of starvation in the months to come as stocks run out. There is a need to act now to prevent a catastrophe,” warns Serge Tissot, FAO Representative.
The Equatoria region which is responsible for over half of the country’s net cereal production has been severely impacted by the recent violence. In active conflict areas, an estimated 50 percent of all harvests have been lost and even more farmers were unable to plant for the second season due to insecurity. The displacement of people from those areas is also due to have profound effects on agricultural production, FAO experts warn.
Moreover, of grave concern is the most fragile areas Northern Bahr el Ghazal where the structural drivers of food insecurity – including the protracted economic crisis, market failure and the loss or depletion of livelihood assets – have continued to escalate. FAO’s harvest assessments findings show that farmers in this area have produced less than last year, with some areas being hard-hit by flooding and dry spells, raising their vulnerability. The report highlights Aweil East where sorghum production almost halved, dropping from 0.9 to 0.5 tonnes.
Since the outbreak of fighting in South Sudan’s capital Juba and other parts of the country, cereal prices have increased by more than 500 percent compared to the same period last year. Trade has been crippled by rampant insecurity along the main trade routes and traders’ inability to access hard currency for imports forcing them to close-down their businesses.
“With the market collapsing and many families having little to no safety nets to cope, we must empower them with the means to produce their own food. With this we want to structurally strengthen their livelihoods and boost their resilience,” explains Tissot, FAO Representative.
During the forthcoming dry season campaign, FAO aims to target 1.2 million people with distributions of vegetable and fishing kits and provision of trainings to farmers on modern farming techniques to increase yields. At the same time, FAO is preparing to meet the country’s greatest needs for the main planting season; this includes the provision of much needed agricultural inputs so that the most vulnerable can produce their own food. For this to happen, the food agency requires US $ 28 million by the end of the year.

This report has been targeted by the Kenyan Government becomes of the sections that we’re about the leadership of UNMISS Peacekeeping Operations in South Sudan. The UN House and other activity in Juba as the crisis sparked in July 2016. These words we’re too much for the Jubilee Government, President Uhuru Kenyatta and the overzealous Vice-President William Ruto. Therefore I had to go through it; it’s a short one and quick fix to read. This here is the key and they give you the ability see what the Independent Special Investigation coming in after serious reports happening in Juba in July. This is important to look at.
As the UN said: “Commenting on the report at the daily press briefing at UN Headquarters, Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric announced that in line with the report’s recommendations, the Secretary-General has asked for the “immediate replacement” of UNMISS Force Commander, Lt. Gen. Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki” (UN, 2016).

Here is the aspect of the report that people should look at:
“In the weeks prior to the violence, UNMISS and the humanitarian community saw timely and accurate warning signs of the resumption of hostilities in Juba between the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army (SPLA) and Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO). Despite the early warning that fighting would take place near UN House, the Mission did not properly prepare for three critical and foreseeable scenarios” (Independent Special Investigation, 2016).
“The Special Investigation found that a lack of leadership on the part of key senior Mission personnel culminated in a chaotic and ineffective response to the violence” (…) “The JOC and the Security Information Operations Centre (SIOC) were not co-located, as required by UN policy, contributing to a fragmented security response” (…) “The Force Commander appointed the Chinese Battalion Commander as the Incident Commander, commanding all the forces at the UN House in addition to his own battalion. Furthermore, the Force Commander ordered the Incident Commander to retain an explicit and ultimately confusing command link to Sector South headquarters in Tomping, which was physically cut off from the UN House for the duration of the fighting. This confused arrangement, in combination with the lack of leadership on the ground, contributed to incidents of poor performance among the military and police contingents at UN House. This included at least two instances in which the Chinese battalion abandoned some of its defensive positions at POC 1 on 10 and 11 July. The Nepalese Formed Police Unit’s performance to stop looting by some IDPs inside UN House and control the crowd was inadequate” (Independent Special Investigation, 2016).
“At approximately 15:30, when the soldiers began looting and forcing their way into the accommodations, the residents immediately notified UN Security and UNMISS. During the attack, civilians were subjected to and witnessed gross human rights violations, including murder, intimidation, sexual violence and acts amounting to torture perpetrated by armed Government soldiers” (…) “The JOC made multiple requests to stand up a quick reaction force to respond but each UNMISS contingent turned down the request, indicating their troops were fully committed. The situation at UN House remained chaotic at this time, with thousands of IDPs in the staff accommodation area, armed men still threatening the perimeter of POC site 3, and large numbers of armed Government soldiers still on Yei road in front of UN House’s main gate” (Independent Special Investigation, 2016).
“The Special Investigation found that the lack of preparedness, ineffective command and control and a risk-averse or “inward-looking” posture resulted in a loss of trust and confidence—particularly by the local population and humanitarian agencies—in the will and skill of UNMISS military, police to be proactive and show a determined posture to protect civilians under threat, including from sexual violence and human rights violations” (Independent Special Investigation, 2016).

If this wasn’t damning for the UNMISS leadership and the peacekeepers where the investigation team clearly saw that the leadership we’re inward looking and not prepared. That shows that in country that is war-torn the leadership of UNMISS wasn’t prepared to secure their facilities or keeping the peace. The communication between the different battalions we’re chaotic with double roles and that was between the Chines Battalion and the Tomping PoC camp.
So with this there must be better than what they found and that the Kenyan Government feels sorrow for volunteering is understandable. It’s a slap on their face, but it is one Military Leader not prepared for the operation and facilitates the other battalions. Therefore when the violence came, they wasn’t on the alert, instead they we’re scattered. Something that the Protection of Civilians camp, Civilians, NGOs or the people around UNMISS sites.
Peace.
Reference:
Executive Summary of the Independent Special Investigation into the violence which occurred in Juba in 2016 and UNMISS response (01.11.2016)
UN – ‘South Sudan: Ban to put in place measures to improve UN Mission’s ability to protect civilians’ (01.11.2016) link: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=55448#.WB-jP_nhDIU



UNHCR is deeply concerned about the well-being of Mr James Gatdet Dak, SPLA IO Spokesperson, who was returned to South Sudan from Kenya on Monday, 2 November. Mr Dak had previously been granted refugee status by the Kenyan authorities.
Mr Dak’s forced return is a violation of the principle of non-refoulement, which is the cornerstone of international refugee law.
We also regret that UNHCR’s interventions with the Kenyan authorities to stop Mr Dak’s forced return were not successful.
We urge the Government of South Sudan to ensure that Mr Dak is treated in accordance with human rights law and standards.




The field mission, consisting of all fifteen members of the PSC, was led by H.E. Ambassador Catherine Muigai Mwangi, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya in her capacity as the Chairperson of the PSC for the month of October 2016.
JUBA, South Sudan, November 1, 2016 – The Peace and Security Council (PSC) of the African Union (AU) concluded its field mission to the Republic of South Sudan, which was undertaken from 28 to 31 October 2016, pursuant to a decision adopted at its 609th meeting held on 30 June 2016. The field mission, consisting of all fifteen members of the PSC, was led by H.E. Ambassador Catherine Muigai Mwangi, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kenya in her capacity as the Chairperson of the PSC for the month of October 2016.
The objective of the field mission was to gather first-hand information regarding the political, security, humanitarian and socio-economic situation in the country. During the mission, the PSC held extensive consultations with the President of the Republic of South Sudan, H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit and other members of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU), including the First Vice President of the TGoNU, H.E. General Taban Deng Gai, representatives of SPLM Leaders (Former Detainees) namely, Honourable Deng Alor Kuol, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Honourable John Luk Jok, the Minister of Transport.
The PSC also visited two protection of civilians sites (POCs) in Juba and Malakal where it interacted with the representatives of the internally displaced persons in these sites.
The PSC further held consultations with the African Diplomatic Corps; the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and Head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and her team; representatives of the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) and Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM); faith-based and women’s groups and representatives of Other Political Parties, including the SPLM/IO; as well as with the Troika and representatives of several bilateral and multilateral partners, including the European Union.
The PSC commended the TGoNU for demonstrating the necessary political will and commitment to implement the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) signed in August 2015. The PSC appealed to all South Sudanese people to fully embrace the peace process. To this end, the PSC encouraged the TGoNU to ensure that the implementation of the Peace Agreement is inclusive and to embark on a nation-wide campaign of civic education, with a view to generating the necessary momentum for the successful implementation of the Peace Agreement.
The PSC underscored the urgent need for the establishment of accountability, justice and reconciliation mechanisms as provided for in the Peace Agreement, including appropriate mechanisms to address issues relating to sexual violence in a timely manner, with a view to ensuring justice for the victims. The PSC welcomed the consent of the TGoNU for the deployment of the Regional Protection Force pursuant to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2304.
The PSC emphasized the critical importance of ensuring humanitarian access and encouraged the TGoNU to facilitate the activities of the institutions that were established by the Peace Agreement, including JMEC and CTSAMM. In addition, the PSC encouraged constructive engagement between the Government of the Republic of South Sudan and UNMISS with regard to the management of POCs.
The PSC reiterated its commitment to support the TGoNU and the people of South Sudan in implementing the Peace Agreement, among others, through the engagements of the AU High Representative for South Sudan, H.E. Alpha Oumar Konare. The PSC strongly urged all South Sudanese to embrace dialogue to find a consensual solution to the challenges impeding the implementation of the Peace Agreement.
The PSC expressed gratitude to the TGoNU and the UNMISS for facilitating the successful conduct of the field mission.

Thank you, Mr. President. First, let me thank you, Mr. President, and Vice President Kagame, and your wives for making Hillary and me and our delegation feel so welcome. I’d also like to thank the young students who met us and the musicians, the dancers who were outside. I thank especially the survivors of the genocide and those who are working to rebuild your country for spending a little time with us before we came in here.
I have a great delegation of Americans with me, leaders of our Government, leaders of our Congress, distinguished American citizens. We’re all very grateful to be here. We thank the diplomatic corps for being here, and the members of the Rwandan Government, and especially the citizens.
I have come today to pay the respects of my Nation to all who suffered and all who perished in the Rwandan genocide. It is my hope that through this trip, in every corner of the world today and tomorrow, their story will be told; that 4 years ago in this beautiful, green, lovely land, a clear and conscious decision was made by those then in power that the peoples of this country would not live side by side in peace. During the 90 days that began on April 6, in 1994, Rwanda experienced the most extensive slaughter in this blood-filled century we are about to leave – families murdered in their homes, people hunted down as they fled by soldiers and militia, through farmland and woods as if they were animals.
From Kibuye in the west to Kibungo in the east, people gathered seeking refuge in churches by the thousands, in hospitals, in schools. And when they were found, the old and the sick, the women and children alike, they were killed – killed because their identity card said they were
Tutsi or because they had a Tutsi parent or because someone thought they looked like a Tutsi or slain, like thousands of Hutus, because they protected Tutsis or would not countenance a policy that sought to wipe out people who just the day before, and for years before, had been their friends and neighbors.
The Government-led effort to exterminate Rwanda’s Tutsi and moderate Hutus, as you know better than me, took at last a million lives. Scholars of these sorts of events say that the killers, armed mostly with machetes and clubs, nonetheless did their work 5 times as fast as the mechanized gas chambers used by the Nazis.
It is important that the world know that these killings were not spontaneous or accidental. It is important that the world hear what your. President just said: They were most certainly not the result of ancient tribal struggles. Indeed, these people had lived together for centuries before the events the President described began to unfold. These events grew from a policy aimed at the systematic destruction of a people. The ground for violence was carefully prepared, the airwaves poisoned with hate, casting the Tutsis as scapegoats for the problems of Rwanda, denying their humanity. All of this was done, clearly, to make it easy for otherwise reluctant people to participate in wholesale slaughter.
Lists of victims, name by name, were actually drawn up in advance. Today, the images of all that, haunt us all: the dead choking the Kigara River, floating to Lake Victoria. In their fate, we are reminded of the capacity for people everywhere, not just in Rwanda, and certainly not just in Africa but the capacity for people everywhere, to slip into pure evil. We cannot abolish that capacity, but we must never accept it. And we know it can be overcome.
The international community, together with nations in Africa, must bear its share of responsibility for this tragedy, as well. We did not act quickly enough after the killing began. We should not have allowed the refugee camps to become safe havens for the killers. We did not immediately call these crimes by their rightful name: genocide. We cannot change the past, but we can and must do everything in our power to help you build a future without fear and full of hope.
We owe to those who died and to those who survived who loved them, our every effort to increase our vigilance and strengthen our stand against those who would commit such atrocities in the future, here or elsewhere. Indeed, we owe to all the peoples of the world who are at risk because each bloodletting hastens the next as the value of human life is degraded and violence becomes tolerated, the unimaginable becomes more conceivable – we owe to all the people in the world our best efforts to organize ourselves so that we can maximize the chances of preventing these events. And where they cannot be prevented, we can move more quickly to minimize the horror.
So let us challenge ourselves to build a world in which no branch of humanity, because of national, racial, ethnic, or religious origin, is again threatened with destruction because of those characteristics of which people should rightly be proud. Let us work together as a community of civilized nations to strengthen our ability to prevent and, if necessary, to stop genocide.
To that end, I am directing my administration to improve, with the international community, our system for identifying and spotlighting nations in danger of genocidal violence, so that we can assure worldwide awareness of impending threats. It may seem strange to you here, especially the many of you who lost members of your family, but all over the word there were people like me sitting in offices, day after day after day, who did not fully appreciate the depth and the speed with which you were being engulfed by this unimaginable terror.
We have seen, too – and I want to say again – that genocide can occur anywhere. It is not an African phenomenon and must never be viewed as such. We have seen it in industrialized Europe; we have seen it in Asia. We must have global vigilance. And never again must we be shy in the face of the evidence.
Secondly, we must, as an international community, have the ability to act when genocide threatens. We are working to create that capacity here in the Great Lakes region, where the memory is still fresh. This afternoon in Entebbe leaders from central and eastern Africa will meet with me to launch an effort to build a coalition to prevent genocide in this region. I thank the leaders who have stepped forward to make this commitment. We hope the effort can be a model for all the world, because our sacred task is to work to banish this greatest crime against humanity.
Events here show how urgent the work is. In the northwest part of your country, attacks by those responsible for the slaughter in 1994 continue today. We must work as partners with Rwanda to end this violence and allow your people to go on rebuilding your lives and your nation.
Third, we must work now to remedy the consequences of genocide. The United States has provided assistance to Rwanda to settle the uprooted and restart its economy, but we must do more. I am pleased that America will become the first nation to contribute to the new Genocide Survivors Fund. We will contribute this year $2 million, continue our support in the years to come, and urge other nations to do the same, so that survivors and their communities can find the care they need and the help they must have.
Mr. President, to you, and to you, Mr. Vice President, you have shown great vision in your efforts to create a single nation in which all citizens can live freely and securely. As you pointed out, Rwanda was a single nation before the European powers met in Berlin to carve up Africa. America stands with you, and will continue helping the people of Rwanda to rebuild their lives and society.
You spoke passionately this morning in our private meeting about the need for grassroots efforts, for the development projects which are bridging divisions and clearing a path to a better future. We will join with you to strengthen democratic institutions, to broaden participation, to give all Rwandans a greater voice in their own governance. The challenges you face are great, but your commitment to lasting reconciliation and inclusion is firm.
Fourth, to help ensure that those who survived, in the generations to come, never again suffer genocidal violence, nothing is more vital than establishing the rule of law. There can be no place in Rwanda that lasts without a justice system that is recognized as such.
We applaud the efforts of the Rwandan Government to strengthen civilian and military justice systems. I am pleased that our Great Lakes Justice Initiative will invest $30 million to help create throughout the region judicial systems that are impartial, credible, and effective. In Rwanda these funds will help to support courts, prosecutors, and police, military justice, and cooperation at the local level.
We will also continue to pursue justice through our strong backing for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The United States is the largest contributor to this tribunal. We are frustrated, as you are, by the delays in the tribunal’s work. As we know, we must do better. Now that administrative improvements have begun, however, the tribunal should expedite cases through group trials and fulfill its historic mission.
We are prepared to help, among other things, with witness relocation, so that those who still fear can speak the truth in safety. And we will support the war crimes tribunal for as long as it is needed to do its work, until the truth is clear and justice is rendered.
Fifth, we must make it clear to all those who would commit such acts in the future that they too must answer for their acts, and they will. In Rwanda, we must hold accountable all those who may abuse human rights, whether insurgents or soldiers. Internationally, as we meet here, talks are underway at the United Nations to establish a permanent international criminal court. Rwanda and the difficulties we have had with this special tribunal underscores the need for such a court. And the United States will work to see that it is created.
I know that in the face of all you have endured, optimism cannot come easily to any of you. Yet I have just spoken, as I said, with several Rwandans who survived the atrocities, and just listening to them gave me reason for hope. You see countless stories of courage around you every day as you go about your business here, men and women who survived and go on, children who recover the light in their eyes remind us that at the dawn of a new millennium there is only one crucial division among the peoples of the Earth. And believe me, after over 5 years of dealing with these problems, I know it is not the divisions between Hutu and Tutsi or Serb or Croatian; and Muslim and Bosnian or Arab and Jew; or Catholic and Protestant in Ireland, or black and white. It is really the line between those who embrace the common humanity we all share and those who reject it.
It is the line between those who find meaning in life through respect and cooperation and who, therefore, embrace someone to look down on, someone to trample, someone to punish and, therefore, embrace war. It is the line between those who look to the future and those who cling to the past. It is the line between those who give up their resentment and those who believe they will absolutely die if they have to release one bit grievance. It is the line between those who confront every day with a clenched fist and those who confront every day with an open hand. That is the only line that really counts when all is said and done.
To those who believe that God made each of us in His own image, how could we choose the darker road? When you look at those children who greeted us as we got off that plane today, how could anyone say they did not want those children to have a chance to have their own children, to experience the joy of another morning sunrise, to learn the normal lessons of life, to give something back to their people? When you strip it all away, whether we’re talking about Rwanda or some other distant troubled spot, the world is divided according to how people believe they draw meaning from life.
And so I say to you, though the road is hard and uncertain and there are many difficulties ahead, and like every other person who wishes to help, I doubltless will not be able to do everything I would like to do, there are things we can do. And if we set about the business of doing them together, you can overcome the awful burden that you have endured. You can put a smile on the face of every child in this country, and you can make people once again believe that they should live as people were living who were singing to us and dancing for us today. That’s what we have to believe. That is what I came here to say. And that is what I wish for you.
Thank you, and God bless you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 12:25 p.m. at Kigali Airport. In his remarks, he referred to President Pasteur Bizimungu of Rwanda and his wife, Sarafina, and Vice President Paul Kagame and his wife, Janet. A tape was not available for verification of the content of these remarks.
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