South Sudan: Press Statement from NDM of SPLM-IO Defection to the Party (19.12.2016)

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Statement from the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG) on National Dialogue and the launch of the Technical Commitee of the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing (19.12.2016)

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Outtake: UN Weapons transfer to the SPLM-IO (December 2016 Small Arms Survey report)

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Reference: 

Craze, James & Tubiana, Jerome – ‘A State of Disunity: Conflict Dynamics in Unity State, South Sudan, 2013–15’ (December 2016) Published in Switzerland by the Small Arms Survey

SPLM/SPLA(IO) on Arrest of Commander Dr. Riek Machar (15.12.2016)

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Number of children recruited into South Sudanese conflict passes 17,000 – UNICEF (16.12.2016)

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So far, 1,932 children have been released by armed forces: 1,755 in 2015 and 177 this year.

JUBA, South Sudan, December 16, 2016 – According to new figures released by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), some 1,300 children were recruited by armed forces and armed groups in 2016, bringing the total number of children used in conflict since 2013 to more than 17,000.

“Since the first day of this conflict, children have been the ones most devastatingly affected by the violations,” said Leila Gharagozloo-Pakkala, UNICEF’s Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa.

“Now, as the fighting intensifies – and despite repeated pledges by all to end child recruitment – children are once again being targeted,” she added.

The Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and SPLA in Opposition have both signed agreements with the UN in order to end and prevent the recruitment and use of children in the conflict.

So far, 1,932 children have been released by armed forces: 1,755 in 2015 and 177 this year.

Nonetheless, UNICEF reports that violations against children have continued to occur since 2013, including 2,342 who have been killed or maimed, 3,090 who have been abducted, and 1,130 sexually assaulted. There have also been 303 attacks or military use of schools and hospitals.

Since November, the UN has documented at least 50 children who have been abducted and recruited in the Greater Upper Nile region. Additional reports indicate that another 50 have been recruited in the Greater Bahr el Ghazal region and that violations against children have occurred in the Greater Equatorias area, but due to the high level of insecurity and restricted access, the UN has been unable to verify such claims.

In addition to the ongoing armed conflict, South Sudan is suffering an economic crisis that has brought inflation to more than 800 per cent, leading to widespread food insecurity and childhood malnutrition at emergency levels throughout most of the country.

UNICEF and its partners have treated 184,000 children with severe cases of malnutrition this year – an increase of 50 per cent from last year and more than 135 per cent higher from 2014.

“UNICEF’s concern is that with the prospect of increased hostilities and atrocities, the suffering that children have endured will have no end,” said Ms. Gharagozloo-Pakkala. “The children of South Sudan must no longer live under constant fear of hunger or conflict. They need sustained peace, care and support.”

South Sudan has faced ongoing challenges since a political face-off between President Salva Kiir and his Vice-President Riek Machar erupted into full blown conflict in December 2013. The crisis has produced one of the world’s worst displacement situations with immense suffering for civilians.

Despite the August 2015 peace agreement that formally ended the war, conflict and instability have also spread to previously unaffected areas in the Greater Equatoria and Greater Bahr-El-Ghazal regions of South Sudan.

The UN Mission in South Sudan, known as UNMISS, has been operating in the country since 2011. Just hours before it was set to expire, the Security Council this evening voted unanimously to extend the Mission’s mandate for one day and is expected to come back to the matter tomorrow afternoon.

Press Release on the Human Rights Situation in the Republic of The Sudan (15.12.2016)

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The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the Commission) continues to follow closely the deteriorating human rights situation in the Republic of The Sudan, State Party to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Charter).

The Commission’s Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa, Hon. Commissioner Reine Alapini-Gansou, is deeply concerned by the deteriorating human rights situation in the Republic of The Sudan, in particular: the constant harassment of human right defenders by the Sudanese National Intelligence and Security services (NISS); the arbitrary arrest and detention in secret places by the NISS; and the inhumane treatment meted on human right defenders when arrested and detained.

The Special Rapporteur has received reports of the alleged arbitrary arrest and detention in an unknown location of Dr Wudawi Ibrahim Adam and his driver Mr Adam El-Sheikh by the NISS, and of Mr Akram Ahmed who has been repeated summoned and held by the NISS.

The Special Rapporteur notes that the constant arrests and detention of human rights defenders by security forces of the Republic of The Sudan is a tactic used by the Sudanese authorities to obstruct the work of human right defenders and activist, in their promotion and protection of human rights.

The Special Rapporteur recalls particularly the cases of Dr Wudawi Ibrahim Adam and Mr. Akram Ahmed who have severally suffered numerous arrests and detentions and have been subjected to inhumane treatments while in detention.

The Special Rapporteur condemns the suppression of the rights of human rights defenders and the reprisals meted upon human rights defenders and activist in the Republic of The Sudan, and calls on the Government of the Republic of The Sudan to:

  1. Provide clarification to the African Commission regarding the above-stated allegations of the arbitrary arrest of Dr Wudawi and his driver, the illegal search conducted on his property and their detention in an undisclosed location, and the repeated summoning and detention of Mr Akram Ahmed;
  2. Immediately release all human rights defenders arbitrarily arrested and to refrain from repeatedly summoning, questioning and detaining human rights defenders; including Dr Wudawi Ibrahim Adam and Mr. Akram Ahmed
  3. Take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity and security of all human rights defenders in the Republic of The Sudan;
  4. Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in the Republic of The Sudan are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions;
  5. Uphold its obligations under regional and international human rights law, including by refraining from undue interference and suppression of the rights of human rights defenders.

The Special Rapporteur would like to remind the Sudanese authorities of their obligations to guarantee fundamental rights, including: the right on equality before the law and equal protection of the law; the right to dignity and integrity of the person; the right to be free from all form of inhumane and degrading treatment/punishment; the right to liberty and security of the person and to be protected from arbitrary arrests and detention; the rights to freedom of association, assembly and expression; as enshrined in Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 and 11 of the African Charter.

The Special Rapporteur continues to monitor developments on the situation of human rights defenders in the Republic of The Sudan and calls on the African Union and the international community to contribute towards the effective realization of human and peoples’ rights in the Republic of The Sudan as a whole.

Done in Banjul-The Gambia, 13 December 2016

Honourable Commissioner Reine Alapini-Gansou

Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders in Africa

South Sudan Orders Second Aid Worker to Leave (14.12.2016)

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Transitional Justice Working Group launches 5-year plan for truth, justice, reconiliation and healing in South Sudan (12.12.2016)

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South Sudan: Council adopt conclusions (12.12.2016)

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The Council called on all parties to lay down their arms and to take decisive steps to end violence, as a last chance for political and military leaders to avoid the resumption of war. 

BRUSSELS, Belgium, December 12, 2016 – The Council adopted conclusions on South Sudan, in light of the profoundly disturbing developments in the country. The Council called on all parties to lay down their arms and to take decisive steps to end violence, as a last chance for political and military leaders to avoid the resumption of war, to spare their people further suffering and to find a just and inclusive political settlement of their differences.

The Council called upon the transitional government to uphold its responsibility for the protection of civilians and on all parties to put an end to violations of human rights and of international humanitarian law. End.

Here is the Conclusions: 

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UNMISS: “Protection of Civilians” (POC) Sites Update in South Sudan (12.12.2016)

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