South Sudan reception centre, UNHCR refugee camp, November 2011
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Friday 11 November was a day of rising fears internationally that tensions are building along the Sudan-South Sudan border after a series of bombs were dropped just inside South Sudan’s Unity state, hitting a refugee camp. Several Geneva-based humanitarian groups expressed their growing concern Friday.
And then late Friday came some good news from New York, that the newly-formed Republic of South Sudan has made banning anti-personnel mines one of its first multilateral commitments.
It became an independent state 9 July 2011, but fighting and accusations have continued between the two countries.
South Sudan “deposited its notification of succession to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, or Ottawa Convention today at the United Nations headquarters in New York, becoming the 158th state to agree to be legally bound by this landmark humanitarian instrument,” the AP Mine Ban Convention office in Geneva said in a statement Friday night.
The news was a bright spot in the otherwise gloomy reports of the bombs and world reactions to them. Authorities in South Sudan blamed Sudan for the bombardment of a refugee camp in the oil-rich border state of Unity, according to UPI.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for “an independent, thorough and credible investigation to establish the precise circumstances of this aerial bombing.” She said in a statement late Friday that “The camp at Yida, which is close to the border with Sudan, is housing thousands of civilians, including women and children.” She added that “while the number of casualties is not yet clear, I understand that five or six bombs were dropped on the camp, and that at least one fell close to a school.” Pillay says that if “it is established that an international crime or serious human rights violation has been committed, then those responsible should be brought to justice.”
The UNHRC, the High Commissioner for Refugees office in Geneva deplored the bombings, noting at its weekly briefing Friday that there were reports earlier in the week of bombings in New Guffa Village in Upper Nile state, in addition to Thursday’s bombings in Unity state.
“Several bombs dropped by an aircraft in the Yida area impacted a temporary camp that shelters over 20,000 refugees who have recently fled violence in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan’s Southern Kordofan State.
Two of the bombs fell within the Yida camp, including one close to the school. Fortunately there were no casualties in the camp and we are verifying the situation of surrounding communities. UNHCR had been readying new refugee sites away from the border when the incident occurred in Yida yesterday. We had hoped to begin the relocation of refugees but our efforts have so far been hampered by heavy rains which have made the road to the camp impassable.”
The significance of the measure taken by South Sudan was noted by the Convention’s leadership. “ndmine contamination in South Sudan is a grave problem for reconstruction and development, and impedes agricultural activities,” said H.E. Gazmend Turdiu, the Convention’s President. “By joining the Convention, South Sudan is making a commitment to clear mines on its territory, to assist landmine survivors and to never, under any circumstances, use anti-personnel mines.”
The Internal Displacement Centre (IDMC) in Geneva also voiced its concern Friday, noting that each side has been blaming the other for escalating violence. The US Wednesday condemned Sudan for air attacks in recent days, with State Department spokesperson Mark Toner saying, “The provocative aerial bombardments near the border increase the potential of direct confrontation between Sudan and South Sudan.”
The IDMC said Friday in a statement that
“The government of Sudan has accused South Sudan of supporting rebels on the northern side of the border, in the states of South Kordofan, where fighting has been ongoing since June, and in Blue Nile which has seen fighting since September. On 5 November, Sudan submitted a complaint against South Sudan to the UN Security Council, accusing it of providing rebels with “anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles as well as with ammunition, landmines and mortars”. Sudan has imposed restrictions on humanitarian access to South Kordofan and Blue Nile citing security concerns, including the presence of landmines and the movements of rebel groups. Humanitarian organisations estimate that over 200,000 people have either been displaced or severely affected by the conflict in South Kordofan. The UN estimates that 28,500 Sudanese from Blue Nile have fled to Ethiopia and that 19,500 others have taken shelter among communities along the border.”
South Sudan, for its part, says the IDMC, denies supporting the rebels. It “has repeatedly accused Sudan of supporting rebels on its side, in Upper Nile and Unity states. The most recent fighting in Unity state took place on 29 October, after the rebel SSLA (South Sudan Liberation Army) warned the UN and humanitarian organizations to leave the area for their own safety. This put at risk displaced communities who depend on aid for survival, and troops with the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMiss) were deployed to help local authorities deal with the aftermath of the attacks and to monitor the situation. In addition to ongoing internal displacement within Unity state, the UN has reported more than 20,000 people fleeing into the state from South Kordofan in Sudan. Humanitarian aid organizations are concerned that “the number of people arriving to Unity might double before the end of the year if fighting continues in South Kordofan.”
Landmines in South Sudan are the result of over 20 years of civil war and the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre in South Sudan reports that, “all 10 states of the newly-formed country have reported mine-related injuries and deaths. Contamination in 306 villages varies in size, from an item that may take an hour or so to destroy, to entire minefields which could take up to a year or more to address.” The AP Mine Ban Convention says that as of September 2011, “a total of 3,210 injuries and 1,263 deaths had been reported in the country. Since 2005, over 25,000 landmines have been destroyed. To date over 2,700 landmine survivors have received support.”
South Sudan, as a party to the Convention, will now have the right to ask other signatory states for help.
SUDAN – Human rights groups, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, say Sudanese armed forces “have carried out deadly air raids on civilians in rebel-held areas of the Nuba Mountains that may amount to war crimes.”
“The Sudanese government is literally getting away with murder and trying to keep the outside world from finding out” said Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s Senior Crisis Response Advisor.
The rights groups said researchers had investigated a total of 13 air strikes in the Kauda, Delami and Kurchi areas which had killed at least 26 civilians and wounded more than 45 since mid-June.
Further details: Human Rights Watch, Yahoo News
Crowds that gathered in Juba, in southern Sudan, cheered as the official vote commission confirmed Sunday 30 January that 99 percent of voters there had said yes to secession from the north. The vote, which took place the first week in January, has received praise worldwide for taking place peacefully and with little fraud. Officials say 99 percent of eligible voters in the south participated, while 60 percent in the north did. The vote in the south was 99 percent in favour, but in the north it was 58 percent in favour of splitting the country.
Southern Sudan could become a new country as soon as July but key negotiations over borders and oil rights have not yet taken place. Sudan fought a civil war that lasted 20 years and killed some 2 million people. A vote over secession was part of the terms of the peace settlement.
Links to other sites: AFP/Gulf News, Yahoo News
Sudan’s Islamist opposition leader Hassan Al-Turabi and several aides were arrested Monday evening 17 January at his home in Khartoum, the day after he told news agency AFP that if Sudan’s President Al-Bashir did not share power, street protests like those in Tunisia could happen. Al-Turabi was once Al-Bashir’s close ally but the two fell out in 1999 and Al-Turabi formed a splinter group.
Voting over the south seceding from the rest of Sudan appears to have gone relatively smoothly, with the results now expected to show a clear vote for independence, but tensions remain high in the region.
The 78-year-old Al-Turabi was arrested and held for two months in 2009.
Links to other sites: allAfrica, Al Jazeera
Sudan’s first multi-party elections in 24 years have put Omar al-Bashir, the president who won power in a coup 20 years ago, firmly in the seat of power. The semi-autonomous south of the country voted Salva Kiir into power there by a large vote. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of war crimes, of which he says he is innocent.
Credit Suisse may pay $536 million
Zurich, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse has announced it is close to an agreement with US financial regulators concerning its dealings with countries that are subject to US economic sanctions. The bank says that it has closed its representative office in Tehran, Iran as part of its own probe into the investigation by US and New York regulators.
As part of the deal Credit Suisse may pay a $536 million fine, and says it has booked a pre-tax CHF445 million provision in the current quarter.
Sudan’s ambassador to the United Nations has gone on the attack to deflect multiple charges against his government. Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad told CNN (programme will air 9 December) that his country will never hand over its president, Omar al-Bashir, to the International Criminal Court in The Hague where he is accused of war crimes. The ambassador lashes out in the TV interview at other criticisms of his country, which range from the opposition party saying it is corrupt to some US senators calling for an investigation into whether the country has an ongoing genocide. Sudan’s civil war nominally ended in 2005, but the number of deaths from violence in Darfur as well as other areas remains high. The ambassador 23 November called for UN peacekeepers to leave his country, following a UN report and criticism from Ban Ki-moon. The fighting in Darfur is over, according to the ambassador, but Aljazeera reports that concerns are growing over elections in April 2010.
Links to other sites: Aljazeera, CNN, Voice of America
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A French agronomist working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Chad was abducted Tuesday 10 November near village of Kawa, eastern Chad, where ICRC has a primary health care assistance programme. The ICRC says Laurent Maurice was taken by several armed men, but does not know their motives nor their identities.
Gereida camp Darfur, Sudan. ©ICRC/B. Heger
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The fate of Gauthier Lefevre, 35, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegate abducted 22 October in the west Darfur region of Sudan, is still uncertain, according to Daniel Duvillard, ICRC’s chief of operations for Eastern Africa, in an interview 29 October.
ICRC confirms that it has received a ransom request, but as a matter of policy it does not pay ransoms. It is using all the channels at its disposal to obtain the release of Lefevre, and insists with his captors that his physical integrity be ensured. ICRC officials managed to speak to him two days after his capture, and he confirmed that he was being well treated.
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – ICRC employee Gauthier Lefevre was taken by armed men near the town of al-Junaynah, West Darfur, Sudan near the border with Chad at about noon, yesterday 22 October, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said. Gauthier, a French national, was returning to town in an ICRC-marked vehicle with colleagues after a field trip to check water supply systems for local communities north of the town, when he was seized.
The ICRC said neither the identity of the abductors nor their motives were known. It said it had immediately contacted local authorities and other parties in order to secure Lefevre’s release.
The government of Sudan says it will allow new aid organizations into the country to work in the Darfur region and that existing organizations can expand their activities in the area. The government expelled 13 NGOs and restricted access to Darfur after the International Criminal Court’s indictment of Sudan’s president in March. Some 4.7 million people in the Darfur region rely on humanitarian aid. The UN says the 10 year conflict has caused 300’000 deaths and has displaced some 3 million persons. AllAfrica, BBC, Reuters
John Holmes, the United Nations’ chief humanitarian coordinator said Monday that a joint UN-Sudan assessment shows that one million people are likely to soon be without shelter or food and water in the near future, due to the expulsion of several aid groups, following an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Sudan’s president. CCN
THe BBC reports that kidnappers are demanding a ransom for the three Belgian aid workers from Médecins Sans Frontières who were taken Wednesday. Two local workers kidnapped at the same time were set free. Meanwhile, the 13 aid agencies that have been forced out of the country in recent days by the government, following the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for the country’s president, say that the UN and the government are unable to fill the aid gap. AllAfrica
All Africa reports that in what appears to be a reaction to the International Criminal Court’s decision to issue an arrrest warrant for the president of Sudan, “the government revoked the licences of British-based Oxfam International, the Dutch branch of Medicines sans Frontiers and the American-based agency , the International Rescue Committee. No explanation was provided for the decision.” The groups provide water, medical care, sanitation and education, according to All Africa.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, although, reports the BBC, it “stopped short of accusing [him] of genocide” and AllAfrica, which carries several articles on the arrest, says two of the three judges who ruled on the warrant refused to consider genocide charges. The Sudanese leader reportedly called the decision worthless. He is the first sitting head of state to be charged by the ICC.
Omar Hassan al-Bashir, president of Sudan, has declared a ceasefire and says militia are being disarmed, but the BBC points out that since rebels have not participated in talks leading to the ceasefire, the president’s motivation is not clear, and similar declarations in the past “have come and gone.” The International Criminal Court in July indicted him for genocide and other crimes.
