Africa

The United Nations human rights chief today said he is &#8220deeply alarmed&#8221 at a planned Government shutdown of social media in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from Sunday evening, ahead of the end of President Joseph Kabila&#39s mandate, coupled with a continuing ban on demonstrations by civil society and the opposition.

December 16, 2016 (NEW YORK) – The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), while approving a one-year extension of its mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), demanded an end to the fighting in the country, and decided that the mission shall “use all necessary means” to deter and prevent sexual violence within its capacity.

The UN Security Council votes unanimously to impose sanctions on those blocking peace in South Sudan (Photo: UN/Devra Berkowitz)

The mission will, in accordance to the new mandate, also “monitor, investigate and report incidents of hate speech,” in the country.

The 15-member Security Council unanimously adopted on Friday a resolution, extending the mandate of UNMISS to 15 December 2017.

Over the next one year, however, the UN mission in South Sudan will maintain its core functions, while also maintaining a troop ceiling of 17,000, including a 4,000-strong Regional Protection Force (RPF), and increasing the police ceiling to 2,101 police personnel, and 78 corrections officers, and requesting the Secretary-General to take the necessary steps to expedite force and asset generation.

South Sudan has been in turmoil since December 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir clashed with those allied to his former deputy, Riek Machar displacing thousands of the nation's population.

The crisis, according to the world body, has produced one of the world's worst displacement situations with immense suffering for civilians.

However, despite the August 2015 peace agreement that formally ended the South Sudanese civil 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 Security Council, during its meeting, reiterated its increasingly grave alarm and concern regarding the political, security, economic and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan resulting from a political dispute within South Sudan's ruling party (SPLM) and subsequent violence caused by the nation's political and military leaders.

It also expressed its intention to consider sanctions against those whose actions undermined peace, stability and security in South Sudan.

The Security Council demanded that South Sudan's leaders implement the permanent ceasefire declared in the peace agreement and respective ceasefires, but also expressed grave concern at the findings of the UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Zainab Hawa Bangura of the systematic and widespread use of sexual violence as a tactic by parties against the civilian population, particularly against the country's women and girls.

As such, the 15-member Council also resolved that UNMISS would “use all necessary means” to deter and prevent sexual and gender-based violence within its capacity and areas of deployment, and “monitor, investigate, verify and report specifically and publicly on violations and abuses committed against children and women.”

The Council tasked UNMISS with monitoring, investigating and reporting on incidents of hate speech and incitement to violence in cooperation with the UN special adviser.

(ST)

December 16, 2016 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese Pound (SSP) has lost about 80% of its value, nearly 12 months since the Central Bank floated the exchange rate against the U.S dollar, as most South Sudanese families anticipate tough times during this festive season.

Thousands of people match in Bor, Jonglei State to celebrate Christmas Eve (ST/File)

“My children want new clothes, but I am not sure of what they will eat tomorrow. It is not about new cloths now,” Mary Yar, a mother of three, told Sudan Tribune Friday.

A resident of Lologo, a Juba surburb, Yar moved to the South Sudan capital in 2014, after conflict displaced her from Bor in Jonglei state.

For her children, however, Christmas is a season for new clothes.

“I would buy each of them a pair of shoe, trousers and everything they required but now, I have to use any money on what they will eat,” narrates the mother of three.
Yar does not have a permanent job. At the moment, she works in a restaurant as a waitress, earning a daily wage of 100 SSP (about $1).

Yar is among the millions of South Sudanese calling off luxurious celebrations during this festive season. Millions of South Sudanese have, as a result of war, been displaced from their homes and face severe food shortages. Government has not paid its workers for months and this, for instance, saw teachers strike in Jonglei state.

Presently, one U.S dollar trades between 90 and 100 SSP in the parallel market.

There is scarcity of hard currency in South Sudan, a landlocked country that depends on imports of food and medical among others from neighboring countries.

On Wednesday, South Sudan President Salva Kiir duly acknowledged the hard situation in the country, saying he too felt the pain most families faced, but offered no remedies to the situation.

“I was planning to spend my Christmas in Nairobi but have to think twice,” John Moro, a resident of Juba told Sudan Tribune on Friday.

Moro said he earns about 3,000 SSP, a substantially good pay in a nation where most civil servants are paid less than 1,000 SSP monthly.

“Juba is now very expensive and very hot,” explains Moro.

A meal, in most Juba restaurants, now costs SSP 100 or more, but prices are higher in hotels due to the deteriorating economic situation.

“If I was to spend my Christmas or New Year day with friends in a good restaurant, it will cost me three months pay,” stressed Moro.

The festive seasons, which are meant to host friends, buy new cloths and make trips to the countryside, would pass unnoticed. Some Christian Churches organ street marches on the eve of Christmas and children, like Yar's, want to attend when dressed in new attires.

“My prayer is tranquility in the country. If there is peace, I may choose to leave in the country and my children will be happy and enjoy celebrations without fear of hunger or failure to buy new cloths,” said Yar.

(ST)

December 16, 2016 (JUBA)- South Sudan president Salva Kiir said Friday he hopes the 2017 would be a year of peace, reconciliation and forgiveness, declaring his willingness to extend amnesty to armed opposition to participation in his recently announced national dialogue to end more than two years conflict in the young nation.

President Salva Kiir adresses a joint press conference on 9 July 2016 (Reuters Photo)

"I hope the coming year would be a year of peace, reconciliation, unity and forgiveness. And I therefore called on the people of this country to embrace one another. We fought together in order to have a country. We didn't fight together so that when we have got our country in our own hands, we destroy it. That is not the meaning of liberation. If this was the meaning, then I am sure some people like me would not have been part of such liberation”, president Kiir told a group of senior government officials who paid him a courtesy call at presidential palace on Friday.

The group comprising imminent personalities and Like's advisers congratulated him for launching a national dialogue aimed at resolving differences between people at different levels.

South Sudan's defence minister, Kuol Manyang said Friday that the government would accept the outcome of the national dialogue; saying it was the only way to end conflict.

“I fully agree with what the president told me recently that war is not a substitute to dialogue. This shows how interested he is in bringing this conflict to an end so that the country returns to peace and stability," Junk told Sudan Tribune in the capital, Juba.

He added, "You can also see that the president has also demonstrated his willingness to the end this conflict by personally accepting those still carrying arms against the government to come and participate in the dialogue, which is the only people resolve their difference."

Violence broke out in South Sudan in December 2013 when the country's rival leaders disagreed politically. Tens of thousands of people have died and millions have been displaced.

(ST)

December 16, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - The hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID) has expressed serious concern over recent protests by some of its former staff members saying they are “not peaceful in nature”.

On 5 December, dozens of UNAMD's former local staff protested in front of the mission's premises in four capitals in Darfur for non-payment of financial dues owed to them since 2010.

In a statement extended to Sudan Tribune Friday, the mission said the former employees “have on a number of occasions forcefully blocked movement in and out of UNAMID camps and obstructed access of Sudanese nationals employed by the Mission to their workplaces”.

“We, as a Mission, take our responsibilities towards the people we serve, including separated staff members, seriously. However, we cannot condone demonstrations that are not peaceful in nature and are based on unfounded accusations and demand for payments that are not in line with the rules and regulations of the United Nations,” stated the Head of UNAMID, Joint Special Representative Martin Uhomoibhi.

The mission stressed that “all national staff that separated from the Organisation on 31 December 2015 have received all benefits owed to them for the period of their service with UNAMID, except for a relatively small group whose pension entitlements are being processed”.

“UNAMID is working closely with the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, the body solely responsible for administering pension benefits, to finalize this category of payments” added the statement.

It is noteworthy that the former staff members protested seven times during this year in four Darfur states to demand overtime pay.

Chairman of the Dismissed Staff Committee, Hafiz Abiad, had earlier told Sudan Tribune that his committee represents 263 Sudanese staff who were dismissed and their financial rights denied in Nayla, Zalngei, El-Geniena and El-Fasher.

He pointed that the protesting staff demanded to be paid their pensions' entitlements which was agreed on with UNAMID in March, saying the mission didn't recognize some of their rights.

Abiad added that they made a complaint to a court within the United Nations to demand the overtime pay, saying the court asked them to provide a document proving their claim of the previous financial rights.

“We sent the document and we are still waiting [for the court's decision]," he said.
The hybrid mission has been deployed in Darfur since December 2007 with a mandate to stem violence against civilians in the western Sudan's region.

It is the world's second largest international peacekeeping force with an annual budget of $1.35 billion and almost 20,000 troops.

(ST)

December 16, 2016 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) on Friday has seized print runs of the independent daily Al-Jareeda for the eighth time within three weeks without giving reasons.

Chief-Editor of Al-Jareeda Ashraf Abdel-Aziz told Sudan Tribune that the NISS agents confiscated copies of the newspaper on Friday morning while it was on its way to the distribution outlets.

He pointed that the daily has received some financial contribution from readers abroad, saying they paid six-month subscription fees in advance to support the newspaper and compensate for the loss caused by the repeated confiscations.

Last week, Al-Jareeda launched a campaign entitled the “Prudent Reader” to enable each reader to donate price of one seized copy.

Al-Jareeda also said it would take legal action against the NISS due to repeated seizure of its copies during the last two weeks.

NISS has recently intensified crackdown on newspapers for publishing news reports and articles on the nationwide civil disobedience act which took place between 27 and 29 November. During the last couple of weeks, it seized copies of various dailies 22 times.

Al-Jareeda has been one of the most newspapers in Sudan subject to suspension and confiscation. Last May, the NISS had confiscated copies of the newspaper four times during five days.

Journalists working for the newspaper had earlier told Sudan Tribune that the NISS seeks to put pressure on Al-Jareeda to change its editorial policy and mitigate harsh criticism of the government contained in the Op-ed articles and in particular by columnists Osman Shabona and Mohamed Wida'aa.

However, the newspaper's administration refuses to succumb to the NISS's pressures and rejects the idea of dismissing any journalists or columnists.

Sudanese newspapers complain of the far reaching powers of the NISS which routinely punishes dailies through confiscation or suspension.

Following the lift of pre-publication censorship, the NISS started punishing newspapers retroactively by seizing copies of newspapers that breach unwritten red lines inflicting financial and moral losses on these media houses.

In February 2015, it seized copies of 14 newspapers from printing press without giving reasons.

Journalists say that NISS uses seizures of print copies of newspapers, not only to censor the media but also to weaken them economically.

Last July, Al-Taghyeer newspaper decided to suspend publishing and laid off its staff following large financial loss incurred due to repeated confiscations.

(ST)

December 16, 2016 (JUBA) - A South Sudanese minister in the government of national unity has resigned, a decision that has taken many in the young nation by surprise.

First meeting of the Transitional Government of National Unity (TGoNU) chaired by President Salva Kiir Mayardit and attended by the First Vice President Riek Machar Teny and the Vice President James Wani Igga in Juba on May 6, 2016 (Photo Moses Lomayat)

The Deputy Minister for Labour and Public Service, Nasike Allan Lochul, cited lack of political will on the part of President Salva Kiir and members of his administration to implement the 2015 peace agreement, which he signed with armed and non-armed opposition groups to terminate the over two-year war in the country.

The minister said political "unwillingness" to implement the peace deal and incitement of hate speech by the president and senior members in government forced her to quit.

“As a politician who have interest to serve my people, I have decided to leave the fake TGONU (Transitional government of national unity) for unwillingness to implement the resolution on the agreement of the conflict in the republic of south Sudan and incitement of hate speeches by the president and many senior government officials in politics and in the army”, Lochul wrote in the letter, which Sudan Tribune also obtained.

The official declared her allegiance armed opposition faction under the leadership of the former vice president Riek Machar, saying it has the vision to transform and unity the country than president Kiir.

“I am declaring my allegiance to the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, SPLM-IO, that is working tirelessly to help avert a catastrophic collapse of our nation, by relying on grassroots for support and that has a vision and make this country for all 64 tribes of South Sudan," the deputy minister said in her resignation letter.

"I, therefore, quit the current tribal and tyrant regime in Juba to join the voices of freedom and democracy, the SPLM-IO to protect the innocent and humble people of South Sudan”, she addes.

Lochul, until her resignation, was a member of parliament representing Eastern Equatoria at the national legislative assembly, a position to which she was selected by her people in 2005 and retained during the 2010 and after secession from Sudan in 2011.

(ST)

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Approving a one-year extension of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, the Security Council today demanded an end to the fighting in the war-riven country, and decided that the mission, known as UNMISS, shall “use all necessary means” to “deter and prevent” sexual violence within its capacity, and “monitor, investigate and report incidents of hate speech.”

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned today's attack against a military post in Nassoumbou, province of Soum in the north of Burkina Faso, in which Burkinabè soldiers were killed and injured.

Given the scale of the disaster in South Sudan, the United Nations Security Council, regional organizations and the international community must step up to their responsibility to the help the country’s people, who have suffered through three years of bloody conflict, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today in an opinion piece published by Newsweek.

An assessment of the non-violent campaign for change in Sudan

By Nico Plooijer

Late last month, many people in Sudan took part in a three-day campaign of civil disobedience. People stayed home from work, school or any other activities in order to protest government policies, in particular the recent lifting of subsidies for fuel and gas. This led to enormous price hikes. Prices of basic commodities have risen so much that people can barely afford to pay for food, transportation or medicine.

Did the campaign of civil disobedience succeed? According to media coverage of the protest, it did not. There simply was not much to see, certainly no mass demonstrations in the streets. This was because Sudanese activists had learned their lesson: in September, 2013, the government cracked down on mass demonstrations, leading to the deaths of more than 200 protestors.

However, the media coverage overlooked the impact on the government or on the country as a whole. As this form of protest is new to Sudan, it can be difficult to measure its impact. But the campaign did elicit a reaction from President Omar al-Bashir himself. He called the campaign a “one million percent failure”.

A non-violent campaign for change
Last month's protest was only the latest of a number of events expressing opposition to the government. In April, large scale student protests erupted at the main universities all over the country, sparked by the killing of a student. In October, doctors went on strike citing unpaid wages and the need for improved working conditions. In November, the pharmacists followed, protesting the decision to remove a subsidy for imported medicines, leading prices to double or in some cases triple. Independent of these developments, the Sudanese Congress Party has been actively pursuing a non-violent campaign, it's members giving speeches on buses and trains and at public markets. The speakers raise awareness of people´s rights and how these rights are not respected by the government.

The non-violent campaign did not end with last month's three days protest, either. Small-scale demonstrations are still going on and an online campaign using WhatsApp and other similar apps aims to mobilise more people.

In response, the government has been quietly repressing the nascent movement. More than 90 people have been arrested, and are being held in secret locations with no possibility to communicate with the outside world.

But the question remains, is it successful?
According to the “Checklist to end tyranny” developed by Peter Ackerman and Hardy Merriman, there are three key capabilities of successful civil resistance movements: the ability to unify people, operational planning and nonviolent discipline. How does the current campaign in Sudan measure up to this checklist?

Unity
To achieve unity, non-violent campaigners need a shared and inclusive vision, and a leadership that is seen as legitimate. While many see the need for fundamental reform in the way Sudan is governed, a unifying and mobilising vision has yet to emerge.

The recent three-day protest was triggered by price hikes, but long before that it has been clear that many people are unhappy with the way this government has been running the country for the last 27 years. The government´s stock defence that the US sanctions and the loss of oil income after South Sudanese independence are the reasons for the dismissal economic and political situation is no longer credible. People wonder what happened to the billions of dollars of oil revenue the government has earned from concessions to oil companies since the 1990s, since it has not been used to develop the country. And people who can´t afford to buy food resent the fact that 40 to 70% of the national budget is spend on security, including ongoing conflicts in Darfur, the Blue Nile region and the Nuba Mountains. President al-Bashir went even further recently in a speech at the headquarters of the Sudan Air Force, saying that even if the entire government budget was spent on security, it still would not be enough.

Given all of the above, activists confer frequently about formulating a unifying message to protest the mismanagement of the country.

As for leadership, the campaign was instigated by people not directly connected or representing any institutional group or party. That makes sense given the history of repression of organized labour. When the current regime came to power, it moved quickly to dismantle the labour unions that had been at the forefront of popular uprisings in October 1964 and April 1985. Al-Bashir had learned his lesson, and sought to prevent labour unions from playing a mobilising role again. In response, people have organized themselves separately from the unions, leading to well-organised professional groups. In addition, people organize around specific issues such as hydroelectric dam projects, women tea sellers and neighbourhood groups addressing issues of land grabbing and the lack of basic service delivery.

Sudan also has protest movements such as Grifna and Reform Now that were at the forefront of protests in 2013 and were keen to join the recent call for action. The traditional opposition parties and armed movements have been slower to join the recent campaign. Activist are cautiously reaching out to these groups in order to ensure their commitment, although the core of the activist leaders refuse to give up control of this non-violent movement to these traditional actors.

In the current situation in Sudan, it is strategically wise to keep a decentralised and multi-layered leadership structure, instead of relying on one or two leading figures. This makes it more difficult for the regime to supress the leaders of the protest movement.

Operational planning
The second element in Ackerman and Merriman's “Checklist to end tyranny” is operational planning. The current protest movement's operational planning is, like its leadership, local and dispersed. Different activities and initiatives are developed throughout the country. Despite the prevalence of government monitoring of communications, people are able to share their thoughts and initiatives. For instance, lists have been distributed of pro-government singers and journalists so that people can boycott them. There have also been calls to boycott the visits of government officials. These are low risk ways of showing support for the campaign and are difficult for the government to supress. Planning is mostly done online. The government does at times manage to infiltrate online groups, leading to conflicts online between pro-government ´keyboard warriors´ and anti-government ‘electronic chickens'.

One indication of how well this system of de-centralized planning works is the relatively quick agreement to hold another day of civil disobedience on December 19 – the anniversary of Sudan's declaration of independence in 1955..

Non-violent discipline
The third element on the “Checklist to end tyranny”, remaining non-violent even when provoked, is an important indicator of the success of such a movement. To date, the current campaign has maintained a disciplined, non-violent, peaceful movement. Even efforts by the security forces to lure people into violent confrontations in the streets have been unmasked and ridiculed online. The armed movements in Sudan have publicly supported the civil disobedience campaign. The question remains whether the armed groups will continue to commit to the non-violent action, whether people will have the patience to continue the non-violent campaign, and whether they will continue to have confidence in the effectiveness of non-violent methods. Some may give in to the feeling that they need to use violence to protect the people and the protests. This would play into the government´s hand, since the government clearly has the advantage when it comes to violent clashes.

If people don't obey, the rulers cannot rule.
In conclusion, the current campaign has all the ingredients to be successful. It is too soon to say whether or not it will succeed, but it has more potential than the armed rebellions of the last few decades. The question remains whether Sudanese activists will be able to build a campaign that will provide opportunities for broader support, and whether they can define short-, mid- and long-term objectives under a united vision while maintaining nonviolent discipline.

Non-violent struggles are similar to armed struggles in that they are not won overnight. Last month's three days of civil disobedience are a starting point showing that many Sudanese people desperately want change are willing to run risks to obtain it.

Non-violent action is based on the insight that social, political, economic and military power is dependent on the consent and obedience of the people. On December 19, we will see how many people in Sudan understand this fundamental insight and are willing to voluntarily engage in a struggle for peaceful change.

The author is PAX programme leader

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