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UN human rights experts today welcomed the release of Egyptian journalist Hossam Bahgat but expressed their “grave concern” over the “very difficult environment” for journalists and human rights defenders in Egypt that deters reporting and intimidates writers and activists of all kinds.

Following a killing and revenge attack on a camp for internally displace people in the Central African Republic (CAR) town of Batangafo, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) today expressed concern about the spreading insecurity in the country and condemned the violent attack on the camp.

Provides an overview of Morocco, including key events and facts about this mountainous kingdom at the far end of the Maghreb

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA)Deadly Public Order Raid in Umm Dawm

On the 14th of October, the Public Order Police (POP) carried out a sweep in Umm Dawm, an area in Eastern Nile in Khartoum state, leading to the death of five civilians - three women, an infant and a young man - as well as the arrest of dozens and the spread of fear in an entire community.

Umm Dawm lies on the banks of the Blue Nile, the farm area is mainly inhabited by low-income communities, internally displaced and migrant workers. The majority is involved in the informal sector, working as tea-sellers, alcohol-sellers, petty traders and brick-makers. On Wednesday October 14, the Public Order Police carried out a raid in the neighbourhood. With the POP being infamous for their brutality during the Kasha, also known as sweeps or on-spot raids, people began running for their lives.

The Public Order Police is part of the POR, or Public Order Regime, in Sudan. The POR is a set of laws and mechanisms which prohibit and enforce a range of behaviors; offences can be interpreted with great latitude and are enforced by a special police and court system with a reputation for violence and summary justice. Procedures before the Public Order Courts largely fail to meet fair trial standards, despite Sudanese constitutional protections guaranteeing due process for the accused (Article 34, Constitution of Sudan), and lastly involve the imposition of penalties such as fining, imprisonment and lashing.

In an attempt to avoid arrest, those trying to escape were whipped and beaten with batons by the officers. The desperate attempt made them run towards the Nile, and ultimately led them to jumping into the water, even though the majority does not know how to swim. This did not spare them from police brutality, as the police officers followed them into the water. A relative of two of the victims described the situation as follows:

"They began shooting live ammunition in the air and in the water and began throwing rocks at those trying to swim towards safety"

Achol Kuol, a 40-year-old woman of South Sudanese roots, was attempting to swim when a police officer threw a rock towards her which hit her forehead causing her to lose conscious and ultimately drown due to her severe head injury.

A mother, whose name is unknown, had left her six-month old daughter behind, hoping the Public Order Police would not inflict harm upon her child.

“A police officer held the girl and threw her into the water as he said, ‘Go follow your mother,'" said one of her relatives.

She was eventually rescued that day by the men and women who were trying to stay afloat in the water, but she died a few days later as a result of the trauma and injuries she sustained.

Salwa Ali Koko, a 35-year-old mother, also jumped into the water and drowned as she didn't know how to swim. Her body was found by fishermen when it washed up on the shores of Al-Hafliya in Khartoum North and was later identified by her family.

Fatima Ali Nato, a 45-year-old mother, and Eisa Ali Bakheit, a 30-year-old single man, also drowned that day. An eyewitness said that while all of them were in the water, hardly alive and unable to swim against the forceful current, they told the police to stop shooting and hitting them with stones as they will die anyway.

They were told, “No, we want to kill you instead".

A few days later, Bakheit's body appeared in Shendi, in River Nile state, almost 200 kilometres North of Khartoum. Nato's corpse has yet to be found.

The Public Order Police, ignored the community and bystanders who were appealing to them to briefly pause the sweep and to call the Civil Defence Rescue Operation to assist those who were about to drown. Unfortunately, their pleads were ignored, leading to a deliberate loss of lives.

The tragedy continued to unfold outside the water, as at least seven women and three men who made it out of the water ran into a nearby farmland. The POP managed to arrest them later and they were brought to the POP station, where they were fined 500 SDG for charges of brewing alcohol.

"They ran as if they had committed a crime which has never been committed in the history of mankind, that is how the Public Order Police made them feel," Sudanese activist Jalila Khamis commented on the event.

As the community in Umm Dawm continues to search for the remaining body the government, and especially the POP, refuse to take responsibility for the incidents. The Ministry of Interior Affairs denied the happenings and emphasized in a statement that no one has drowned for at least two weeks, making it difficult for relatives and the community to coordinate with the Civil Defense Rescue Unit to continue their search for the missing body.

"Each police unit is blaming the other; the Public Order Police blamed the local police forces, and at the end, we were told that all of the victims have committed suicide," a relative of the victims stated.

The incidents of the 14th of October are a clear example of the scope of brutality employed by the Public Order Police during their raids. This was not an isolated incident as in March 2012 when Awadia Ajabna, a school teacher who lived in Al-Daim neighborhood of Khartoum, was shot by the Public Order Police on her doorstep after an argument with police officers. Further back in 2010, Nadia Saboon, a tea-seller, tried to escape the POP during a kasha sweep in Souq Arabi market, when she fell on an iron bar and suffered injuries, which ultimately led to her death.

The Public Order Laws have a clear gender bias, which leads to an average of 40 women per day who are arrested for offenses falling under the laws, which prescribe fines, imprisonment or flogging as sentences. Many of those affected come from low-income communities, and represent marginalized groups of society, such as women working in the informal sector, IDPs and migrant workers. Lastly they end up at Omdurman Women's Prison, where they face months of imprisonment when they are unable to pay the hefty fines (which at times measure up to 20,000 SDG, more than 2,000 USD).

SIHA is alarmed and deeply concerned with the incidents and the brutality of the Public Order Police and strongly condemns the incidents of October 14. Since 2009, SIHA has been advocating for a reformation of the Public Order Laws, as the gender biased laws are one of the main instruments used to regress women's rights in Sudan and to persecute the public presence of women and represent a continuous threat to their well-being and the possibility of living a life of dignity in Sudan.

For further reading, a detailed analysis of the Public Order Regime carried out by SIHA can be found in English, Arabic, and French here: Beyond Trousers: The Public Order Regime and the Human Rights of Women and Girls in Sudan (2009).

The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA) is a coalition of over 80 women's civil society organisations from across the Horn countries inclusive of Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Somaliland, Eritrea and Uganda. The organisation works on women's access to justice, promoting and protecting women's human rights, activating women's political participation and supporting economic empowerment.

November 10, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The ruling National Congress Party (NCP) reiterated its rejection for a proposal calling to form a transitional government and accused the opposition of seeking to overthrow the regime through the dialogue process.

President Omer al-Bashir speaking at the opening of the second parliamentary session 19 Oct 2015 (Photo SUNA)

The Popular Congress Party (PCP) filed the proposal of the transitional government to the governance and administration committee of the national dialogue conference .

the proposition calls to form a national unity government agreed by the participants to implement the resolutions of the conference. It also provides that the president Omer al-Bashir will be maintained as head of state to oversee the realisation of the national dialogue project that he launched.

But the presidential aide and NCP deputy chairman Ibrahim Mahmoud voiced his rejection to this proposal describing it as "illusions".

This rejection angered some of the participants who warned that they will withdraw from the process if the ruling party persists to refuse their involvement in the implementation of the outcome of the process.

Seeking to dissipate the tension, the spokesperson for the mechanism, Fadl al-Sayed Shoaib stated that the what Mahmoud said does not represent the NCP. But the latter quickly reacted on Tuesday reaffirming that what he said is not a personal opinion but it is the position of the ruling party.

Further the head of political office for the NCP bloc in the National Assembl, Hasaballah Salih on Tuesday want to accuse the PCP and those who back the proposal of seeking toend the rule of the NCP through the dialogue process.

"We say to those who entered in the dialogue process in order to remove the National Congress from the political arena you will not get that at all," Salih said.

He went further to tell the Islamist opposition PCP that he national dialogue does not seek in any case to reunite the Sudanese Islamists or the NCP and the PCP adding "this issue is not on the table at all".

He pointed that President Bashir draw his legitimacy from April elections and nobody can come out with another position.

Former presidential assistant Nafei Ali Nafei in a public meeting on Tuesday he reiterated his party refusal for any discussions on the power sharing during a transitional period.

But instead of replying to the PCP, he severely castigated the left parties saying they refuse to participate in the because they want to participate in a government tasked with the implementation of the dialogue resolutions.

The opposition Sudan Call forces also call for the formation of a transitional government tasked with the implementation of the dialogue outcome, saying the national unity government will ensure the full realization of the democratic reforms.

(ST)

November 10, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour said that the preparatory meetings for the South American-Arab summit in the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh has agreed to convene the first meeting of the South American-Arab agricultural committee in Khartoum next February.

Journalists take pictures of participant leaders at a summit of Arab and South America in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015 (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

President Omer Hassan al-Bashir arrived in Riyadh on Tuesday to participate in the summit which kicked off this evening with an address from Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz.

Ghandour said that “Riyadh Declaration" drafted by the preparatory meetings welcomed the national dialogue which started in Khartoum last month and also criticized unilateral sanctions imposed on Sudan.

He added that the declaration also tackled Arab issues namely the Palestinian crisis and others in Latin American countries.

Bashir will meet on the sidelines of the summit with the King of Bahrain, Emir of Qatar, the Venezuelan president and the speaker of the Algerian parliament who will convey a private message from president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Ghandour said.

The minister said he met previously with his Brazilian counterpart for talks on boosting investments in Sudan as well as the foreign minister of Chile and discussed with him taking advantage of mineral wealth in Sudan.

This is the fourth Arab-South American summit to bring together top officials from the Arab League's 22 member states and 12 countries from South America. The meetings, held every three years, began in Brazil in 2005, followed by summits in Qatar and Peru.

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November 10, 2015 (RUMBEK) - An unknown gunman killed a prison officer in South Sudan's Lakes state for reasons yet to be established, authorities disclosed on Tuesday.

A spokesperson for the prison service, Samuel Matoc Mathiang confirmed Deng Ring Malual's, describing the deceased as a very noble man who was dedicated to his job.

An investigation, he said, is underway to establish the motive behind the officer's murder.

“An uknown gunman killed our corporal, 1st Lt. Deng Ring Malual on Monday in our prison service farm located about 10 kilometers away from Rumbek town. His gun was taken away by the unknown assassin and we are putting all what we can to bring the suspect to justice, " said Mathiang, describing Malual as an officer who was very loyal.

The late Malual reportedly joined prison service in 2008 under the department of wardens and correctional service, but was later on promoted to become a garden monitor.

Meanwhile, Brigade General Deng Atem, urge Lakes state's rural communities to support the state government and fully cooperate to allow officers carry out effective services.

He appealed to communities near Gok-Akon to help track the police farm monitor's killer.

Lakes state has been blighted by conflict since South Sudan got independence in 2011 while citizens' calls for the removal of the caretaker governor have largely been ignored.

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November 10, 2015 (WAU) – Authorities in South Sudan's Western Bahr el Ghazal state announced on Tuesday the launch of it's weekly art and cultural activities, allowing artists and young writers to collectively share their creativeness and experiences.

The mayor of Wau town, who also doubles as the arts commission head, Alfred Derick Oya said the event to held every Thursday aims to restore cultural activities in the state.

“Today we are here in Wau's peace hall at the council of ministers and we are launching a weekly forum for art and culture and this weekly forum is actually one activity of the commission for arts and cultures which was recently launched at the state," said Oya.

"We are taking this opportunity in this forum to give perfectives of the commission so that the people know the warrant of the establishment, the vision, the mission, the objectives and the plans of action,” added the mayor.

Established by the state governor early this year, the commission for art and culture seeks to help young artists and writers develop by doing things in a professional way.

(ST).

November 10, 2015 (JUBA) - Mobile phone subscribers in South Sudan can now use their local sim cards in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda without acquiring new cards, an official said.

One of South Sudan's largest mobile phone network providers - Zain (ST)

"You don't need to remove your local card when you are visiting Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda”, said the telecommunications minister, Rebecca Joshua Okwaci.

“Today from here you can call Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda using your local sim card and you will be paying the same cost that you are paying when you are in Juba. The one network area is now operational between South Sudan and the three East African countries”, she added.

According to the minister, those using their South Sudanese numbers in these countriez would not incurr costs as rates would not change for Viva Cell, Gemtel, Zain and MTN.

The minister had just returned from the Rwandan capital, Kigali, after attending the just concluded Transform Africa Summit under the theme: ‘Accelerating digital innovation'.

According the South Sudanese telecommunications minister, the one network area, was a directive of the 5th Heads of State Summit held in Kenya in May 2014. Another summit held in Rwanda in July reportedly expressed satisfaction with progress as line ministries were directed to ensure immediate implementation of one network system in the region.

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November 10, 2015 (EL-FASHIR) - Two people were killed and six others injured Monday in clashes between farmers and camel herders in Amaray area in the locality of Kutum, North Darfur state.

UNAMID's Ethiopian peacekeepers interact with children while helping local communities with their farming activities in Korma, North Darfur. (UNAMID Photo).

Eyewitness told Sudan Tribune that a group of pastors entered their camels into the residents' farms leading to damaging large amounts of the crops, saying 2 cattle herders were killed and 3 others injured while one farmer was wounded in the clashes which erupted between the two sides following the incident.

He added the farmers seized 85 heads of camels belonging to the pastors to compensate those whose crops were damaged.

The same source stressed that clashes between farmers and camel herders would continue unless the government of North Darfur takes strict security measures to prevent them, pointing to tensions among the tribes residing in Kutum locality.

He expressed fear that the crisis would exacerbates if the government didn't address the incident quickly.

For the last two years, North Darfur has witnessed deadly clashes between Barti and Zayadia tribes.

The two tribes have given the governor of North Darfur, Abdel-Wahid Yossef a preliminary approval to hold a reconciliation conference to end the fighting and resolve their differences according to the local traditions and customs.

Tribal fighting has intensified in four of Darfur's five states during the past two years leading to thousands of deaths and injuries and forcing over 300,000 people to flee their homes.

They are usually triggered by land disputes, pasture rights and fighting over water resources. More than 7,000 people were killed in those clashes since 2007.

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November 10, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudan government issued Tuesday a circular directing aviation officials to increase surveillance on cargo plane use in the country.

A wreckage of the plane that crashed in Jonglei state, November 14, 2014 (courtesy photo)

“Aviation rules are very clear. They do not allow cargo planes to be used for people”, David Martin, the undersecretary at the ministry of transport told Sudan Tribune.

The warning followed fresh reports of another crash in the oil-rich Upper Nile state, barely a week after a similar mishap killed dozens in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.

"I just heard about it but I have no clear information about what happened, who were on the plane. We are talking to the people on the ground and the state authorities to give us the information about this incident”, said the senior official when reached on Tuesday.

Multiple sources and Upper Nile officials confirmed that a cargo plane crashed in Malakal shortly after take-off. No casualties were, however, reported.

Several eye witnesses told Sudan Tribune by phone that they could see thick smoke billowing at the crash site near Malakal airport shortly after the plane had taken off.

The state information minister, Yor Akec, told Sudan Tribune from the area that another incident had taken place but that none of the crew members aboard the cargo plane died. Those injured, he added, were rushed to a United Nations-run clinic in Malakal.

“We are still trying to get the details of what happened. We are just like you. We are hearing it from the people on the ground but we do not have details. So I cannot give you any confirmation”, said Akec.

(ST)

November 10, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The African Union (AU) has officially announced that talks on security arrangements between the Sudanese government and the rebel groups in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states and Darfur region will be held on 18 to 19 November.

JEM leader Gibril Ibrahim (C) speaks at the opening session of Darfur negotiations flanked by SPLM-N secretary-general Yasir Arman (L) and SLM-MM leader Minni Minnawi in Addis Ababa on 23 November 2014 (Photo courtesy of AUHIP)

The head of the AU Liaison Office in Sudan, Mahmoud Kane, told the pro-government Sudan Media Center (SMC) Tuesday that invitations have been handed over to Sudan's foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour and the leaders of the armed movements.

He added the discussions on a cessation of hostilities in Darfur, and the Two Areas will be held separately between the government and Darfur rebels on one side and the government and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Movement/North (SPLM-N) on the other side on 18 and 19 November.

The foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour is expected to lead the government delegation, while Yasir Arman will head the SPLM-N delegation. Ahmed Tugud is expected to lead the joint delegation of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) and Sudan Liberation Movement -Minni Minnawi (SLM-MM).

The Sudanese army and its allied militias have been fighting a group of armed movements in Darfur since 2003.

Also, the border states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile state have been the scene of a violent conflict since 2011 when fighting broke out between the SPLM-N and Sudanese army.

Nine rounds of talks between the two sides have stalled over issues pertaining to the security, humanitarian and political arrangements.

(ST)

Related Article

Talks on cessation of hostilities in Sudan are delayed for mid-November : UN

November 10, 2015 (JUBA) - President Salva Kiir will address the nation on multiple issues on November 12, announced the South Sudanese presidency on Tuesday.

President Salva Kiir addresses the nation from the State House on September 15, 2015, in Juba (Photo AFP/Charles Atiki Lomodong)

The state of the nation address, according to his spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny will take place on Thursday at the presidential palace known as J1 at around 10: 00 am local time.

Ateny said the country had gone through events and issues requiring attention of the president in his capacity as the head of state as a way to interact with the citizens to update them on what has taken place and what the government was doing .

This will be the second time in less than two months for President Kiir to talk to the nation since September when he held a similar national briefing about the need to ensure a successful implementation of the cease-fire agreement aimed at restoring peace and stability to the country.

The national address or the state of the nation address, which is usually covered by the public and private media, serves as a means through which the president presents to the nation outlook of issues encompassing security, peace, economic, political, and social condition of the state and the society.

It is also becomes the opportunity to review his plans and the accomplishments of programs of government for a particular period and how these objectives could be achieved during period of holding public office.

The Address which lasts ranging from one hour to several depending on the number of messages and precision with which the speech has been prepared is broadcast on television, radio, and print media guided by state agencies such as South Sudan Radio and Television and private media organizations.

(ST)

The United Nations Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict today commended 54 ranking members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO) for signing “explicit undertakings” to prevent conflict-related sexual violence.

Mali is entering a new era of opportunity, but while significant progress has been made, the international community ‘must not take its foot off the accelerator,’ a senior UN relief official said today, returning from a three-day visit to the country.

More than 240,000 children will receive daily hot meals in school this academic year in Guinea, according to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), which is expanding its school meals programme from 735 to 1,605 primary schools across the country.

Scientists have found that 90 per cent of individuals vaccinated with a meningitis A vaccine costing less than 50 cents a dose had protective antibodies in their system 5 years later, bringing Africa close to elimination of the “highly feared’ disease on the continent, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today.

The United Nations Security Council today renewed for another year its authorization for international naval forces to join in fighting piracy off the coast of Somalia, stressing that while the threat from Somali pirates has declined, it still remains a matter of “grave concern.”