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Venezuelan military experts have been invited to monitor a Russian artillery military exercise in Siberia, which will involve over 300 servicemen and over 150 missile artillery units, including military and special hardware.

Dans la banlieue d'Alger, Yasmina s'occupe des femmes de la mosquée Abou Obeida. Cette mourchida, guide religieuse nommée par le ministère des Affaires religieuses, est aux avant-postes de la lutte contre la radicalisation des esprits. Reportage.

June 15, 2015 (JUBA) – The South Sudanese army spokesperson has denied the armed opposition's claims to have captured pro-government forces, challenging the rebels of those allegedly captured in clashes over control of Kaka in Upper Nile state on Sunday.

South Sudan army spokesperson Phillip Aguer (ssinpo)

Col. Phillip Aguer told Sudan Tribune that fighting continued on Monday, accusing the armed opposition of allegedly violating greed ceasefire agreements.

He said government roops have been responding to repeated attacks from militias of Gen. Johnson Olony, who until recently allied to the government of president Salva Kiir.

“If they have captured some SPLA soldiers, let them [rebels] show them to you [the media],” said Aguer.

“Let them [rebels] call the press and let them show where those soldiers are,” he added.

The armed opposition forces loyal to South Sudan's former vice president Riek Machar claimed their forces captured an SPLA field commander in Kaka. The rebels further claimed to have inflicted heavy casualties on the army and allegedly killed 60 of them.

Sudan Tribune could not, however, independently confirm the armed opposition's claims.

Aguer admitted there was clashes on Sunday and continued through Monday, but strongly dismissed claims that government forces had violated the ceasefire.

“[Gen] Olony has been attacking SPLA in Malakal. They [rebels] wanted to capture the oilfields, they went to Melut and they were defeated. They think the whole world is fool but they will not fool most of the South Sudanese,” Aguer told Sudan Tribune.

He said the army headquarters in Juba was still awaiting official reports from field commanders to ascertain if the SPLA lost some soldiers or if others were missing.

Olony, a former rebel leader until 2013, changed sides last month and declared allegiance to Machar's rebel group. His forces have been battling for control of several areas with the government in oil rich Upper Nile state for the last one month.

(ST)

S.O.S. Adriatique : la Croatie se mobilise contre les forages pétroliers
Forages pétroliers en Adriatique : de l'or noir sous les flots bleus ?
Le gouvernement croate cède l'Adriatique aux compagnies pétrolières
La Croatie, nouvel eldorado pétrolier en mer Adriatique ?
Croatie : les écologistes se mobilisent contre la menace des tankers

/ Courrier des Balkans, Economie, Croatie, Environnement, Adriatique

S.O.S. Adriatique : la Croatie se mobilise contre les forages pétroliers
Forages pétroliers en Adriatique : de l'or noir sous les flots bleus ?
Le gouvernement croate cède l'Adriatique aux compagnies pétrolières
La Croatie, nouvel eldorado pétrolier en mer Adriatique ?
Croatie : les écologistes se mobilisent contre la menace des tankers

/ Courrier des Balkans, Economie, Croatie, Environnement, Adriatique

Brüsszel megint nem hisz Athénnak, csütörtökön dől el, újabb haladék vagy kaotikus állapotok jönnek-e.

Sans-abris en Serbie : l'Etat dépassé par le phénomène
Serbie : un quart de la population est mal logée
Serbie : toujours la précarité pour les réfugiés des guerres yougoslaves
Accords de réadmission en Serbie : 9000 retours forcés en sept ans
Austérité en Serbie : comment sauver un pays en chute libre ?
Moldavie : la Transnistrie demande de nouveau son rattachement à la Russie

/ Serbie, Bilten, Société, Populations et minorités

Sans-abris en Serbie : l'Etat dépassé par le phénomène
Serbie : un quart de la population est mal logée
Serbie : toujours la précarité pour les réfugiés des guerres yougoslaves
Accords de réadmission en Serbie : 9000 retours forcés en sept ans
Austérité en Serbie : comment sauver un pays en chute libre ?
Moldavie : la Transnistrie demande de nouveau son rattachement à la Russie

/ Serbie, Bilten, Société, Populations et minorités

Eddig vállalhatatlannak mondta őket a többi radikális párt.

En Turquie, l'auteur présumé de l'attentat à la bombe lors d'un meeting du parti pro-kurde HDP à Diyarbakir à la veille de l'élection législative - 5 morts - a parlé : le jeune homme de 19 ans reconnaît son appartenance à l'organisation Etat islamique, et son père raconte son parcours, et ses efforts pour le sortir de ce choix.

June 15, 2015 (JUBA) - South Sudanese rebel forces in Northern Bahr el Ghazal state under the overall command of Major General Dau Aturjong, on Monday claimed they received new defecting officers and officials joining their ranks and file from the government. General Dau is a senior commander under the leadership of the rebel leader, Riek Machar.

Rebel commander Brig General Joseph Gai Gatluak (left) pictured in front of his troops in Upper Nile state's Manyo county in March 2015 (ST)

Abdallah Kuot, spokesperson of the group told Sudan Tribune on Monday they have received up to 200 officials and military officers after launching offensives in response to large scale offences in the area.

The group, according to the opposition official, was led by Lieutenant Colonel Deng Deng Aliel, whom he said defected from Gaj, a local administrative headquarters where the government troops in the area had established military outpost.

If confirmed, Colonel Aliel's defection will be the latest in a series of such moves by high-profile government officials, raising questions about the stability of president Salva Kiir's government two years into the civil war gripping the country.

Lt. Col. Aliel had previously served as the head of logistics and supply for the government troops fighting the armed opposition fighters in Jonglei state at the start of the conflict between late 2013 and early 2014. He led retreating government soldiers in June 2014 from Jonglei state to some of the states in greater Bahr el Ghazal region.

The new defecting officers, he said, claimed that many soldiers still serving in president Kiir's government had lost faith and morale and were ready to join the movement any time soon.

“Colonel Deng Deng and his group have told us that those still serving in the government of Salva Kiir and his friends are only for appearance's sake to present an image to the international community showing that the regime is the one that pulls together all segments of South Sudan,” Kuot explained.

“He had been working with rebels to defect”, he said.

There was no immediate reaction from the government on the reported defection.

(ST)

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(Nairobi) – Human Rights Watch today released a short video on police abuses during demonstrations that began on April 26, 2015, in the Burundian capital, Bujumbura. 

read more

June 15 (JUBA) - Warrap state government in South Sudan has presented a request seeking parliamentary approval to extend the term of governor Nyandeng Malek, one month after her term in office expired in May, leaving the state in limbo.

Warrap state governor Nyandeng Malek (ST)

Minister of local government in the state administration, General Acuil Tito, last week tabled the request before the house asking them to expedite the process so that it did not create political and administrative vacuum in the state.

Minister Acuil, according to his request, copy of which Sudan Tribune has seen, cited article 72 of the state model transitional constitution as the basis of requesting for extension of the term of the governor.

Acting chairperson of parliamentary committee responsible for public relations information and communications, Ariech Mayar Ariech, confirmed in a separate interview receipt of the request, but said there were faults in the procedure.

“The representative of the governor has presented the request and urged the members of parliament to pass the amendments under article 72 (1) of the model state transitional constitution, which is wrong. It is the article used for adoption of minor resolutions. The correct article [which] tackles any amendments in Warrap state transitional constitution is article 55 (1), which requires two-third majority of all members to the amendment and passing,” Ariech told Sudan Tribune on Sunday.

The legislator said the citing of a wrong article indicated bad intention on the side of the executive in collaboration with speaker of the house to use wrong approach in order to rig parliamentary procedures.

Any amendments to the constitution, according to Ariech, should be done after spending a period of one month after the request has been submitted to the parliament in order to allow members ample time to carry out proper studies and examine rationality of the request and whether it meets the public interest

“There is bad intention in submitting this request with a strong call on the members to pass it. In our constitution, any request seeking amendment to the constitution should stay at least for one month. But now they are asking for the passage before the completion of the period permitted by the constitution,” he said, accusing the speaker of working with the executive to rig the process.

“The way they are doing it shows that they want to bribe some members of parliament and if they fail to bribe some of us, then they will resort to rigging the process and the procedures,” he said.

He said the state executive wanted to do the procedure in the same way the national transitional constitution was passed in 2011 spearheaded by former justice minister John Luk Jok who rushed and wrote a bad constitution.

(ST)

June 15, 2015 (KHARTOUM) - The Sudanese government said the United Nations has retracted from an agreement reached by the tripartite team on an exit strategy for the hybrid peacekeeping mission in Darfur (UNAMID).

A UNAMID peacekeeper during a routine patrol in Tawila, North Darfur.(Photo UNAMID/Hamid Abdelsalam)

A tripartite committee including the Sudanese government, African Union (AU) and UN has been set up to develop an exit strategy for the UNAMID from Darfur and the parties were expected to sign a agreement last May.

The head of the tripartite team from the Sudanese side, Jamal al-Sheikh, told reporters on Monday they reached an agreement on the report of the exit strategy but he was surprised by the refusal of the UN representative in the team to sign it.

Al-Sheikh said the refusal came as a result of the UN headquarters attempt to impose a specific agreement that has been rejected by the team, noting it doesn't have the legal or procedural right to interfere in the work of the team during the current phase.

In a report to the UN Security Council (UNSC) on 26 May, the UN chief, Ban Ki-moon said that no agreement on the exit strategy of UNAMID has been reached yet by the tripartite team, adding that the team's meetings were suspended and are supposed to resume later this year.

Ki-moon further said that UNAMID suggested during the negotiations to withdraw gradually from West Darfur, and leave from three bases in North and South Darfur, in areas that do not currently necessitate its presence, noting that withdrawal from other areas would only be possible if a ceasefire and protection of displaced are ensured.

Following a meeting of the foreign ministry's undersecretary with ambassadors of the UNSC permanent members in Khartoum, al-Sheikh said that the report of the tripartite team, after it is signed, should be submitted to the three parties, noting that New York's intervention is not legally, ethically and procedurally right at this juncture.

He said the team's meetings were suspended following the UN's refusal to sign the report and denied that the mission of the team has been terminated, adding the move must be decided by agreement of the three parties.

The Sudanese diplomat further said the statements of the UN chief regarding the failure of the team to reach an agreement as “incorrect”, and revealed the refusal of the African Union Security and Peace Council (AUSPC) for a recommendation to extend UNAMID's mandate without modification, for the next 12 months, until 30 June 2016.

For his part, the spokesperson for the foreign ministry, Ali al-Sadiq, said the ambassadors of the UNSC permanent members admitted that UNAMID must eventually exit and that there is no disagreement on the exit strategy.

UNAMID deputy joint special representative Abdul Kamara was summoned by Sudan's foreign ministry last Thursday to inform him of the government discomfort and disappointment of false and erroneous information contained in Ki-moon's report.

Also, the Sudanese deputy ambassador to the UN, Hassan Hamid Hassan, on Wednesday accused the UN secretary-general and the UN peacekeeping department of seeking to provide a distorted picture about the security situation in Darfur. He criticized the assistant secretary-general for peacekeeping operations for attributing the recent displacement of civilians, which is caused by the tribal clashes, to the government military campaign on rebel groups.

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)

By Eric Reeves

This morning (June 15, 2015) Omer al-Bashir, President of Sudan, was allowed to leave South Africa despite a pending arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court charging him with multiple counts of genocide and massive crimes against humanity. Since South Africa is a party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC, the government of South Africa was legally obliged to surrender al-Bashir to the Court's jurisdiction. That agents of the government failed to do so not only violated South Africa's international legal commitments, but its own constitution: the government's decision to allow al-Bashir to fly back to Khartoum defied a court order that would have obliged a legal review of South Africa's treaty obligations in light of al-Bashir's presence in the country. The order, following an application from the Southern Africa Legal Centre, was issued specifically to prevent al-Bashir's departure before a judicial review of the applicant's arguments (the court documents may be found here).

Many around the world—including many who stood by South Africa and the African National Congress of Nelson Mandela during the dark days of apartheid—are shocked and dismayed at the decision by the ANC, as the governing party, to side with an indicted génocidaire over the fully justified claims of international justice. This disgraces Mandela's legacy, reveals the ANC and President Jacob Zuma in particular as falling further into the pit of political corruption and disregard for the rule of law, and tarnishes South Africa's international standing. It should be noted as well that there was strong opposition to al-Bashir's presence in South Africa, coming from many of the country's human rights and civil society organizations, as well as journalists and academics.

This shameful episode also brings into high relief the character of the African Union, whose summit al-Bashir was attending. Over the past thirteen years, an organization nominally representing an effort to do away with the corruption and political high-handedness that defined the old Organization of African Unity has largely reincarnated those very failings. It is little more than another “old boys” dictators' club, with Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe as its all too representative president. As many in Africa and outside the continent have observed, the African Union seems much more interested in furthering various political interests (including self-preservation) than human rights and the concerns of ordinary citizens of the 54 countries that make up the AU.

The AU leadership, specifically the African Union Peace and Security Council, has actively encouraged contempt for the ICC, and has declared that ICC jurisdiction does not apply to African countries, even those that have signed the Rome Treaty. There are efforts within the AUPSC to have all African countries withdraw from the Rome Treaty en masse. This increasingly hostile attitude is the primary reason Sudan's president has been able to travel so widely internationally in African countries, several Arab countries, and other countries as well (e.g., China, Iran). Most of those to which al-Bashir has traveled are not party to the Rome Statute, although some—Kenya and South Africa, for example—are.

Understanding this, the South African government reportedly offered al-Bashir “back-door” immunity from ICC arrest, promising him behind the scenes that he would not be seized while in South Africa. Evidently not much thought was given to the prospect of having to engage in unconstitutional acts, including defying the country's judiciary, in order to make good on this promise. But we may also be certain that the leadership of the Africa Union knew full well what was going on behind the scenes, and saw no problem in encouraging any illegal activity that might occur. The AU leadership's growing contempt for the ICC as an institution has become de facto “African policy.”

Such open flouting of constitutional obligations by the ANC government is a terribly destructive consequence of the decision not to arrest al-Bashir. Moreover, we must consider that this destructiveness was understood in advance, and accepted as the price to pay for hosting the 25th African Union summit. Pushback from the court system was immediate, but as of this writing al-Bashir has already landed in Khartoum amidst quickly orchestrated pomp and celebration.

The “Independent On Line” (June 15, 2015, South Africa) gives us a sense of the crisis created by the ANC-led government:

The High Court in Pretoria has demanded an explanation as to why Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir was allowed to leave South Africa on Monday, despite an interim court order barring him from doing so. “We request an affidavit to be filed with the registrar of this court within seven days, disclosing the time when he left, the port of entry or exit that he used,” Judge President Dunstan Mlambo told the government's legal counsel, advocate William Mokhari. “It is of concern to this court that it issues orders and then things just happen in violation of those orders. Be that as it may, that is an order we issue under the circumstances.”

It is difficult to estimate the damage done to the South Africa's traditional respect for the rule of law and the ICC itself with this egregious breech of treaty obligations. Certainly the government of South Africa knew that is was creating problems for itself. Indeed, in a last-ditch and desperate effort to insulate itself from those obligations,

on Friday the South African government … asked the ICC for an exemption from its obligation, on the grounds that Bashir enjoyed immunity from prosecution as he was attending an AU summit, and was therefore in the country as a guest of the AU and not South Africa.

But turned down by the ICC, the ANC—the ruling party in the South African government—wanted it both ways: the ANC National Executive Committee declared yesterday (Sunday, June 14) that the ICC was “no longer useful for the purposes for which it was intended,” and that this justified their refusal to honor treaty obligations. “Ask for an exemption—but don't take no for an answer,” seems to have been the governing thinking.

What would the ANC and the AU put in place of the ICC by way of addressing the need to bring to justice those who commit large-scale atrocity crimes? We got a clear answer last year, at a July 2014 meeting of the AU:

A Pan-African court set up to prosecute the continent's worst criminals will not be allowed to try sitting heads of state or their cronies after they voted to give themselves immunity. The continent's leaders agreed [to] their [own] exemption at a closed-door session of an African Union meeting, and then tried to bury the decision in an obscure paragraph of the post-summit communiqué. The decision was a “backward step in the fight against impunity and a betrayal of victims of serious violations of human rights,” said a spokesman for Amnesty International. More than 40 activist organisations had opposed the move. (New Zealand Herald, 3 July 2014)

So much for the birth of the “African Court for Justice and Human Rights.
?"?

There is an ongoing debate about the merits of retributive, as opposed to “restorative,” justice. The arguments for restorative justice are not simple, and often reflect both pragmatic attitudes about ending violence and traditional methods of achieving justice through reconciliation of victim and victimizer. But the argument seems wholly inappropriate when speaking about someone like Omar al-Bashir, who is of course protected under the new “African Court for Justice and Human Rights.” Here is a man who has presided for 25 years over a regime that has engaged in serial genocide: in the Nuba Mountains in the 1990s, in South Sudan at various points in the long civil war (1983 – 2005), and now again in Darfur (for the past twelve years) and South Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

There is no imaginable “restorative” justice that is appropriate for dealing with the massive crimes committed by the tyrannical al-Bashir regime. He has been president of Sudan since the military coup that brought the National Islamic Front (later the National Congress Party) regime to power. Millions of lives have been lost in greater Sudan since the NIF/NCP seized control of all military and political power in Sudan; many millions have been displaced, perhaps 10 million civilians altogether; and the country of Sudan has endured a perpetual struggle between the poor, terribly marginalized regions and the center that is Khartoum and riverine Sudan.

If after twenty-five years of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide retributive justice is not called for, then it never will be. But it is irresponsible fantasy to believe that ruthless dictators and military leaders in Africa, if they feel they are insulated from prosecution, will not see this as a license to kill and engage in the most ruthless schemes of self-enrichment. The evidence for this is simply overwhelming, whether we look to Sudan, Chad, DRC and its neighbors, Eritrea, Libya, Zimbabwe, along with many others.

South Africa's refusal to arrest al-Bashir has moved the continent a step further toward accepting this dangerous fantasy, a fantasy that continues to be assiduously cultivated by the African Union Peace and Security Council for selfish, not principled reasons. This development is inevitably destructive of the ambitions for justice on the part of the ICC, currently led by an African woman, Gambian jurist Fatou Bensouda.

The disgrace, and consequences, of the unconstitutional and treaty-abrogating decision by the ANC government of South Africa will not soon dissipate.

Eric Reeves, a professor at Smith College, has published extensively on Sudan, nationally and internationally, for the past sixteen years. He is author of Compromising with Evil: An archival history of greater Sudan, 2007 – 2012 (September 2012)

This year's International Naval Helicopter conference will see input from a wide range of European and global maritime rotary commanders, many of whom are overseeing the introduction and integration of new aircraft into their services. We spoke with Captain Thorsten Bobzin of Germa

Since 2011, Boeing has been undertaking work to develop a way to modify its air-launched GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) into a ground-launched artillery rocket. As an entirely company-funded project, the initiative was designed to provide a new capability for land forces by enabling

This year’s Offshore Patrol Vessels event will bring together nations and services from across the world to discuss the latest operational challenges, equipment innovations and regional developments. This interactive map reveals the key active procurement and acquisition programm

By Luk Kuth Dak

See Kiir speaking on the national television in his native language. Watch him clutching arms and kissing the hands of the Ugandan's dictator, Yoweri Museveni, the very hands that are filled with the blood of our beloved leader, Dr. John Garang de Mabior. Witness him says one thing and does the exact opposite.

The debate over Salva Kiir's responsibility in turning the country into a morgue is never-ending. Certainly, there is something drastically wrong about Salva Kiir Mayardit. And it's not the virtual lack of formal education. For example: my father, the late Kuth Dak Mut didn't go to school. But he was armed with a natural Ph.D. in wisdom, vision and common sense. He was an outstanding Judge and a beloved community leader, whose advice on matters life and death was in high demand.

Salva Kiir's problem is: ignorance, arrogance incompetence, character and judgement issues, among other components that clearly aren't presidential. Therefore, no one should ever be taken by surprise as to why he had established one of the most corrupt state the world has ever seen.

We know how difficult it can be to govern, but it takes an honest person who really is willing to serve all of the people, not just a few- with dignity, integrity and respect. In the words of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., " If you want to be important, that's wonderful. If you want to be great, that's wonderful. But recognize that he who is the greatest among us shall be your servant." Meaning that everybody can be great because everybody can serve. Everybody has the power of greatness because greatness is determined by service.

By contrast, we have a president in South Sudan who has devoted his regime to destroy the nation, committing a massacre against innocent Nuer civilians, and he is increasingly becoming a detour to the nation's health and reconciliation. Today, under this totalitarian dictator, South Sudan is not a country, but a tribally segregated societies. Now, here looms a question: do we really want to continue going through this crooked road, or do we need a straight path that will bring anybody and everybody along?

The danger of following Kiir's path couldn't be clearer. Today, South Sudanese do not live under the same rules. There is one tribe that's controlling the nation in every aspect imaginable. the eventuality is that, all those who are left out will inevitably hit the breaking point, and their voices are only going to get louder and louder each and everyday Kiir continues to be at the helm. More so, it will likely result in the split of the country on tribal lines, something that will not be good for everyone. So, South Sudanese who care about the future of the country have their work cut out for them. They must- in a hurry- make a choice about what they want the country to be be like in the future!! Do you want a country only for one tribe, or a country for all?

In our view, inclusiveness is a necessary ingredient for a truly successful and sustainable country that we can all be proud of, again.

Luk Kuth Dak is an independent columnist. He is reachable at lukedak@hotmail.com