This Week in South Sudan – Week 4

Tuesday 20 January

  • According to the SPLM/A, its forces are still fighting the SPLM/A (IO) in Lakes state. 
  • At least 11 civilians were killed and three wounded in an attack on Kworijik near Juba in Central Equatoria State. The attack was allegedly carried out by neighboring Mundari raiders.

Wednesday 21 January

Thursday 22 January

Friday 23 January

  • Joint statement by the Troika countries, the United States, the United Kingdom and Norway, on South Sudan’s peace negotiations.
  • Government forces reportedly abandoned their defence positions following sustained clashes with the SPLM/A (IO) in Unity state.

Saturday 24 January

  • A meeting of the Joint Security Mechanism (JSM) between Sudan and South Sudan kicked off Wednesday 21 January in Khartoum.
  • A senior official in the ministry of information, Khamis Abdel-Latif Kachuol, defected from president Salva Kiir’s government and joined the SPLM/A (IO).

Sunday 25 January

This Week in South Sudan – Week 3

Tuesday 13 January 

Wednesday 14 January

Thursday 15 January

  • Timeline: African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan.

Friday 16 January

Saturday 17 January

Sunday 18 January

Monday 19 January

 

 

 

This Week in South Sudan – Week 2

Tuesday 6 January   

  • South Sudan’s minority leader in parliament, Onyoti Adigo Nyikwak spoke out against the planned elections in June, saying it would enflame tensions and further divide the country.
  • China pledged $33 million to improve South Sudan health care, the majority of the funds will be used to modernize the Juba Teaching Hospital.
  • Government forces tested their newly acquired weapons, including a number of APCs (Armored Personnel Carriers/tanks), in Warkok, Jonglei.

Wednesday 7 January

Thursday 8 January

Friday 9 January

Monday 12 January

  • The caretaker governor of Lakes state, Maj. Gen. Matur Chut Dhuol, survived an ambush after gunmen attacked his convoy.

 

 

This Week in South Sudan 23-28 Dec. & Week 1

Dec 23-28th

  • Opinion piece in Radio Tamazuj by PRIO Global Fellow Luka Biong Deng: South Sudan: Who to arrest, detain, search and seize?
  • US President, Barack Obama, announced on Dec 23rd that South Sudan will be dropped from the AGOA trade benefit program with US markets as of Jan 1st 2015.
  • China’s UN Peacekeeping troop deployment to South Sudan in January was announced on Dec 23rd, the same day as the state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation proclaimed a new deal with the South Sudan government.
  • Uganda’s president, Yoweri Museveni, said on Dec. 26th he would pull troops out of South Sudan only if regional forces secured its capital Juba from rebel attack.
  • According to Lake state authorities on Dec 27th, at least 53 people were killed and many others wounded in inter-clan clashes in Lakes state’s Rumbek East county.

 

Week 1

Monday 29 December

Tuesday 30 December          

Wednesday 31 December

  • A bombing in Raja County, in Western Bahr al Ghazal state resulted in at least 16 injured and an unconfirmed number of dead. The state government accused the Sudanese government of carrying out the attack.

Thursday 1 January

  • South Sudan will hold general elections between May and July according to the president’s press secretary, Ateny Wek Ateny.

Friday 2 January

  • Representative from UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report that tensions are rising and food supplies threatened, as displaced and armed pastoralists migrate onto lands occupied by farming communities, and millions of cattle are displaced.

Saturday 3 January

  • South Sudan’s oil revenues were $3.38 bln. in 2014, which have been significantly lowered  due to the conflict and reduced international prices.

Sunday 4 January

  • According to a rebel spokesperson, at least six civilians died in clashes between government forces and the SPLA-IO near Bentiu, Unity state.
  • SPLM-IO leader Riek Machar, appointed senior military commanders to lead the rebel forces in different parts of South Sudan.
  • Sudan’s National Election Commission (NEC) announced terms and procedures for nomination for the presidency and national proportional representation constituencies in the upcoming national elections.

Monday 5 January

  • Clashes erupt between government forces and SPLA-IO at Unity oilfield north of Bentiu.
  • South Sudanese officials declined to explain a $33 million contract discrepancy between the Ministry of Information and the Chinese telecommunications company ZTE.

 

This Week in South Sudan – 15-22 Dec.

Monday 15 December

Tuesday 16 December          

  • At least 19 people were confirmed dead and 25 people wounded during inter-clan revenge clashes in Lakes state, Cueibet County.
  • According to a new IGAD report, the SPLA Juba violated the cessation of hostilities agreement twice over the past month.

Wednesday 17 December

Thursday 18 December

  • A spokesperson for the SPLM-IO refuted earlier statements by SPLM-IO military spokesman, Lul Ruai’s claiming responsibility for attacking a trade convoy on Nimule-Juba road.
  • IGAD led peace talks resume in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
  • Tensions flare between the Dinka Bor in Jonglei state and the Murle of the newly created Greater Pibor Administration Area (GPAA).

Friday 19 December

  • Recent report by the Human Rights division of UNMISS says civilians were targeted and serious human rights abuses were committed by the SPLM-IO during an attack on Bentiu, Unity state, in October.

Saturday 20 December

  • South Sudan President Salva Kiir, sent the disputed National Security Bill back to Parliament for further deliberation after legal experts found irregularities in it.

Sunday 21 December

  • South Sudan economy under threat from plummeting oil prices.

Monday 22 December

  • Calm amid fear as residents of Bentiu, Unity state, tries to regain some sense of normalcy.
  • China National Petroleum Co (CNPC) has entered into an agreement with South Sudan to boost production of existing oilfields.
  • IGAD peace negotiations in Addis Ababa, restarted just last week, have been adjourned until 2015 so participants do not “spoil their Christmas season and the New Year season.”

This Week in South Sudan – Week 50

Monday 8 December

Tuesday 9 December

  • The Sudans: after the divide. South Sudan peace talks stutter, as its economy becomes casualty of war. *
  • In a recent press release, UNMISS announced it has publicly destroyed weapons confiscated from IDPs living at its civilian protection sites in Juba.
  • The push at the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on South Sudan’s warring parties has stalled due to a dispute over whether to include an arms embargo.
  • The border between Nimule, Eastern Equatoria and Uganda has reopened after being closed over the weekend, to discourage Madi residents from crossing as refugees.

Wednesday 10 December

  • In Pictures by CNN: South Sudan still at war despite independence.
  • Displaced children tell their story in South Sudan in this short New York Times Op-Doc ‘Toys of War.’

Thursday 11 December

  • The UN Security Council welcomed recent talks between the presidents of Sudan and South Sudan, and urges them both to hold a high-level security meeting as soon as possible.
  • The South Sudanese government urged Sudan to refrain from destabilizing the disputed region of Abyei, saying renewed attacks undermines the spirit of cooperation between the two countries.

Friday 12 December

  • Outbreak of “heavy” fighting between government troops and armed youth in Nassir town in Upper Nile state.

Saturday 13 December

  • Riek Machar announced the SPLM-In-Opposition’s political platform during a speech at his party’s conference in Pagak, Upper Nile earlier this week.

Sunday 14 December

  • UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, warned that the ongoing South Sudan conflict ‘jeopardizes future of entire nation’ and called on the international community to put its collective weight behind the IGAD peace process.
  • In Pictures by Al Jazeera: South Sudan’s doctor shortage in Northern Bahr el Ghazal.
  • Opposition parties in South Sudan have formed ‘The National Alliance’ and signed a joint charter describing a proposed 7-point reform programme to in response to the current crisis.

  

* Part of ‘The Sudans: after the divide’ project by the Guardian Africa network. The project is devoted to a week of coverage to Sudan and South Sudan, focusing on news and features stories from the region and showcasing local film, music and culture.

This Week in South Sudan – Week 49

Monday 1 December

  • Following a private meeting between President Salva Kiir, and prominent members of the Bahr al Ghazal Dinka, Bona Bang Dhel – a Dinka elder, claimed the proposed power-sharing deal would set a bad precedent in South Sudan.

Tuesday 2 December

  • In response to national and regional media reports, Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon made it “categorically clear” that UNMISS and the UN have no intention of making South Sudan a UN “protectorate.”

Wednesday 3 December

Thursday 4 December

Friday 5 December

  • Wall Street Journal interview with Luke Patey, author of “The New Kings of Crude: China, India, and the Global Struggle for Oil in Sudan and South Sudan”. Patey will give a seminar in Oslo at PRIO on 10 December.
  •  South Sudan Foreign Minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, visited the US recently and stated that South Sudan needs ‘help, not sanctions.’

Saturday 6 December

  • Amid heightened tensions in Nimule, Eastern Equatoria state, South Sudan troops are allegedly trying to prevent people from fleeing the area across the border to Uganda.
  • The UN, the AU and IGAD should implement targeted sanctions if fighting continues in South Sudan, according to a new report by the International Federation for Human Rights.

Sunday 7 December

  • At least 24 people were killed when local tensions flared on Saturday between rival communities in Torit county, Eastern Equatoria.

Whither UNMISS?

The recent renewal of the mandate and the six-month extension of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) warrants a broader discussion of its current state of affairs and future strategy. Not only has the political context of the mission changed significantly since the onset of war, but the nature of the operation has also been drastically altered. The present situation is unsustainable. With approximately 100 298 internally displaced people (IDPs) lingering in squalid improvised camps, the deteriorating security situation both within and outside the UNMISS compounds mocks its mandate to protect civilians.

The official duty of UNMISS  has been revised three times since hostilities broke out in December 2013, leading to a surge in the number of personnel from 7000 to 12500. Its responsibility now includes: monitoring and reporting human rights abuses, assisting in the implementation of the January 2014 cessation of hostilities agreement, facilitating the access of civilians to humanitarian aid, and, most notably, the protection of civilians (PoC) in the midst of the armed conflict. It is the latter part of the mandate that has proven thorniest in the internecine war.

The Security Council authorised UNMISS to employ “all necessary means” to protect civilians. In fact, there is a growing pressure on UNMISS to use a pointier stick. As policymakers in the West feel compelled by domestic opinion “to do something” about the situation in South Sudan, they find it convenient to pass the buck to UNMISS.

However, UNMISS personnel have yet to open fire in the course of fulfilling their duties. This is a prudent approach. The Mission is outnumbered and ill equipped for a sustained confrontation with the various South Sudanese forces. Furthermore, in the course of the current war, UNMISS’ impartiality has constantly been questioned by both parties to the conflict. Any lethal engagement with South Sudan will result in the Mission being perceived as taking sides in the conflict and the situation may then quickly spiral out of control. Such a development would endanger its future as well as all other operations by foreign organisations in the country associated with the UN.

In an unprecedented development in the history of the UN, UNMISS has turned several Mission bases into large-scale camps for displaced civilians. During the initial weeks of the war, UNMISS had a moral obligation to open its gates and welcome people fleeing for their lives, but this should have been a temporary arrangement. UNMISS has no capacity to run what are essentially semi-permanent IDP camps.

Aside from the poor living conditions resulting from high population density combined with limited access to sanitation, protection inside these camps is also largely illusory: UNMISS has been unable to curtail a rising crime rate and the proliferating inter-IDP violence. Attacks on bases in Akobo and Bor during the first months of the conflict demonstrated that UNMISS cannot withstand determined attempts by armed groups to enter the camps. Rather than the might of the UN military contingents, it has been the wide-spread perception of UNMISS bases as “untouchable” that has ensured the safety of the IDPs elsewhere.

Many IDPs wish to return to their places of origin, while others would prefer to flee to a neighbouring country. In both cases IDPs need UNMISS to escort them. Most places of origin are currently regarded as war zones and are thus deemed dangerous. In Juba UNMISS has recently encouraged IDPs to return home, but many have lost confidence in the police’ ability to protect them. To the Government of South Sudan the IDP camps are an embarrassment and it insists that it is safe for the IDPs to return home. A possible solution would be for the UNMISS to escort the IDPs out of the country, but without considerable external pressure it is unlikely that the government will accept this.

While peacekeeping is based on the premise that weak states are incapable of protecting their citizens, the international community has less to offer than many believe. Its performance in the period before December 2013 is instructive.  South Sudan was then  ridden by local violence and regional insurgencies, but the UNMIS (and later UNMISS) – operating under more favourable circumstances than today – could do little else than facilitate the transportation of South Sudanese peace delegations and report atrocities and other news back to New York.

In today’s situation, it is folly to suggest that UNMISS can do more than before. Realistically, outside interventions like UNMISS have a limited capacity to protect civilians from war-time atrocities. But at a minimum UNMISS’ could bring the IDPs who are currently under their protection to a safer and more permanent place of refuge, and most importantly, to avoid getting embroiled in the war.

 

 

Sebabatso Manoeli, PhD student, University of Oxford and Øystein H. Rolandsen, senior researcher PRIO.

This Week in South Sudan – Week 48

Monday 24 November

  • The National Assembly in South Sudan’s capital Juba did not go for recess as previously planned, but instead remains on call to be briefed on the status of the peace talks in Ethiopia.
  • Unity state authorities praised the SPLA-in-Opposition for their recent move to open humanitarian corridors in the state and allowing movement of civilians.
  • South Sudan’s government accused Sudan of violating South Sudanese airspace, calling it an act of intrusion and a “serious violation” of international law; Khartoum later denied the allegations.
  • Abyei community are determined to push ahead with a campaign that seeks global recognition of the October 2013 referendum result, in which Ngok Dinka residents voted overwhelmingly to join South Sudan.

Tuesday 25 November

  • The UN Security Council voted unanimously to extend UMMISS’ mandate in South Sudan until 30 May 2015.
  • South Sudan’s U.N. Ambassador, Francis Deng, warned the UN Security Council that imposed sanctionscould “harden positions toward confrontation rather than cooperation.”

Wednesday 26 November

Thursday 27 November

Friday 28 November

  • UNMISS declined a written request by East African IGAD peace mediators to transport commanders from the SPLM-In-Opposition to a consultative conference at Pagak, Upper Nile State.

Saturday 29 November

Sunday 30 November

  • A South Sudanese foreign ministry official denied disowning remarks of President Salva Kiir earlier in the week, in which the latter criticized former UNMISS chief, Hilde Johnson.
  • President Salva Kiir is concerned about the proposed international financial sanctions on members of his government, and has tasked seven cabinet ministers to lobby against them.

State Briefing: Lakes State

  • State Capitol: Rumbek                                                                                                                                        lakes stae
  • Approximate Population: 695,730
  • Number of IDPs sheltering in the state: 137,500

Lakes State occupies approximately 40,235 sq km within the Greater Bahr el Gazal region and is bordered by Unity, Warrap, Jonglei and Western and Central Equatoria States. The majority of Lakes’ inhabitants are from the Dinka people, but Wulu county is mainly occupied by the Jur Bel group.

Lakes state has not been at the center of the major armed hostilities between the SPLM factions, but in January SPLA forces and defectors clashed frequently in Awerial county, as the latter were fleeing to opposition areas in Panyijar in Unity State. Local violence is escalating however and the security situation has deteriorated.

The main drivers of conflict in Lakes State have historically been inter- and intra county, and cross-border disputes over claims of territory and access to water and pasturelands. Around 80% of Lakes states inhabitants are agropastoralists, and the state has been locked in a continuous cycle of cattle raiding and revenge killings since South Sudan’s independence in 2011. Prevalence of small arms coupled with poor relations between the general public and the security apparatus contributes to the increased levels of violence.During two days in May this year, 156 people from the counties of Rumbek North (Maper) and Cueibet were killed.

According to Small Arms Survey, many see the increased violence as “fuelled by a youth campaign to create insecurity and compel the president to remove caretaker Governor Matur Chut Dhuol”. He was sworn in by President Salva Kiir on January 21 2013, following a Presidential Decree which removed Lakes state’s former Governor, Chol Tong Mayay. Caretaker governor Matur Chut’s has been criticized for his authoritative use of power, human rights abuses, harsh security measures and disregard for formal procedures. Civil society activists, intellectuals, lawmakers and traditional leaders have repeatedly called for Salva Kiir to remove him; even the National Parliament recommended, in a unanimous vote, the removal of Matur Chut on August 25th 2014.

On 29 March, Lakes authorities introduced a dusk-to-dawn curfew and announced a forced civilian disarmament campaign to halt the violence. The disarmament process started in September across Lakes state, and also in neighboring Unity and Warrap states, and is expected to be completed within three months. Previous disarmament attempts have led to clashes between SPLA forces and Lakes state inhabitants, and it is reasonable to believe that some groups will continue to resist relinquishing their weapons.

The ongoing conflict in South Sudan has increased humanitarian strains on Lakes state authorities. Insecurity led to suspension of humanitarian organizations’ activities for several weeks in some areas. Medical assistance has been hampered by lack of medicines and staff. During the rainy season (May-October) humanitarian aid has been restricted by waterlogged roads. 20,000 IDPs fled from Jonglei to Lakes within the first couple of days of the conflict alone, most of them crossing the White Nile from Bor. The Mingkaman camp in Awerial county, with population close to 100.000 IDPs, hosts the majority of the IDPs in Lakes state. The living conditions in displacement sites have been dire due to flooding, and many IDPs have been forced to live in open areas. According to humanitarian actors in Lakes, IPDs are now increasingly fleeing from Awerial county to the southern part of Jonglei, due to the intercommunal insecurity.

 

Fanny Nicolaisen and Øystein H. Rolandsen