Constitutional declaration follows the arrest of nine paramilitaries for killing four schoolchildren
Sudan’s ruling generals and protest leaders have reached an agreement to usher in a new period of transitional government, the African Union said.
The agreement came after prolonged negotiations between Sudan’s ruling military council and the Alliance for Freedom and Change, which has been leading the protest movement across Sudan for months.
Continue reading...Rapid Support Forces opened fire on peaceful protest against shortages in El-Obaid
At least four students were killed when security forces opened fire on a protest in central Sudan on Monday. The oldest was 16, the youngest 14, locals said. The death toll is expected to rise.
Witnesses described how militia from the feared Rapid Support Forces (RSF) fired on teenagers, many of whom were wearing school uniforms and carrying school bags, as they marched peacefully in protest at shortages of water, electricity and public transport in El-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state. There were also reports of at least one adult casualty.
Continue reading...Sudan's ruling military and the pro-democracy movement signed a political document on Wednesday which is part of a power-sharing deal meant to end the country's deadlock after weeks of stalled talks. The signing comes after months of street protests and violence after the military ousted the dictator Omar al-Bashir
Continue reading...Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe wrongly arrested based on tipoffs from NCA and GCHQ
The acquittal of Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe by an Italian court of being a human trafficking kingpin is a major embarrassment for Britain’s National Crime Agency and the GCHQ intelligence service.
Berhe’s arrest in 2016 was trumpeted as a major coup in the battle against international people-smuggling, but unbeknown to them at the time, the Italian and British authorities had mistaken the Eritrean for one of the world’s most-wanted human traffickers, Medhanie Yehdego Mered, aka the General.
Continue reading...Judge acquits Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe of being a human trafficking kingpin
A Palermo judge has acquitted an Eritrean man of being a human trafficking kingpin, confirming he was the victim of mistaken identity when he was arrested more than three years ago in a joint operation between Italian and British authorities.
The arrest of Medhanie Tesfamariam Berhe in 2016 was presented to the press as a brilliant coup by Italian and British authorities, who mistook him for one of the world’s most-wanted human traffickers, Medhanie Yehdego Mered, aka the General.
Continue reading...Top general says plotters were trying to disrupt recent truce between army and protesters
Sudan’s ruling military council has foiled a coup attempt, a top general has announced on state television, saying that 12 officers and four soldiers have been arrested.
The announcement late on Thursday closely followed the ruling military and civilian protesters agreeing to end a political impasse, after the army ousted longtime ruler Omar al-Bashir in April on the back of a popular uprising.
Continue reading...Security forces block roads and fire teargas in Khartoum in first protests since army crackdown
Seven people have died and nearly 200 have been wounded during huge demonstrations in Sudan, the first large-scale protests since a crackdown on a camp early in June left at least 128 people dead.
Tens of thousands took part in protests across the country. In Khartoum, the capital, protesters demanded that the ruling transitional military council (TMC) hand over power to civilians, as security forces fired teargas at them.
Continue reading...Study identifies DRC, India and South Sudan among countries where women are at greatest risk of attack
Sexual violence is on the increase both inside and outside of wartime contexts and women remain the primary victims, warns new research.
In their report, researchers from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (Acled) analysed data gathered from 400 recorded sexual violence events that occurred between January 2018 and June 2019.
Continue reading...Abdul Aziz Muhamat delivers a plea for urgent action to the Human Rights Council
Since Abdul Aziz Muhamat left Manus Island for the last time, he has climbed a mountain in his new home of Switzerland, and then returned to advocating for the resettlement of the hundreds of men and women he left behind.
The Sudanese refugee spent more than six years in Australia’s offshore processing and detention system in Papua New Guinea, before he was granted residency in the European nation earlier this month.
Continue reading...Survey of 25,000 people in Middle East and North Africa also shows 52% of 18- to 29-year-olds are thinking about migrating
The Arab world is turning its back on religion and on US relations, according to the largest public opinion survey ever carried out in the region.
A survey of more than 25,000 people across 10 countries and the Palestinian territories found that trust in religious leaders has plummeted in recent years.
Continue reading...Truth or consequences, a parlour game in which players are penalised for dishonesty or wrongdoing, is mostly fun – but it also reflects a broad moral consensus about the unacceptability of lying. This long-held belief is deeply rooted in popular culture. Truth or Consequences was the title of a postwar American TV quiz show whose success was so great that a New Mexico town was named after it. Put simply, and as a general rule, most people expect that if you tell whoppers, you get punished.
Why, then, do so many modern leaders seem to think they can lie and get away with it? A propensity to deny, dodge or disown the consequences of political actions is spreading globally like a toxic virus. There was a time, as David Miliband, the former foreign secretary, argues in this year’s Fulbright Lecture, when public accountability was on the rise. Not any more. In what he calls the age of impunity, “those engaged in conflicts around the world believe they can get away with anything, including murder”.
Continue reading...Group of 75 people survive prolonged ordeal but could now be made to leave Tunisia
A group of migrants who spent nearly three weeks trapped onboard a merchant ship in torrid conditions face possible deportation to their home countries after they were finally allowed to disembark in Tunisia, aid groups have warned.
The 75 migrants, about half of whom are minors or unaccompanied children, were rescued on 31 May by the Maridive 601 only to spend the next 20 days at sea as European authorities refused to let them land.
Continue reading...State department experts recommended addition of Riyadh after assessing it had hired child fighters from Sudan to fight in Yemen
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, has blocked the inclusion of Saudi Arabia on a list of countries that recruit child soldiers, dismissing his experts’ findings that a Saudi-led coalition has been using underage fighters in Yemen’s civil war, according to four people familiar with the matter.
The decision, which came after a fierce internal debate, could prompt new accusations by human rights advocates and some lawmakers that the Trump administration is prioritizing security and economic interests in relations with Saudi Arabia, a major US ally and arms customer.
Continue reading...Ex-president is taken out of prison to the office of the anti-corruption prosecutor
Sudan’s former president Omar al-Bashir has appeared in public for the first time since he was overthrown, as he was taken out of prison to the office of the anti-corruption prosecutor.
Bashir, wearing traditional white robes and turban, was driven to the prosecutor’s office in Khartoum on Sunday, a Reuters witness said.
Continue reading...Hospitals in Khartoum record more than 70 cases of rape in aftermath of attack on protest
Doctors believe paramilitaries carried out more than 70 rapes during an attack on a protest camp in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, a week ago.
More than 100 people were killed and as many as 700 injured in the attack last Monday on a sit-in and clashes afterwards, as paramilitaries from the Rapid Support Forces spread through the city to quell sporadic unrest.
Continue reading...Shutdown called in protest against bloody crackdown on protesters last week
Millions of people in Sudan have joined a general strike called by pro-reform groups, shutting down the centre of cities across the country despite a wave of arrests and intimidation.
The massive shutdown was called to take place on Sunday, the first day of the working week, and is aimed at relaunching an opposition movement battered by a brutal crackdown and forcing the country’s new military leaders to resign.
Continue reading...Arrests of white-collar workers to discourage protest follow assault by regime’s paramilitaries
The military regime in Sudan has launched a new wave of arrests and violent intimidation in an effort to undermine opposition plans for a widespread campaign of civil disobedience.
Pro-reform groups have warned of a “frenzied campaign launched by the military junta to arrest political activists and revolutionaries” this weekend ahead of a general strike set to start on Sunday.
Continue reading...Instability across central Africa has resulted in a humanitarian crisis. There needs to be greater focus on conflict resolution
Cameroon, a central African state of 24 million people on the Gulf of Guinea, is rarely in the news – which is surprising, given the awful things happening there. In a warring world full of conflict, the country’s troubles barely rate a mention. That’s short-sighted. As Yemen shows, today’s local difficulties have a habit of becoming tomorrow’s international crises.
Long-running tensions between Cameroon’s French and English-speaking communities came to a head last week with the arrest of at least 350 members of the main opposition party, whose leader has been jailed since January. Human Rights Watch accused security forces of using “excessive and indiscriminate force”.
Continue reading...The African Union has suspended Sudan amid reports more than 100 people were killed when security forces raided pro-democracy camps. The sound of gunfire can be heard in footage filmed during a raid by Sudanese security forces on a peaceful Khartoum protest. More than 40 bodies were pulled from the Nile, medical groups associated with the demonstrators have said. Internet access has been cut, restricting protesters from communicating and sharing video evidence of the incident. There are growing fears that splits among the ruling military regime could lead to civil war
Washington takes unusual step of calling on kingdom to bring about end to military crackdown
The thorny question of Saudi Arabian political influence across the Middle East and Africa is back in the spotlight again with Washington taking the unusual step of effectively telling Riyadh to end Sudan’s military crackdown.
In an unusual public statement the US state department revealed that its undersecretary for political affairs, the diplomat David Hale, had phoned the Saudi deputy defence minister, Khaled bin Salman, to ask him to use the country’s influence to end the brutal repression against peaceful protesters by the Sudanese Transitional Military Council (TMC) in Sudan.
Continue reading...