Following the independence of South Sudan, Insight on Conflict will be producing a weekly round-up of the news. To subscribe to receive the updates via email, please contact joel@insightonconflict.org or complete the form below.
News roundup
- At least 128 people have been killed in armed violence in South Sudan last week. In Jonglei, the state governor believes over 500 people have been killed in cattle raids and clashes between the Murle and Lou Nuer tribes. The UN has confirmed 58 deaths. 10 people are thought killed in tribal clashes in Warrap state. In Upper Nile state 60 people were killed during a confrontation between the SPLA and rebel groups.
- A UN report on the violence in South Kordofan has called for an investigation into possible war crimes. The report alleges the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) carried out indiscriminate bombing campaigns killing civilians and committed extrajudicial killings of prisoners they believed were SPLM members. North Sudan has called the report “biased”. The government has invited six UN agencies to visit South Kordofan and “assess the humanitarian needs”.
- The Satellite Sentinel Project says it has new evidence of mass graves in South Kordofan.
- South Sudan has offered to send troops to Somalia to strengthen the African Union force.
- South Sudanese President, Salva Kiir, has fired the governor of the central bank and the Supreme Court. No reasons for the decisions were given.
- The US has kept Sudan on its list of state-sponsors of terrorism.
News in detail
South Sudan
BBC: South Sudan offers Somalia African Union troops 15 Aug: South Sudan has offered to send African Union troops to Somalia to back the weak interim government. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14534875
Bloomberg: South Sudan’s President Kiir Fires Heads of Central Bank, Supreme Court 17 Aug: South Sudanese President Salva Kiir fired the head of the Supreme Court and the governor of the central bank, a month after the nation gained independence. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-17/South-sudan-s-president-kiir-fires-heads-of-central-bank-supreme-court.html
Sudan Tribune: Clashes in Warrap leave 10 dead, SPLA intervenes 17 Aug: At least 10 people have been killed and several others are reported to have sustained severe injuries in a clash involving two ethnic groups in Tonj East county, Warrap state. http://www.sudantribune.com/Clashes-in-Warrap-leave-10-dead,39875
Sudan Tribune: South Sudan army accuses Khartoum of backing fighting in Upper Nile 20 Aug: The South Sudan army on Saturday accused Khartoum of involvement in clashes where 60 fighters have been killed in a confrontation involving the South’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and armed rebel groups, in Upper Nile state. http://www.sudantribune.com/South-Sudan-army-accuses-Khartoum,39893
BBC: South Sudan attacks 'leave 500 dead' 20 Aug: At least 500 people have been killed in ethnic clashes in the eastern state of Jonglei, according to the South Sudanese authorities. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14595368
NY Times: Tribal Clashes Raise Fears of Instability in South Sudan 21 Aug: Tribal clashes in a region of newly independent South Sudan have killed at least 58 people in the past week, the United Nations says, raising fears of ethnic instability in the deeply impoverished country. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/22/world/africa/22sudan.html
International
AFP: US keeps Iran, Syria, Sudan, Cuba on terror blacklist 18 Aug: The United States retained Iran and its ally Syria as well as Sudan and Cuba on a list of alleged state sponsors of terrorism Thursday, after blacklisting the countries the previous year. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gmt-Jh6nWNoCr_OprFbFL4BXNllA?docId=CNG.4a32e73d06c0936d1f612feda972b621.491
South Kordofan
AP: UN urges probe into alleged Sudan war crimes 15 Aug: The United Nations called Monday for a thorough probe into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Sudan's South Kordofan region between June 5-30, shortly before the nation formally separated into two countries. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gXK_HorqXTKcIrkaA8CI7rYN6Zig?docId=f1c16b5a9bcd4dabaf6368247d57906f
AFP: US says Sudan must open up conflict state 16 Aug: The United States urged Sudan on Tuesday to grant international access to strife-torn South Kordofan after the United Nations reported extrajudicial killings and disappearances. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hCzeRWPuuGdBGraq9PjhwpGcx7sw?docId=CNG.3d22b01370fecf73a221d556297b13b9.d91
AFP: UN report on South Kordofan 'biased', says Sudan 16 Aug: Sudan on Tuesday said a UN report claiming possible "war crimes" in the state of South Kordofan was "biased". http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hDevIS7c2qTHSIBfBv_mXhnb0-Aw?docId=CNG.1017c21fe528b374d362951393c074cf.421
Sudan Tribune: Sudan submits rebuttal to UN Security Council over S. Kordofan abuses 18 Aug: Sudan has submitted a rebuttal to the United Nations detailing its objections to a human rights report, which alleges that war crimes and crimes against humanity may have been carried out in South Kordofan, a key oil state bordering newly independent South Sudan. http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-submits-rebuttal-to-UN,39879
Al Jazeera: 'New evidence' of mass graves in Sudan 19 Aug: Rights group calls for investigation into three mass graves found in Sudan's South Kordofan region. http://english.aljazeera.net/video/africa/2011/08/20118192051490438.html
Sudan Tribune: JEM slams move to prosecute SPLM-N’s sec-gen 19 Aug: A rebel group from Sudan’s western region of Darfur has denounced the legal proceedings being instigated by the government against the secretary-general of the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-Northern Sector (SPLM-N) Yasir Arman on the grounds of his alleged visit to Israel. http://www.sudantribune.com/JEM-slams-move-to-prosecute-SPLM-N,39882
Reuters: Sudan says UN agencies get access to conflict area 19 Aug: Six U.N. agencies will join a government-organised mission to Sudan's conflict-ridden Southern Kordofan region to assess the humanitarian needs, Sudan's U.N. envoy said on Friday. http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFN1E77I18620110819?sp=true
Sudan Tribune: 4,000 S. Kordofan displaced arrive in South Sudan 21 Aug: An estimated 4,000 refugees from Sudan’s South Kordofan state have arrived in South Sudan’s Unity State, according to the UN as fighting between Sudan’s military and the opposition group the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) enters its eleventh week. http://www.sudantribune.com/4-000-S-Kordofan-displaced-arrive,39903
North Sudan
Sudan Tribune: Sudan’s ruling party hints at agreeing to early elections 17 Aug: Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) have given the first sign that it might be willing to agree to early elections marking a stark shift in the position of the country’s dominant party. http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-s-ruling-party-hints-at,39870
Darfur
Sudan Tribune: Sudan rejects US initiative on Darfur 19 Aug: The Sudanese presidential assistant, Nafie Ali Nafie, has said his country’s rejects any attempt by the United States to broker a peace deal between the government and Darfur rebel group Justice and Equality Movement (JEM). http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-rejects-US-initiative-on,39892
