SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Radio Dabanga - 70 Years later: Sudan’s ongoing peace dilemma

18/8/2020: Radio Dabanga - 70 Years later: Sudan’s ongoing peace dilemma, by Yasir Zaidan

 Yasir Zaidan, a politics academic specialising in the Horn of Africa argues that the Juba peace process will not secure peace without a “paradigm shift that envisions the peace process as a nation-building project.”

 Zaidan suggests the Juba peace process is “making the same historical mistakes that various Sudanese regimes and armed groups committed in the past” in their failure to address the root causes of conflict, such as uneven development.

 Drawing parallels between Juba and with the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement that which led to South Sudan’s secession, Zaidan wrote that both “exclude the majority of Sudanese people” by enabling armed groups to represent the conflict areas.

 Zaidan also argues that the new regional negotiation tracks in areas with no history of post-independence conflict “transformed the Juba peace process into a political market place to satisfy by power seeking elites”.

[TRANSLATED] SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Al-Tayyar - Why does Port Sudan seek assistance from others?

18/8/2020: Al-Tayyar - Why does Port Sudan seek assistance from others?, by Al-Noor Hamad

 Al-Noor Hamad warns that the tensions in Port Sudan will re-erupt, questioning the security apparatus response to the violence, with the dispatch of armed forces and Rapid Support Forces to Port Sudan said to be “nothing but a public relations campaign”

 Hamad asks “where is the National Intelligence and Security Service?,” questioning the reason for its presence if it was “unable to penetrate the population, gather information and submit daily reports to the ruling authorities, to be on standby before the violence erupted.”

[TRANSLATED] SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Al-Tayyar - There must be accountability for events in Port Sudan

18/8/2020: Al-Tayyar - There must be accountability for events in Port Sudan, by Shama'il al-Noor

 Shama’il al-Noor calls for Sudan’s transitional government to hold accountable those who instigated the Port Sudan clashes, arguing that previous attempts at reconciliation offered “faint conciliatory tones” the encourage further feuding.

 TO challenge the “lax law towards the grave crimes committed”, al-Noor calls for serious legal enforcement that does not spare tribal components.

 Suggesting that conferences and reconciliation documents are signed at the expense of justice, al-Noor concludes that the government should “lay down the groundwork of the rule of law, beginning with the periphery.”

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Reuters - Sudan opposition coalition appoints five civilian members of sovereign council

18/8/19: Reuters - Sudan opposition coalition appoints five civilian members of sovereign council

 Sources from Sudan’s main opposition coalition, the Forces of Freedom and Change (FFC), told Reuters that five people have been named as civilian members of the country’s sovereign council to be sworn in.

 The FFC chose Aisha Mousa, Siddig Tower, Mohamed Elfaki Suleiman, Hassan Sheikh Idris and Taha Othman Ishaq, the coalition source said.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: AP - At least 46 killed by heavy rainfall in Sudan

18/8/19: AP - At least 46 killed by heavy rainfall in Sudan

 AP reports that Sudan’s acting deputy health minister Suliman Abdel-Gabar says  flooding triggered by heavy rains has killed at least 46 people in the past two months and destroyed thousands of houses across the country.

 Abdel-Gabar also said around 100 have been injured since June 14.

 The rainfall has affected 16 of Sudan’s 18 provinces and inundated at least 14,500 houses, about two-thirds of which totally collapsed, Abdel-Gabar said.

 An estimated 16,000 families were impacted, and more than 3,100 cattle died as large swathes of agricultural land flooded, he added.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Multiple sources – Omar Al Bashir due in court for corruption trial, anger that he will not face more serious charges

18/8/19: Multiple sources – Omar Al Bashir due in court for corruption trial, anger that he will not face more serious charges

• Telegraph

• AFP

• Guardian, by Jason Burke and Zeinab Mohammed Salih

 Sudan's deposed military leader Omar al-Bashir arrived in a Khartoum court on Monday (Aug 19) for the start of his trial on corruption charges.

 The Guardian notes the anger that al-Bashir will not face more serious charges.

 Amany Abduljalel, a 21-year-old university student who lost an eye at an anti-Bashir protest, told the Guardian: “it’s not going to be the justice we want…he’s not going to be forced to account…Nobody who lost part of their body [or a loved one] will get it back.”

 Mohamed el-Hassan el-Amin told the Guardian that the worst punishment Bashir would face was a fine.

 Abdullah Galley, member of the Democratic Coalition for Lawyers, said that charges for more serious offences will come when a civilian government is formed: “other big members of his regime will all face these charges, we are just waiting for a proper justice minister and a new attorney general.”