SUDAN NEWS ALERT: New York Times – Sudan to Investigate Darfur Atrocities Under Ousted Leader,

22/12/2019: New York Times – Sudan to Investigate Darfur Atrocities Under Ousted Leader, by Abdi Latif Dahir

The New York Times reports that Sudan has launched investigations into the “long, bloody suppression” of Darfur under the government of Omar al-Bashir.

Dahir notes that delivering justice “may prove easier said than done,” citing the prominent government positions held by al-Bashir’s “most trusted confidants.”

Arnold Tsunga, director of the Africa regional program of the International Commission of Jurists, called for the transition government to demonstrate that the transition “will not obscure past crimes and will take into account the demands of all populations in the different regions of the country.”

Amir Suliman, a Sudanese human rights lawyer and co-founder of the nonprofit African Center for Justice and Peace Studies, said that justice for Darfuri victims is contingent upon al-Bashir facing trial at the International Criminal Court, adding that “forgotten and abandoned” Darfuri refugees in eastern Chad still suffered physical and psychological consequences from the war.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Independent – ‘It’s our biggest employer’: How a lucrative war in Yemen fuels conflict in Darfur 2,000km away

22/12/2019: Independent – ‘It’s our biggest employer’: How a lucrative war in Yemen fuels conflict in Darfur 2,000km away, by Bel Trew

Sudanese Rapid Support Forces soldiers who fought in Yemen said that the war is the only way out of poverty for those in Darfur.

While Sudanese minimum wage is $190 a month, RSF soldiers can earn £17,000 for six-months in Yemen, with officers making double. Child soldiers can also make around £8,000.

Consequently, even those resentful of the RSF for alleged crimes committed against their communities are desperate to enlist, as reflected in recruitment centres receiving 10 times the number of applications relative to available places, RSF middlemen have emerged, charging £1,400 to speed up applications, but the RSF allegedly prefers enlisting Arab tribesmen, fuelling tensions in Darfur.

Ismail Kharif, an internally displaced person, expressed concern that RSF are returning from Yemen “better equipped, trained and financed, ready to kill our people.”

The malaria and dengue fever outbreaks in North Darfur have been attributed to soldiers returning from Yemen.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Mediation urges Sudan, SPLM-N Hilu to overcome the religion-and-state issue

22/12/2019: Sudan Tribune - Mediation urges Sudan, SPLM-N Hilu to overcome the religion-and-state issue

Sudan Tribune reports that the South Sudanese mediation team gave the Sudanese transitional government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (al-Hilu faction) 24 hours to overcome their differences on the issue of secularism, and agree on a declaration of principles for peace in the Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.

The SPLM-N al-Hilu faction threatens to fight for self-determination unless Sudan separates religion from politics.

Justice Minister Nasr al-Din Abdel-Bari attributed the differences to each party having a different vision on the intersection of religion, the state and legislation.