SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Rights for Peace - 20 years since the Darfur Genocide: Will Sudan’s Framework Agreement provide Justice for survivors?,

26/2/2023: Rights for Peace - 20 years since the Darfur Genocide: Will Sudan’s Framework Agreement provide Justice for survivors?, by Najlaa Ahmed and Hannah Klifa

ANALYSIS

Warning that the Framework Agreement will not provide justice for conflict victims in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan, human rights lawyer Najlaa Ahmed and Hannah Klifa identified various concerns including the:

·      Number of issues “deferred” for further discussion;

·      Lack of time frame for the Final Agreement meant to contain detailed provisions on the military, security sector, judiciary and law reform’;

·      Ambitious list of reforms that is unrealistic for a two-year transition;

·      Lack of guarantees that the Final Agreement will build on previous agreements regarding transitional justice, accountability and reparation for those who suffered gross human rights violations such as torture, conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and mass atrocity crimes. This includes the implementation of a law establishing the Transitional Justice Commission that was adopted by former prime minister Abdallah Hamdok’s government in June 2021.

·      Concerns that CRSV is not mentioned at all.

SOLUTIONS

To help the Framework Agreement provide justice for victims of atrocities in Sudan, Rights for Peace, a charity that seeks to prevent genocide using human rights approaches, call for the:

·      Transitional Justice Coalition of over 30 Sudanese NGOs to enable the sensitive participation of conflict-related sexual violence survivors in regional workshops to ensure this category of victims is not excluded from the transitional justice discussions;

·      Political parties, mediators and other signatories to ensure participation of victims of human rights violations and their families, as well as pro-democracy activists, including women; 

·      The Law Reform Commission and Constitutional Court to be established without delay to ensure reform of the justice sector and oversee the appointment of newly qualified judges to improve access to justice.

SUDAN NEWS ALERT: Sudan Tribune - Security Council threatens to slap sanctions on Darfur groups

26/2/2021: Sudan Tribune - Security Council threatens to slap sanctions on Darfur groups

 Sudan Tribune report that the UN Security Council Sudan Sanctions Committee threatened to sanction all Darfur armed groups, whether signatory or non-signatory to the Juba peace agreement, for impeding peace and destabilising regional stability.

The committee reported that rebel groups engaged in extensive recruitment campaigns and recruited child soldiers to maximise their leverage in the implementation of security arrangements. Sudan Tribune add that the groups “consolidated their relations with Libyan parties and their backers particularly: the UAE, who convinced them to leave some troops in Libya.”

The committee also stated that Abdelwahid al-Nur’s Sudan Liberation Movement faction (SLM-AW) increased its capability by recruiting new fighters and purchasing weapons, thanks to gold mines in Jebel Marra, with the inter-fighting between the different rebel reportedly displacing over 20,000 civilians, the rebels reportedly committing human rights violations.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Africa Report - Sudan’s quest to come off US terror list: what’s done, what’s missing?

26/2/2020: Africa Report - Sudan’s quest to come off US terror list: what’s done, what’s missing?, by Andrew Tchie

 Andrew Tchie, a Research Fellow for Conflict, Security and Development at Kings College London, calls for Sudan’s transitional government to focus on building state institutions that are “independent, politically impartial and able to develop policies and deliver public services.”

 Tchie argues that a major threat to democracy is the absence of a single party that is capable of governing Sudan without support from Islamist groups and the security forces.

 Therefore, Tchie calls for the government to address weak institutional structures and the gaps in governance that exist throughout the country – highlighting the former National Congress Party’s ongoing influence in South Darfur despite it being dismantled.

 Tchie also calls for the implementation of laws to combat money laundering, addressing concerns around illicit trade and black market economies, the retrieval of billions that former regime leaders stashed offshore, and security sector reforms that would retire members of the old regime.

SUDAN INSIGHT ALERT: Radio Dabanga - Economic expert: Lift subsidies, normalise Dollar rate in Sudan

26/2/2020: Radio Dabanga - Economic expert: Lift subsidies, normalise Dollar rate in Sudan

 To tackle the current economic crisis, the Sudanese government must realise peace, lift subsidies on commodities, and normalise the Dollar exchange rate, according to professor Hamid Eltigani, an economist at the American University in Cairo.

 Eltigani disputes that petrol subsidies help the poor, arguing that it encourages smuggling. He suggests that subsidies be directed to the poor through ration cards.

 He also called for the immediate cessation of printing Sudanese pounds, the lifting of banking restrictions, and for state-owned companies to control gold exploration and production.

 Eltigani also blames the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) for the economic crisis and for “politically manipulating economic issues,” alleging that the FFC has only been interest in political, rather than economic, measures.

 Eltigani also suggests that security sector reform and the integration of the Rapid Support Forces into the army would reduce military spending.