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S. Sudan denies forming new Abyei administration

Friday, 07 September 2012
Written by Emmanuel Data
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Juba - The co-chair of the Abyei Joint Oversight Committee, Luka Biong, has denied a UN report that South Sudan has unilaterally formed a new Abyei area administration. 

Addressing a press conference in Juba on Tuesday, Biong, who represents President Salva Kiir in the oversight committee, said the civil servants sent back to Abyei were only those displaced during the occupation by the Sudanese army in May last year.

The co-chair said they were asked to return to their workplaces within Abyei to assist the people of the area as they return to their homes.

"We are having a big, huge civil servant [group] that are actually available and appointed by the Sudan government before the invasion in May 2011,” he told the media.

“Those civil servants consist of only teachers, nurses, workers and they are actually being paid by the Sudan government. What we decided to do was order these civil servants to return to Abyei town and beyond in order to assist in the return of the people.”

He stressed that the decision of asking the civil servants to go back was a simple administrative matter and “cannot be understood as establishing a new Abyei area administration”.

The UN peacekeeping force in Abyei had reported that it received information that South Sudan had ordered the former Abyei area administration to relocate its secretariat from Agok in Warrap State to Abyei town, in violation of an agreement reached with Sudan in June.

Biong on the other hand accused Sudan of sending a transitional Abyei executive committee to the area.

He said the UN force had been asked to provide temporary accommodation and security for the committee members, scheduled to arrive at the end of August.

“Most of the members are suspected to have participated in the devastation of the area. In fact, the UN is paradoxically being requested by Sudan to provide accommodation and security instead of apprehending the very people who looted, burnt down Abyei and committed gross human rights abuses in the area.”

Biong also accused the Khartoum government of delaying tactics in implementing the June 20, 2011 agreement.

He said Sudan has refused to pull out all its forces from the Abyei area and maintained its oil forces there.

He also noted that Sudan has refused to transfer 2 percent of the oil revenues in the area, being the rightful share of the Ngok Dinka under the Abyei Protocol.

In addition, he said, the Sudan delegation refused to sign a joint letter to both presidents to expedite the establishment of the Abyei administration.

Khartoum also refused to sign a document containing the terms for an inter-governmental task force to coordinate humanitarian assistance for the returnees and instead insisted to include a provision that Sudan has the sole sovereignty over Abyei, according to Biong.

“The international community should focus on how to make Sudan fully implement the June 20 agreement”, Biong stressed.

31 SPLA soldiers held over abuses in Jonglei

Friday, 07 September 2012
Written by Susan Mamur
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JUBA – Over 30 SPLA soldiers have so far been arrested for indiscipline and human rights violations during the disarmament operation in Jonglei, the army has announced.

“Up to now, 31 SPLA soldiers are kept in Bor central prisons on different charges and light sentences, related to drunkenness and indiscipline. We have four cases of  rape in Pibor county,” army spokesman Phillip Aguer told the media in Juba on Tuesday.

“All the alleged violations or indiscipline cases are being handled by the SPLA justice department.”

In recent weeks, two separate reports claimed SPLA soldiers deployed in the area for the disarmament exercise had committed human rights violations.

UNMISS on August 24 issued a statement acknowledging significant improvements in the security situation in Jonglei state but expressing concern over the “recent increase in serious human rights violations allegedly committed by some undisciplined elements within the SPLA”.

It listed the alleged abuses between July 15 and August 20 as one killing, 27 cases of torture or ill-treatment, such as  beatings and simulated drowning, 12 rape cases, six attempted rape and eight abductions.

“The majority of the victims are women and in some cases children,” the statement said.

The UN mission recognised that some steps had been taken to strenghten investigations, with some arrests in recent rape cased and some older cases going to trial.

However, it called for a decisive effort to hold perpetrators accountable and demonstrate that justice is being done for the victims.

A day earlier, Human Rights Watch sent a letter to President Salva Kiir, urging concrete steps to stop human rights violations in the area.

The organisation interviewed alleged victims and witnesses from the villages of Manyirang, Tangajon, Be and Likuangole in Pibor county in July.

They reported “specific  incidents of soldiers shooting at civilians, and ill-treating them by beatings, tying them up with rope, and submerging their heads in water to extract information about the location of weapons,” according to the letter.

“The commanders in charge need to make sure the soldiers understand the code of conduct and the limits of the use of force,” stated Daniel Bekele of Human Rights Watch.

“They should investigate all reported violations and, in cooperation with civilian justice officials, hold soldiers responsible for crimes against civilians, with due respect for their right to a fair trial.”

The report was criticised by Gen. Kuol Dim Kuol, head of the disarmament campaign in Jonglei.

“I believe those reports are not realistic”, he told Reuters in an interview, adding that the SPLA has mechanisms in place to hold unruly soldiers responsible.

“As I am talking to you now, I have about 30 SPLA soldiers who have been dismissed” because of abuses, he said.

Aguer during last week’s press briefing advised people to report any abuses to the authorities through the county security committees. “The committee is accessible to all civilians”, he said.

He also encouraged human rights activists operating in Jonglei area, particularly Human Rights Watch, to work together with the army to verify alleged cases of abuse.

“Human rights agents in the area are invited to be part of the verification of incidents instead of quoting politicised sources”, he said. 

“The SPLA is committed to ensuring that human rights violations are not committed by the disarmement team.”

The disarmament operation was launched in March this year in response to inter-communal violence in Jonglei state.

Some 900 Murle and Lou Nuer civilians were killed in the latest round of ethnic clashes in December 2011 and early 2012.

US$7m Government money at Geneva bank

Wednesday, 08 August 2012
Written by Peter Moi
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manibek

Juba - The Minister of Finance, Kosti Manibe, has said $7.4 million belonging to the Government of South Sudan is kept at BNP Paribas Bank in Geneva, Switzerland.

The minister was responding to questions raised by members of the Public Accounts Committee in Parliament today on the 2007 and 2008 audit reports.

The reports, which were released recently by the Auditor General, Steven Wondu, showed that hundreds of millions of dollars were unaccounted for in those two years.

The committee members wanted the Minister of Finance to shed more light on bank account transfers involving BNP Paribas Bank

 “Where is the US$7.4 million? Who is responsible for it? How can it be recovered?” the MPs asked the minister in a written questionnaire.

Manibe replied that the amount in question was part of about $166 million transferred by the Central Bank of Sudan on instructions of the then Governor of the Bank of Southern Sudan.

“The balance is still with BNP Paribas Bank in Geneva until cleared. Efforts are being made to pressure the Central Bank of South Sudan to recover this money,” he said.

The Auditor General’s report to Parliament last month said almost $166 million was transferred to two bank accounts held at BNP Paribas Bank.

Of this amount US$ 157 million was deposited back to the Bank of Sudan in Khartoum in August 2006, leaving a balance of US$ 7.4 million.

The Auditor General said the accounts in Geneva were not in the name of the Government of Southern Sudan but he would not say in which names they were.

“Other details regarding these accounts and transactions are still outstanding,” he said.

Asked why there was overspending by some Government departments in 2007 and 2008, the minister said the systems were weak.

He added that some departments did not make requests, giving room for others to request more money. “We are working to make sure requests and planning processes are improved,” he said.

Manibe also confirmed that Nile Commercial Bank owes the Government $3 million that was given to the bank as a loan.

The bank authorities have denied owing the Government any money, but the minister said there are records in his ministry to prove it.

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