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28 September - 4 October 2015

Media Monitoring Report for South Sudan
Posted on October 9, 2015

Contents

Compiled by Vincent Marquis

  1. National discussions continue over implementation of peace agreement
  2. Fresh clashes in Unity State
  3. Ugandan forces withdraw from South Sudan
  4. New fatal clashes in Lakes State
  5. New state structure sparks controversy
  6. Debates over publication of controversial Obasanjo report

 

1. National discussions continue over implementation of peace agreement

(Sudan Tribune, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated September 28, 2015, in English) S. Sudan against deployment of peacekeepers without Juba’s approval

  • South Sudan does not support the move to increase the numbers of United Nations troops in the country, Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mawien Makol Arik said, a day after Britain hinted on deploying 370 soldiers in the war-torn country.
  • South Sudan says sending more foreign troops must be made with the consent of Juba. “We do not need protection but what we need is the building capacity of our people and we are very much concerned with size increase of the troops,” stressed Arik.
  • The UN troops in South Sudan provide protection to civilians facing imminent violent threats. At least 200,000 civilians are at the Protection of Civilians sites across the country, having fled their homes following deadly clashes between the country’s warring factions.

(Sudan Tribune, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated September 30, 2015, in English) S. Sudan’s Machar calls on UN to support implementation of peace deal

  • South Sudan’s first Vice-president designate, Riek Machar, has appealed to the United Nations to support the full implementation of the peace deal signed in August with President Salva Kiir, stressing the need to mobilize resources in order to consolidate peace in the country.
  • Machar pointed out potential challenges in the course of the implementation of the deal, including pending security issues and the lack of resources for assembling troops, adding there is not yet an agreed understanding at the Addis Ababa military workshop about the demilitarization of Juba and other state capitals and major towns.
  • Machar said the political leadership in South Sudan “must realize collective responsibility” to repair the social fabric in the nation through the transitional justice process set forth in the agreement, saying this should aim to heal the emotional and physical wounds inflicted on the people by the destructive conflict.

(Eye Radio, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated October 1, 2015, in English) Kiir vows to implement peace deal

  • President Salva Kiir has reiterated his commitment to the implementation of the peace agreement signed in August. He told a high-level meeting on South Sudan in New York that he is determined to stop the war and lead the building of a democratic state in South Sudan.
  • “I’m determined to stop this senseless war and make sure that, together with my brothers in the armed opposition, we will build a democratic, united, and harmonious country by implementing the agreement,” President Kiir said.
  • The meeting was attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, among others. Mr. Ki-moon spoke directly to President Kiir, urging him to maintain his commitment to end the war.
  • “I think that is your historical and political responsibility as first president of South Sudan and I really count on your strong leadership ambition for your country. We are here all to help you. I hope you will not betray and disappoint us”, Ki-moon told Kiir.
2. National discussions continue over implementation of peace agreement

(Sudan Tribune, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated September 28, 2015, in English) S. Sudan against deployment of peacekeepers without Juba’s approval

  • South Sudan does not support the move to increase the numbers of United Nations troops in the country, Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mawien Makol Arik said, a day after Britain hinted on deploying 370 soldiers in the war-torn country.
  • South Sudan says sending more foreign troops must be made with the consent of Juba. “We do not need protection but what we need is the building capacity of our people and we are very much concerned with size increase of the troops,” stressed Arik.
  • The UN troops in South Sudan provide protection to civilians facing imminent violent threats. At least 200,000 civilians are at the Protection of Civilians sites across the country, having fled their homes following deadly clashes between the country’s warring factions.

(Sudan Tribune, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated September 30, 2015, in English) S. Sudan’s Machar calls on UN to support implementation of peace deal

  • South Sudan’s first Vice-president designate, Riek Machar, has appealed to the United Nations to support the full implementation of the peace deal signed in August with President Salva Kiir, stressing the need to mobilize resources in order to consolidate peace in the country.
  • Machar pointed out potential challenges in the course of the implementation of the deal, including pending security issues and the lack of resources for assembling troops, adding there is not yet an agreed understanding at the Addis Ababa military workshop about the demilitarization of Juba and other state capitals and major towns.
  • Machar said the political leadership in South Sudan “must realize collective responsibility” to repair the social fabric in the nation through the transitional justice process set forth in the agreement, saying this should aim to heal the emotional and physical wounds inflicted on the people by the destructive conflict.

(Eye Radio, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated October 1, 2015, in English) Kiir vows to implement peace deal

  • President Salva Kiir has reiterated his commitment to the implementation of the peace agreement signed in August. He told a high-level meeting on South Sudan in New York that he is determined to stop the war and lead the building of a democratic state in South Sudan.
  • “I’m determined to stop this senseless war and make sure that, together with my brothers in the armed opposition, we will build a democratic, united, and harmonious country by implementing the agreement,” President Kiir said.
  • The meeting was attended by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, among others. Mr. Ki-moon spoke directly to President Kiir, urging him to maintain his commitment to end the war.
  • “I think that is your historical and political responsibility as first president of South Sudan and I really count on your strong leadership ambition for your country. We are here all to help you. I hope you will not betray and disappoint us”, Ki-moon told Kiir.
3.  Ugandan forces withdraw from South Sudan

(Eye Radio, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated September 29, 2015, in English) UPDF pulls out from South Sudan

  • Ugandan forces have started withdrawing from South Sudan, the Office of the President has announced, as part of the implementation of the peace agreement signed by the government and the SPLM-IO.
  • According to the peace agreement, all foreign forces allied to either the government or the SPLM-IO must leave the country within 45 days following the signature of the agreement.
  • The Spokesperson in the Office of the President, Ateny Wek Ateny, told Eye Radio that UPDF forces will be out of the country by October 10th, except the contingency force currently based in Western Equatoria as part of a separate agreement.
  • Ugandan forces were deployed in South Sudan in December 2013, when the conflict broke out.
4. New fatal clashes in Lakes state

(Gurtong, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated September 29, 2015, in English) At least 5 people killed in Rumbek East in an ambush

  • Clashes erupted in Rumbek East County of Lakes State between the army forces and the pastoralist youth on Thursday. Senior government officials confirmed that the incident saying that at least four SPLA soldiers were killed.
  • Marial Amuom Malek, Security Advisor and Member of Parliament in the Lakes State Legislative Assembly, noted that one pastoralist sustained critical gunshot and has been admitted in Rumbek hospital.
  • Advisor Amuom described Rumbek East County pastoralist youth as “wealth desperate” youth seeking to get wealthy by all means.

 

5. New state structure sparks controversy

(Gurtong, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated October 4, 2015, in English) President Kiir creates 28 States of South Sudan

  • President Salva Kiir issued an executive order on Friday, demanding the creation of 28 States in the decentralized Republic of South Sudan. “The Establishment Order No. 36/2015 AD for the creation of the new South Sudan states” will come into force in thirty working days from the date of signature.
  • The order’s objectives read as follows: “it will devolve power and resources closer to the people, gradually reduce the size of the national government, attract experts to work at the State and Counties level and promote social and economic development amongst rural communities.”
  • The order in question divides the country into Equatoria Based States, Bahr Al Ghazal Based States and Upper Nile based States with 8, 10 and 10 states respectively.

(Sudan Tribune, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated October 3, 2015, in English) Kiir’s unilateral creation of 28 states aims to derail peace agreement: SPLM-IO

  • The SPLM-IO said that President Kiir’s decree to unilaterally create 28 states aims to open up renegotiations and derail the implementation of the peace agreement. Machar warned that the move was a serious setback for the implementation of the deal, unless the decision was revoked or deferred to the constitutional-making process in accordance with the agreement.
  • “The people of South Sudan, the region and the international community at large should not allow the regime to abrogate the peace deal and drag the nation back to square one,” Machar’s spokesman, James Gatdet Dak, told Sudan Tribune on Saturday.
  • The 28 states idea, Dak said, should have been tabled by the government before the negotiators from the parties in Addis Ababa so that an agreement could be reached by the parties on how many states should be created, and on what basis and when they should come into effect.

 

 

6. Debates over publication of controversial Obasanjo Report

(Eye Radio, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated September 29, 2015, in English) AU Peace and Security Council on Obasanjo Report

  • The African Union Peace and Security Council has decided that the report of the commission of enquiry into the South Sudan conflict should be published, a decision made over the weekend in New York during a meeting at the level of heads of state and government.
  • A communiqué released Monday highlighted the findings of the commission, headed by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, including extreme violence and sexual abuses by both parties against women, as well as acts of murder, rape, and torture against the civilian population.
  • The leader said weak institutions, lack of accountability, rampant cases of impunity, and extreme ethnicity in politics and the military were some of the causes of the conflict. The Peace and Security Council has suggested that the AU Commission should establish an independent hybrid judicial court to be known as the Hybrid Court for South Sudan.

(Eye Radio, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated October 1, 2015, in English) Government maintains its position on the AU findings

  • The Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the African Union should delay the publication of the findings of the Obasanjo commission, saying that publishing the report could negatively affect the implementation of the peace agreement.
  • “Usually when you are implementing peace, you go for implementation process and then later on when you are finishing implementing the peace, then you come for accountability,” argued Amb Mawien Makol, spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
  • “You cannot put accountability ahead of the implementation, because what are you going to account for if the peace is not implemented?” he added.

(Eye Radio, independent/privately-owned online media platform, article dated October 1, 2015, in English) US on AU findings

  • The United States has urged the African Union to work with the United Nations and the South Sudanese people to determine the mandate, structure, and location of the hybrid court for South Sudan, saying the court will be vital to ending impunity in South Sudan.
  • The US government says the numerous and disturbing reports of abuses and violations by both parties involved in the conflict underline the need for a credible court to try those most responsible for atrocities.
  • “The terrible human suffering exacted during South Sudan’s conflict – from ethnically motivated murders, to reprisal killings, to widespread sexual violence – demands nothing less than a full and impartial accounting,” partly read the statement
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