Lawyers organise for peace in South Kordofan

A number of conferences and capacity building workshops will be organised in Kadugli and Khartoum by the Darfur Bar Association (DBA) and the Forces of Freedom and Change in South Kordofan.

According to a statement by the DBA, a delegation of lawyers visited the Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan this week, where they met with members of the Forces for Freedom and Change and the Resistance Committees active in the neighbourhoods of Delling, Abu Jubeiha, and Kadugli.

They agreed that a workshop on community leadership skills will be held for 25 Resistance Committee members from Kadugli and Abu Jubeiha in mid-September in Khartoum.

Other workshops on leadership skills will be organised in Kadugli for members of Resistance Committees and the Forces of Freedom and Change in September and October.

While in Kadugli, the DBA also had a meeting with Governor Hamid El Bashir to discuss the organisation of a large cultural festival in the state capital. Cultural groups from Darfur will participate.

El Bashir agreed to supervise the Kadugli Cultural Festival, that will be sponsored by member of the Sovereign Council, Siddig Tawir. The federal Minister of Information, Culture, and Tourism, Feisal Mohamed Saleh, will inaugurate the festival.

The DBA is also currently organising a series of conferences on peace and stability in Darfur, to be held under the slogan “Establishing a culture of peaceful civil dialogue as an alternative to violence”.

Rebel-held areas

In June 2011, a rebellion of Nuba army soldiers triggered a new violent conflict between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) and the Sudanese government. It was only after the revolution and the formation of a new, transitional government on September 6 last year that organised attacks by government forces stopped. In December 2019, the government of South Kordofan and the SPLM-N faction under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu agreed to open a number of roads in the Nuba Mountains to facilitate humanitarian aid.  

In December 2019, the government of South Kordofan and the SPLM-N faction under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu agreed to open a number of roads in the Nuba Mountains to facilitate humanitarian aid. As reported by Radio Dabanga in January, the Sudanese government called upon international humanitarian aid organisations, including those expelled during the deposed Al Bashir regime, to return and carry out their humanitarian operations without restrictions.

On January 9, Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok visited Kauda, stronghold of the SPLM-N El Hilu. The visit is historic as it has been a no-go area for Sudanese government officials since the war broke out in South Kordofan in 2011, making this the first official visit in eight years.

Government spokesman and Information Minister Feisal Mohamed Saleh appreciated the warm welcome Hamdok and his delegation received, pointing out that masses of public from all the areas surrounding Kauda were singing for peace and the revolution, expressing their warm feelings towards the visit.

On September 4, dozens of supporters of SPLM-N El Hilu gathered at Khartoum International Airport to receive Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok, returning from Ethiopia where he signed a declaration of principles with the Nuba rebel leader.

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