♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦
A compact digest of this week’s most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.
June 3 Massacre commemoration march (social media)
A compact digest of this week's most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.
Sudan commemorates the June 3 Massacre
June 3 – 2021 KHARTOUM Sudan commemorates the June 3 Massacre, also known as the Ramadan 29 Massacre, for the second year in a row with marches and demonstrations.
On June 3, 2019, two days before the end of Ramadan, the large sit-in in front of the army command, was broken up with excessive violence. More than 127 protesters were reportedly killed. The bodies of 40 of them were found floating in the Nile. More than 700 others sustained injuries, and at least 100 people went missing in the June 3/Ramadan 29 massacre.
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok described the violent dispersal as “a criminal event committed by treacherous hands”. "The June 3 Massacre is a wound that will not heal unless justice is achieved and criminals are brought to justice", the PM said.
$500m World Bank grant for water resources in Sudan
June 2 – 2021 KHARTOUM Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Yasir Abbas has announced that the World Bank has provided a $500 million grant to the ministry. In a statement to the official Sudan News Agency (SUNA), the minister explained today that he met with the World Bank Director for Middle East, Ousmane Dion, to discuss the detailed procedures related to the implementation of the grant. He said the grant is divided into two funds, one of $300 million for irrigation projects and another $200 million for the drinking water sector.
The announcement of the grant follows a visit to Sudan by the Deputy Director of the World Bank, Hafez Ghanem, at the end of May. During the visit, Ghanem announced a $2 billion fund from the World Bank to finance infrastructure projects in Sudan and to support displaced people.
June 8 – 2021 KHARTOUM The leaders of the rebel movements that signed the Juba Peace Agreement warned of the dire consequences of the slow implementation of the security arrangements mapped out in the agreement. Some called for the quick formation of a unified armed force whilst the head of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) recently rejected this plan.
Deaths and injuries as another UNAMID site is looted in North Darfur
June 8 – 2021 DAR EL SALAAM Two people were killed and eight others sustained injuries when a former United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) site was looted in Shangil Tobaya, Dar El Salaam locality, south of El Fasher in North Darfur. This is not the first UNAMID site to be looted.
At least 36 die in South Darfur clashes
June 8 – 2021 UM DAFUG At least 36 people were killed and dozens were left wounded after fighting broke out between Taisha and Fallata tribesmen near Um Dafug in South Darfur. South Darfur has a history of tribal tensions, aggravated by years of genocide and ethnic discrimination during the Al Bashir regime.
GERD: Sudan ‘looking forward to agreement before second filling’
June 7 – 2021 KHARTOUM Sudan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Mariam El Sadig El Mahdi, has said that Sudan is looking forward to reaching a legally binding agreement over filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), before its second filling. The dam, Ethiopia’s intention to fill it, and the ramifications to Sudan and Egypt downstream, have been the subject of sharp and often fruitless negotiations.
SPLM-N El Hilu peace talks continue in 'positive spirit'
June 4 – 2021 JUBA The peace negotiations in Juba between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) under the leadership of Abdelaziz El Hilu and the Sudanese government continued in 'positive spirit' after a brief adjournment. A spokesman of the SPLM-N delegation announced that the two parties have achieved agreements on most of the controversial issues.
June 3 Massacre commemorated with calls for justice and investigation results
June 4 – 2021 KHARTOUM / WAD MADANI Sudan commemorated what is known as the June 3/Ramadan 29 Massacre, in which over 127 protesters were killed. The protesters chanted slogans to demand justice for the martyrs and the wounded, the release of investigation results, and the return of the more than 100 people that went missing during the violent dispersal.
Investigation into the murder of Khartoum activist Wad Akair
June 3 – 2021 KHARTOUM The African Centre for Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) issued an urgent call to investigate the enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing of activist Wad Akair in Khartoum. Acting Attorney General El Waleed Mahmoud Osman issued a decision to form an investigation committee into the killing.
ICC Prosecutor: Send Haroun to face Darfur war crimes charges in The Hague
June 2 – 2021 KHARTOUM The Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, has stressed the necessity of handing over Ahmed Haroun, accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, to the ICC before the end of July so that he can be tried along with Ali Kushayb.
Call for investment in agriculture as 9.8m Sudanese face famine
June 2 – 2021 KHARTOUM The Ministry of Agriculture of Sudan, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations, and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have called for greater investment in Sudan’s agriculture sector and for humanitarian assistance as a new food security assessment shows that a record number of Sudanese will face acute food insecurity in the coming lean season.
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