♦ Sudan: This week’s news in brief ♦
A compact digest of the past two week’s most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan.
Cartoon by Omar Dafallah (RD)
A compact digest of the past two week's most-read highlights, from the heart of Sudan. Subscribe to receive this digest weekly in your inbox.
Armed forces shoot civilians in Port Sudan and Omdurman
July 8 – 2021 PORT SUDAN / OMDURMAN The National Network for Social Justice said that the residents of Dar El Naim neighbourhood in the south of Port Sudan were surprised by a barrage of bullets fired by individuals affiliated with the Central Reserve Forces and the regular armed forces. The organisation explained that the shooting led to the killing of a young man from the neighbourhood and the wounding of several others. Civilian residents of Omdurman were also killed in an attack by regular armed forces. In a statement, the network accused the Red Sea State Security Committee of bias and called for the withdrawal of the regular armed forces from the region, demanding their replacement with ethnically diverse and neutral forces.
In Omdurman, the Resistance Committees said that a group of South Sudanese had prevented drunken members of the armed forces from storming their homes in El Hara, after which a heavily armed military force stormed the district the next day and killed three South Sudanese citizens. The SAF soldiers then headed towards the central market in the neighbourhood where they burned shops and killed two more residents of the area, wounding dozens.
Interview with Nisreen El Saim: The December Revolution's Kandaka and a global climate activist
July 16 – 2021 RADIO DABANGA For Radio Dabanga’s Inspirational Women series we interviewed activist Nisreen El Saim. This climate activist and revolutionary has been a leading figure in many global and local struggles, ranging from the December Revolution in Sudan to the United Nations climate summit. She warned about the impacts of climate change for Sudan and its displaced population.
She explained that the adverse effects of climate change, including the remarkable rise in temperatures and the torrential rains and floods that the country is witnessing, contributed to long wars in some areas and polluted cities. “In general, there is neither interest nor awareness at the governmental level about the environment”. She further explained that there is a severe lack of budget for environmental issues and added: “We were deprived of international funding to reduce the effects of climate change because Sudan was considered a state sponsor of terrorism".
Deadly Darfur attacks leave eight dead, 12 injured
July 19 – 2021 KABKABIYA / GIREIDA At least five people died, 10 were injured, and many civilians fled their homes after an artillery attack on Sortony camp in Kabkabiya locality, North Darfur. Regular and peace-signed forces during the era of the former regime were accused of perpetrating the attack. Another three people died in incidents in Gireida locality, South Darfur.
Rising Blue Nile: Sudan calls on residents to take safety precautions
July 19 – 2021 KHARTOUM The General Directorate of Dams at Sudan’s Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources has called on the public living on both banks of the Blue Nile to take safety precautions as it expects an increase in the water flow of the Blue Nile following heavy rainfall on the Ethiopian plateau.
EU High Representative on World Day for International Justice 2021: ‘Impunity must not be an option’
July 17 – 2021 BRUSSELS / THE HAGUE To mark the World Day for International Criminal Justice, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, has voiced the EU’s continued support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, emphasising that “impunity must not be an option. Nowhere. For no one.”
Paris Club cancels $14.1 billion Sudan debt
July 17 – 2021 PARIS The Paris Club creditors group has agreed to cancel $14.1 billion in Sudanese debt and to reschedule the terms of servicing a further $9.5 billion owed to the group. The Paris Club congratulated Sudan for the strong measures of poverty reduction and ambitious economic reforms.
El Burhan lauds UN support to Sudan
July 16 – 2021 KHARTOUM Lt Gen Abdelfattah El Burhan, Chairman of the Transitional Sovereignty Council, received United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General for Field Support Atul Khare in his office in Khartoum to discuss UN support to Sudan.
UNHCR: $33 million more needed in revised Ethiopian Refugee Response Plan for Sudan
July 15 – 2021 KHARTOUM The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and partners have revised the ‘Sudan Refugee Influx from Ethiopia Response Plan’ as people from Ethiopia’s restive Tigray region continue to seek refuge in Sudan.
Sudanese Pound rallies against major currencies
July 14 – 2021 KHARTOUM Positive news of international debt relief, coupled with an increased supply of foreign currency within Sudan, has seen the Sudanese Pound (SDG) rally against major international currencies this month.
Sudan’s Defence and Security Council adopts measures to address violence in Red Sea state, South Kordofan
July 13 – 2021 KHARTOUM At an emergency session in Khartoum to discuss “major and urgent regional and local security issues”, Sudan’s Defence and Security Council took a number of decisions, including sending military security reinforcements to the Red Sea state and South Kordofan and intensifying internal security measures in the violence-affected areas.
Sudan’s PM Hamdok: ‘Cultural diversity is a blessing’
July 11 – 2021 KHARTOUM Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdallah Hamdok has launched a project on Sudan’s cultural policies, developed by the Ministry of Culture and Information. The PM lauded cultural diversity as 'a blessing' and as part of the spirit of the December revolution.
ICC confirms former Darfur Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb will stand trial for war crimes
July 9 – 2021 THE HAGUE The Pre-Trial Chamber II of the ICC in The Hague issued a unanimous decision confirming all 31 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against former Darfur Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abdelrahman (also known as Ali Kushayb) and committed him to trial before a Trial Chamber.
West Darfur Doctors Committee: 12 dead and 15 wounded in latest violence in Kereinik and Jebel Moon
July 8 – 2021 KEREINIK / JEBEL MOON The West Darfur State Doctors Committee said that 12 people were killed and 15 were wounded during four days of violence in the Kereinik and Jebel Moon localities. More clashes occurred in other areas around the same time.
and then