♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

A compact weekly digest of Dabanga Sudan's highlights of the news from Darfur and Sudan

♦ ‘Failed talks dashed Sudanese people’s expectations’: AUHIP

August 18 – 2016 ADDIS ABABA / KHARTOUM The stalemate of the negotiations on a cessation of hostilities between the Sudanese government and the armed movements, that took place from 9 to 14 August, has “dashed the hopes and expectations of the long-suffering Sudanese people”, lamented a statement by the African Union High-level Implementation Panel (AUHIP), mediator of the talks.

At the negotiation table in Addis Ababa also sat the Government of Ethiopia, the Unamid Deputy Joint Special Representative/Mediator for Darfur, and the UN Special Envoy for Sudan and South Sudan. The Sudanese government and the three main armed movements planned to reach an agreement on a cessation of hostilities and access to humanitarian relief in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and in Darfur. But the negotiations on the thorny issues reached an impasse on 14 August.

“The Panel believes that the Parties have allowed a real and critical opportunity to slip out of their hands,” the AUHIP stated. Also the UN Secretary-General expressed his disappointment.

The armed movements have reiterated their support for the resumption of the talks. Recently the announcement was made that the negotiations of Addis Ababa between the two sides will resume after two weeks. A Sudanese opposition leader, Ghazi Salaheldin Attabani, has suggested to rethink the priorities in the stalled talks.

♦ Tension as Sudan's nomadic herders move through the east

August 23 – 2016 ED DAMAZIN / SENNAR In an incident involving a shooting and a crash, one person was killed while two herders were wounded by a security guard in Ed Damazin, Blue Nile on Monday. An agricultural company security guard shot and wounded two herders, including Ahmed Mohamed Yousif, who were taking their livestock out to graze in Abu Rumad. The guard ran-over another herder, Mohamed Ahmed, with a tractor, which resulted in Ahmed’s death, according to a local Omda. He called on state government authorities to implement a presidential decree (209) that would initialise a peace trajectory between pastoralists and farmers in eastern Sudan, to avoid further friction.

In Sennar state, nomadic herders also complained about the absence of presidential decree 209, that would allow their animals to graze in Sudanese states. When South Sudan became independent in 2011, Sudanese migratory herders returned to the north with their cattle. President Omar Al Bashir announced decree 209 in order to let the Sudanese nomads and their cattle continue their annual migration inside Sudan instead of in South Sudan.

Local governments such as in Sennar and Blue Nile states would allow the herders passage and let the cattle graze in the areas. However, local governments have refused to implement this decree, which causes tension every year between arriving cattle herders and authorities. Omar El Tayeb Aburoaf, one of the chieftains of the Rufaa tribe and representative of the cattle herders, told Radio Dabanga that other guarantees regarding health and education have not been provided to the community either. He and other leaders raised a memorandum to the Sudanese parliament on Sunday, calling on the implementation of the decree 209.

Other higlights from Radio Dabanga:

South Sudan’s Riek Machar in Sudan for treatment

August 23 – 2016 KHARTOUM The leader of the SPLM-In Opposition in South Sudan, Riek Machar, is currently in Sudan for urgent medical attention, after withdrawing from clashes in Juba mid-July. The Minister of Information and government's official spokesman…

Clampdown begins on Khartoum's tea sellers

August 23 – 2016 KAHRTOUM The work of tea sellers in Khartoum has suffered from their equipment being confiscated during the past days. ‘Women tea sellers are chased-down.’ The campaign by security authorities targets tea sellers in various markets…

Rains, floods continue to ravage parts of Sudan

August 22 – 2016 EL GEZIRA / NORTH KORDOFAN Heavy rainfall continued to afflict various parts of El Gezira and North Kordofan over the weekend. Two people died in El Gezira on Saturday. “On Saturday, two people were killed when their houses collapsed…

Court case against Christian pastors begins in Sudan

August 22 – 2016 KHARTOUM The criminal court case against three pastors and an activist in Khartoum began on Sunday amid tight security measures. Rev. Hassan Abdelrahim Kodi and Rev. Kuwa Shemaal, activist Abdelmoneim Abdelmoula, and a Czech…

Two girls raped in Kabkabiya, North Darfur

August 21 – 2016 KABKABIYA Two girls were raped and their male companion shot by a pair of militiamen in the Nabagaya valley of Kabkabiya locality in North Darfur on Saturday. Speaking to Radio Dabanga, a relative of the victims reported that…

‘Aid workers on the front lines of conflict’: UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan

August 17 – 2016 KHARTOUM United Nations Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan, Marta Ruedas, has highlighted the importance of aid workers in a statement an address to mark World Humanitarian Day 2016. She says that every day, humanitarian…

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