♦ This week’s news in brief ♦

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

♦ Sudan's cholera epidemic: '14,659 infected, 292 dead'

June 6 – 2017 KHARTOUM / WHITE NILE / NORTH KORDOFAN Cholera cases are further proliferating in Khartoum and White Nile states. The Health Ministry recorded 30 new cases while local sources reported about 100 infected patients in areas of Khartoum Bahri.

With the highly contagious disease threatening the Sudanese capital, the Ministry of Health announced there will be “maximum mobilisation” at Teibat El Ahamda area, known as El Ezba, including cleaning and waste removal campaigns. Hamdan Ismail, a resident of El Ezba told Radio Dabanga that his sister died of cholera, while his two brothers were infected with the disease. “Two hospitals refused to receive my brothers. The isolation centre in the academic hospital is overcrowded with patients, patients have to share beds.”

Doctors in the Sudanese capital reported 120 new cholera cases over the weekend. Spreading to eastern Sudan, and later to the Northern State and central Sudan’s El Gezira, the disease reached White Nile state in April, where a rapid spread of cholera is reported. Hospitals in North Kordofan started to receive cholera patients too. 

Sudan’s Health Minister Bahar Idris Abugarda told parliament about the spread of the “acute water diarrhoea” epidemic in the country on Thursday. Between August 2016 and May 2017 the Ministry recorded 14,659 people infected with watery diarrhoea. 292 patients died. The Sudanese health authorities still refer to “watery diarrhoea” cases, though Sudanese medics have confirmed that the disease is in fact cholera. Mentioning the disease by its real name is not allowed by doctors and the press in Sudan.

Continue reading

♦ UN Security Council: Research 'war crime' attack peacekeepers

June 2 – 2017 NEW YORK The United Nations Security Council called on the Sudanese government to 'swiftly conduct a full investigation into the deadly attack' on a peacekeeper in downtown Nyala on Wednesday 31 May. The African Union-United Nations Mission in Darfur (Unamid) soldier from Nigeria was in the industrial zone of Nyala to buy spare parts when three gunmen approached him. They forced him out of his vehicle, shot him, and made-off with the vehicle. He was critically injured and died of his wounds in Nyala hospital.

The Mission strongly condemns the attack which it terms “a violation of international law”. Since 2007, 64 peace soldiers have died during their service with Unamid.

This week, Security Council President Sacha Sergio Llorentty Solíz (Bolivia) and members of the Security Council called on the Government of Sudan to swiftly conduct a full investigation into the attack and bring the perpetrators to justice. They underlined that attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. The council reiterated its full support for Unamid and called on all parties in Darfur to cooperate fully with the mission.

The Sudanese government has ordered the mission to adopt an exit strategy, arguing that conditions in Darfur have improved significantly from 2003, when the conflict began.

More news from Radio Dabanga:

More militia raids on Kutum villages

June 6 – 2017 KUTUM Several villages in Kutum, North Darfur, witnessed raids by militiamen on Sunday. President Al Bashir called for ‘guarding peace in the state by force’…
 

Lawyer beaten, detained on duty in Sudan

June 6 – 2017 PORT SUDAN / KHARTOUM A lawyer was beaten and detained while performing her duty at the police station in the capital of Red Sea state. Lawyers expressed…
 

€8.5 million grant for Sudan on World Environment Day

June 5 – 2017 KHARTOUM On the occasion of the World Environment Day today, the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Sudan announced a grant of €8.5 million for projects addressing…
 

Health care deficit in eastern Sudan’s Sennar

June 4 – 2017 EL SOUKI Residents of a number of villages in El Souki locality in Sennar complain about a lack of health services, while malaria and diarrhoea cases are increasing.“Because there are…
 

Thirst in South Darfur, While Nile state

June 4 – 2017 NYALA / WHITE NILE The people living in Otash camp for the displaced near Nyala, capital of South Darfur, are complaining about thirst. In El Gezira Aba and Rabak in White Nile state, the people…
 

Mother fending off 'rapist' killed in South Kordofan

June 2 – 2017 KADUGLI A farmer was shot dead near Kadugli, South Kordofan, by armed herders, when she was working with her daughter on a farm…
 

Detentions among students evicted from dorms

June 2 – 2017 NEW HALFA / EL OBEID University students who refused to leave their dorms during the holiday season were detained by police or forcibly evacuated in Kassala and North Kordofan in the past…
 

Military market shootout kills four in North Darfur

June 2 – 2017 KABKABIYA A gunfight between a military commander and a member of his force resulted in the killing of four people, including the commander and a civilian in a market in North Darfur on…
 

EU adds voice to new appeal for human rights in Sudan

May 31 – 2017 BRUSSELS The European Union (EU) has issued a statement echoing the concerns of the UN Independent Expert on the Situation of Human Rights in Sudan, Aristide Nononsi, who concluded an 11-day…
 

Deadly rebel reprisal for North Darfur village attacks

May 31 – 2017 EIN SIRO The opposition Transitional Council of Nimir leadership (SLM-TC) claims that it repulsed an attack yesterday by the government forces and militias against civilians in Ein Siro area in North…

35 children raped in South Darfur in April, May: A-G

May 31 – 2017 NYALA The South Darfur child prosecutor’s agency received 35 reports of rape against children in the state in April and May, according to a statement by the Ministry of Justice…