2006 Peace Agreement not fulfilled yet

Over 700 Beja militants who voluntarily demobilized after the peace agreement was signed some years ago, with the expectation that they would be given jobs in the Sudanese Army, or in a police force, have been on sit-in strike for almost a month, as they still wait for placements.

From a report on RadioDabanga:

A sit-in strike by 769 demobilised Beja Congress fighters at the Office of Reintegration and Demobilisation in Port Sudan, capital of Red Sea state, has entered its 24th day, apparently without any resolution in sight.

The ex-combatants complain that the government has not absorbed them into the civil and military services as stipulated in the Eastern Sudan Peace Agreement (ESPA) signed in 2005.
Hamid Idris, a member of the Legislative Council of Red Sea state, told Radio Dabanga that the demobilised
Beja Congress fighters are maintaining their sit-in for the 24th consecutive day without the national or state governments responding to any of their demands.

Idris cautioned that disregarding the demands of demobilised combatants could lead to an escalation of the situation.

The provisions of the ESPA on security arrangements called for the return of Beja Congress combatants from Eritrea, where they were based, and their integration into the Sudan Armed Forces under Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) supervision.

etc

Herders and farmers clash in west Sudan

El-Geneina — During a meeting in El-Geneina, West Darfur on Thursday November 8, the High Committee for Protecting the Agricultural Season, headed by Abdullah Hamdan, adopted several decisions to solve the longstanding issues between farmers and herders, Radio Dabanga has learned.

The committee includes the national administration of farmers and herders, head Commissioner and Sultan of Dar-Massaliet, Saad Bahr al-Deen, as well as civil society representatives and government officials.

The decisions include prohibiting of early grazing, which will be implemented from 28 February 2013.
Furthermore, fines of 200 pounds will be imposed in case of deliberate trespassing and damaging of farms, the committee's chairman stated.

Additionally, a decision on a military or police intervention was adopted. The intervention will be requested in case of a dispute between herders and farmers that local commissions cannot resolve on their own, Hamdan added.

During the meeting, the farmers expressed their deep concern about the repeated attacks on their farms by herders and the trespassing onto their lands.

http://gmsudan.com/20121107/east-sudan-communities-in-europe-to-hold-exceptional-conference/

Land use conflict example - Darfur

Millet crops North Darfur flickr photo [2004]


The rural countryside can lose it's grazing pastures as the dry season comes. Pastoralist herders need to move their animals to good pastureland. In Darfur, right now, the only land used to grow plants is for settled farmers.

What to do? What should the camel herder do? In this situation, they got out their guns.

Kireinick — Jjrbox farmers in West Amotjoke of Kireinick locality in West Darfur have complained of camel herders grazing in their farms and causing destruction by force of arms.

A farmer from Jjrbox told Radio Dabanga that the they had repeatedly tried to talk to the camel herders, asking them not to travel through the farms.

However they responded by opening fire and allowing their camels to graze. He added the police would not act when the farmers reported trespassing.

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No leadership roles for Beja in SRF

The Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF) announced the composition of its Leadership Council after the election of Malik Agar of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) as chairman of the rebel alliance.

While there are some Justice and Equality Movement  [JEM] members on the leadership council, the report at AllAfrica did not list any Beja Congress people. The Council is dominated by SPLM-N members.

The SRF was founded in November, and the Beja Congress joined a week after it formed. Their goal is to overthrow the regime of Al-Bashir.

In South Kordovan, the Sudan Armed Forces [SAF] has been harassing civilians fleeing war and obstructing humanitarian aid  over the past few weeks. On Sunday, February 26, a military operation attacked the SAF garrison in Jow in South Kordovan, and made off  with  

•  Four military tanks
•  Over 50 pickup trucks mounted with military guns
•  10 Large transport trucks
•  7 Fuel tanker-trucks
•  various supplies and ammunition.

Beja Congress joins armed alliance

Old Beja Congress Logo. The new logo has two knives, and no gun.

From a published report.

The Beja Congress, a Sudanese armed opposition group, announced on Tuesday that they had joined the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).

The SRF is a newly formed alliance of armed opposition groups in the country since November 11. It comprises Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), Sudan Liberation Army-Abdul Wahid (SLA-AW), Sudan Liberation Army-Minni Minnawi (SLA-MM) apart from the Beja Congress.

A statement issued by the Beja Congress said that its decision to join would help restore human dignity in Sudan in general and specifically with respect to the Beja minority.

The movement said that it had engaged in intensive consultations with many organizations and movements in eastern Sudan and had arrived at the decision to join the SRF.

The statement reinstated that the Beja people had been languishing for many years. “In fact the misery and suffering of the people is increasing due to poverty, starvation and other deadly diseases. The ruling regime in Sudan is subjecting its people to humiliation and tyranny. They are arrogant and killing the marginalized people,” the statement read.

It also pointed out the inaction of the government in the wake of the current economic crisis and inflation.

The newly created Sudan Revolutionary Front says its aim is to overthrow the Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party through all means, including violence. The group consists of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North, the Justice and Equality Movement, and two factions of the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army.

The group said it believes Sudan’s government is at a weak point economically, politically and militarily. [Read this analysis of Bashir's problems.]

“The [Khartoum] regime is imploding and will vanish, like other corrupt regimes around us that have come to rely on repression to retain power,” the group said. “It has humiliated our people and dismembered our homeland. Should its rule continue, it would lead to further division in Sudan.”

Eric Reeves, a Sudan expert at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, said the group could force Khartoum to face the “daunting prospect of fighting resource-draining wars on several fronts, with the likely shut-down of oil extraction and transport from the south.”

Khartoum’s National Congress Party said the Sudan Revolutionary Front is planning to carry out acts of sabotage to lead Sudan into a crisis. The official news agency quoted a ruling party spokesman, Yassir Yusuf, as saying that the government of South Sudan should “distance itself and lift its hand to stop providing assistance to rebel movements in Sudan.”

Meanwhile South Kordofan governor Ahmed Haroun called the SRF a “miserable alliance.”

Radio Dabanga and Washington Post.




UPDATE: For further analysis of the political efforts to reduce the impact of the SRF, read this piece that is aggressively critical of Umma party leader Sadig Almahdi.


SIDE NOTE - OFF TOPIC. There are now 300 posts on this blog.  You get current news about the Beja people on this blog, and for learning more about the Beja people, please visit adroub.net

Is the Beja Congress recreating a militia?

Khartoum says no rebel threats in eastern Sudan—Sudan Tribune

The Sudanese government is rejecting reports that one faction of the Beja Congress is massing rebel fighters on the Sudan-Eritea border on the request of the embattled opposition groups in the Blue Nile.

The government also refuted statements made by the faction of the Beja Congress that is loyal to the government, in which they said Blue Nile is at high risk of famine.

Although Sudan achieved a peace agreement with the Beja Congress in October 2006, many Beja Congress supporters felt the peace agreement had not really helped eastern Sudan.

Sourced from  SaveDarfur

Chinese labour targeted by Sudanese youth

The marginalization of some Sudanese youth has created such frustration among them that they have resorted to violence. A Chinese engineer was shot and killed on Wednesday, September 28. Three other workers were wounded. An entire oil drilling project has been closed down. Two days prior to this incident, a truck was burned down, and two cars were burned, and drilling machine burned.

This took place in South Kordovan, where local Misseriya have been denied jobs working on the oil project. It's viewed as a matter of injustice.

Local people have complained that the Sudanese military is preventing food basics such as sugar flour an oil from being brought into the region.

Sourced from All Africa.

Civil war to come to Sudan?

An excellent analysis of the political situation in [north] Sudan has been published by the International Crisis Group, a thinktank based in Brussels, Belgium. They title their document "Conflict Risk Alert: Stopping the Spread of Sudan’s New Civil War." 

What makes this piece good is that key events are dated - the process of destroying the hope of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement is clear, as are the reasons for military action in South Kordovan and Blue Nile State. The document is only about 30 paragraphs long, and will give you a good grasp of the current political situation.

The history of the CPA is reviewed, as is the internal dynamics of the Khartoum regime. The lack of trust toward international nations and groups is noted, as are the difficulties of creating a friendly relationship with the new southern neighbour. 

After listing three recommendations, the final paragraph reads:

President Bashir will undoubtedly resist any further external efforts to pursue a more peaceful outcome for Sudan, but given the increasing fragility of the regime, not least its growing economic weakness, he may be persuaded to engage with a coordinated international approach. International actors must come out with a strong voice to support a national agenda for a transition to an inclusive government. In the absence of a national political framework, and without clear international consensus to encourage and support a national peace process, the conflict in Sudan may spiral out control and engulf the region.

Read the report, "Conflict Risk Alert: Stopping the Spread of Sudan’s New Civil War." 

Sourced from allAfrica.

This document has been republished at UNHCR as well.

Ethnic cleansing in S. Kordofan

"The Sudanese government is literally getting away with murder and trying to keep the outside world from finding out. The international community, and particularly the U.N. Security Council, must stop looking the other way and act to address the situation."

"While rights organisations and independent researchers have been unearthing evidence of ethnic cleansing in South Kordofan since early June, the North's ruling National Congress Party (NCP) continues to vehemently deny reports of illegal actions, claiming that the offensive against the peoples of South Kordofan is necessary in order to eliminate the lingering threat of armed rebels."


Sourced from: Human Rights Watch [long article, many anecdotes] which was rewritten in a short article at All Africa titled, "Watchdogs Blast Ethnic Cleansing in South Kordofan"

Eritreans gearing up for September 1

Hamid Idris Awate, first leader of Eritrean freedom fighters.

The fiftieth anniversary of beginning of the armed struggle by the Eritrean people against their oppressive Ethiopian masters will be celebrated on September 1.

The armed struggle began in September 1961 when a contingent of eleven fighting men, under the leadership of Idris Hamid Awate formed the first armed forces of the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF). Awate died in May 1962, probably as a result of battle wounds.

Eritrea had been federated to Ethiopia by the United Nations. Ethiopia tried to absorb Eritrea, which hoped for its own independence. Political parties were banned, publications were censored and languages suppressed. In ten years the institutions that might have encouraged Eitrean nationalism had been destroyed.

In 1962, steps were taken by Ethiopia to make Eritrea simply a province. By the spring, over 500 soldiers had joined the uprising. They harrassed Ethiopian soldiers near Agordat. ELF guerillas fought from the rugged Eritrean hills against Ethiopia. They nearly gained independence in 1978, but Russian  assistance to Ethiopia made it impossible.

Eritrea finally gained independence in 1993, now celebrated annually on May 24.

Keren celebrates its catholic history

On May 29 each year, many Catholics go to Bilen, a town just outside Keren, Eritrea to celebrate Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. It is a huge celebration, with a religious procession, and much joyous feasting.

Eritrea was once an Italian colony. Most Italians are Roman Catholics. A Roman Catholic community was established just outside Keren in the 1800's. The Italian nuns built a shrine to Mary, inside a large baobab tree.

Christians honour Mary because she submitted herself to the will of God in obedience, to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, and to give birth to Jesus. You can read this story in the Injil, [Luke 1:26-38, Matthew 1:18-24] Sometimes this honour is made so important that Mary is actually worshiped [usually by Roman Catholics]. This is a mistake - only God should be worshiped.

An event occurred in 1941, during World War II. The British army was fighting the Italian army. The British were advancing from Kassala, Sudan into Italian Eritrea.

As some British airplanes dropped bombs, a few Italian soldiers hid themselves in the shrine in Baobab tree. A bomb hit the tree, but did not explode. Presumably they thought the shrine and Mary protected them, and so they celebrate  this "miracle" each year.

A tourist describes his day at Keren for Festival of Mariam Dearit [Mary of the Boabab.]
Also described here. 

Shield for sale- $675US

As described on Oriental-Arms. com.

Up for sale is this very good and rare hide shield of the Beja people residing in North Sudan and Eritrea, along the shores of the red see. The shield is round, 23 inches in diameter with two semi round recesses and with a 6 ½ inch tall central dome. It is made from heavy hide, most probably buffalo hide. Very good condition. Old repairs on the hide. The carrying leather strap is torn. An authentic rare item.

Buffalo hide?? Any buffalo in Bejaland?? What do you think it's made from??

Car destroyed from the air

A small vehicle was destroyed in an attack. Two people in the car were killed. The vehicle was on a local road from the airport to Port Sudan. The event took place at 10pm local time on Tuesday April 5, 2011.

The identity of the airplane is unknown, perhaps a missile, perhaps two helicopters. It apparently flew in from over the Red Sea.

A report comes from AllAfrica.

Reports suggest that the airplane was Israeli in origin, and that one of the people inside the car was a Palestinian [Hamas] military commander.

More demining in Kassala State

 It looks like the [Sudanese?] National Center for Anti Landmines Operations has been provided with 24 million Euros. These funds have been directed toward further operations in Kassala State, and Red Sea State and Gedarif State. The National Center sends teams to find, mark and clear landmine zones.

Sourced from the Sudan Media Center 

Japan provided equipment worth $170,000 a year ago for demining in the east, and MAG International has an active programme of training agencies and demining workers in Sudan. [MAG photo from May/June2010]

Needed: Cash for demining

United Nations programme to demine areas near Kassala (and elsewhere in Sudan) are threatened because $12 million is needed for funding.
 
http://allafrica.com/stories/201005110811.html
.

Demining finished in Al-Lafa, Kassala region

UNMAO 14/10/09 - The people of Al-Lafa can now look forward to the reconstruction of their community, after UNMAO and its partner Mines Advisory Group (MAG) cleared over 44,000 m2 of land in the eastern state of Kassala. 

The town of Al-Lafa has been a key priority for the government of Sudan, since it hosted an official visit from the President last November. Al-Lafa will house 2,500 displaced persons who were affected by the conflict in the area, and a new access road to an official border crossing between Sudan and Eritrea will be built. 

However, the heavy presence of anti-tank and anti-personnel mines and explosive remnants of war was hampering the reconstruction efforts in the area. At the request of the National Mine Action Centre (NMAC), UNMAO tasked its partner Mines Advisory Group (MAG) to survey and clear the area. 
NMAC was able to provide MAG with the minefield record for the suspected area, which allowed the team to reduce the time spent chasing suspected areas and move right onto the real hazardous areas instead. 

Once the technical survey was completed and two minefields were registered, MAG moved on to clearance operations and over a two-month period released 44,000 m2 of land and destroyed an impressive amount of 430 mines.

http://unmis.unmissions.org/Portals/UNMIS/MMR/MMR%2015%20Oct%2009.pdf