Sudan Media Monitoring

Yesterday's date came and went without much any commemoration of the 18 August which GOSS designated as Hero's day. It is only in Torit that the occasion was celebrated yesterday in memory of the uprising that took placed place there some 55 years ago. Why has GOSS forgotten this important occasion this time round?

Managers

Sudan Media Monitoring
18 August 2010

REFERENDUM COUNTDOWN: 143 Days

“Don’t count the days, make the days count.”
– Muhammad Ali


A daily digest of news articles on Sudan.


THE LEDE

SPLM to boycott meeting to discuss southern Sudan referendum on 19 August
Sudan Tribune website, Paris
18 August 2010; 07:11 GMT

Text of report in English by Paris-based Sudanese newspaper Sudan Tribune website on 18 August

Wednesday 18 August 2010 (KHARTOUM): The ex-Southern rebel group announced that it will not take part in a meeting called for by Sudanese president Umar Hasan al-Bashir scheduled for Thursday [19 August] to discuss preparations for referendum.

Ibrahim Ghandur, the head of political relations bureau at the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) headed by Al-Bashir, said invitations were sent to all political parties without exception.

The meeting was originally scheduled for last month but was cancelled after opposition parties insisted that other issues to be discussed including Darfur crisis, deteriorating economic conditions of the people, democratic transformation and political freedoms.

Some parties accused NCP at the time of seeking to them share the responsibility for splitting up the nations despite marginalizing them in all the crucial decisions that led to this situation.

In less than six months time, people from Sudan's oil-producing south are due to vote in a referendum on whether they should secede and form Africa's newest nation - a plebiscite promised under a 2005 accord that ended decades of north-south civil war.

It is widely expected that the Southerners will opt for secession after decades of bitter war that claimed millions of lives and feelings of marginalization by the Arab-Muslim dominated North.

The Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) deputy secretary general Yasir Arman said in a statement today that the political bureau of the movement decided to skip the meeting with Al-Bashir.

"This [meeting] appears more of an NCP leadership meeting than a joint meeting of political powers that allows everyone to reach a consensus and come with a joint vision" Arman said in the statement.

"Therefore the SPLM regrets that it will not be part of Thursday's meetings and we hope to participate in an upcoming meeting that would have better preparation and agreement among its participants,".

It is not clear whether other parties will share the same position by the SPLM. Previously the Umma Party headed by Al-Sadiq Al-Mahdi rejected Al-Bashir's invitation saying it was addressed to its leader and not to the party.

In a related issue, the NCP said that an arrangement known as the "four freedoms" cannot be put in place between the North and South in the event of secession.

The head of the NCP organization bureau told the government sponsored Sudanese Media Centre (SMC) website that if the South becomes an independent sate it will be responsible for its people.

The "four freedoms" is an accord signed between Sudan and Egypt that allows citizens from both countries to have the right to work, reside, own and move freely between the two countries. It has yet to be fully implemented between the countries due to objections from the Egyptian parliament.

A meeting hosted by Cairo last month between the NCP and the SPLM suggested a similar accord between the North and South for a post-separation state.


DARFUR AID WORKER EXPULSION

Sudan confirms planned expulsion of international aid workers from Darfur for 'violations'
Associated Press Newswires
18 August 2010
12:02 GMT

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - Sudan says it will expel a number of international aid workers from the restive western region of Darfur, without specifying how many.

Local media reported earlier this week that six foreign staffers, including employees of the International Committee of the Red Cross, had been told to leave the country.

Foreign Ministry spokesman, Muwaia Khaled told the Associated Press on Wednesday that the aid workers were being deported because of individual "violations," not problems with their organizations.

He did not elaborate on the nature of the offenses.

Relations between aid groups and the Sudanese government have been deteriorating since March 2009, when 11 international organizations were expelled from the country.


Sudan reportedly expelled foreign aid workers over "rape detection devices"
Sudan Tribune website, Paris
18 August 2010; 07:24 GMT

Text of report in English by Paris-based Sudanese newspaper Sudan Tribune website on 18 August

Wednesday 18 August 2010 (KHARTOUM): The Sudanese government's decision to expel five aid officials last Sunday was made over its discovery that they were distributing "rape-detection devices" to several relief groups working in Darfur, according to one official here.

The commissioner for humanitarian aid in western Darfur Muhammad al-Hasan al-Awad was quoted by the local press as saying that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) sent the devices to the aid groups operating at the Eastern localities of Western Darfur.

"They [UNHCR] sent the devices to [the] American IMC organization and the Norwegian MAC organization. The first [organization] accepted the devices but the second [organization] rejected [it]," Al-Awad said.

The Sudanese official also accused UNHCR of paying researchers in Wadi Saleh area to collect information on rape cases.

"The head of the [UNHCR] office said the [activity] was done for the purpose of work and not to incriminate," he added.

Furthermore, Al-Awad said that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited areas controlled by a faction that split from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by Abd al-Wahid al-Nur without permission. He said that ICRC representative was directed to go to other areas but he insisted to go to rebel controlled areas and ended up having his car abducted and staff accompanying him.

With regard to expelling the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Al-Awad alleged that he was collecting unauthorized signatures for a petition from the IDP camps and NGO's to press the government to declare famine in the area.

The expulsion was the latest in a series of crackdown by Khartoum on the aid groups.

Last month, Sudan expelled two aid workers from the International Organization for Migration after the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a second warrant of arrest for President Bashir on three counts of genocide allegedly committed in Darfur region.

In March 2008, Sudan expelled 13 international aid NGOs following the issuance of the first ICC's arrest warrant for president Umar Hasan Al-Bashir on charges of war crime and crimes against humanity.

NGOs in Darfur provide food and medical aid as well as access to clean water for more than 2 million people affected by the Darfur conflict which was ignited in 2003 between the central government in Khartoum and rebels accusing it of neglecting to develop the region.

The Sudanese government this month was accused by the UN of denying access to Kalma camp in South Darfur which houses around 100,000 IDP's.


POLITICS/GOVERNMENT

SPLM requests S.Kordofan governor post transferred from NCP
Radio Miraya FM website, Juba
18 August 2010 10:10 GMT+3

The SPLM political bureau meeting's final communiqué asked for the transfer of the post of governor of south Kordofan to SPLM, after six months period, given to the National congress, ended according to the CPA.


Kiir Appoints New Ministers; The new GoSS Minister for Agriculture and Forestry Dr Anne Itto
Gurtong Trust website, Juba
18 August 2010

JUBA, 18 August 2010 (Gurtong) – President Kiir has also appointed Jimmy Lemi Milla the new Government of Southern Sudan Minister for Cooperatives and Rural Development.

Dr Itto, a key South Sudan Liberation Movement (SPLM) official, replaces the immediate former Minister the late Dr Samson Kwaje who died early this month at a Nairobi hospital.

According to Southern Sudan Radio, both appointments take effect immediately.


South Sudan seeks immediate financial assistance for road building
Sudan Tribune website, Paris
18 August 2010

August 17, 2010 (RENK) - The regional government of South Sudan on Tuesday made a public appeal targeting donor communities to release funds for immediate construction of roads and bridges.

In a press statement to media on Tuesday in Juba, Anthony Makana, the south's minister for roads and transport said that his government has given roads priority but lack of funds has hindered progress.

"Every day I receive an average of three to five (international) companies who want to do the roads but I tell them we don't have money," the minister said according to Reuters. "To connect all major towns in southern Sudan we need 13,000 km (8,000 miles) of roads ... we need five to six billion dollars to Tarmac about 80 percent of that," Reuters reported him as saying.

Makana said only three towns had asphalt roads in southern Sudan: Juba, the capital has 43 km (27 miles) Wau and Malakal have only 17 km (11 miles) combined

According to Reuters, Makana said that his budget of 463 million Sudanese pounds ($195 million) for this year was the "second biggest budget after security". "But I don't see this money ... about 70 percent of the budget goes to the companies who have already done work. That is why you may see in some places we are lagging behind in terms of addressing the challenges of infrastructure."

What is left of the budget, after paying the companies that have already completed work, is spent on rehabilitating dirt roads rather than starting new projects the minister said. With southern Sudan's referendum due to take place in less than five months, Makana requested that donors provide funds so that infrastructure projects can begin the poll.

The south is widely expected to vote to separate from the north. The referendum part of a peace deal between the ruling National Congress Party of president and Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), which ended 22 years of conflict. Since the 2005 the SPLM have governed southern Sudan as a autonomous region forming a government and establishing institutions.

According to Reuters:

Southern officials and aid agencies have in the past criticized the World Bank-led programme to administer donor money to the south as cumbersome and complex, saying it contributed to the slow development of the south post peace.

The World Bank admits there was a slow start to the programme but says major achievements have since been made including rehabilitating 363 km (227 miles) of roads and maintaining 945 km (590 miles).


The Ministry of Labor and Public Service Says Pension Of Civil Servants Must Be Paid
Sudan Radio Service (SRS) website, Nairobi
18 August 2010

18 August 2010 - (Juba) – The Ministry of Labor and Public Service in the government of southern Sudan says that pensions for civil servants must be paid by GoNU.

The Acting Undersecretary in the Ministry of Labor and Public Service Hellen Achiro Lutara said civil servants have all the rights to demand for pension because they contributed money to the government.

She was speaking to SRS on Tuesday in Juba.

[Hellen Achiro] “ At one time before the peace could be in place GONU Government was the one even responsible in the whole country , so people had been contributing towards the pension fund and it is the right of our people to ensure what they had contributed towards their pension they had to be paid . And the Government that had receiving this money should be responsible to ensure that the people get their dues.

That was the Acting Undersecretary in the Ministry of Labor and Public Service Hellen Achiro Lutara speaking to SRS in Juba.


Southern Sudan Speaker expected row with SPLM-DC would be resolved
The Citizen, Khartoum
18 August 2010; 11:04 GMT

Text of report in English by Sudanese newspaper The Citizen on 18 August

The Speaker for Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly (SSLA), James Wani Igga, said he is confident for resolving member row of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement for Democratic Change (SPLM - DC). In statements shortly after approval of the chairpersons and deputies of Specialized Committees yesterday, Igga said it was among the important matters at hand, needing attention.

"Maybe some of you expect us to bring it now but the people for input are the Minister for Legal Affairs, John Luk and the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Michael Makwei," he said. "I am sure that we will resolve it.. I am confident about that".

Although the matter remained unresolved for the moment, MPs of Sudan People's Liberation Movement for Democratic Change (SPLM - DC) have loosely started attending Parliamentary proceedings. A motion seeking resolution of the waiver of their immunity was rejected last week on condition that it was not procedural. Assembly leadership had demanded that their immunity should first be restored before they begin attending normal proceedings.

Their immunities were waived last June due to an alleged connection to a killing incident in which seven civilians and a paramount chief were horrendously murdered in Panyikang in Upper Nile State last May. The accused members of Sudan People's Liberation Movement for Democratic Change (SPLM - DC) denied any connection, saying that implicating them was politically motivated.

Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development, John Luk Jok wrote to the Assembly through the Speaker, noting that there were insufficient evidences implicating the accused in the murder. The most pressing issue Wanui cited was the impending referendum. According to Twich East County representative Deng Dau Deng, insecurity and poor roads were among other things the Parliament should shift into top gear and fight.


Jonglei State Assembly imposes financial contribution for referendum
Sudan Tribune website, Paris
18 August 2010

August 17, 2010 (BOR) – Jonglei State Legislative Assembly has unanimously passed a bill that requires all employed citizens to pay money to support a successful conduct of the upcoming referendum on 9th January 2011.

Called ’Citizen Referendum Contributions Bill’, the document demands that executives pay 1,000 Sudanese pounds (SDG) per month for five months. Members of the state assembly, directors and other civil servants will pay 500, 250 and 10 SDG per month for five months depending on their respective level of grades. Unclassified staffs and unemployed citizens of Jonglei state will pay 5 SDG once. The organized forces, according to the bill – now law- will contribute varying amounts of money once depending on one’s rank.

Speaking to Sudan Tribune on Tuesday in Bor, the Chairperson for Finance and Economic Planning, Deng Chuol Bei, said the bill’s success will rely on public contributions.

"This referendum is accepted by majority [of people] in Southern Sudan,” Deng Chuol said. "Whether for unity or separation, people are happy indeed that this referendum cannot fail," he responded when asked if public opinion was taken into account during the assembly’s deliberations on the bill.

The 2011 referendum in Southern Sudan on unity or separation of Sudan is in accordance with the 2005 peace accord that ended a two decades of civil war where more than 2 million people were killed. Analysts say southerners are likely to opt for independence given long period of wars and marginalization which have brought bitterness in the country.


Council of Traditional Authority Leaders not Independent: Ministry
Gurtong Trust website, Juba
17 August 2010

TORIT, 17 August 2010 (Gurtong) – Speaking yesterday in Torit at a 3-day consultative workshop of Council of Traditional Authority Leaders of Eastern Equatoria State, Famai dispelled claims by COTAL that they operate as an autonomous institution within its own jurisdiction.

“You cannot be fully autonomous when the State Ministry of Local Government and Law Enforcement Agencies exists because you operate under it. You are part of the local government only that you are extremely closest to the lowest administration of people at the grassroots”, he said.

He added that COTAL is a link and change agent between the people and the government.

“The idea of empowering you is to make a change and create uniform systems of judging societal norms for better and effective governance”, added the Director General.

He called for active cooperation among the traditional leaders adding that by so doing they are able to come up with their own bill which will from time to time safeguard and define their roles and functions as well as powers to be exercised by them.

He, however, clarified that the COTAL hold powers of mobilising resources including revenue collection to facilitate their operations.

Analysts have, however, criticised the government’s policy towards traditional leadership and have called for further adjustments to accommodate it.

They say chiefs know all the corners of their areas of jurisdiction and can efficiently reduce insecurity by apprehending perpetrators and criminals as well as resolving conflicts at the lowest levels.

They also content that traditional leaders play an instrumental role in local administration as well as revenue collection.

“Therefore, granting the traditional command authority to manage its affairs becomes of paramount importance so that available resources can be adequately mobilised and disclosed to the government. By doing so, they begin to feel ownership of governance hence improved relations. Failure to do this will continue to make local chiefs maintain their standoff and hide revenue base from the government even for hundreds of decades from now”, say the analysts.

Last week, the head of COTAL in Eastern Equatoria State Madam Magdalena Tito Ihisa lashed out at County Commissioners for alienating traditional leaders in administrative issues, even at the lowest levels.

The Eastern Equatoria State Governor Brigadier General Louis Lobong Lojore has outlined the importance of traditional leaders in his administrative policy.

The policy emphasises on devolving powers to the traditional authorities and implementing the decentralised system of governance through empowerment of the local leaders who make up the process.

The workshop was organised by the Government of Southern Sudan, the State Ministry of Local Government and Law Enforcement and the Local Government Board (LGB) with financial support from the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Switzerland.

The representative of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Switzerland Blaise Burnier said similar workshops have been conducted in Central Equatoria and Western Equatoria states, adding that all the remaining states will be covered.

“The project known as Council of Traditional Authority Leaders (COTAL) is implemented by the Local Government Board, Government of Southern Sudan, with the support of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland. It was initially known as the House of Nationalities project. Following the enactment of the Local Government Act in 2009 this name has been dropped and the project adapted to the implementation of the said Act, particularly section 119 providing for the establishment of Councils of Traditional Authority Leaders (COTAL) at the State level and eventually at Southern Sudan level”, said Burnier.

The official added that the project is now in its first phase and aims at providing a legal basis for the Council in each state of South Sudan.

“A draft Council of Traditional Authority Leaders Bill (COTAL Bill) was worked out during a workshop held in Juba in June 2010. Representatives of the Local Government Board, the Ministry of Legal Affairs, the Judiciary, as well as representatives of the State Ministry of Local Government and Law Enforcement, the Legal Administration and Traditional Authorities of each state participated in the workshop that resulted into a solid draft COTAL Bill for each State. Now, these drafts Bill are being consulted with the traditional authorities, the executive directors, the women, the elders and any other relevant stakeholder in each state during similar consultative workshop in the states”, said Burnier.

“We expect the COTAL Bill to be enacted in each state before the referendum”, said the official.


Western Bahr Al Ghazal State In Dire Need Of Medical And Education Services
Sudan Radio Service (SRS) website, Nairobi
18 August 2010

18 August 2010 - (Khartoum) – The Governor of Western Bahr Al Ghazal state says his state is in dire need of proper medical and Educational services.

Rizik Zacharia Hassan said the number of doctors in the state is insufficient to cater for the population in the state.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service in Khartoum on Tuesday, Rizik said that the state government is working on resolving the issue.

[ Rizik Zachariah]: “We are lacking some important services in the state especially in sectors such as the health sector, for example at the moment we have only eleven doctors in the whole state who are suppose to cater medically for the whole state which has around 333,000 people according to the census that was conducted. So that in statistical terms tell us that every doctor has around 33,000citizens that he needs to look after, and that is a big challenge to us, and that is why we are currently working with the ministry of Education and trying to bring more doctors to the state”

Rizik added that the education sector in the state also faces the same challenges.

[Rizik Zachariah]: “As far as education in the state is concerned, we are also faced with similar challenges in the schools, for example there are cases where by a school will have around eight classes but there will only be around three to four teachers in the whole school. And so we have talked to the minister in charge so that to help by supporting the state ministry so that we are able to build our capacity”

Governor of Western Bahr Al Ghazal state Rizik Zacharia Hassan was speaking to SRS in Khartoum.


Unity state authorities regulate mobile phone airtime prices
Sudan Tribune website, Paris
18 August 2010

August 17, 2010 (BENTIU) — Unity state’s Minister of Information and Communication, Gideon Gatpan, has warned black marketers not to unreasonably increase the prices of mobile phone airtimes in the state.

He directed the mobile operators and electronic dealers in Unity state to maintain the prices of the scratch card as per the price tag indicated with effect from 13th August 2010. It was discovered scratch card dealers had been introducing unreasonable high prices.

He urged all airtime dealers to identify themselves with individual mobile operators, and each operator shall submit the list of dealers to his Ministry at the office of Directorate of Communication.

Unregulated retailers have decided, for instance, to increase a 5 Sudanese pounds scratch card despite that they buy it at a discounted price from dealers.


Sudan's Al-Bashir calls for creating effective mechanism to attract investments
Sudan Vision website, Khartoum
18 August 2010; 13:06 GMT

Text of report in English by Sudanese government newspaper Sudan Vision website on 18 August

The meetings of Supreme Council on Investment kicked off at the Friendship Hall yesterday chaired by President Umar Al Bashir in the presence of Vice-President Ali Uthman Muhammad Taha.

Addressing the opening session, he reiterated his government's concern about investment and investors, citing capabilities Sudan abounds in. Al Bashir said what has been achieved over the past period and what is about to be done now prepares the climate for a comprehensive work in the development of the country and boosting its economy. He cited the reports of World Bank considering them one of world standard yard sticks, which indicated improvement and development Sudan is experiencing. Al Bashir said the country is looking forward to further investments, especially in the field of food security. He called for setting up necessary arrangements and effective mechanism for attracting further investments.

The President tackled the role of the council in resources management, legislations, preparing the climate for investment, reenergizing strategic partnerships with states, expressing his hope that the meeting will come out with a comprehensive plan for investment in the Sudan.

Presidential advisor, Mustafa Uthman Ismail, the Rapportuer of Council, pointed out the conditions and challenges under which the council was convening, further citing Sudan's economic and investment progress. He added that capabilities the country enjoys require moves to improve living conditions for its citizens.

Earlier, Dr Ismail had affirmed that objective behind the formation of the Supreme Investment Council was to help the Ministry of Investment remove obstacles facing investors.

He said that the council is under the chairmanship of President of the Republic and includes in its new membership each of First Vice President, Vice President, concerned ministries such as Finance, Industry, Labour, Agriculture, Central Bank of Sudan, Businessmen Association, and states governors.

Dr. Ismail added that it is expected that the council will meet every three months to review the reports of the Investment Ministry and other concerned ministries and parties related to investment.

He said the government is giving great concern to investment and the chairmanship of the President to the council is a proof to that concern in order to avail conducive environment to investors and to attract foreign capitals.

It is to be noted that the first session of the council since its new formation started yesterday in the Friendship Hall attended by all governors besides the concerned ministries. The council will hold three sessions to discuss the papers presented over the performance of the investment council, the general investment policies, the plan for the upcoming stage, the investment problems in Sudan and the future vision.

On his part, Businessmen Association Secretary General Bakri Yusuf lauded the role of the Supreme Council on Investment calling the council to create an attractive system for new investments in the country, affirming that the council represents a real support to the Ministry of Investment.


A city shaped like a giraffe? South Sudan unveils big plans ahead of January independence vote
Associate Press Newswires
18 August 2010; 11:27 GMT

JUBA, Sudan (AP) - The government of Southern Sudan this week announced a bold $10.1 billion plan to transform the capital cities of this largely rural territory, reshaping some into the shapes of animals and fruit.

The plan unveiled Tuesday in the war-torn region comes ahead of a scheduled January referendum on independence, which most people here believe will lead to the creation of the world's newest country.

The south is rich in oil, but poverty and hunger is high throughout the region, which is struggling to recover after a civil war more than two decades long.

Government officials did not say how they would find the money to finance the project, which includes a plan to transform two state capitals into the shapes of a giraffe and a pineapple, which appear on their flags.

The plan also aims to redesign the southern capital, Juba, and the 10 state capitals, said Jemma Kumba, the minister of housing and physical planning.

"Juba is made up of slums," said Kumba.

Her undersecretary, Daniel Wani, said that planning in the sprawling capital of Juba was "haphazardly done."

As part of the plan, residents of the capital would be relocated to about 10 miles (15 kilometers) outside of Juba in an area called "Rhino City," named after the symbol on the flag of Central Equatoria state.

Wani conceded that the government still needs "a lot of money." He said the government is in discussions with investors.

The southern government's own 2010 budget was only $1.9 billion, and the U.N. says more than 90 percent of Southern Sudan's population lives on less than $1 a day.

Southern Sudan, which is still recovering from decades of war, lacks basic infrastructure such as roads that connect its state capitals. Outside the southern capital Juba, structures aside from mud huts are rare, and in Juba, services such as electricity and sewage are a luxury.

The Minister of Roads and Transport, Anthony Makana, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he needed up to $6 billion to pave 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) of roads in the south.

Makana said the project would connect all of the southern state capitals, but he noted that funding is a concern, given that the government has not finished paying the contractors who built 4,350 miles (7,000 kilometers) of red clay and gravel roads since 2005, when the landmark peace accord between the north and south was signed.


Judges Of Southern Sudan completes A Ten Week Course On Civil And Criminal Laws Procedures
Sudan Radio Service (SRS) website, Nairobi
18 August 2010

18 August 2010 - (Juba) – The judges of southern Sudan have completed a ten week course on civil and criminal laws procedures in Juba on Wednesday.

The judges from all courts in the ten states of southern Sudan were trained by foreign expertise brought by the International Development Law organization in conjunction with the Judiciary of southern sudan.

Speaking to SRS during the closing ceremony, the president of the supreme court of southern Sudan, Justice John Wol Makec said that the training has empowered the judges with secular laws applicable in the region.

[Justice John Wol ]: “In this training, we invited the former chief justices and justices of supreme courts from sister-countries like Uganda, Kenya and South Africa to conduct the training here under our guidance so that we give priorities to particular topics which are necessary for our judges. We are satisfied because it is in line with our priorities. When we use to send our judges to south Africa or to East Africa, they used to be taught laws according to the priorities of those countries, and that is why we change the training to be done here in southern Sudan so that we give emphasis to our priorities.”

Judge Malek Mathiang and Omot Santino both from Central and Unity states respectively expressed their confidence to SRS.

[Malek Mathiang ]: “Actually, they were training us about our own laws such as; the criminal procedure act of 2000, civil procedure act of 2007 which are both southern Sudanese laws and those are relevant to us. This training was very beneficial because we were introduced to procedures being it civil or criminal. And all these laws if applied than the achievement of end-justice will be efficient.”

[Omot Santino]: “We have learnt a lot on things such as the law of evidence, the child act, and the CRC which stands for the child right convention. We will go and implement all these things in our areas of work. My message to the public is that this is your judiciary and you need to be confident in it because right now we are coming with a new spirit and a new vision to give you all your rights.”

The manager of the International Development Law Organization, Roelof Haveman, in southern Sudan told SRS that the training has met its expectations.

[Roelof Haveman]: “I am certain that this training was very good and it succeeded in involving the judges in all the discussions. All the judges know now exactly all the procedures. These procedures are vital for a good justice system. So we have worked for ten weeks on the procedures on civil and criminal law. The second thing which is a big improvement is the form of judgment; that now the judgments have a standard form that every judge takes. I would like to see that in five years we have a judiciary which is really capable of rendering justice to the people of southern Sudan.”

That was Roelof Haveman speaking to SRS during the graduation of the judges of southern Sudan on Wednesday in Juba.


REFERENDUM

African think-tank predicts possible "painful split" of Sudan into two countries
Sudan Tribune website
18 August 2010

August 17, 2010 (JUBA) - The most internationally recognized African think-tank, the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CCR), has warned of a possible painful split of Sudan into two independent countries. In a press release issued on Tuesday the Center for Conflict Resolution will organize a seminar in Cape Town, South Africa, on Wednesday next week to discuss the future of the country.

"As Sudan faces the prospect of possibly being split into two countries and giving painful birth to a new nation - with a referendum in South Sudan scheduled for January 2011 - world-leading scholar-diplomats on Africa's largest country will be speaking at a meeting hosted by the Centre for Conflict Resolution."

Sudanese scholar-diplomat and Special Adviser of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Professor Francis Deng, will be previewing his new book entitled, ‘Sudan at the Brink: Self-Determination and National Unity.'

The meeting, which is chaired by Ambassador James Jonah, former UN Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs, will also be addressed by Dr Jan Pronk, a former UN special representative for Sudan and former minister for development cooperation in the Netherlands, and Ambassador Richard Williamson, a former US special envoy to Sudan.
"The speakers will consider the implications of South Sudan's forthcoming self-determination vote while a host of key post-referendum issues - such as security arrangements, sharing of water assets and oil revenues, and decisions about currency and national capitals - remain unresolved," reads the press release.


Southern Sudan Not Prepared For Independence
Sudan Radio Service (SRS) website, Nairobi
18 August 2010

18 August 2010 - (Khartoum) – The Chairman of the southern Sudan Democratic Front party says that the Referendum for the south scheduled for next year may have serious implications if the system of governance in the south is not changed.

David De chand said it is too early for the south to secede given its lack of leadership capabilities.

David De Chand spoke to Sudan Radio Service in an exclusive interview on Wednesday from Khartoum.

[David De Chand]: “we are not ready to governor ourselves, unless there were to be changes. The system that we have had for the last five and a half years in southern Sudan has not prepared southern Sudanese to governing themselves; we are not capable of governing ourselves at this point in time. because one, we have been very extremely entrenched in tribalism, we lack a system of governing, we lack democratization, we lack freedom of movement, we lack all the characteristic that would make the nation be come a viable nation at the time”

David De Chand added that if the south secedes from the North there will be disintegration within the south.

[David De Chand]: “Today if southern Sudan goes as state, given the current situation in southern Sudan, the south will disintegrate itself. The south will not be united, the south will either resolve to become totally three new southern Sudan or there would be more confusion, blood shed, nobody wants more blood shed, but the best thing will be that if the current situation can not change in southern Sudan, mister Pagan Amum and his colleagues will declare the independence of the south then another person will declare independence within the independence or separation within separation because SPLM is not competed to governor southern Sudan.”

De Chand is appealing to the people of the south to come together and dialogue with one another in a bid to have one decision before the conduct of the referendum next year.

[David De Chand]: “My appeal to every southern Sudanese is that let us sit down and dialoged, SPLM alone cannot under no circumstance determine the political future of south Sudan. If they do not know that then they need to be told now for them to know. It has to contact other southern political parties within this very short period. We have to dialog meaningfully. Dialoged in order for us to come as one and make one decision. Right now we have too many decisions.”

The Chairman Of the southern Sudan Democratic Front party was speaking to SRS from Khartoum on Wednesday.


S. Sudan wants voters to return for referendum
Associated Press Newswires
18 August 2010

JUBA, Sudan: The government of Southern Sudan wants 1.5 million Southerners who fled to the country’s North during Sudan’s long civil war to return home before a crucial referendum that could split the oil-rich South from the North.

The return of so many Southern voters could help the referendum gain additional support if those Southerners are not allowed to vote while living in the North. A commission is currently deadlocked on whether to allow such votes. But a Southern official denied the plans to return Southerners are linked to the January vote and said they are motivated by humanitarian concerns.

“We’re not politicians. We’re operating on humanitarian grounds. If they come to vote for unity, we don’t care. If they come to vote for succession, we don’t care,” said the government’s director of repatriation, Arop Mathiang Amiyock.

Returning families would be directed to reception centers in towns where they would be fed and sheltered for three months, Amiyock added.

“We are looking for resources from the government and from donors. That’s why we haven’t started the project yet.”

Southern Sudan is scheduled to hold an independence referendum in January, a condition agreed upon in a 2005 peace accord that formally ended the more than two-decade-long civil war between the country’s north and south. Preparations for the referendum are running behind schedule, and officials have warned that little time remains to complete critical tasks.

Some Southerners worry that the North is too dependent on revenues generated by Southern oil to let the region become independent