SAF: Hosting Armed Rebels in the South Sudan Violates international Law
11 min readBy: Al-Sammani Awadallah
Khartoum – Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) has announced its rejection of South Sudan’s accommodation of Darfur armed movement to destabilize Sudan, a in a reference to reports about existence of alliance between North Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Darfur armed Movement to establish a military base in South Sudan’s state of Unity.
Sudan Military Spokesperson Brig. Al-Sawarmi Khalid Saad said the international law prohibits South Sudan state destabilize any state or attempt to accommodate an opposition, or form military cells to maneuver Sudan or any other country is deemed international crime, and that Sudan reserves the right to resort to international justice to recover its rights. He affirmed that Sudan can turn to such procedures in the event South Sudan accommodates Darfur armed movements and north Sudan SPLM.
The spokesperson said the second option is concerted crackdown, pointing out that law allows Sudan Armed Forces to crackdown on whosoever attempts to destabilize Sudan escapes or resort to another country. In this connection, Saad cited a protocol signed between Sudan and Uganda regarding cracking down on Lord Resistance Army (LRA) inside Sudanese territories.
In response to SPLM north Sudan declaration of having an army or it will form a military wing, Saad told Sudan Vision said such declaration was against the Constitution in such case the north sector [SPLM] will no longer be deemed a political body but an independent rebel entity and should be dealt with a rebels against the government, law and Constitution. However, the spokesperson affirmed Sudan’s military’s capability of deterring any rebellion against the country.
Earlier, newly formed National Resistance Front made up of Sudan Liberation Movements separately led by Abdul Wahid and Minawi and North Sudan People’s Liberation Movement known as “North Sector” recently held a meeting in Juba in the presence of James Huth, Chief of Staff of South Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), considerable number of SPLM leaders in South Kordufan and the Blue Nile states, some leaders from Minnawi’s movement and Deputy Commander of rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
A sources said the meeting had decided to establish a military command for the Front in the region of Manga, Unity state. The command of the military zone in Manga, according to the decision of the meeting, was assigned to SPLA Chief of Staff, while field command was assigned to SPLM and JEM troops; logistic support was left for SLM –Abdul Wahid, and Minnawi Movement was assigned with technical support,
Sudan Armed Forces has announced its rejection of South Sudan’s accommodation of Darfur armed movement to destabilize Sudan, a in a reference to reports about existence of alliance between North Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and Darfur armed Movement to establish a military base in South Sudan’s state of Unity.
Sudan Military Spokesperson Brig. Al-Sawarmi Khalid Saad said the international law prohibits South Sudan state destabilize any state or attempt to accommodate an opposition, or form military cells to maneuver Sudan or any other country is deemed international crime, and that Sudan reserves the right to resort to international justice to recover its rights. He affirmed that Sudan can turn to such procedures in the event South Sudan accommodates Darfur armed movements and north Sudan SPLM.
The spokesperson said the second option is concerted crackdown, pointing out that law allows Sudan Armed Forces to crackdown on whosoever attempts to destabilize Sudan escapes or resort to another country. In this connection, Saad cited a protocol signed between Sudan and Uganda regarding cracking down on Lord Resistance Army (LRA) inside Sudanese territories.
In response to SPLM north Sudan declaration of having an army or it will form a military wing, Saad told Sudan Vision said such declaration was against the Constitution in such case the north sector [SPLM] will no longer be deemed a political body but an independent rebel entity and should be dealt with a rebels against the government, law and Constitution. However, the spokesperson affirmed Sudan’s military’s capability of deterring any rebellion against the country.
Earlier, newly formed National Resistance Front made up of Sudan Liberation Movements separately led by Abdul Wahid and Minnawi and North Sudan People’s Liberation Movement known as “North Sector” recently held a meeting in Juba in the presence of James Huth, Chief of Staff of South Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), considerable number of SPLM leaders in South Kordufan and the Blue Nile states, some leaders from Minnawi’s movement and Deputy Commander of rebel Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
A sources said the meeting had decided to establish a military command for the Front in the region of Manga, Unity state. The command of the military zone in Manga, according to the decision of the meeting, was assigned to SPLA Chief of Staff, while field command was assigned to SPLM and JEM troops; logistic support was left for SLM –Abdul Wahid, and Minnawi Movement was assigned with technical support,
http://www.sudanvisiondaily.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=79315
Sudan’s NCP to slap ban on SPLM-north party
August 12, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP) is contemplating a move to ban the armed opposition party Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in the country, according to Sudan Tribune’s sources.
- SPLM northern sector’s deputy chairman Abdul Aziz Al-Hilu (L) chairman Malik Aggar (C) and secretary-general Yasir Arman (FILE-ST)
ST’s sources on Friday said that the ban is likely to be made through the Council of Political Parties which oversees and regulates the registration and activities of political parties.
The SPLM northern sector in Sudan has been structurally bifurcated from the SPLM in South Sudan which rules the newly independent state.
SPLM northern sector is officially registered as a political party in Sudan but NCP officials have in the past said indicated that they would not allow it to continue its activities in the north, saying it would be considered as an extension of a foreign party after the south declares independence.
The potential ban comes against the backdrop of an alliance being forged by the SPLM northern sector with two rebel groups from the country’s western region of Darfur.
It has been reported that the alliance deal, which includes beside the SPLM northern sector two factions of the Darfur rebel group Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) led by the Uganda-based Abdul Wahid Nur and Minni Minawi, is not yet sealed as efforts continue to incorporate the other Darfur rebels Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
A reliable source speaking on condition anonymity to Sudan Tribune said on Wednesday that negotiations between SPLM, JEM and the two SLM factions would continue to bridge the gaps between the parties over the contentious issues in order to reach a final agreement.
The declared goal of the alliance is to overthrow the Khartoum government whose army has been battling Fighters of the SPLM’s military wing, Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), in Sudan’s southern region of Kordofan since early June. South Kordofan fighting continues to rumble on after the NCP reneged on a framework agreement signed by its negotiators last month with the SPLM to deescalate the situation.
Sudan President and NCP’s chairman Omer Al-Bashir expressed objection to the agreement’s recognition of the SPLM as a legal political party in the north, ordering the army to sustain its operations in South Kordofan until it is “purged” of whom he called rebels and the SPLM’s leader in the state Abdul Aziz Al-Hilu is arrested.
Meanwhile, the director of Khartoum’s Center for Human Rights (KCHR), a state-run organization, claimed that the continuation of the SPLM in north Sudan after the south’s split is inverse to the constitution.
KCHR director Ahmad Al-Mufti on Friday told the Sudan Media Center, a website run by the country’s security services, that the existence of the SPLM in north Sudan was rendered “unconstitutional” following the south’s secession last month.
He justified his legal edict by saying that the political parties law does not permit any party to have military wings.
In a related development, an NCP parliamentarian has called for a summit between Al-Bashir and South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir to address the tense situation in South Kordofan.
According to Afaf Tawor, the leader of the NCP’s bloc from South Kordofan in the national assembly, the solution to the crisis in South Kordofan lies in the hands of Al-Bashir and Kiir.
She told reporters in Khartoum on Friday that an urgent summit between Al-Bashir and Kiir is needed to put an end to the crisis.
The NCP’s parliamentarian accused the SPLM northern sector of seeking to exploit the indigenous Nuba population in South Kordofan and turn the state into a scene of military operations.
Tawar claimed that fighting broke out in the last two days between two tribes of Nuba and resulted in deaths and injuries.
(ST)
http://www.sudantribune.com/Sudan-s-NCP-to-slap-ban-on-SPLM,39821
Kordofan And Darfur: Taking The War To Khartoum
August 8, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudan People Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South Kordofan and two factions from the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) in Darfur sealed an alliance with the publicized goal of overthrowing the government of president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir and establishing a secular state in the country.
The Darfur Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) however distanced itself from the accord over the issue of the secular state and insisted instead that the focus should be the creation of a citizenship rights state.
Gamar Dalman, the media adviser to the SPLM leader in South Kordofan, told Sudan Tribune in a phone interview on Monday that the tripartite agreement was signed today in Kaoda, South Kordofan by Ramadan Hassan Nimir from the SPLM-Kordofan, Abul Gassim Al-Haj representing the SLM-Abdel Wahid Al-Nur and Al-Rayah Mahmood on behalf of the SLM-Minni Minnawi.
He said the agreement “provides for the use of political and military means to topple down the regime of the [ruling] National Congress Party (NCP)” and movement towards a secular state in the whole of Sudan.
Dalman also emphasized that the alliance pact is open to all the other political forces in the country.
The SPLM-North reached a framework agreement with the Sudanese government brokered by the head of an African Union Panel Thabo Mbeki to negotiate a political partnership between the two parties and to discuss security arrangements.
But the Sudanese president came back a week later and rejected it. He also ordered the army to hunt down Abdel Aziz Al-Hilu, leader of Southern Kordofan SPLM and bring him to justice.
The SPLM-North Sudan said after a leadership meeting on July 21st that included Chairman Malik Aggar and Secretary General Yasir Arman besides Vice-Chairman Al-Hilu that it would only resume talks with Khartoum if the latter accepts a mediated process.
The summit also declared that the SPLM will determine its political strategy including the principle of regime change within a month’s time.
Dalman said the rapprochement between the SPLM-North and Darfur rebel groups was initiated by the Secretary General Yasir Arman adding that he along with Aggar are now “rebels” against Khartoum. He also underlined that all the political forces were approached to join the alliance.
He pointed out that the issue of the secular state is the only guarantee for Southern Kordofan people who reject any other option in this respect.
He however said if Khartoum accepts to resume an internationally brokered process, they will bring the demands of their Darfurian allies and put it on the negotiating table with the NCP’s government.
JEM REBUFFS THE ALLIANCE OVER SECULAR STATE CLAUSE
A delegation of JEM rebels headed by its deputy chairman Ahmed Adam Bakheit was part of the talks held in South Kordofan. The rebel group, which took part in the fighting against the government troops alongside SPLM South Kordofan last month, refused to join the alliance over the principle of the secular state.
JEM spokesperson Gibreel Adam Bilal, told Sudan Tribune the secular state is not the most important issue at the present stage and the efforts should be directed at toppling the regime. He said their delegation emphasized that the future Sudanese state should be built on the basis of full and equal citizenship, as well as the separation of the religion and the state.
“However imposing the secularism is similar to the theocratic state and such decision should be decided by the whole Sudanese people,” Gibreel said. He disclosed that JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim discussed this point in his telephone conversation with the SPLM Secretary General Yasir Arman on Sunday.
Bilal said that JEM’s position on the place of religion “is quite clear”. He also underlined another divergence on the role of the political forces that refuse to carry arms against the regime. He said his group wanted a place be clearly designed for these forces to ensure their participation in the interim period.
But Ahmed Tugud JEM’s top negotiator stated to Sudan Tribune that their delegation is still discussing with other parties ways to resolve contentious issues related to the drafting of the document. He also criticized some rebel officials for leaking the contents of the agreement before it is finalized.
JEM is part in the Doha political process to end Darfur conflict but refused to sign a peace deal with Khartoum asking to open direct negotiations on the seven chapters of a framework peace document, a matter that Khartoum refuses.
Ibrahim Gambari the Joint Special Representative and the interim mediator informed the rebel group in a meeting held in Doha last Saturday that Khartoum still refuses to open the whole document for talks and says it can discuss only JEM political participation and the security arrangements.
JEM delegation is preparing to leave the venue of the peace process saying it would return if a new development occurs, showing its commitment to the Doha process to end the eight year conflict.
The two SLM groups of Al-Nur and Minnawi are not part of the Doha process. Al-Nur adopted recently a holistic approach saying Darfur crisis can only be solved through a regime change in Khartoum. While the government rejects to include in the Doha process Minnawi who signed the 2066 peace agreement in Abuja.
Dalman said that a statement by the signatories is in the works and will be put out on Tuesday with the text of the alliance pact.
In Khartoum the Sudanese Media Center (SMC) website, a media outlet close to the Sudanese intelligence service, accused the South Sudan government of sponsoring the meeting and claimed that the SLPA’s chief of staff, James Hoth, personally supports the military aspect of the integration of Darfur and Southern Kordofan rebel combatants.
Reacting to the deal, the NCP political officer, Qutbi al-Mahdi said the alliance wants to weaken the Doha accord signed with the rebel Liberation and Justice Movement (LJM) on July 14th. He further said it proves the continued support from the SPLM to Darfur rebels.
http://sosanews.com/2011/08/09/kordofan-and-darfur-taking-the-war-to-khartoum/
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