JUBE DAILY NEWS

At least 81 reporters were killed doing their jobs in 2017, as harassment and attacks on journalists have been on the rise, according to the International Federation of Journalists. Although the number of deaths is slightly down from last year's total of 93, the IFJ cautioned that an unprecedented number of journalists were jailed in 2017, with more than 250 still in prison. "Self-censorship was widespread and ... impunity for the killings, harassment, attacks and threats against independent journalism was running at epidemic levels," the Belgium-based organization said in its annual report, released on Sunday. Reporters lost their lives in targeted killings, car bombings and crossfire incidents around the world, the IFJ said, although the loss of ground by armed groups reduced journalists' exposure to the front lines in some combat zones. For example, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group ( ISIL , also known as ISIS) steadily lost ground throu...

A South Sudanese rebel general allied to former First Vice President Riek Machar has been killed in fighting with government troops in the town of Bangalo in Amadi state over the weekend. Rebel spokesman Paul Lam Gabriel confirmed to Radio Tamazuj that the deputy commander of the SPLA-IO’s division in the area, Brig. Gen. Joseph Yallo and his two bodyguards were killed in clashes on Saturday. “The government attacked our positions in the town of Bangalo and killed General Yallo. The area was under our control, but the government forces came and captured it,” Lam said. Lul Ruai Koang, SPLA's military spokesperson, said in a statement that they had killed two rebel generals, including chief of intelligence in Bangalo. He accused the rebels of attacking their convoy. “Rebels ambushed an SPLA convoy which was delivering food and salaries to soldiers deployed at Galia of Bangalo County. The convoy broke through and succeeded in delivering essential food rations and salaries...

The Minister of National Security has told officers of the sector to treat civilians with respect while executing their duties. Obote Mamur said the relations between the National Security and the civil population must be improved He also said a soldier must draw his strength from “support of the civil population.” Addressing newly recruited officers at a training center on the outskirt of Juba, General Mamur said “one joins the security sector in order to protect and serve the population with efficiency and professionalism.” “The relations between a soldier and a civilian known as civil – military relations must be improved. It is the collar of your work; it is what makes you strong. You must respect a civilian,” he said. For his part, the Director General of Internal Security, Akol Khor said in the past the civil population used to respect and cooperate with the army. “Civilians in Wau used to take out their bed sheets and placed on the road so that our soldier...

The Trump administration on Thursday announced sanctions against 52 people and entities from around the world over alleged human rights abuses and corruption, including Benjamin Bol Mel of South Sudan. “Today, the United States is taking a strong stand against human rights abuse and corruption globally by shutting these bad actors out of the U.S. financial system.  Treasury is freezing their assets and publicly denouncing the egregious acts they’ve committed, sending a message that there is a steep price to pay for their misdeeds,” said Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin. “At the direction of President Trump, Treasury and our interagency partners will continue to take decisive and impactful actions to hold accountable those who abuse human rights, perpetrate corruption, and undermine American ideals.” Benjamin Bol Mel is the President of ABMC Thai-South Sudan Construction Company Limited (ABMC), and has served as the Chairman of the S...

South Sudan’s government and rebel groups signed a ceasefire on Thursday in the latest attempt to end a four-year civil war and allow humanitarian groups access to civilians caught in the fighting. The ceasefire aims to revive a 2015 peace deal that collapsed last year after heavy fighting broke out in South Sudan’s capital Juba. It was agreed after talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa convened by regional bloc  IGAD . A decision by President Salva Kiir to sack his deputy Riek Machar triggered the war in the world’s youngest country. The war has been fought largely along ethnic lines between forces loyal to Kiir, who is Dinka, and Machar, who is Nuer. There is no longer any excuse for the violations of human rights. All parties are obliged to observe cessation of hostilities agreement. Tens of thousands have died and a third of the population of 12 million have fled their homes. The conflict has since mutated from a two-way fight into one involving multiple parti...

Rebecca Garang de Mabior, widow of the founding leader of South Sudan’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) said the conflict in the country would never be resolved unless President Salva Kiir steps down. Speaking at the IGAD-brokered forum to revitalize the implementation of a peace deal signed in 2015, Rebecca described the government of President Kiir as “ineffective and should be replaced”. “If you are afraid to say it, I am saying it, because there is nothing they are delivering. Three weeks ago, hundreds of people died. How many people do we need to die in order for us to see this government is not delivering and should be replaced?” The former presidential adviser on gender and human rights before falling out with President Kiir, leading to her sacking, quoted her late husband to describe the inability of the government to deliver. “The way forward for the government in Juba is to go because there is nothing that they can deliver. Dr John (G...

Seven youths from Jonglei State who were arrested in Juba by national security officials have finally been released, a community leader said. Deng Dau Deng, deputy chairperson of the greater Bor community, told Radio Tamazuj on Tuesday that seven youth were released on Sunday. “All the arrested youth from Bor have been released without charge because they were arrested for administrative issues. Three people were released last month and seven others were released two days ago,” Dau said. Dau, who is also a lawmaker in Juba, said the youth were released to give the national dialogue process a chance. Multiple sources said earlier that the arrested youths were deemed critical of Kiir’s administration.

Chiefs of Rup and Pakam communities in Western Lakes State have welcomed the declaration of a state of emergency in the area by President Salva Kiir recently after renewed clashes between the two communities. Pakam Paramount Chief, Jei Aru Mochok, told Radio Tamazuj on Monday that the declaration by the president will help reduce the fighting. He added that the only way to discourage further fighting is by disarming the youth on both sides. “If the guns are collected from the hands of the youth it means the killing will end but if it is not done that means the youth will finish themselves,” he said. Awuok Chirong, Paramount Chief of Rup community also expressed gratitude about the state of emergency declared by the president reiterating that the greatest challenge facing peace efforts in the area is the spread of arms in the hands of the civilians. Early last week, President Kiir declared a state of emergency in Gok, Eastern Lakes and Western lakes states after renewed f...

The rebel’s loyal to Riek Machar attacked four commercial trucks coming from Aweil near Mogayat in Raja, and at the same time there were two NGO vehicles coming from Raja," the state minister of information, Omar Isahaq told  Sudan Tribune  Monday. The abducted aid workers, the minister said, were from HealthNet and Solidarity International. “There are four aid workers from Solidarity International, and three aid workers from HealthNet. The rebels took the two vehicles belonging to the NGOs,” said Isahaq. A dozen civilians were reportedly killed when the gunmen attacked four commercial vehicles near Mogayat area. A South Sudanese rebel official separately admitted they abducted 15 people during the attack. The rebel appointed governor of Lol state, Ayman Mohamed Ibrahim, claimed those abducted were South Sudan government soldiers and Sudanese rebels. Nine aid workers were killed in South Sudan in November alone, the United Nations Office for the Coordina...

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - South Sudanese rebels accused the government army of attacking one of their bases overnight as a new round of peace talks between the warring sides opened in the Ethiopian capital on Monday. ebel spokesman Lam Paul Gabriel said government troops attacked a rebel base in the town of Lasu in the south of the country late on Sunday. “They are in the IO base,” he said, referring to the name of the rebel group. Army spokesmen were not immediately available to comment when called by Reuters on Monday afternoon. The talks in Addis Ababa have been convened by the East African bloc IGAD and are aimed at bringing the warring sides back to the negotiating table after a 2015 peace deal collapsed last year during heavy fighting in the capital, Juba. The war began in 2013 between soldiers of President Salva Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and his former vice president, Riek Machar, a Nuer. Tens of thousands of people have died and a third of South Sudan’s 12 mi...

In Summary Some analysts view the Addis forum as a last chance to prevent killings, rapes, displacement and hunger-related deaths on a scale even greater than has so far been witnessed NEW YORK  The United States wants the December 18-22 high-level IGAD forum on South Sudan to result in an agreement to halt the violence that has taken tens of thousands of lives during the past four years. “What we expect the parties to do is use the forum to stop the conflict on the ground and produce a path forward,” Mr Paul Sutphin, the State Department’s senior advisor on Sudan and South Sudan, said in an interview on Sunday. Any verbal commitment to half the violence must be “verifiable” on the ground, Mr Sutphin added. He cautioned that a successful outcome of the High Level Revitalizations Forum will be difficult to achieve. “We’re not going into this with unrealistic expectations of things going forward easily,” he said by phone from Addis Ababa, site of the forum s...

The Council of Minister of the East African bloc IGAD has reaffirmed its readiness to take all necessary actions against individuals and groups that spoil and derail the revitalization process from moving forward. “In this regard, the Council calls upon the TGoNU, and all South Sudanese parties to focus on the higher goal of the national interest, and securing the future of the South Sudan,” partly reads a communique  passed during a meeting in Addis Ababa on Sunday. The IGAD council of minister also in its 59th Extra-Ordinary Session emphasized that the IGAD member states have followed with concern the continuation of the senseless violence in South Sudan, which is inflicting enormous pain and suffering on the South Sudanese people, and has resulted in massive displacement of the population, a dire humanitarian situation, and the devastation of the economy unprecedented in the history of South Sudan. The Council also noted with deep regret that in spite of the continuing ...

Somalia, South Sudan, and Syria are the most corrupt countries in the world, according to newly released figures. South Sudan was ranked 2nd most corrupt country in the world after scoring 11 points, Burundi was ranked 159th with 20 points and Uganda 151st with 25 points. Tanzania came 116th with 32 points and Rwanda 54th with 50 points. Ethiopia scored 34 points (108) and Sudan 14 (170), while the last was Somalia at position 176 with 10 points. Experts from non-profit Transparency International consulted business people and local experts to give each country a rating out of 100, with zero being the most corrupt and 100 being the least, to create its corruption perceptions index. This year’s results highlight the connection between corruption and inequality, which feed off each other to create a vicious circle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in society, and unequal distribution of wealth. In too many countries, people are de...

Sorghum farm was destroyed by a fire outbreak in Bor town in South Sudan’s Jonglei state early this month.  An official, who preferred anonymity, told Radio Tamazuj on Saturday that that Akur Agricultural Project which is owned by the state government was consumed by fire on 4 December, describing the incident as devastating. Atem Gak, director general at the ministry of agriculture in Jonglei, confirmed that the Akur farm was destroyed by fire. He pointed out that the fire consumed 500 feddan. “The incident took place on December 4. Nobody was arrested in connection with the incident,” he said. John Deng, a local resident in Bor, urged Jonglei government to issue an order banning burning of bushes and trees in order to preserve the environment. In 2016, Jonglei governor Philip Aguer launched Akur Agricultural Project in order to fight hunger in the state. 

BY Lucy  Ayak Malek The war continues to change course, with new players coming in and other changing sides every other week. For goodness’ sake, have we lost all our humanity? Millions of our people are living like animals in IDP and UN camps, worse than those in refuge in other countries. Imagine a South Sudanese wishing to live as a refugee in a foreign land than stay in his/her own country? At this point, it’s useless to apportion blame, but rather, to look beyond person interests and seek peace. We have not gone beyond redemption, no… we still have our humanity. We don’t stop being human simply because we are on the side of government or rebels. Inside a soldier/rebel uniform there is a human being. Please, let that inner human being overpower the soldier/rebel outside, and seek peace. Let the leaders on both sides look beyond their expectations and needs and look to our people’s suffering. Yes there may be legitimate causes f...

The United Nations Security Council renewed the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan until 15 March 2018, determining that the situation in South Sudan constituted a threat to international peace and security. The decision was taken unanimously by the fifteen members of the Security Council, and it comes while the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD is expected to organise the revitalization forum of the 2015 peace agreement in South Sudan on 18 December. The 15‑member organ authorized the Mission to use all necessary means to carry out its tasks as set out in resolution 2327 (2016), which had extended its mandate through 15 December 2017. After the adoption on Wednesday, Yasuhisa Kawamura, Council President for December, read out a statement in support of a High-Level Revitalization Forum sponsored by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to be convened by the end of December. The Council acknowledged tha...

 Photo taken by Emmanuel malual makuach in Ayod   2014 Aid agencies in war-torn South Sudan have appealed for $1.72 billion to avert the growing crisis in the country. The appeal was made at the launch of South Sudan’s humanitarian response plan of action for 2018 in the capital Juba today. Photo taken by Emmanuel Malual Makuach in Ayod  2014 Alain Noude’hou, the UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, said the assistance will provide critical and lifesaving assistance to six million South Sudanese affected by the ongoing conflict. “Today, we are calling for $ 1.72 billion to continue providing life-saving assistance and protection for 6 million people most in need in South Sudan, “he said. “There is a growing need for humanitarian assistance with displacement, food insecurity, malnutrition, violence and economic decline taking a toll on health, safety and livelihoods of people in need,” he added. He pointed out that many aid agencies plan t...

SPLA troops are ready to start the disarmament exercise in the three states of Gok, Western and Eastern Lakes states, a top military official said. On Monday, President Salva Kiir declared a three-month state of emergency in the three states, where inter-communal clashes intensified. Kiir ordered the army chief to disarm all armed youth involved in clashes between communities in the states under lock down. General Marial Chanuong, commander of the ground forces, told the press in Juba on Tuesday that they had received President Kiir’s orders and that the army is ready to carry out the disarmament exercise. “As directed to the chief of defence forces to prepare forces to be send to Lake States for disarmament and now it is out of the presidency, and now it has been left to us in the army,” he said. The army commander said the disbarment exercise will be very simple when the SPLA army arrives in the area. General Marial expressed optimism that the army will...