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112 total results foundAuthor: Garfield, Richard Title: Violence and Victimization after Civilian Disarmament: The Case of Jonglei Summary: This report discusses victimization findings regarding both coercive and 'voluntary' civilian disarmament in Southern Sudan following the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). Details: Geneva: Small Arms Survey, 2007 Source: HSBA Working Paper 11, Graduate Institute of International Studies Year: 2007 Country: Sudan Keywords: Firearms Shelf Number: 116489 |
Author: Hamid, Abdel HA Title: Nature and Extent of Environmental Crime in Sudan: Situation Report Summary: This report analyses the nature and extent of environmental crime in Sudan. The study was carried out between October 2008 and March 2009 with two main objectives, namely to assess the nature and extent of environmental crime, and to determine the capacity needs of the environmental law enforcement agencies in the country. Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2010. 38p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: Sudan Keywords: Illegal Logging Shelf Number: 118791 |
Author: Leonardi, Cherry Title: Local Justice in Southern Sudan Summary: Since its establishment five years ago under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) has struggled to create a justice system that reflects the values and requirements for justice among the people of Southern Sudan. For both political and practical reasons, chiefs’ courts and customary law are central to this endeavor. A key question facing the GoSS is how to define the relationship between chiefs’ courts (and the ideas about law that they embody) and the courts of Southern Sudan’s judiciary, while ensuring equal access to justice and the protection of human rights. Policy discussions and recent interventions have focused on ascertainment, whereby the customary laws of communities (usually defined as ethnic groups) would be identified and recorded in written form, to become the basis for the direct application, harmonization, and modification of customary law. This report empirically analyzes the current dynamics of justice at the local level, identifying priorities for reform according to the expressed needs and perceptions of local litigants. Our findings are based on field research conducted from November 2009 to January 2010 in three locations in Southern Sudan: Aweil East, Wau, and Kajokeji. Details: Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2010. 94p. Source: Internet Resource: Peaceworks No. 66: Accessed October 20, 2010 at: http://www.swisspeace.ch/typo3/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/KOFF/country_resources/Sudan_Platform/Local_Justice_in_Southern_Sudan.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Sudan Keywords: Courts Shelf Number: 119973 |
Author: Lokuji, Alfred Sebit Title: Police Reform in Southern Sudan Summary: This Working Paper shares the findings and considers the policy implications of the first evidence-based survey of community perceptions on policing in Southern Sudan. The survey data provide a snapshot of security issues across the still fragile social and political landscape of Southern Sudan. It is also a useful baseline for policy debates on police reform and for practical efforts to promote a more community-friendly approach to policing in Southern Sudan. The overall security situation has improved since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). However, significant security challenges still remain in some parts of the South due primarily to the proliferation of illegal arms; cattle rustling; the presence of Lord’s Resistance Army rebels; and persistent inter-tribal conflicts over land and other resources. Against this background and in an effort to reform its security architecture, the Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS) recently launched an ambitious program that aims to transform the SPLA guerrilla fighters into a professional army. As well, plans are underway to carry out a massive multi-year Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program targeting some 90,000 SPLA combatants. However, the rule of law sector – and particularly the police, a pivotal element of security sector reform – has been largely neglected. Four years after its establishment, the Southern Sudan Police Service (SSPS) has yet to become the primary agency that ensures civilian security across Southern Sudan. In much of Southern Sudan, particularly in remote areas, police presence is very limited or non-existent. As a result, SPLA soldiers who are not trained in civilian law enforcement and often lack discipline have taken over the role of managing day-to-day internal security matters. At the same time, survey data shows that many people see the security forces themselves – including the police, the SPLA, and other armed groups – as major sources of threats to their security, and as perpetrators of crime and human rights abuses. The majority of communities across Southern Sudan continue to view the Boma Chiefs (traditional leaders) as the main providers of security-related services. The SSPS faces significant challenges in becoming an effective, accountable and professional organization. The widespread proliferation of illegal arms in much of the community, combined with the lack of training and equipment for the police, means that often the police are unable to effectively disarm civilians. In many instances, in fact, civilians are better armed than the police. As a result, the SPLA reverts to its war-time role and steps in to do what would normally be considered police work, often leading to clashes between the SPLA and the police. The legal frameworks and jurisdictions in Southern Sudan are unclear or absent, making it difficult for institutions such as the police to know how, where and when to do their jobs. Coordination among security institutions is weak, and the police in particular are often sidelined when it comes to contributing to key decisions. For instance, the current SPLA transformation process has led to a steady stream of SPLA members being fed into the police service without proper consultation or training. As a result, the limited police budget is increasingly consumed by salaries, leaving inadequate funding for sorely-needed training, equipment and infrastructure. While demobilized SPLA soldiers remain the main source of recruitment for the police service, political will for better recruitment procedures such as vetting remains very low. Moreover, 90% of the police force is completely illiterate, making basic police tasks challenging. Most of the police are also approaching retirement age and need to be replaced by young officers. Meanwhile, little effort has been made to include women in the police force, despite their contribution to the liberation war effort. Both multilateral and bilateral donors have been involved in improving the professional standards of the SPLA as well as the police and prison services, particularly through training initiatives targeting some senior personnel. However, donor investment in infrastructure and organizational development has been limited in this sector in general and for the police in particular. As well, there are critical gaps in linking bilateral support with wider SSR reform initiatives. The establishment of an effective and professional police force is a pre-condition for the maintenance of public order and protection of civilians. Also, there are high expectations for the SSPS in delivering security at the community level. With its under-staffed, underequipped and under-trained personnel, the SSPS leadership is finding such hopes difficult to fulfill. In this context, an effective, democratic security structure may be a long way off, but there is significant room for national and international actors to support and sustain the political commitment for locally-led SSPS development. Only after reform is embraced at the highest levels – in terms of legislation, organizational structure and infrastructure investment – can we reasonably expect the SSPS to respond effectively to the critical security threats being identified by Southern Sudanese communities. Details: Ottawa: North-South Institute, 2010. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Document: Accessed August 11, 2011 at: http://www.nsi-ins.ca/english/pdf/SSR%20Sudan.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Sudan Keywords: Police Reform Shelf Number: 122359 |
Author: Tønnessen, Liv Title: From impunity to prosecution? Sexual violence in Sudan beyond Darfur Summary: Serious shortcomings in Sudanese laws and practices contribute to the lack of protection of victims of rape in Sudan. There is need for comprehensive legal reform, particularly of Sudan’s Criminal Law of 1991. The categorisation of rape as a form of adultery does not result only in the virtual impossibility of convicting a rapist, but may even lead to the incrimination of the female victim of rape instead. This is particularly problematic considering the widespread use of sexual violence in the Darfur conflict. One of the encouraging consequences of the international attention on war rapes in Darfur is that women activists are increasingly positioning sexual violence against women as a concern on the national political agenda. Several legal reform initiatives are under way within the country among both state and non-state actors alike. The comprehensiveness of the reforms suggested differs in substance, but there is a consensus among both government and civil society actors that there is a need to differentiate between rape and adultery in current law. This consensus is extremely important, especially considering the sensitive and increasingly politicised and polarised debate on the topic. Although women face serious challenges in the Sudanese legal system, it is important to highlight how women activists are launching reform initiatives in order to bring justice to rape victims and to end the system of impunity for rapists. International donors can contribute a great deal in terms of supporting these reform initiatives and facilitating dialogue forums. Details: Oslo: Norwegian Peacebuilding Resource Centre, 2012. 14p. Source: NOREF Report: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2012 at http://www.peacebuilding.no/var/ezflow_site/storage/original/application/d2e4d108071713c7fde247e20c2faf24.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Sudan Keywords: Criminal Justice Reform (Sudan) Shelf Number: 124559 |
Author: Babiker, Mohamed Abdelsalam Title: Criminal Justice and Human Rights An agenda for effective human rights protection in Sudan’s new constitution Summary: Sudan is yet again undergoing a constitutional review process following the end of the interim period under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). This process takes place against a legacy of human rights violations, which in no small part are due to a failure of the criminal justice system. It is in this context that this Position Paper addresses the critical question of why successive Sudanese Bills of Rights have to date failed to provide adequate protection and ensure the effective exercise of the rights to personal liberty and security, non-discrimination and equality before the law, as well as fair trial guarantees. In other words, why have many constitutions failed to be 'translated' into practice, including by bringing statutory law into conformity with its provisions, institutional reforms and adequate judicial protection? The Paper focuses on the substance of the Bill of Rights from a criminal justice perspective and its implementation. It develops a set of proposals aimed at addressing substantive shortcomings of the provisions related to criminal justice contained in the Bill of Rights of Sudan’s Interim National Constitution 2005 (INC). In addition, it identifies the mechanisms that need to be put in place to ensure effective implementation of the Bill of Rights. In this respect, it examines both substantive provisions and the effectiveness of the bodies and CPA commissions tasked under the INC to protect and promote human rights (i.e. Human Rights Commission, National Commission for the Review of the Constitution (NCRC), and the National Judicial Service Commission). Details: London: REDRESS and the Sudan Human Rights Monitor, 2012. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 5, 2012 at: http://www.pclrs.org/downloads/1203%20Sudan%20Criminal%20Justice%20and%20Human%20Rights.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Sudan Keywords: Criminal Justice Reform (Sudan) Shelf Number: 124821 |
Author: Saferworld Title: People's Peacekeeping Perspectives: South Sudan Summary: Challenges of inter-communal violence and militia mobilsation are a recureant problem in South Sudan and are miring the early optimism about the new country's prospects. Escalating problems between Juba and Khartoum have added to a growing sense of uncertainty, and stand to take away crucial revenues from South Sudan at a time when development and security priorities cannot go under-resources. The fact that Jonglei State yet again witnessed hundreds of deaths over the past few months, as well as the abduction of women and children and the theft of thousands of cattle, raises troubling questions for the Government of South Sudan (GoSS); as it does for international actors who have supported and continue to support the prevention of violence in conflict-affected states. And beyond Jonglei, many communities have yet to transition from a state of conflict and continue to suffer insecurity and poverty. Details: London: Saferworld, 2012. 6p. Source: People's Peacemaking Perspectives: Internet Resource: Accessed April 15, 2012 at http://www.humansecuritygateway.com/documents/CR_PeoplesPeacemakingPerspectives_SouthSudan.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Sudan Keywords: Armed Conflict (South Sudan) Shelf Number: 124978 |
Author: Ashamu, Elizabeth Title: “Prison Is Not For Me”: Arbitrary Detention in South Sudan Summary: While ensuring accountability for crimes is a critical aspect of establishing the rule of law, arbitrary detention is rife in South Sudan, with individuals who should not have been detained at all spending months or even years in one of the country’s approximately 79 prisons. There are people in prison detained simply to compel the appearance of a relative or friend; because they were said to show evidence of mental disability; or because they are unable to pay a debt, court fine, or compensation award. Many are serving prison terms for adultery or for customary law crimes such as “elopement” or “pregnancy,” which place undue restrictions on the rights to privacy and to marry a spouse of one’s choice. Legal aid is almost totally absent, leaving individuals charged with crimes—the vast majority of whom are illiterate—unable to follow the status of their case or to call and prepare witnesses in their defense. In “Prison Is Not For Me” Arbitrary Detention in South Sudan, Human Rights Watch documents how, because of weaknesses across the criminal justice system, many of the approximately 6,000 individuals in South Sudan’s prisons are deprived of their liberty arbitrarily and should not be living behind bars. It also describes the grim conditions in which they live—overcrowded and unsanitary, and without adequate health care or food. In the face of severe underdevelopment and myriad long-term challenges, South Sudan’s leaders have voiced their commitment to uphold human rights. The government should urgently work to reduce arbitrary detentions by enacting legal and policy reforms that limit remand detention and end imprisonment for adultery and for non-payment of debts. It should also find a way to guarantee the right to legal aid, to ensure rule of law actors are sufficiently trained, and to provide proper care for people with mental disabilities outside of prison. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2012. 105p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 10, 2012 at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/southsudan0612_forinsert4Upload.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Sudan Keywords: Arbitary Detention Shelf Number: 125534 |
Author: Danish Refugee Council Title: A Sexual and Gender-based Violence Rapid Assessment: Doro Refugee Camp, Upper Nile State, South Sudan Summary: Since December 2011, approximately 100,000 refugees have fled the State of Blue Nile (BNS) in Sudan and sought shelter in Maban County – Upper Nile State (UNS) – South Sudan as a result of aerial bombardments and armed clashes between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Sudanese People Liberation Movement - North (SPLM-N). There are four main locations where the refugees are sheltered in the county: (1) in Doro camp (near the village of Bunj) there are 41,7871 individuals, (2) in Jamam camp (near the village of Jamam) there are 25,176 registered refugees, (3) in Yusuf Batil camp there are 34,112 registered refugees and (4) in the recently opened Gendrassa camp there are 4,484 individuals as of beginning of August 2012. Sudanese refugees started to settle spontaneously in the area later to become Doro refugee camp as early as October 2011. Since then, new influxes of refugees continued to arrive up to May-June 2012 causing the camp to become more and more congested. As a result, some of these communities settled outside the camp boundaries. In May 2012 approximately 3.000 refugees were relocated from Jamam refugee camp to Doro due to increasingly precarious living conditions in Jamam - water provision much below standards, flooding and a hazardous health situation prompted UNHCR and aid agencies to decide for the relocation of part of Jamam camp. Details: Copenhagen: Danish Refugee Council, 2012. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 24, 2013 at: http://www.drc.dk/about-drc/publications/ Year: 2012 Country: Sudan Keywords: Gender-Based Violence Shelf Number: 127378 |
Author: Lucey, Amanda Title: A Review of the Use of Arrest, the Use of Detention and Conditions in Detention in South Sudan: Legislation, Practice and Accountability Summary: On 9 July 2011 South Sudan became an independent nation following a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of civil war between the north and the south. While the future looks promising for the country, and legal frameworks have been put in place to promote this new democracy, the greatest challenges for the rule of law lie in the need to strengthen state structures, train and reform the police, protect human rights and address accountability. This study examines a range of laws and policies in South Sudan relating to arrest and detention within the context of international standards, and reviews these in terms of their ability to act as procedural safeguards. This paper analyses the factors that prevent the criminal justice system from functioning according to written laws and policies, and also looks at accountability and oversight mechanisms. There are several key pieces of legislation in South Sudan that relate to arrest and detention, most notably the Transitional Constitution of South Sudan (2011) and the Code of Criminal Procedure Act (2008). The Transitional Constitution (2011) sets out a comprehensive Bill of Rights that promotes life and human dignity, personal liberty, equality before the law, the right to a fair trial and freedom from torture. The Code of Criminal Procedure Act (2008) sets out the procedures for arrests and detentions and allocates powers to the relevant authorities. While the laws of South Sudan are consonant with the requirements of the international framework in many regards, a number of factors prevent these laws from being followed in practice. This study examines a number of factors that play a role in arbitrary arrests, including political interference, inadequate training of police, discrimination and corruption. Furthermore, the complications of coexisting customary and statutory systems, and the application of the customary system to cases required by law to be dealt with by the statutory system, is a further factor that influences arbitrary arrests. In terms of detention, a number of factors influence the inability of the criminal justice system to observe procedural safeguards and these include poor case tracking, an enormous backlog of cases and corruption. Conditions of detention are also far removed from international standards. Detention cells are overcrowded and dilapidated and there is little provision for vulnerable groups. Because of limited infrastructure, police cells are often used as prisons and there is limited access to medical services. Detainees are often left without food and water, either due to a lack of funds or corruption, and rely on families to provide food. There is little oversight in terms of police detention. The right to a fair trial is also problematic as the Legal Aid Strategy is limited only to those accused of serious offences, and the Strategy has yet to be implemented. While oversight and accountability mechanisms can play an important role in addressing the problems noted in relation to arrest, detention and conditions in detention, both internal mechanisms in the police, as well as external mechanisms such as the South Sudan Human Rights Commission and the Anti-Corruption Commission, are currently inadequate. Details: Mowbray, South Africa: African Policing Civilian Oversight Forum, 2013. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: APCOF Policy Paper no. 5: Accessed October 28, 2013 at: http://www.apcof.org/files/6108_Pretrial_Detention_South_Sudan.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Sudan Keywords: Arrest and Apprehension Shelf Number: 131496 |
Author: Mbugua, Joseph Kioi Title: Security and Organized Crime: Dynamics and Challenges in South Sudan Summary: This paper explores the challenges of organized armed criminality in South Sudan. The presence of other armed groups apart from the SPLA and SPSS inhibits provision of security to all parts of the country. The connection between armed groups, ethnic conflict, resources, criminality and political fractionalization has created a complex problem. The Government of South Sudan requires capacity to manage the armed groups in order to check proliferation of small arms and to channel resources to development. Details: Nairobi, Kenya: International Peace Support Training Center, 2012. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Occasional Paper No.2, Series 3: Accessed May 7, 2014 at: http://www.ipstc.org/media/documents/Occasional_Paper_02_2013.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Sudan Keywords: Armed Groups Shelf Number: 132279 |
Author: Martin, Ellen Title: Gender, violence and survival in Juba, Southern Sudan Summary: - Five years after the formal end of the Sudanese civil war, poverty, vulnerability and insecurity remain serious problems in Juba, the Southern capital. - Incorporating gender analysis within assessment frameworks and conflict analyses can contribute to a more informed understanding amongst aid actors of the underlying dynamics of vulnerability and insecurity in Juba, and the different impacts rapid urbanisation and long-term conflict and displacement are having on men and women. - Where they exist, current approaches to gender within policy and programming overwhelmingly focus on women. There are many areas where women have unequal positions in society. However, without a broader gender analysis, one that considers the needs of both men and women, assistance risks reinforcing negative patterns of need rather than actively helping to address them. Details: London: Overseas Development Group, Humanitarian Policy Group, 2010. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: HPG Policy Brief 42: Accessed September 15, 2014 at: http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/6230.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Sudan Keywords: Gender-Related Violence (Southern Sudan) Shelf Number: 133319 |
Author: Sommers, Marc Title: Dowry and Division: Youth and State Building in South Sudan Summary: - Most South Sudanese youth are undereducated and underemployed, and their priorities and perspectives are largely unknown. To address this critical knowledge gap, the authors conducted field research between April and May 2011 with youth, adults, and government and nongovernment officials in Juba and two South Sudanese states. - The increasing inability of male youth to meet rising dowry (bride price) demands was the main research finding. Unable to meet these demands, many male youth enlist in militias, join cattle raids, or seek wives from different ethnic groups or countries. - Skyrocketing dowry demands have negatively and alarmingly affected female youth. They are routinely viewed as property that can generate family wealth. - Potent new postwar identities involving youth returning from Khartoum, refugee asylum countries, and those who never left South Sudan, are stimulating hostility and conflict. - Excess demand on government jobs, widespread reports of nepotism in government hiring practices, cultural restrictions against many kinds of work, and a general lack of entrepreneurial vision are fueling an exceptionally challenging youth employment situation. - Gang activities continue to thrive in some urban centers in South Sudan. They are reportedly dominated by youth with connections to government officials and by orphans. - While most undereducated youth highlighted dowry and marriage as their primary concerns, members of the elite youth minority emphasized vocational training and scholarships for higher education. - While South Sudanese youth view their government as the primary source of education, jobs, and hope, the government of South Sudan does not appear poised to provide substantial support to vital youth priorities related to dowry, employment, education, and training. - The government of South Sudan and its international partners need to proactively address non-elite youth priorities. They must find ways to cap dowry demands, protect female youth, and support orphan youth, in addition to expanding quality education, job training, and English language training. Details: Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace, 2011. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Special Report 295: Accessed November 3, 2014 at: http://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/SR_295.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Sudan Keywords: Delinquency Prevention Shelf Number: 133944 |
Author: Caparini, Marina Title: The role of the police in UNAMID Summary: This monograph examines the role of the police component in the multidimensional AU-UN Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID). It begins by setting out the complex context of the Darfur crisis and responses by regional and international actors. It then considers the mandated roles and specific functions of the main elements of UNAMID Police formed police units, individual police officers and core command/senior leadership as well as discussing the various challenges encountered in attempting to implement the missions protection of civilians mandate. The report focuses particularly on training: mandated training of Sudanese government police and community policing volunteers in IDP camps; and training of UNAMID personnel. It ends by identifying good practices within the police component and making recommendations for UNAMID Police. Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies, 2015. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: ISS Monograph No. 190: Accessed April 2, 2015 at: http://www.issafrica.org/uploads/Mono190.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Sudan Keywords: Community-Oriented Policine Shelf Number: 135132 |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: "They Burned It All": Destruction of Villages, Killings, and Sexual Violence Summary: In late April, 2015, South Sudan's government began a multi-pronged military campaign in Unity state to recapture territory under the control of rebels headed by the country's former vice president Riek Machar. In the course of the military operations in central Unity state, government forces, fighting alongside militia from the Bul Nuer ethnic group, committed serious violations of international law that may constitute both war crimes and crimes against humanity. The violations include killings of civilians, widespread violence against women and girls, including rape, the systematic pillage of civilian property including theft of cattle and routine burning of civilian homes and infrastructure. Government soldiers also killed civilians and burned civilian property during their attacks into southern Unity state. The result has been the forced displacement of tens of thousands of people who have lost the homes and food they need to survive. Based on over 170 interviews conducted in June and July with survivors and witnesses who were displaced by fighting or attacks on their villages, "They Burned It All": Destruction of Villages, Killings, and Sexual Violence in South Sudan's Unity State documents more than 60 unlawful killings of civilian women, men and children, including the elderly, some by hanging others by shooting, or being burned alive. Human Rights Watch calls on all parties to the conflict to immediately end the serious abuses that have persistently characterized South Sudan's current conflict, and for all stakeholders to take meaningful steps to provide justice to the victims through the establishment of an independent hybrid court and/or the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Human Rights Watch also urges the United Nations Security Council and African Union to immediately impose a comprehensive arms embargo on South Sudan. Details: New York: HRW, 2015. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 24, 2015 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/southsudan0715_web_0.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Sudan Keywords: Homicides Shelf Number: 136157 |
Author: Copeland, Casie Title: Dancing in the Dark: Divergent approaches to improving security and justice in South Sudan Summary: The civil war that has consumed South Sudan since late 2013 raises uncomfortable questions about how a country that the international community helped to create and to which such substantial resources were dedicated could descend into civil war so quickly and to the surprise of so many. Violence has been a fact of life in South Sudan for decades; the long and dark history of violence and injustice illustrates the deep-rooted nature of these challenges and the hard work that will be necessary to overcome them. Improving the security and justice context is essential to a successful transition to peace and stability in South Sudan and to the realisation of the objectives of South Sudan's struggle for independence. This paper focuses on how, and to what effect, the international community supported security and justice initiatives in South Sudan from the start of the second Sudanese civil war (1983) up to the present. During that war (1983-2005), international support for security and justice largely took the form of community-based programming, primarily due to the absence of functioning government structures. 'People-to-people peacemaking' models that sought to improve security and justice at the local level in South Sudan generated tangible results in some areas, during some periods, but had little impact on the war's overarching structural dynamics. In the years following the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), external support shifted towards nascent Southern Sudanese government structures, despite the limited reach of many civilian structures beyond the capital, as the programming context altered with the peace agreement. This type of support only increased after South Sudan's independence in 2011, despite clear signs that the statebuilding project itself was a major driver of conflict. Following the CPA, the international community approached security and justice development with far too much of a national-level, technical focus. It consistently failed to appropriately diagnose the challenges it sought to remedy. While South Sudanese counterparts sometimes had low capacities, many gained politically or financially from insecurity and a weak justice system. Despite these realities, donors generally programmed to the assumption that these challenges were a result of low capacity, leading to a reliance on technocratic solutions for many essentially political problems - with predictably poor outcomes. Seeing capacity as the primary challenge, the international community failed to recognise the South Sudanese leadership's deliberate efforts to govern and set policy, albeit not always in ways the international community liked. Despite clear evidence, emerging over years, that hundreds of millions of dollars of national-level, technocratic programmatic funding was not producing results, donors largely failed to re-assess their framework of support. The international community now has the opportunity to do better, both during the ongoing war and following a peace agreement. The question of how to do better can be broken down into two broad components. The first examines programming options that could mitigate some of the insecurity and injustice associated with the ongoing civil war. The second identifies critical security and justice building blocks that could be put in place now that would support a future peace. The table below summarises three starting points on each issue based on lessons learned from past international support for security and justice development in South Sudan. Details: The Hague: Clingendael (Netherlands Institute of International Relations), 2015. 34p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 25, 2015 at: http://www.clingendael.nl/sites/default/files/CRU_report-Dancing_in_the_Dark-Casie_Copeland-June2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Sudan Keywords: Security Shelf Number: 136873 |
Author: Tonnessen, Liv Title: Women and Girls Caught between Rape and Adultery in Sudan: Criminal Law Reform, 2005-2015 Summary: This report investigates criminal law reform in Sudan, focusing on two important and controversial legal reforms related to (a) a definition of rape that is clearly de-linked from the Islamic crime of zina (i.e., sexual intercourse between individuals who are not married to each other) and (b) a definition of "child" as an individual younger than 18 in statutory rape cases. Many legal reforms have been proposed in Sudan since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) of 2005 officially ended the extended civil war (Africa's longest) between the north and south of the country. The peace accord opened up some space for women's groups after a long period of harsh authoritarian control. All Sudanese laws were to be reviewed and reformed in alignment with the Interim National Constitution of 2005, including the Criminal Act of 1991. Although the peace agreement was largely gender-blind, the interim constitution included clauses on gender equality and affirmative action (Itto 2006). Pro-women activists as well as women within the government have been particularly active in advocating for legal reforms since 2005 with reference to the bill of rights. Two major legal reforms - in 2010 and 2015 - have dealt with rape. The most recent legal reform redefines rape in Sudan's Criminal Act of 1991. Until February 2015, "rape" was defined as zina (adultery or fornication) without consent. The act of zina was, and still is, punishable by 100 lashes for unmarried offenders and by death by stoning for married offenders. The blending of the ideas of rape and zina in the 1991 act meant that the strict rules of evidence used for zina were also applied to rape, something that constituted a serious legal obstacle for rape victims. Pro-women activists contested this legal position by forming the "Alliance of 149," named after the rape article in the Criminal Act. Interviews conducted during the last five years show that the reform process on rape/zina has been politicized, especially after the International Criminal Court (ICC) indicted Sudan's president for sexual warfare in Darfur in 2009. Around the same time as the National Assembly was amending Sudan's rape law, it forcibly shut down the founding member and initiator of the "Alliance of 149". In addition, the definition of apostasy was widened in such a manner that it can easily be used to clamp down on activists who are criticizing the Islamist regime. Darfur brought the previously taboo topic of rape into the public debate by focusing attention on sexual violence in Sudanese society. This furthered debate in both government and civil society about reform of Sudan's rape laws (including the controversial topic of marital rape), although only limited dialogue on the topic has arisen between government reformists and pro-women activists. Reformist Islamist women in government managed to effectively advocate for an amendment to the Criminal Act de-linking rape from zina, which Sudan's National Assembly passed in February this year. However, the reform is only partial, since the Evidence Act of 1994, in which rape and zina are still conflated, has yet to be reformed. In addition, marital rape is not explicitly criminalized. The other significant legal reform deals with statutory rape. Under the definition of "rape" in the pre-2015 version of the Criminal Act, the requirement of evidence for lack of consent does not apply to children, which means children have had better protection under the law. However, determining who was a "child" was a thorny issue. The Criminal Act of 1991 defines a child to be someone who has not yet reached puberty, as understood in Islam. Sudanese judges have taken varying approaches to defining "puberty," however. Many have viewed age 15 as the dividing line between childhood and adulthood, while others have looked for physical signs of puberty (or "sexual maturity"). In practice, this has meant that girls over the age of 15 (and sometimes even below) who have raised rape cases in Sudanese courts have been treated as adults. And as adults, they have had to show evidence that they did not consent to the sexual act. In 2010, Sudan enacted a new National Child Act that defines a child as an individual younger than 18 in accordance with the United Nations 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which Sudan ratified in 1991. The Child Act specifically criminalizes statutory rape. As it stands now, the new law is in conflict with the Criminal Act, however. Although the Child Act should take precedence, our findings suggest that the implementation of the act in courts in Khartoum is uncertain in statutory rape cases: while some judges implement the Child Act in statutory rape cases for all girls under the age of 18, some still follow the Criminal Act and look for signs of puberty. The definition of a child as younger than 18 years in the Child Act of 2010 did not receive much attention at the time of enactment, but it is has become the focus of heated debate as conservative actors have realized that this new definition also has repercussions for the age of marriage, which is set at puberty in Sudan's Muslim Family Law of 1991. Two conflicting positions within the current Islamist government (including in the judiciary itself) both employ Islamic arguments. In February 2015, an amendment to the Criminal Act was proposed to the National Assembly setting the age of criminal responsibility at 18 in accordance with the Child Act and international conventions ratified by Sudan. However, this proposal was blocked, partly by the judiciary itself, which advocated for the age of 15. Meanwhile a legal counter-mobilization against the Child Act continues and has resulted in a case currently pending in Sudan's Constitutional Court. Details: Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute, 2015. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: R 2015:10: Accessed May 5, 2016 at: http://www.cmi.no/publications/file/5661-women-and-girls-caught-between-rape-and-adultery.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Sudan Keywords: Adultery Shelf Number: 138953 |
Author: Switzer, Jason Title: https://jscholarship.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/37227 Summary: What can be done to resolve the seemingly endless conflict in Sudan ? A nation of 36 million people, wracked by conflict for 34 of the last 45 years, it has generated some 4 million displaced people during the course of its war. It is estimated that over two million Sudanese people have died as a result of fighting and related starvation and disease1. According to the International Crisis Group, there will always be abundant excuses to justify the continuing war in SudanHowever such justifications sound increasingly hollow in the face of decades of sufferingThe time has come for a concerted international peace effort to break the logjam of violence in Sudan2. Indeed, this moment in time, amidst the reordering of global relations in the so-called War on Terror and Sudans historical harboring of its suspected architect, Osama Bin Laden, has created an opening for peacebuilding. The oil factor has assumed critical importance as of late, and as such has been unpacked here. Our analysis suggests that revenues from petroleum production are financing the conflict, that the oilfields have become strategic targets for rebels, and that various foreign interests China and Malaysia, and multinational corporations from Europe, North America and Asia have interests that are not necessarily aligned with the promotion of peace. Noting that unregulated environmental and social aspects of oil production also have significant impacts on the conflict dynamic in the country, it stresses that if the international community were sincere in seeking peace for Sudan, it would take multilateral measures to regulate petro-revenues in the region. Details: Winnipeg, Canada: International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2002. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 29, 2016 at: https://www.iisd.org/pdf/2002/envsec_oil_violence.pdf Year: 2002 Country: Sudan Keywords: Conflict Violence Shelf Number: 139890 |
Author: James, Laura M. Title: Fields of Control: Oil and (In)security in Sudan and South Sudan Summary: Oil and security in Sudan and South Sudan are, in the words of one former oil minister, 'two faces of the same coin'. At the international, regional, national, state, and community levels, it is possible to trace how oil exploration, extraction, and exploitation have contributed to insecurity, both directly and indirectly. More rarely, these activities have temporarily improved security, often through patronage or subornation. At the same time, security levels have an impact on oil production, as fighting provokes shutdowns or, more subtly, deters future investment. This Working Paper reviews the historical linkages between oil and security in Sudan and South Sudan, and provides an overview of the key actors in the sector. After considering the security impact of the political and economic dimensions of oil production, it examines the more direct relationship between oil and violence, assessing the current situation within and between the two states as well as at the local community level as of mid-2015. It then identifies the similarities and differences between the Sudanese and South Sudanese oil ministries' approaches to human security, and the impact of the current civil conflict. The key conclusions are: - The oil-conflict nexus is widely acknowledged as a global phenomenon, yet in Sudan and South Sudan, it has been intensified by an accident of history and geography: the location of most of the oilfields along the volatile former colonial border between the two countries. - Under recent peace agreements, the Sudanese and South Sudanese governments have to some extent harnessed the oil industry to promote security between the two countries, based on the common interest established by South Sudan's possession of most of the oil and Sudan's control of the export infrastructure. At a subnational level, however, oil, patronage, insecurity, and civil conflict remain closely bound together. - Barring major new discoveries in the future, oil production in Sudan and South Sudan has probably already peaked. The economic and political adjustments to declining revenue, some of which have already begun, could further boost insecurity in both countries. - The oilfields have been an important prize in the civil conflict that broke out in South Sudan in December 2013. While the rebels have not captured the oilfields, their activities have significantly diminished the government's cash flow. The violence was initially exacerbated by oil-linked community discontent in Unity and Upper Nile states. The ongoing fighting has also further contributed to environmental degradation and poor community relations in the oil areas. - There are rumblings of ongoing community discontent in Sudan, particularly among Missiriya groups, which have been responsible for pervasive low-level insecurity that has been hindering oil operations. The government has made partial efforts to address this, and has thus far succeeded in limiting the unrest, but not in eliminating the underlying causes. - Since late 2013, relations between Sudan and South Sudan have been unusually cooperative, based on a common interest in keeping the oil flowing. This rapprochement remains vulnerable, however, not only to potential economic pressures and new disputes when the oil agreement expires at the end of 2016, but also to cross-border aspects of ongoing civil strife in both countries, combined with local tensions. - Sudan's poor management of the oil sector has led to corruption, over-centralization, and environmental degradation, causing serious grievances among the local communities. This dynamic has to some extent been mirrored in the new state of South Sudan. While Sudan's efforts at improvement remain largely nominal, South Sudan has managed to put in place strong legislation in line with international best practices. There has been no effective implementation, however, and the prospect of progress receded when the civil conflict began. The bulk of the research for this paper was carried out in January-April 2014, with further work conducted in April and October 2015. Given the lack of transparency in much of the oil sector in Sudan and South Sudan, this research is based on cross-referencing of the widest possible range of sources. These include not only official publications and unpublished internal reports, but also interviews with policy-makers, advisers, and officials. Due to poor security conditions, the author was not able to visit the oil areas and interview community members directly; however, she drew on secondary sources to ensure that their voices informed the analysis. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Small Arms Survey, 2015. 72p. Source: Internet Resource; HSBA Working Paper 40: Accessed July 29, 2016 at: http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/working-papers/HSBA-WP40-Oil.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Sudan Keywords: Natural Resources Shelf Number: 139897 |
Author: Clancy, Deirdre, Compiler Title: Falling Through the Cracks: Reflections on Customary Law and the Imprisonment of Women in South Sudan Summary: The objective of this research paper is to shed light onto women's human rights in the newly independent Republic of South Sudan and to call attention to the thousands of women who are adversely affected through their engagement with the current customary and statutory legal systems. Over the past half-century, the women of South Sudan have carried the burden of violent conflict and the accompanying disintegration of their communities, as well as endured the agony of displacement and life in refugee camps. These women remained resolute in the face of racism, discriminatory policies and attitudes during the 39 years of civil war that plagued the Sudan, striving to earn a living and sustain their families and communities amid extreme hardships. Many of these women have not had the opportunity to sit at the benches of formal education institutions; however, they have learned from their ongoing privation and struggle to confront the challenges that they deal with on a daily basis. This is not to undermine the merit of formal education; rather, it is to challenge the notion that quantifiable development policies like education are the solution to "Africa's problems". Rather that we should acknowledge that equal access to education elsewhere in the world has been the result of the mainstreaming of human rights and democratic principles. Associated with this is the complex and delicate nature of identity politics in South Sudan. Indeed, one of the most pressing issues facing the people of this emerging nation is how they will be able to create an identity based on human rights while also initiating a development process that provides citizens with basic services, such as education, health care and clean water and sanitation. This is a dilemma that has been evident in many of Africa's nation-states and has led to the creation of an identity where people are defined in relation to their progress and what they can show in terms of development, with achievements in human rights and democracy taking a back seat to some sort of tangible prosperity. It is critical to bear in mind that without equitable human rights, development will not be attained. Details: Kampala: The Strategic Initiative for Women in the Horn of Africa (SIHA), 2012. 110p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 13, 2016 at: http://www.sihanet.org/sites/default/files/resource-download/FALLING_Through_the_Cracks_compressed.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Sudan Keywords: Customary Law Shelf Number: 140256 |
Author: Chilvers, Richard Title: Preventing Cattle Raiding Violence in South Sudan: Local level peace building focusing on young people Summary: Within and Without the State (WWS), a programme funded by the UK Department for International Development, has been working in South Sudan since 2012 to improve the relationship between citizen and state. This case study describes the efforts of Community Empowerment and Progress Organization, a WWS partner, to work with young people in cattle raiding camps and support local communities to find their own solutions for peace. In the midst of a renewed outbreak of violence just two days before the countrys fifth anniversary, supporting local level peace initiatives remains as vital as ever. Details: Oxford, UK: Oxfam Internationial, 2016. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 19, 2016 at: http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/preventing-cattle-raiding-violence-in-south-sudan-local-level-peace-building-fo-617936 Year: 2016 Country: Sudan Keywords: Cattle Raiding Shelf Number: 147954 |
Author: Ochan, Clement Title: Responding to Violence in Ikotos County, South Sudan: Government and Local Efforts to Restore Order Summary: This report from an understudied area details the effects of and responses to violence in Ikotos County in Eastern Equatoria in Southern Sudan. The author, from Southern Sudan himself, draws upon five years of experience, observation and interviews in Ikotos and supplements this information with data from interviews with local officials and community groups. Ikotos was spared much of the fighting during Sudan’s protracted north-south war, but has been host to violence and insecurity caused by tensions between sub-tribes, displacement brought by the presence of soldiers of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and of the Government of Sudan (GoS), and activity by the Ugandan rebels, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The supply of weapons increased with the presence of the various armed groups. Cattle raids and revenge attacks among sub-tribes became increasingly deadly. By the 1990s Ikotos was infamous for its high rate of gun violence. This report examines the effects of violence on communities and the efforts of local leaders and civil society organizations to address and eventually curb this violence. Inhabited by a number of minority ethnic groups, this region of Southern Sudan has received relatively little attention over the years. This report provides valuable insights and analysis on the extent and repercussions of violence in the area, the gendered and generational effects of the insecurity, and the role of grassroots and official efforts to prevent the violence. This rich analysis allows for a better understand of both the prospects for stability and the implications for regional stability should peace not be realized. Details: Medford, MA: Feinstein International Center, 2007. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 21, 2016 at: http://fic.tufts.edu/assets/Responding+to+Violence+in+Ikotos+County+South+Sudan.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Sudan Keywords: Conflict-Related Violence Shelf Number: 147791 |
Author: Small Arms Survey Title: Policing in South Sudan: Transformation Challenges and Priorities Summary: Over the past three years, ongoing conflict in South Sudan has fundamentally reshaped donor engagement with the security sector. In the wake of the conflict that began in December 2013, major bilateral donor support was suspended to the security services, including the police. More recent efforts to support transitional security arrangements under the terms laid out in the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS), signed in August 2015, have been met with criticism in the face of persistent conflict and human rights abuses. Although the South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS) is meant to serve as the lead agency for internal security, some operational responsibilities have fallen to competing security services and ethnically aligned militias. These include rival factions within the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the National Security Service (NSS). The SSNPS is among the weakest and most under-resourced security services in South Sudan. Even before December 2013, donor efforts to support police transformation were fraught with challenges. While donors piloted a community-focused approach to police reform, the SSNPS essentially continued to operate as a paramilitary force. Police recruits receive paramilitary training, use military ranks, and are legally mandated to support the SPLA by order of the president. Interviews with police commanders suggest that the high number of militias integrated into the SSNPS after independence has also had a negative impact on overall command and control. In addition, the economic crisis facing South Sudan has intensified predatory behaviour towards civilians in an environment that lacks accountability for human rights abuses. In the absence of broader political and economic reforms, donor engagement with the police under the terms laid out in the ARCSS is unlikely to curb rampant insecurity and crime. Based on extensive in-depth interviews with the police leadership, rank-and-file SSNPS, donors, legal and security experts, and civil society groups, this Issue Brief reviews the state of the police in South Sudan in order to draw attention to shortcomings that may be addressed as part of ongoing donor engagement with the SSNPS. Key findings of this Issue Brief include: South Sudan lacks a culture of democratic policing. Police officers generally do not have a clear enough understanding of their mandate to distinguish themselves from the SPLA. Since the conflict erupted in 2013, high levels of insecurity throughout the country have reinforced a paramilitary style of policing. The SSNPS faces many of the same challenges as the SPLA, including low salaries and delayed payments, high levels of illiteracy, inadequate training on human rights, and a culture of impunity. The SSNPS has far less access to resources and essential equipment than the SPLA. In the absence of adequate oversight and accountability, some police officers form predatory relationships with the very communities they are charged to protect. There is little access to justice for victims of human rights violations, which has reinforced a culture of impunity. Cronyism and entrenched patronage networks undermine the overall effectiveness of the police force. In some cases, favouritism prevents promising junior officers from advancing while permitting militia members to be integrated into the SSNPS. As a result, it is even more difficult to professionalize the police force and to establish clear lines of command and control. The formation of the Joint Integrated Police (JIP), a transitional security arrangement required by the ARCSS, has proceeded without due transparency measures or consultations with communities or civil society groups. Moreover, it is unclear how opposition forces will participate in the JIP given the split within the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO). Donor efforts to implement the transitional security arrangements laid out in the peace agreement despite ongoing conflict in South Sudan are unlikely to succeed in the absence of renewed political negotiations and broader political and economic reforms. Details: Geneva, SWIT: Small Arms Survey, 2017. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: HSBA Issue Brief: Accessed April 8, 2017 at: http://www.smallarmssurveysudan.org/fileadmin/docs/issue-briefs/HSBA-IB26-Policing-in-South-Sudan.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Sudan Keywords: Police Accountability Shelf Number: 144755 |
Author: Enough Project Title: Sudan's Deep State: How Insiders Violently Privatized Sudan's Wealth, and How to Respond Summary: The report details how President al-Bashir and his ruling National Congress Party have transformed Sudan into a system of violent kleptocracy that has endured for almost three decades. Regime elites, along with their enablers and facilitators, have amassed personal fortunes by looting and corrupting the country's oil, gold, and land resources in particular, along with other natural resource wealth, productive sectors of the economy, state assets, and the governing institutions that had been in place and largely functioned before this regime took power. For nearly three decades, President al-Bashir has maintained his position at the pinnacle of Sudan's political order after seizing power through a military coup in 1989. During his rule, the government of Sudan has perhaps been best known for providing safe haven to Osama bin Laden and other Islamic militants in the 1990s, for committing genocide and mass atrocities against its citizens in Darfur, for the secession of South Sudan in 2011, and for ongoing armed conflict-marked by the regime's aerial bombardment of civilian targets and humanitarian aid blockade-in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. Often portrayed as a country wracked by intractable violence and hampered by racial, religious, ethnic and social cleavages, Sudan ranks consistently among the most fragile or failed states. At the same time, Sudan has considerable natural resource wealth and significant economic potential. Political standing and proximity to the country's ruling elites most often determines on which side of the poverty line a Sudanese citizen lives. The idea that Sudan is a classic failed state is not fully accurate. Sudan is a failed state for the millions of displaced people living in IDP camps in Darfur, for those living in conflict areas and cut off from humanitarian assistance in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and for those struggling in marginalized communities in eastern Sudan or in the sprawling informal settlements outside Khartoum. However, Sudan is an incredibly successful state for a small group of ruling elites that have amassed great fortunes by looting the country's resources for personal gain. In that sense, Sudan is more of a hijacked state, working well for a small minority clique but failing by all other measures for the vast majority of the population. To more effectively support peace, human rights, and good governance in Sudan, U.S. policymakers should work with a range of Sudanese and other international partners to construct a new policy approach to counter Sudan's system of violent kleptocracy. Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2017. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 3, 2017 at: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/SudansDeepState_Final_Enough.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Sudan Keywords: Illicit Financial Flows Shelf Number: 145254 |
Author: Amnesty International Title: "Do Not Remain Silent": Survivors of Sexual Violence in South Sudan Call for Justice and Reparations Summary: Since the outbreak of South Sudan's internal armed conflict in Juba in December 2013, thousands of South Sudanese have been subjected to sexual violence including rape, gang rape, sexual slavery, sexual mutilation, torture, castration, or forced nudity. These acts of sexual violence are shocking in their scale and level of brutality, and will leave physical, psychological, and social impacts for decades to come. In this report, survivors of sexual violence recount their experiences, often with disturbing detail. They call for the perpetrators to be held accountable, reparations, and measures to address the social fractures that cause and result from sexual violence. Details: London: AI, 2017. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 27, 2017 at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr65/6469/2017/en/ Year: 2017 Country: Sudan Keywords: Rape Shelf Number: 146522 |
Author: Baldo, Suliman Title: Radical Intolerance: Sudan's Religious Oppression and Embrace of Extremist Groups Summary: The Obama and Trump administrations, in temporarily and then permanently lifting comprehensive sanctions on Sudan, cited improvements in the Sudanese government's counterterrorism and its broader humanitarian and human rights record. But a closer look reveals these claims to be very problematic, with major implications for the next stage of dialogue and policy between the United States and Sudan. Now that the comprehensive sanctions have been lifted, it is essential that the United States pivot rapidly and aggressively to the relationship's next phase, which should focus on creating leverage in support of American counterterrorism interests and much more fundamental reforms that could change the nature of the authoritarian, kleptocratic Sudanese state and better secure the rights of Christians, minority Muslims, war-affected Sudanese people, and others who have been victimized by this regime for nearly 30 years. Khartoum's track record raises critical questions about its role and true interests as a counterterrorism partner. Top U.S. policymakers who chart the next phase of engagement with Sudan should account for this as they engage in anticipated discussions about remaining sanctions, a significant shift in bilateral relations, terminating Sudan's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism, and forgiving Sudan's debt, estimated to have mushroomed to $50 billion.[i] Sudan's intolerant regime has a long-established tradition of religious persecution that continues today despite its bid for normalized ties with the United States and the rest of the world. It also has maintained long relationships with active extremist groups. This record suggests Sudan may be an untrustworthy partner in the bid to push back against religious extremism that is gaining momentum in the region and is essential for combatting international terrorism. The next phase of the policy effort should therefore focus on more structural changes in Sudan to address these core problems that continue to be central to the Sudanese regime: links to extremists and deep discrimination against religious minorities. Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2017. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 30, 2018 at: https://enoughproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/SudanReligiousFreedom_Enough_Dec2017_final.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Sudan Keywords: Extremism Shelf Number: 149962 |
Author: Adeba, Brian Title: A Hijacked State: Violent Kleptocracy in South Sudan Summary: On September 12, 2018, the South Sudanese government and the armed opposition signed a peace deal that could potentially end the 5-year-old conflict, if elites exercise the political will required to implement the agreement. The South Sudanese conflict is rooted in the violent kleptocratic system of governance that the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) began building in 2005, after the end of the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005). When President Salva Kiir became the chair of the SPLM and the leader of the autonomous Government of Southern Sudan from 2005 to 2011, a network of allies formed and positioned itself to make decisions about the distribution of influence and oil wealth. In 2011, Kiir became president of newly independent South Sudan, and these key allies drafted the Transitional Constitution, which vested immense powers in Kiir's hands that allowed him, for instance, to prorogue (discontinue without dissolving) the national legislature, fire elected governors, and dissolve legislative assemblies in the country's states. The destructive competition over power and access to opportunities for corruption resulted in a slow expulsion of some elites from the center of power and a consequential rise in power of others, dividing the ruling party into two factions, for and against Kiir. Those opposed to President Kiir largely coalesced behind Vice President Riek Machar. South Sudan's oil production was at its height in 2011 when the global prices of crude oil averaged over 100 U.S. dollars per barrel, which allowed the country to pocket a monthly average of 500 million U.S. dollars from its share. When South Sudanese authorities shut down oil production because of conflict with Sudan that had turned violent along the border, production remained suspended for 15 months-between January 2012 and March 2013-quickly creating a significant deficit in a young economy so heavily reliant on oil for its revenues and gross domestic product (GDP). The government's sudden loss of over 90 percent of cash from oil revenues disrupted entrenched patterns of corruption and tested the limits of the violent kleptocratic system, culminating in a bloody conflict in December 2013. This crisis in turn plunged South Sudan into a series of interrelated economic, fiscal, security, political, and humanitarian crises. In South Sudan's system of violent kleptocracy, leaders have hijacked institutions and stoked violent conflict, committed mass atrocities, and created a man-made famine. Amid the chaos of war, the ruling elites ransacked various sectors of the economy. South Sudan's violent kleptocracy has distorted the country's institutions, heaping catastrophic consequences on the national monetary reserve and creating an atmosphere in which too many hands are left to freely and repetitively reach into the public treasury with impunity. Services remain undelivered, business practices undermine the rule of law, and corruption abounds. While poor regulatory mechanisms made it easy to loot the public treasury with little consequence, the ruling elites could have chosen to improve institutions of accountability rather than deliberately dis-empower them. South Sudan's leaders have incorporated corrupt practices inherited from the north-south war into the current government. Without strong and effective institutions in place, military leaders dominate the decision-making processes on public spending to wield both power and money opportunistically. These leaders have abused their positions of power to steal from public coffers, wage war, and enlarge patronage networks. Violent conflict in South Sudan today stems from competitive corruption that has characterized governance since 2005. Leaders use violence as a means of capturing the national economy and budget and to prolong their stay in power for the purpose of self-enrichment. Oil has represented the key prize in South Sudan since independence. The political elites enrich themselves with oil revenues at the public's expense and to the detriment of the economy and ordinary citizens. Nevertheless, the status quo could be different. U.S. policymakers and international partners can now use the power of the U.S. dollar and the international financial system-on which South Sudanese leaders rely almost exclusively - to target these leaders' finances and the networks that enable the violent kleptocracy to continue to harm the South Sudanese people. In September 2017, the U.S. Department of the Treasury initiated a process of holding South Sudan's leaders accountable for the egregious corruption that feeds war in their country. In the wake of the recently concluded peace agreement, the financial pressures enacted by the Treasury Department must continue because the deal itself lacks meaningful stipulations to end the endemic corruption, heightening the potential for a return to conflict. To be fully effective in thwarting the interests of leaders who may choose to violate the latest peace deal, network sanctions, anti-money laundering measures, prosecutions, and enhanced travel bans must be applied in a genuinely concerted and comprehensive manner. It is also crucial to focus on grievances, inequalities, and violence at the ground level. Primarily, the international community and the region should make it clear they stand with the people of South Sudan: implement and aggressively enforce these enhanced measures of financial pressure that can begin to build leverage over the competing elites, and deliver justice and accountability for the many victims of the war to foster long-term stability. There needs to be a greater focus on removing the rewards of competitive corruption by focusing on both South Sudan's decision-makers and the international firms that enable them. The priority should be to monitor these entities and implement the necessary pressures needed to stop them and thereby dismantle the entrenched violent kleptocratic system, which is a prerequisite for lasting peace, good governance, and human rights in South Sudan. Instead of trying to forge comfortable power-sharing agreements, the focus from the region and broader international community must be on creating consequences for bad actors, as this is the only path to a transformed and reformed functional state in South Sudan. These pressures can help deny the leaders material resources used to perpetuate large-scale violence in South Sudan. This pressure also needs to extend in the region. In June 2018, the U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, Sigal Mandelker, traveled to Uganda and Kenya to deliver a strong message on the need for action against the proceeds of South Sudanese corruption that are laundered into neighboring banking systems. This message must continue to be developed with specific pressures delivered not only by the United States, but also by the United Nations (U.N.) Security Council, European Union, African Union, and regional bodies. Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2019. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 14, 2019 at: https://enoughproject.org/wp-content/uploads/AHijackedState_Enough_February2019-web.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Sudan Keywords: Exploitation of Natural Resources Shelf Number: 154610 |
Author: Buchanan, Elysia Title: Born to be Married: Addressing early and forced marriage in Nyal, South Sudan Summary: Recent research by Oxfam has found that the rate of child, early and forced marriage (CEFM) in Nyal - an area that has bordered some of the most brutal fighting in South Sudan's five-year conflict - is among some of the highest rates in the world. In Nyal, located in Panyijiar County of former Unity State, an estimated 71% of girls are married before the age of 18, a significantly higher rate than the national pre-conflict average of 45%. The research also revealed that 10% of girls and women in Nyal are married before the age of 15. It is not possible to draw concrete conclusions as to why rates of CEFM in Nyal seem higher than the national rate before the conflict began - especially as the underpinning cultural, social and economic drivers found in Nyal generally follow national patterns. However, the findings from this report suggest that the practice may also be more pervasive in other areas than national pre-conflict trends would suggest. High rates of CEFM in South Sudan take place in a context in which women and girls face threats to their rights and well-being throughout their lives. The UN and ceasefire monitors have noted that there is growing evidence that rape has been used as a weapon of war, and that women and girls have been routinely abducted and forced into sexual slavery. Additionally, humanitarian organizations have highlighted that domestic and other forms of gender-based violence have also increased since the start of the conflict. Since South Sudan's leaders signed a peace deal in September 2018, there has been a marked reduction in fighting in the country. Yet, rates of sexual violence continue to be extremely high. Meanwhile, while leaders have agreed to ensure that 35% of executive positions are held by women, it is not encouraging that they have so far been unable to achieve this quota in all but one of the bodies set up to date to oversee the transitional period. Any vision of a recovering South Sudan must be one that protects women and girls from violence, nurtures their rights and empowers them to lead. Ending CEFM is one vital step in that direction. The devastating impacts of child, early and forced marriage Child, early and forced marriage has many devastating consequences: it increases girls' risk of death or complications during pregnancy and childbirth in a country with one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the world; it is one of the primary reasons why 76% of South Sudanese girls are out-of-school; and, it puts girls at greater risk of sexual, physical and emotional violence. In Nyal, community members were very aware of these risks. Women, men, adolescent girls and boys all highlighted the impacts of the practice on maternal health, and CEFM was identified as the most common reason girls in Nyal drop out of school. Yet, all adolescent girls interviewed expressed a strong desire to continue with their education. Indeed, in one focus group, adolescent girls said they motivated themselves to perform well in school to mitigate the risk of early marriage, since it could motivate their parents or relatives to support their further education. Community members also highlighted the profound impacts CEFM had on the mental health of women and girls, even leaving some to contemplate suicide. Details: Juba, South Sudan: Oxfam International, 2019. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 1, 2019 at: https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/620620/rr-born-to-be-married-efm-south-sudan-180219-en.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Sudan Keywords: Child Marriage Shelf Number: 155595 |
Author: Bello-Schunemann, Julia Title: Sudan and South Sudan: Violence trajectories after peace agreements Summary: Peace agreements can be turning points in complex transitions from war to peace. But they dont necessarily lead to greater stability, let alone peace. This report explores trajectories of violence in Sudan and South Sudan after the signature of peace agreements. It traces violence trajectories and explores whether these peace agreements resolved, reshaped or perpetuated existing patterns of violence. Details: Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies (ISS), 2019. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 12, 2019 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/ear-22.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Sudan Keywords: Conflict Violence Shelf Number: 156401 |