Hi everyone Following the events in Abyei this weekend, I am heading back to Sudan. I remain hopeful that, peering over the brink to a return to war, cool heads will prevail and that the usual Sudanese style of “managing” the crisis, in lieu of actually solving it, will at least limit the devastation for […]
Sanctions and U.S. corporations in South Sudan
April 12, 2011 by 1 Comment
Today, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued a brief guidance note on the situation for U.S. people and corporations interested in operations in the new country of South Sudan, following its formal birth on July 9. In short, OFAC explains that the sanctions that currently prohibit U.S. entities conducting business in Sudan and […]
More “secret” Sudanese documents
March 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment
UPDATE # 2: More literal translations thanks to @simsimt pasted below. But on the authentication issue, fellow Sudan correspondent Alan Boswell writes for McClatchy, “The north immediately denounced the documents as forgeries filled with mistakes, including incorrect titles for officials, wrong names for northern institutions, fake letterheads, and the use of names of officials who’d […]
“Secret” Sudanese government documents
March 16, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Testerday the SPLM-led Government of South Sudan of began releasing a series of documents to the media. I have copies of these allegedly internal Sudanese government documents, classified “secret”, which the SPLM say prove that Khartoum has been supporting rebels in the south to overthrow the Government of South Sudan. The Sudanese government claims the […]
Breaking news: UNSC unaminous referral of Libya to the ICC
February 27, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Late this evening (Saturday Feb. 26) the UN Security Council unanimously referred the situation in Libya to the International Criminal Court. The full text of Resolution 1970 is not yet available, but the unanimous referral marks an unprecedented show of international support for the ICC, with the U.S. and China – for the first time […]
Watching Khartoum
January 30, 2011 by 1 Comment
Sudanese youth activists (an increasingly strong and tech-savvy group – some of whom I reported on last year), inspired by peoples’ protests in Tunisia and neighboring Egypt, have been organizing demonstrations to take place today, January 30. The demonstration website, http://sudan30january.blogspot.com/ contains practical information for protesters, including directions for how to handle tear gas, and […]
ICC case cuts to heart of Kenyan political leadership
December 15, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Here’s a brief summary of what was announced by ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo in The Hague this morning. Two bold cases, cutting to the very center of Kenyan political power – no “small fish” here. The Prosecution has requested a summons for these six to appear – with a clear stipulation that if they […]
Women protesters arrested in Khartoum
December 14, 2010 by 2 Comments
Women protesters, part of the “No for Oppressing Women” initiative submitted the following memo to the Sudanese Ministry of Justice this morning. During their protest outside the ministry many women were arrested (Reuters is reporting “dozens“; protest organizers estimate “forty”). As yet, their lawyers have not been granted access to them: In the Name of […]
Sudan Radio Service launches in Juba
December 14, 2010 by 2 Comments
Today in Juba, the USAID-funded Sudan Radio Service (SRS) is formally launching its Sudan-based operation. I’ve been meeting Sudanese journalists from the SRS throughout the year as they’ve been undertaking field reporting, but until now they always had to head back to Nairobi. Moving the SRS base to Juba will make life logistically easier for […]
42 days too long
December 10, 2010 by 1 Comment
Eight hours incommunicado in the custody of Sudan’s security agents was plenty enough to unsettle me earlier this year. And with a foreign passport I could be fairly assured that deportation was the worst outcome on offer. The 14 Darfuri journalists, lawyers and human rights activists arrested by the Sudanese security agency on Oct. 30 […]
