Vol 56 No 21 | SUDAN Dialogue of empty chairs 22nd October 2015 The government was again talking to itself at its National Dialogue and even Thabo Mbeki boycotted the proceedings Only one opposition delegation – two Darfur former rebels whose security was guaranteed by Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno – were at the opening of the government's vaunted...
Vol 56 No 20 | SUDAN Another free pass for Khartoum 28th September 2015 A back-room deal to fend off greater scrutiny of abuses in Darfur raises more questions about the point of the UN Human Rights Council The Khartoum government is likely to escape further censure and scrutiny at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva this week after its officials met secretly with...
Vol 56 No 14 | SUDAN Why the peacekeepers stay in Darfur 10th July 2015 As the government and its allies step up attacks on civilians in Darfur, the UN and AU insist their protection force will extend its mandate Khartoum has fought a long battle to cripple and expel the international peacekeeping force in Darfur, so it reacted angrily last month when the mission's mandate was extended...
Vol 56 No 13 | SOUTH AFRICASUDAN Fugitive flees as courts sidelined 18th June 2015 The main casualty of the Sudanese President's trip to the African Union summit was the rule of law President Omer Hassan Ahmed el Beshir has again escaped the clutches of the International Criminal Court (ICC) but his disruptive appearance at the African Union summit and his...
Vol 56 No 11 | KENYASUDANUNITED STATES Ethics question for Obama 29th May 2015 Some 17 years after the bombing of US Embassies in East Africa, relatives of those killed and local staff injured still await compensation On his first trip to Kenya as United States President in July, Barack Obama will walk into a bitter controversy over successive United States governments' failure to compensate...
Vol 56 No 9 | SUDAN Enhancing elections 1st May 2015 The opposition call to stay away worked. The government cannot pretend it won a credible mandate Long queues of enthusiastic citizens stood patiently in the scorching sun waiting to vote in Sudan's first democratic elections for 18 years. The year was 1986. Fast-forward to...
Vol 56 No 9 | SUDAN The President’s new clothes 1st May 2015 With an official turnout of less than half of the registered voters in the 13-16 April elections, President Omer Hassan Ahmed el Beshir consoled himself with a dictator-level...
Vol 56 No 8 | SUDAN A no vote election 17th April 2015 The pitiful turnout in the 13-16 April elections defeats the government's aim in organising them. The only queues which journalists and activists found to photograph were of police...
Vol 56 No 7 | SUDAN Fresh doubts over polls 3rd April 2015 The government shuns its own National Dialogue policy, raising more questions about this month’s elections The ruling National Congress Party (NCP)'s refusal to attend a preparatory meeting with the opposition Sudan Call Forces in Addis Ababa on 29-30 March suggests it has dumped...
Vol 56 No 7 | SUDAN Positive deterrence 3rd April 2015 Labelled 'Top Secret', a National Congress Party document, '2015 Elections: An organisational perspective', leaked out late last year. The 28-page NCP strategy was dated January 2014 but appeared...