APO News from Africa:
Three Months, Still No Word on Disappeared South Sudanese Men:
Three months, 90 days, more than two thousand hours without news of Dong Samuel Luak, a well-known South Sudanese activist, and Aggrey Idris, an opposition official, who disappeared off the streets of Nairobi on January 23 and 24.
The men are believed to have been abducted by or at the request of South Sudanese officials and taken illegally to South Sudan, where they are likely to have been abused as so many other detainees before them. Human Rights Watch has documented clear patterns of arbitrary detentions, abuse, and torture by military and national security actors in South Sudan.
Neither the Kenyan or South Sudanese authorities have responded to questions about the two men’s fate. A group of nongovernmental organizations in Kenya filed a habeas corpus petition for the release of the two activists, but the court found on February 22 that there was insufficient evidence to establish the Kenyan government was liable for their forcible disappearance. Days earlier, the South Sudanese minister of information, Michael Makuei, denied that they were in the custody of South Sudanese security forces.
Yet, credible sources told Human Rights Watch and others that both Luak and Idris were detained in the Juba headquarters of South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS) on January 26, two days after they were forcibly disappeared from Nairobi and a day before the High Court of Kenya ruled against their deportation. Sources said the two men were held in the NSS headquarters in Juba for a few nights and then transferred elsewhere. Their current whereabouts remain unknown.
Since the war began in 2013, we have documented cases of enforced disappearances, defined as the detention and subsequent denial of detention by authorities, especially in the Equatoria and Western Bahr el-Ghazal regions where the South Sudan government has been pursuing abusive counterinsurgency campaigns, including against people presumed to support the opposition.
This case has the added dimension of involving the enforced disappearance of people in another country, and potential collusion between South Sudanese and Kenyan actors in a crime.
Luak and Idris’ forcible disappearance shows that South Sudanese actors are willing to cross borders to silence critics. This is an especially worrying development considering how many human rights activists and civil society leaders have had to flee South Sudan since the war started.
International actors, including the African Union and Kenya, should insist South Sudan’s government immediately investigate the case, produce and release the disappeared men, and investigate and hold to account those responsible. Three months on, every additional second is too long.
Distributed by APO on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
First human rights trainings held inside detention centres in Libya since 2014:
IOM is currently in the process of providing human rights trainings in five detention centres, the first trainings inside detention centres since 2014.
In this pilot project, IOM is targeting five centres (Abu Salim, Tariq al Sekka, Al Khums, Gharyan Alhamra and Triq Al Matar) to enhance the capacity of the staff and help improve the living conditions of the migrants.
The first two of the five trainings, inside Tripoli’s Tariq Al Sekka and Abu Salim detention centres, on 14 April and 18 April respectively, focused on the promotion and protection of the human rights of migrants inside the detention centres and was delivered to 24 of the Abu Salim management and 28 of Tariq Al Sekka’s personnel. The trainings were conducted by the management of the centres, after having attended an intensive five-day course in Tunis in February 2017, with the assistance of IOM staff.
“It is a great step to be able to restart the trainings inside detention centres in Libya,” explained Programme Manager Maysa Khalil.
Some of the topics that were discussed included identification of vulnerable cases, the needs of women and men, protection and prevention of diseases, and smuggling and human trafficking.
“It is important to build a good relationship with the migrants who are residing in the centres in order for them to feel safe,” said Mohamed Salem, one of the participants from Tariq Al Sekka following the training sessions. For him the training increased the understanding of the migrants’ needs and their vulnerabilities.
Challenges identified during the session involved communication difficulties due to language barriers and the struggle of handling health cases, such as providing ambulances for urgent cases, and of coordination with clinics for patients such as pregnant women, and those with psychological and mental problems.
“The attendees were excited to participate and tried to give solutions and share suggestions to facilitate the stay of migrants inside the centres by, for example, having a space for children to have fun and play away from their rooms for most of the day,” explained IOM’s Operations Assistant, Moad Ayad who believes, that the training will have an impact when it comes to the treatment of migrants in detention.
Other issues that were raised were the importance of separating minors and women from other detainees, as well as the right of all migrants to practice their religion freely.
“Even though IOM advocates for the release of detained migrants, this type of human rights trainings aims at long-term improvement of the living conditions for migrants currently inside detention centres,” added Khalil.
The trainings are part of a wider IOM intervention which is focusing on building the capacity of detention centre authorities to ensure that migrants are treated in a way that upholds their dignity and fully respects their human rights.
“The hope is to be able to provide as many detention centre personnel with the training as possible,” added Khalil.
This pilot is part of project, “Support and provide assistance to authorities and migrants in detention centres and contribute to addressing the migration flow through voluntary repatriation in Libya”, funded by the Government of the United Kingdom.
Under the same project, four detention centres were rehabilitated to meet the basic needs of migrants, particularly when it relates to water and sanitation facilities.
Distributed by APO on behalf of United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).
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Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
Representing the Government of South Sudan, the Ministry of Petroleum announces that it is welcoming the interest of investors for direct negotiations on oil and gas in blocks B1 and B2. The announcement comes after negotiations broke down with the French oil and gas company Total E & P due to irreconcilable differences.
Officials of the Ministry of Petroleum met with representatives of Total in Kampala, Uganda in the past two weeks. Also involved in the negotiations to develop an exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) for the blocks (B1 & B2) were UK independent Tullow Oil Private Limited Company and the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC). The negotiations reached an impasse over the proposed exploration period and cost recovery limit.
“Following lengthy discussions with representatives of the company Total we have decided it is in the best interest of South Sudan to open opportunities to other potential investors,” said Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, Minister of Petroleum of South Sudan. “We had hoped for a favorable outcome but we believe these large and highly prospective blocks need a fast and ambitious development program to achieve their full potential. B1 and B2 are now open for direct negotiation.”
Blocks B1 and B2 were once part of the 120,000 square kilometer area known as Block B, which was divided into three licenses in 2012. The area is highly rich in hydrocarbon deposits but has experienced very little exploration. In March 2017, Pan African independent Oranto Petroleum Limited signed an exploration and production sharing agreement (EPSA) with the Government of South Sudan for Block B3. The area covers 25,150 square kilometers and has estimated reserves in place of more than 3 billion barrels.
“The resource base in these blocks are enormous and we need committed operators who are ready to invest and work with our government to comply with the laws of our country,” said the Minister. “South Sudan is creating an enabling environment for companies to operate. We want companies to invest, explore, produce and we are ready to offer incentives to investors.”
The Government of South Sudan has adopted a very pro-business stance with the expectation that aggressive investments in the petroleum sector will stimulate the economy. In 2017, the Ministry of Petroleum announced it was planning to double its total oil production by next year. South Sudan currently produces 130,000 barrels per day but can produce as much as 500,000 barrels per day.
The Ministry of Petroleum invites companies to negotiate directly on Blocks B1 and B2. Government officials will be present at the Africa Oil & Power conference in Cape Town on June 5, 2017 to advance discussions with interested parties.
Distributed by APO on behalf of The Republic of South Sudan Ministry of Petroleum.
Media Contact:
Steven P. Riek Deng
Executive Director, Office of the Minister of Petroleum
+211 915 601 335
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- Image: Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, Minister of Petroleum of South Sudan
Source: APO – Africa-Newsroom: latest news releases related to Africa
