UN Security Council urges Sudan’s warring parties to halt hostilities during holy month of Ramadan

A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. (REUTERS)
A man walks while smoke rises above buildings after aerial bombardment, during clashes between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the army in Khartoum North, Sudan, May 1, 2023. (REUTERS)
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Updated 09 March 2024
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UN Security Council urges Sudan’s warring parties to halt hostilities during holy month of Ramadan

UN Security Council urges Sudan’s warring parties to halt hostilities during holy month of Ramadan
  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both sides on Thursday to support a Ramadan ceasefire, warning that the nearly year-long conflict threatens the country’s unity and “could ignite regional instability of dramatic proportions”

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council urged Sudan’s warring parties on Friday to immediately halt hostilities during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and allow aid to get to 25 million people in desperate need of food and other assistance.
Ramadan is expected to begin on or around Monday, depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.
The 15-member council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the British-drafted resolution, with 14 countries in support and only Russia abstaining.
Sudan plunged into chaos in April, when long-simmering tensions between its military, led by Gen. Abdel Fattah Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary commanded by Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo broke out into street battles in the capital, Khartoum.

BACKGROUND

Britain’s deputy UN ambassador James Kariuki urged the Sudanese armed forces and Rapid Support Forces ‘to act on this united international call for peace and to silence the guns.’

Fighting spread to other parts of the country, especially urban areas, but in Sudan’s western Darfur region it took on a different form, with brutal attacks by the Arab-dominated Rapid Support Forces on ethnic African civilians. Thousands of people have been killed.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged both sides on Thursday to support a Ramadan ceasefire, warning that the nearly year-long conflict threatens the country’s unity and “could ignite regional instability of dramatic proportions.” The African Union also backed a halt to fighting during Ramadan.
Burhan welcomed the UN chief’s appeal, but the Sudanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Friday listing a number of conditions for a ceasefire to be effective. The Rapid Support Forces have not responded.
The resolution expresses “grave concern over the spreading violence and the catastrophic and deteriorating humanitarian situation, including crisis levels, or worse, of acute food insecurity, particularly in Darfur.”
Britain’s deputy UN ambassador James Kariuki urged the Sudanese armed forces and Rapid Support Forces “to act on this united international call for peace and to silence the guns.”
The Security Council urged the warring parties “to seek a sustainable resolution to the conflict through dialogue,” and Kariuki called on the two sides to work to restore peace.
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva accused the Security Council of “double standards” – calling for a ceasefire in Sudan and “dragging out” adoption of a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, pointing to US vetoes of a ceasefire resolution and calling this “hypocrisy.”
She claimed most elements in Friday’s resolution are already being done, stressing that ending the violence shouldn’t just be the aim of the Security Council “but most importantly of the Sudanese people themselves.” Nonetheless, Russia decided to let the resolution through “because it is a question of the lives of the Sudanese people who are suffering across the country from the consequences of the conflict,” she said.
According to the UN humanitarian office, 8.3 million people have been forcibly displaced by fighting between government and paramilitary forces, half of the country’s 51 million people need aid, and 70 percent to 80 percent of health facilities aren’t functioning.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said if a Ramadan ceasefire is observed by both sides, “I can assure you we’ll be piling in the aid and repositioning, repairing institutions, getting children out to safety and so forth.”
The number of Sudanese who are hungry and “food insecure” has increased by 10 million since last year because of the conflict, he said, warning of moves toward famine because of “disinterest” in the Sudan conflict by the rest of the world.
Griffiths told a group of reporters Friday that he has personally been trying to get the rival commanders together in person or virtually to agree on access for humanitarian aid and workers, so far unsuccessfully.
“What we need is a political process,” he said, stressing that instability in Sudan has an impact beyond its borders because of its strategic location.
The impact has been seen in neighboring Chad, which is hosting over 550,000 Sudanese refugees mainly from neighboring Darfur as well as the Central African Republic and westward through Africa to the Sahel, Griffiths said. In addition, Sudan borders the Red Sea where Yemen’s Houthi rebels are attacking ships to try to spur a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
Griffiths said the $2.7 billion UN humanitarian appeal for Sudan this year is just 4 percent funded and urged donors to respond urgently.
He welcomed France’s announcement last month that it will hold a ministerial meeting in mid-April to help Sudan and its neighbors deal with the humanitarian consequences of the conflict.
Addressing the Security Council on Thursday, secretary-general Guterres pointed to renewed offensives and growing fears of a further expansion of hostilities in eastern Sudan, calls for arming civilians in various states, and armed groups entering the fighting in western Darfur and South Kordofan.
But Sudan’s Foreign Ministry on Friday set conditions for a ceasefire, saying the RSF should withdraw from all provinces they have taken control of since the conflict erupted, return all “looted” public and private property and stop human rights violations including “atrocities” their fighters have committed especially in Darfur.
In blaming the RSF for the ongoing conflict, the ministry said, “We are certain that the terrorist militia that launched a war against the state and the people in Ramadan last year has no moral, religious or national obligations that would make it respect the sanctity of the holy month.”
Two decades ago, Sudan’s vast western Darfur region became synonymous with genocide and war crimes, particularly by the notorious Janjaweed Arab militias against populations that identify as Central or East African.
The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor, Karim Khan, said in late January there are grounds to believe both sides in the current conflict are committing possible war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Darfur.

 


Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign

Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign
Updated 28 November 2024
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Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign

Russia jails lawyer for 7 years for criticizing Ukraine campaign
  • Dmitry Talantov, 63, was arrested in July 2022 after describing the acts of the Russian army in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Bucha as being reminiscent of “Nazi practices“
  • Safronov is now serving a 22-year sentence on treason charges

MOSCOW: Russia on Thursday sentenced a senior lawyer who had defended a jailed journalist in a high-profile case to seven years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s Ukraine offensive on social media.
Dmitry Talantov, 63, was arrested in July 2022 after describing the acts of the Russian army in the Ukrainian cities of Mariupol and Bucha as being reminiscent of “Nazi practices.”
Talantov was for many years president of the Udmurtia lawyer association and in 2021 was the defense lawyer for Ivan Safronov, a journalist covering military affairs whose arrest shook Russia’s media community.
Safronov is now serving a 22-year sentence on treason charges.
A court in the Udmurt Republic found Talantov guilty of actions aimed at spreading hatred and of knowingly distributing “fake” information on the Russian army — charges made possible with a censorship law adopted shortly after Moscow sent troops to Ukraine.
In an emotional speech in court, Talantov said he feared he would not survive the prison term, but also stood by his convictions.
“I am 64 and it is hard for me to imagine that I will come out of prison alive,” Talantov said, according to an audio of the speech published by rights group Perviy Otdel.
Talantov has been in pre-trial detention for two and a half years and has spent two years in an isolation cell, saying the Russian national anthem blasts out there in the evening and at dawn, before a staunchly pro-Kremlin radio show is played.
“I am waiting for words of peace. They do not come,” he said.
He described his conditions as a “Middle-Ages cell with only a (toilet) hole and a tap,” saying “time kills a person” in isolation.
His voice breaking, he addressed his wife saying: “Olga, forgive me, I love you.”
According to a letter he sent to Perviy Otdel, Talantov was arrested while at his summer home in the summer of 2022.
More than 300 lawyers had signed a petition calling for his release at the time.


Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland

Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland
Updated 28 November 2024
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Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland

Germany offers re-deployment of Patriot air defense units to Poland
  • The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said
  • From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops

BERLIN: Germany has offered to re-deploy Patriot air defense systems to NATO ally Poland at the start of the new year, the German defense ministry said on Thursday.
The units could be deployed for up to six months, the ministry said in a statement.
“With this we will protect a logistical hub in Poland which is of central importance for the delivery of materials to Ukraine,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said.
From January to November 2022, Germany had already deployed 300 troops together with three Patriot units to Poland.
They were based in the town Zamosc, about 50 km (31 miles) from the Ukrainian border, to protect the southern town and its crucial railway link to Ukraine.
The deployment was triggered by a stray Ukrainian missile that struck the Polish village of Przewodow in November 2022, in an incident that raised fears of the war in Ukraine spilling over the border.


Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons

Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons
Updated 28 November 2024
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Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons

Putin says Russia would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if Kyiv gets nuclear weapons
  • Putin said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon

ASTANA: President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would head off any attempt by Ukraine to acquire nuclear weapons and would use all weapons at its disposal against Ukraine if such a scenario unfolded.
The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons before he leaves office.
Putin, speaking in Astana, Kazakhstan, said it was practically impossible for Ukraine to produce a nuclear weapon, but that it might be able to make some kind of “dirty bomb.”


One year on, daily ‘stop genocide’ protests target Israel’s embassy in Korea

A collage of photos show daily one-person rallies held by People in Solidarity with Palestinians in front of Israeli embassy.
A collage of photos show daily one-person rallies held by People in Solidarity with Palestinians in front of Israeli embassy.
Updated 28 November 2024
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One year on, daily ‘stop genocide’ protests target Israel’s embassy in Korea

A collage of photos show daily one-person rallies held by People in Solidarity with Palestinians in front of Israeli embassy.
  • South Korea observes significant growth in the Palestine solidarity movement— Embassy protests held by members of over 200 Korean civil society organizations

SEOUL: Across from the Israeli embassy in Seoul, Lee Hyun-ah was holding a big red banner, as she stood in a lone daily protest calling for an end to Israel’s onslaught, massacres, and occupation of Palestine.
The banner, with writing in Korean, Arabic, and bold English letters reading “Stop Genocide Against Palestinians,” has appeared in front of the embassy every workday since November last year, when UN experts and international rights groups began warning that Israel’s mass killings in the Gaza Strip were unfolding into a genocidal campaign.
The one-person protests have been organized by Urgent Action by Korean Civil Society in Solidarity with Palestine — also known as People in Solidarity with Palestinians — a coalition of 226 South Korean civil society organizations whose members have been volunteering to rally on specific days.
Lee, a 20-year-old student in Seoul, was taking part for the first time.
“I finally found the courage and decided to participate,” she told Arab News, recalling how she began to learn about the decades of Israeli occupation of Palestine only last year.
“I was appalled. There are fundamental virtues, ethics, and values in this world. I cannot believe one group can just attack, invade, and commit genocide. I felt compelled to act.”
Lee’s protest on Monday was the 267th lone demonstration held by Urgent Action in front of the Seoul embassy.
The coalition was established in October 2023, soon after Israel launched its war on Gaza, in which its military has since killed over 44,000 people and injured more than 100,000. The real death toll is believed to be much higher, with estimates by medical journal The Lancet indicating that, as of July, it could be more than 186,000.
The Korean civil society coalition, which includes BDS Korea — a group affiliated with the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement — has also been organizing mass protests, film screenings, and boycott campaigns tailored specifically for South Korea.
Their efforts to raise awareness are bearing fruit, as the number of people joining is rapidly increasing. From just a handful of activists, the movement has grown significantly, with over 2,000 people participating in its Palestine solidarity rally last month.
“Our group was very small. It was about five to seven people working together. There were limitations on what we could do because it was so small,” BDS Korea leader Deng Ya-ping told Arab News.
“Before October 2023, there were very few organizations in South Korea that were acting in solidarity with Palestine ... But after forming People in Solidarity with Palestinians, more civic groups joined, and individuals unrelated to any organization have started participating as well.”
The group is advocating for a change in the South Korean government’s stance on Israel’s occupation and demanding that it stop Korean companies from selling weapons to the Israeli military.
“In July, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel must halt its military occupation and that all nations have a responsibility to make Israel comply. So, the Korean government is also responsible ... the most obvious way to do that is to ban arms trade. That is the biggest request we have toward the Korean government,” Deng said.
“Other than that, Korea is a part of the UN Security Council. Korea voted in favor of the resolution that the US vetoed, which called for an end to the genocide and a ceasefire. Therefore, Korea should act accordingly, pressuring Israel to stop.”
The sentiment that the South Korean government is not doing enough is common among those joining Seoul protests — as is their resolve to persist, even when the embassy staff try to stop them.
While the embassy denies the claims, one of the protesters, Lee S., who has been involved in the Palestine solidarity movement since 2016, recalled its attempts to harass them.
“Sometimes embassy workers would come out during our protests to complain or try to provoke physical confrontations. But we never got into the fights. And they would systematically tear down our posters,” Lee said.
“But the South Korean civil society will continue to speak out loudly until the genocide in Gaza ends. We will not stay silent.”


Presidential aide says Ukraine ready to host second peace summit soon

Presidential aide says Ukraine ready to host second peace summit soon
Updated 28 November 2024
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Presidential aide says Ukraine ready to host second peace summit soon

Presidential aide says Ukraine ready to host second peace summit soon
  • Ukraine held its first “peace summit” in Switzerland in June
  • “Thanks to active work with our partners, a joint peace framework has already been developed,” Yermak said

KYIV: Ukraine is ready to host a second global summit aimed at ending Russia’s invasion in the “nearest future,” the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak said on Thursday, local media outlets reported.
Ukraine held its first “peace summit” in Switzerland in June, bringing together over 90 countries to draft a resolution based on Ukraine’s proposed conditions to end the war.
However, Russia was not invited to that summit and dismissed its deliberations as meaningless without Moscow’s participation. It has also said it would not take part in any follow-up summit organized by Ukraine.
“Thanks to active work with our partners, a joint peace framework has already been developed, which will become the basis for the Second Peace Summit, and Ukraine is ready to hold it in the near future,” Yermak told a conference, according to Ukrainian media.
China also stayed away from the June summit, while other major non-Western powers including India, Saudi Arabia and Mexico withheld their signatures from the summit communique, underlining the diplomatic challenge Kyiv faces in marshalling broader global support for its cause beyond its Western allies.
Yermak’s comments came as Russian forces continue to make steady territorial gains in eastern Ukraine while also pounding energy infrastructure in Ukrainian cities and towns.
Kyiv and its European allies are also waiting to see how US President-elect Donald Trump will handle the Ukraine issue. He has criticized the scale of US financial and military support for Ukraine and has said he could end the war in a day, without saying how.