This was addressed during the annual African union summit in Addis Ababa the capital city of Ethiopia, Guterres said UN will now extend support to Sudan.

African Union summit 2020,Courtesy Photo

The 33rd African Union (AU) summit was a two-day meeting, under the theme “Silencing the Guns: Creating conducive conditions for Africa’s development”

The annual African Union summit begun on Sunday February 9^th 2020, the Libya conflict and Sudan where the most important issue on the agenda.

Sudan has been welcomed back to the international scene   after the overthrow of the former president Omar al-Bashir.

Africa leader at the summit will later discuss on how to restore peace and end civil in Libya

Congregations Sudan

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The former Congolese Vice President, Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, who is serving an 18-year prison sentence for crimes against humanity and war crimes, was convicted of coaching witnesses and bribing them to give false testimony.

The applicable law was Article 70(1) of the Rome Statute which addresses various forms of conduct that may encroach upon the integrity and efficacy of the proceedings before the Court. The ICC noted that 14 key witnesses had been coached about what to say and that Bemba and four other defendants had conspired to present false evidence. The facts of the case included:

• Mr Bemba, Mr Kilolo and Mr Mangenda jointly agreed to illicitly interfere with defence witnesses in order to ensure that they would provide evidence in favour of Mr Bemba.
• Mr Bemba, Mr Kilolo and Mr Mangenda adopted a series of measures with a view to concealing their illicit activities, such as the abuse of the Registry’s privileged line in the ICC Detention Centre, or money transfers to defence witnesses through third persons or to persons close to the defence witnesses.
• Mr Bemba, as the ultimate beneficiary of the common plan, planned, authorised, and approved the illicit coaching of the 14 Main Case defence witnesses and provided precise instructions which were, in turn, implemented by Mr Kilolo. Mr Bemba authorised the illicit payment of money to the witnesses prior to their testimony and ensured, that financial means were available with which to execute illicit activities.
• Mr Bemba also spoke with witnesses personally on the telephone by abusing the ICC Detention Centre privileged line.

The summary of the judgement reads in part:

In the light of the foregoing, the Chamber is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Bemba, jointly with Mr Kilolo and Mr Mangenda, committed the offence of corruptly influencing 14 Main Case defence witnesses within the meaning of Articles 70(1)(c) and 25(3)(a) of the Statute.

The Chamber found Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo guilty, under Articles 70(1)(b) and (c), in conjunction with Article 25(3)(a) of the Statute, of having corruptly influenced D-2, D-3, D-4, D-6, D-13, D-15, D-23, D-25, D-26, D-29, D-54, D-55, D-57, and D-64 and having presented their false evidence as co-perpetrator; guilty, under Article 70(1)(a), in conjunction with Article 25(3)(b) of the Statute, of having solicited the giving of false testimony by witnesses D-2, D-3, D-4, D-6, D-13, D-15, D-23, D-25, D-26, D-29, D-54, D-55, D-57, and D-64.

The verdict was delivered by Trial Chamber VII of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday 19 October 2016 at 14:30 (Hague local time). For these types of offences, according to the Rome Statute, the judges may impose a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years and/or a fine. “No legal system in the world can accept the bribing of witnesses, the inducement of witnesses to lie or the illicit coaching of witnesses,” said the presiding judge, Bertram Schmitt, “Today’s judgment sends the clear message that the court is not willing to allow its proceedings to be hampered or destroyed.”

The Chamber will be pronouncing the penalties at a subsequent stage.

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The magnificent Kigali Convention Center from outside.

As the one week shaky ceasefire seems to hold on in Juba, South Sudan, African leaders sitting at an AU summit in Kigali on Sunday agreed to re-enforce the UN-Mission with a regional force under IGAD if they are to save lives and pacify Juba.

IGAD called on the UN Security Council to give it a mandate that would allow it to separate the parties to the conflict and “pacify Juba”.

The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had the inception of the recent conflict called for an arms embargo on South Sudan. This however did not get past the AU summit because of opposition from Uganda, which has strong ties to Kiir.
The recent clashes in Juba and other parts of South Sudan are believed to have claimed over 300 lives after forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those supporting his rival Vice-President Riek Machar got engaged in a four-bloody battle.

The violence raised fears of a breakdown in protracted efforts to end a civil war that began in December 2013 with battles in Juba between the same rival groups.

As discussions went on at the meeting that ended on Monday, IGAD Executive Secretary, Mahboub Maalim, proposed a three-fold approach to addressing the South Sudan crisis.

“First, impose an immediate arms embargo on South Sudan. Second, enact additional targeted sanctions on leaders and commanders working to unravel the peace process. Third, fortify the UN Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS,” the IGAD Executive Secretary said.

Many member states argued that it was better to have an African constituted armed force that can be used to handle conflicts like that in South Sudan.

“The UN doesn’t have the mandate to impose peace,” African Union (AU) Peace and Security Commissioner Smail Chergui said at a summit in Kigali.

“They are there where there is peace to keep. African troops are ready to engage in very difficult situations. It is our responsibility,” he added.

There is currently a 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, which has however  faced criticism on many occasions for what critics say is it’s for failure to stem the latest bloodshed or fully protect civilians during the fighting.

Chergui said the mooted force for South Sudan would be modelled on the 3,000 strong Force Intervention Brigade deployed within the UN’s mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which proved decisive in neutralising the M23 rebellion in 2013.

IGAD, a bloc of east African states and the key player behind the proposed force, on Sunday Chergui said the international community would have to persuade Kiir to drop his opposition to the deployment of the new force.

The summit also endorsed a plan for the AU to start withdrawing its 20,000 troops deployed in Somalia in the UN-endorsed AMISOM mission starting from October 2018.

Before that date, there would be “very robust and collective attacks” on Shabab insurgents in the south of the country.

South Sudan warring factions have received the decision to deploy a regional peacekeeping force in the country with mixed reactions.

The new developments have however been received with mixed reactions especially from the 2 warring parties with a government official from Prseident Salvar Kiir’s faction calling it “Unfortunate ” and that it “will not work”, in reference to the decisio taken by Inter Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

“That proposal will not work, because a problem is not solved by another problem and this thinking is unfortunate” said Minister Martin Elia Lomuro in an interview with Sudan Tribune.

Meanwhile the opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-In opposition (SPLM-IO) under it’s leader Dr. Riek Machar welcomed the move saying it would guarantee security of its officials who feel threatened by attacks from government forces.

Machar’s Spokesperson James Gatdet told the media earlier that a peacekeeping force was long overdue.

“President Kiir is not in control of incidents that occur around him. He is not in control of his army commanders and other organized forces. So how do you trust protection from a leader who is not in control, or who might have been blessing violent actions of his commanders or security personnel?” Gatdet wondered.

IGAD in a statement asked warring factions in South Sudan to demilitarize Juba and give way for regional forces to harmonies relations in Juba.

Earlier, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta told UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon that the region, would urgently provide more troops to the UNMISS and provide protection to leadership and the citizens.

“We have all watched events in South Sudan with sorrow. Our youngest brother has fallen, yet again, into division and violence. It is our responsibility – all of us, but especially those in the region – to restore peace, and to restore it durably,” said President Kenyatta according to the statement from his office.

“Let me be clear: those of us in the region have primary responsibility for peace and security here. But that responsibility is also collective – all of us must think carefully, and work hard, in the cause of peace,” he added.

Kenyatta asked UN Security Council to modify the mandate of UNMISS “so that it can separate those who have turned to violence, so that it can protect the infrastructure South Sudan has built, and so that it can enforce the peace. That is what collective responsibility means.”

The top regional official said that the chiefs of staff from five countries comprising Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan and Uganda have proposed reinforcement of UNMISS troops from the region under the same UNMISS mandate.

Among the proposals was to task the south Sudan government to give way to humanitarian assistance to reach people in need.

“The government must uphold it responsibility and open up corridors to allow UN and humanitarian actors to provide vital supplies and other assistance to the affected civilians, as well as access for medical evacuations,” sounded the call from UNMISS.

Welcome back Morocco?

The summit also saw the first steps of the possible return to the AU of Morocco, the only African state that is not part of the union.

Morocco quit the bloc 32 years ago in protest at its decision to accept Western Sahara as a member.

Morocco maintains that Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony, is an integral part of the kingdom even though local Sahrawi people led by the Polisario Front have long campaigned for the right to self-determination.

“For a long time our friends have been asking us to return to them, so that Morocco can take up its natural place within its institutional family. The moment has now come,” King Mohammed VI said in a message sent to the summit.

“We consider Morocco a brother country and would be very happy to welcome them back,” said Nigerian Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama.

“But I think a lot will also depend on the terms on which Morocco would like to come back,” he cautioned.

The heads of state failed to name a successor to Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma to become the AU’s new commission chair.

None of the three candidates garnered the two-thirds majority necessary, and a new ballot will be held at the next AU summit, due in January 2017 in Addis Ababa.

The leaders did agree on financing the bloc through a 0.2 percent levy on imports, so as to reduce its dependence on donors, who currently contribute 73 percent of the $781 million (708 million euro) budget.

Rwanda’s Finance Minister Claver Gatete said this could bring in as much as $1.2 billion (1.1 billion euros).

Dlamini-Zuma welcomed the “historic landmark decision” as “an unprecedented leap forward for African self-reliance and dignity”.

Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, hosting the summit, said the plan “puts responsibility and ownership in our hands”.

“We need to start doing things differently, and better,” he told delegates at the opening ceremony.

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Jean-Pierre Bemba

Jean-Pierre Bemba, DR Congo ex-warlord was found guilty yesterday in a landmark ICC trial which spanned six years. The conviction of Congolese militia leader was said by the global civil society to be a victory for accountability for high ranking leaders and eradication of rape as a weapon of war. This follows the call of arrest for Sudan’s Omar Bashir.

Below is the full press release

CICCPR Bemba Verdict March 2016

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Kiwanda says that the over 26 years Museveni has ruledUgandaare enough and that the president should leave power after his term of office in 2016 in order to avoid Ugandans to turn into violent.

Speaking on Bukedde TV yesterday, Kiwanda said Museveni should quit power and goes back to look after his cows and grand children. Museveni is a herdsman. The MP says that Museveni not so long ago was the only man inUganda‘who could light fire when it is raining’ but he is now sending the same country he liberated into a political limbo.

Museveni when he captured power in 1986 he is remembered to have told Ugandans that the problem with African leaders is the desire to over stay in power. Kiwanda says there are many people in NRM living quietly but wishing Museveni to leave power.

Kiwanda asked Museveni to copy a leaf from Nelson Mandela ofSouth Africawho quit power when he was still a darling of his people. In 1986 and the early 1990s Museveni would cough and most Ugandans fill concerned but the same Ugandans he rules now wish him hell.

By Walakira Nyanzi

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