United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Media & Spokesperson Unit Communications & Public Information Office MEDIA MONITORING REPORT
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United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) Media & Spokesperson Unit Communications & Public Information Office MEDIA MONITORING REPORT WEDNESDAY, 30 OCTOBER 2013 SOUTH SUDAN, SUDAN Sudan's Misseriya to hold counter-referendum in Abyei (AllAfrica.com) Flashpoint Abyei counts vote for Sudan or South Sudan future (Agence France Presse (AFP) Abyei community says it was ―forced‖ to hold unilateral vote (Sudantribune.com) SOUTH SUDAN South Sudan plans oil licence auction by year-end (Reuters/Oil Price) South Sudan labels rebel leader Yau Yau a terrorist (Sudantribune.com) MPs to quiz ministers over electricity situation at Juba hospital (Radio Miraya) South Sudan: less than 50% accessing health care, says report (Sudantribune.com) $5.4million grant for South Sudan water supply and sanitation (Radio Miraya) N. Bahr el Ghazal governor rejects parliamentary changes (Sudantribune.com) Lakes state speaker sworn in, calls for unity (Sudantribune.com) Unity state legislative assembly endorses state budget (Sudantribune.com) South Sudanese students in East Africa urged to unite (Gurtong.net) Art for the Heart of Africa benefits South Sudan orphans (Borglobe) EAC customs, visa deal - businesses want tax reforms (Voice of America) OTHER HEADLINES Sudan is for all, peace will prevail next year: says defense minister (Sudanvisiodaily.com) UN condemns killing of Tanzanian peacekeeper in DRC (Sudantribune.com) Simple messages deliver dramatic results in tackling epidemic among refugees (unhcr.org/AllAfrica.com) Central African Republic chaotic, half population needs help, U.N. says (Reuters) UN official describes atrocities pitting Christians vs. Muslims in CAR (The Washington Post) OPINION/ANALYSIS/COMMENTARY/EDITORIAL Is the Abyei issue another big blow and the beginning and the end of our president? (South Sudan News Agency) Lawyers for democracy regret the decision of the supreme court on Pagan Amum‘s petition (South Sudan News Agency) Joseph Kony of Jonglei State, South Sudan: The Cause of David Yau Yau (South Sudan News Agency) U.S. counter-terrorism in lieu of foreign policy: the case of Sudan (Sudantribune.com) LINKS TO STORIES FROM THE MORNING MEDIA MONITOR Contested Abyei wraps up vote to join Sudan or South Sudan (Agence France-Presse) Abyei, Sudan welcome UN-backed referendum in disputed region (Reuters) Speaker of the National Assembly refers Media Bills to Information, Legislation Committee (Catholic Radio Network) Visa at South Sudan border for Kenyans, Ugandans, Rwandans (Eye Radio) Five children die in Juba Teaching Hospital, parliament to summon ministers (Catholic Radio Network) Lakes State Speaker sworn in, calls for unity (Sudantribune.com) Northern Bahr el Ghazal governor rejects parliamentary changes (Sudantribune.com) Western Equatoria State launches vehicle income tax (Anisa Radio) Torit authorities appreciate UN work (Emmanuel Radio) South Sudan plans oil license auction (Reuters) NOTE: Reproduction here does not mean that the UNMISS Communications & Public Information Office can vouch for the accuracy or veracity of the contents, nor does this report reflect the views of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. Furthermore, international copyright exists on some materials and this summary should not be disseminated beyond the intended list of recipients. Highlights Sudan's Misseriya to hold counter-referendum in Abyei AllAfrica.com Khartoum, 29/10/2013 – The Misseriya tribe announced Tuesday, the organisation of a unilateral referendum to determine the fate of the disputed area of Abyei in riposte to the process organised by the Ngok Dinka who prepare to announce the results of their vote. The National Youth and Student Organisation for Abyei, a youth group composed by Misseriya and Ngok Dinka youth from the disputed region announced in a press conference held in the Sudanese capital Khartoum the organisation of a popular referendum on the future on the areas. The chairman of the group Mahmoud Abdel Karim said the vote will be open to all the resident of Abyei without excluding anyone, adding they invited regional and international organisations to monitor the process and mobilised volunteers to participate in the popular process. He further called on the Sudanese, South Sudanese governments, African Union and the United Nations to recognise the result of their referendum. The group's secretary general, Ggor Deng, denounced the ongoing vote in in the region organised by Abyei high referendum committee, adding they welcomed the outcome of the presidential summit in Juba and support the establishment of joint administration and legislative council in Abyei as well as the police force. (Back to Top) Flashpoint Abyei counts vote for Sudan or South Sudan future Agence France Presse (AFP) Juba, 30/10/2013 – Counting began Wednesday in an unofficial referendum in the flashpoint Abyei region to decide if it lies in Sudan or South Sudan, observers said, amid African Union warnings the poll is a "threat to peace". "The laborious process of counting the number of ballots cast has begun," said Tim Flatman, an independent observer in the disputed district, calling the counting a "slow but very transparent process". The majority of 65,000 registered voters are believed to have cast their ballots in the three-day long poll which closed Tuesday evening. Results were expected later Wednesday or Thursday. (Back to Top) Abyei community says it was “forced” to hold unilateral vote Sudantribune.com Juba, 29/10/2013 – Leaders from the disputed oil-producing region of Abyei, whose territorial ownership remains contested between Sudan and South Sudan, say ―they have been forced by inaction‖ by the African Union to hold a unilateral vote to decide whether to remain in Sudan or return to South Sudan. "As you are aware, the people of Abyei have been forced to conduct their own referendum as a result of inaction by the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) to implement the African Union High-Level Implementation Panel (AUHIP) proposal on the final status of Abyei, including the conduct of a referendum in October 2013", said Deng Alor, the head of the Abyei high referendum committee Alor said the three-day community vote got underway on Sunday and is expected to end on Tuesday, stressing that the exercise was being conducted in a peaceful environment. ―I am delighted to share with you that the Abyei area community referendum has been conducted by an independent and credible commission with a high level of good organisation, transparency and in a peaceful environment‖, he said in a statement obtained by Sudan Tribune on Tuesday. 2 ―The women and youth of Abyei have volunteered to assist in organising a peaceful referendum in accordance with internationally accepted standards, Abyei Protocol, the ruling of the Hague International Border Court of Arbitration and the AUHIP proposal on the final status of Abyei‖, the statement adds. The statement which is dated 28 October explained that security during the vote was being provided by an Abyei women‘s organisation called Pion Tok (One Heart) in collaboration with community police. (Back to Top) South Sudan plans oil license auction by year-end Reuters/Oil Price Nairobi, 29/10/2013 – South Sudan plans to auction licenses for a yet-to-be determined number of new petroleum exploration blocks once it has finished mapping them, a senior energy ministry official said on Tuesday. "We are now working on a concession map, and this will lead us to the initiation of the licensing for the new annexed blocks, and we are hoping that by the end of this year that we will have a licensing round," Mohamed Lino Benjamin, director general of petroleum at the petroleum and mining ministry, told a regional east African oil and gas conference. Exploration licence auctions are not always awarded to the highest bidder, as other factors such as technical expertise are taken into account. At a regional summit in Kigali on Monday, South Sudan said it was keen to discuss a plan that would also include Uganda and Kenya to build a pipeline from the countries' respective oilfields to a new port being developed on Kenya's northern coast, enabling crude exports and boosting its oil industry. The pipeline to Kenya's Lamu port, where work on berths is starting, would also provide a route to export crude oil from South Sudan, which now relies on a pipeline through its northern neighbour Sudan. The new route would avoid the rows between the two that have disrupted flows. The $25.5 billion Lamu project would link landlocked South Sudan and Ethiopia to the Indian Ocean port of Lamu by constructing a major highway, a railway and an oil pipeline. (Back to Top) South Sudan labels rebel leader Yau Yau a terrorist Sudantribune.com Bor, 29/10/2013 – South Sudan‘s ministry of foreign affairs ministry has labeled Jonglei-based rebel leader David Yau Yau a terrorist and requested the international community to charge him for war crimes. In a statement broadcast on the government-owned radio Tuesday, the ministry‘s spokesman, Mawien Makol asked for international support to deal with the rebel group that has caused widespread instability in Pibor and surrounding counties. ―South Sudan therefore calls on the international community to live up to its obligations and declare David Yau Yau as [a] war criminal‖, Makol said. But the country‘s foreign minister, in a separate interview, said his government remains committed to peace processes in line with the presidential amnesty granted to the rebels, sharply contradicting statements made by the ministry‘s spokesperson. "No, that is not the stand of the government. The peace talk with Yau Yau will go [on] as planned. The presidential amnesty is still holding, we have not labeled him [Yau Yau] as a terrorist", Barnaba Marial Benjamin told Sudan Tribune by phone from the Rwandan capital, Kigali. Yau Yau‘s forces have been blamed for numerous attacks on civilians since he first rebelled against the government after losing his bid to become a Jonglei state MP in April 2010.