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ICC-02/05-01/09-251-AnxI 23-10-2015 1/12 EC PT

ANNEX I

Public

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Sudan Tribune

Bashir arrives in for regional summit1

July 26, 2015 () – ’s president Omer Hassan al-Bashir has travelled to Mauritania on Sunday to participate in the 4th summit of the Great Green Wall for the and the Initiative (GGWSSI), state media reported.

Sudanese president Omer Hassan al-Bashir as they pose for photographers ahead of the summit in Johannesburg June 14, 2015 (REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko)

This is Bashir’s second visit to Mauritania since the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for him in 2009 and 2010, charging him with , war crimes and related to alleged atrocities carried out by the military and government-backed in the conflict in .

Mauritania is not a state party to the Rome Statute of the ICC, and therefore has no obligations under the statute. However, the ICC chief prosecutor, Fatu Bensouda, had in the past asked and who are also non signatories to the statute to arrest Bashir.

Also, the ICC had previously asked , Congo, , and to arrest the Sudanese president who continued to travel to several African capitals despite the arrest warrants.

Since the issuance of the two arrest warrants, Bashir limited his trips abroad to ICC non- party states but he also traveled to five signatory states including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), , , and South .

1 http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article55832, last accessed 14 October 2015. ICC-02/05-01/09-251-AnxI 23-10-2015 3/12 EC PT

His recent trip to drew international attention after he flew out of the country defying a High court order which order the government to ban his departure until an application calling for his arrest had been heard.

GGWSSI SUMMIT

Several ministers and experts from GGWSSI member states on Thursday have started their regular meetings in the Mauritanian capital, in preparation for the presidential summit which would convene on Monday.

The GGWSSI is a pan-African programme launched in 2007 by the African Union (AU). Its goal is to address land degradation and in the Sahel and Sahara, boost food security, and support communities to adapt to climate change.

The initiative brings together more than 20 countries from the Sahel-Saharan region including , , , , Verde, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, , , Mauritania, , Nigeria, , , Sudan, and .

NDTV

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir in Mauritania Despite International Criminal Court Arrest Warrant2

2 http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/sudans-president-omar-al-bashir-in-mauritania-despite-international- criminal-court-arrest-warrant-1200843 , on Irish Sun, last accessed 14 October 2015. ICC-02/05-01/09-251-AnxI 23-10-2015 4/12 EC PT

Nouakchott: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir arrived in Mauritania on Sunday to attend a summit, despite an international arrest warrant issued against him in 2009 over charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The visit came weeks after South Africa refused to arrest Bashir during an African Union summit, and even threatened it may withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) after an outcry.

In Mauritania, which has not signed the Rome Statute of the ICC, Bashir will on Monday attend a meeting of Great Green Wall initiative, which aims to plant a wall of trees in Africa to stop the desert from spreading, Mauritania's state news agency said.

Leaders from Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Chad and Mauritania are expected to attend the one-day summit.

Bashir has ruled Sudan since 1989 and was indicted for genocide against the civilian population in the western region of Darfur during the conflict that erupted in 2003.

The conflict began in 2003 when black insurgents rose up against his Arab-dominated government, protesting they were marginalised.

Khartoum unleashed a bloody counter-, using the armed forces and allied .

The says 300,000 people were killed in the conflict and another 2.5 million forced to flee their homes.

Sudan Vision

Al Bashir to Head to to Review Strategic Projects3

Khartoum: President of the Republic Field Marshal Omer Al Bashir is expected to pay an official visit to China during the coming few weeks. Al Bashir was acquainted with the volume of cooperation economic projects between Sudan and China.

Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Badr Al Din Mahmoud said following the President meeting with the with The Ministers of Economic Sector yesterday said the meeting has reviewed the measures taken on the projects that will be discussed with the Chinese side during the prospected visit of the President to China as China is a strategic partner of Sudan.

Badr Al Din outlined that the meeting has reviewed the economic projects in Sudan financed by China as well as Chinese investment in Sudan.

3 http://news.sudanvisiondaily.com/details.html?rsnpid=253892 , last accessed 14 October 2015. ICC-02/05-01/09-251-AnxI 23-10-2015 5/12 EC PT

He said during the meeting the loans offered by China to Sudan have been reviewed for constructing the projects of infrastructures particularly in the sphere of development, roads, electricity, airports and railway lines.

The Minister disclosed the preferential loans offered by China to Sudan noting that the meeting affirmed the importance of prioritizing these loans as well as setting new priorities for these loans towards establishing new projects to boost exports from the one hand and increase the country’s revenues from foreign currencies from the other. He further said the meeting has underscored developing the sector of and increasing its production via entering in new fields as well as entering the field of gas during the coming period in addition to cooperation in the fields of agriculture, industry and the other investment spheres via the free zones and the economic zones.

The Minister of Finance went on to affirm that all the discussed issues in this meeting will be presented during the meetings with the Chinese officials in the said prospected visit.

He further disclosed that the agreements concluded towards increasing the Chinese investments in the agricultural field particularly with regards to producing cash crops in which Sudan is endowed with a comparative advantage like oilseeds, as well as the projects of animal resources through establishing slaughterhouses and meat factories as well as giving due attention to introducing the Chinese technology in the fields of agriculture towards realizing good productivity in the future.

The Minister pledged to enter in big projects agreements with the Chinese side in the field of like Kenana Canal Setit and Merowe dams for funding them and starting partnership in them.

Regarding agreements between the two countries the Minister disclosed a totality of agreements previously concluded between the two countries top of which is the agreement of rescheduling of debts noting that China has shown big flexibility in this regards to assist Sudan overcome the post-secession phase and the loss of petroleum resources.

He noted that China has entered into vital spheres for compensating Sudan top of which interring the field of mining outlining that big number of Chinese companies have started producing and other minerals.

By Zuleikha Abdul Raziq, 24/08/2015

Kyodo News

30 foreign leaders to attend China's Sept. WWII events4

About 30 foreign leaders will take part in events early next month in to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of War II, a senior Chinese diplomat said Tuesday.

4 http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2015/08/370847.html, last accessed 14 October 2015. ICC-02/05-01/09-251-AnxI 23-10-2015 6/12 EC PT

But as widely expected, top leaders from world powers, excluding Russian President Vladimir Putin, will not be attending the Sept. 3 commemorations, which include a huge military parade in the heart of the capital.

Other countries that have decided to send their heads of state, presidents or top leaders to the commemorations include Cambodia, Egypt, , Laos, Mongolia, , South Africa, South Korea, Sudan, , and Vietnam, Chinese deputy foreign minister Zhang Ming told a press conference.

Quartz Africa

China welcomes an accused war criminal to a parade lambasting Japanese war crimes during WWII5

Sudanese president Omar Hassan al-Bashir, an accused war criminal, has arrived in Beijing to attend a military parade celebrating the defeat of Japan—a country that China still accuses of not fully owning up to its own war crimes.

The International Criminal Court has accused Bashir of orchestrating violent campaigns in Darfur that left up to 400,000 people dead and over 2.5 million displaced. But because China is not a signatory to the treaty that established the organization, it is not obligated to act on ICC arrest warrants. Since the warrants were issued in 2009 and 2010, China has been the only country outside of Africa and the that Bashir has been able to travel to.

In China, Bashir was personally welcomed by president Xi Jinping. “China and Sudan are like two brothers that are also good friends and partners,” Xi said, telling Bashir, “You are an old friend of the Chinese people.”

No Western countries are sending their to the event officially known as “Commemoration of 70th Anniversary of Victory of Chinese People’s Resistance against Japanese Aggression and World Anti-Fascist War.”

The visit is fast becoming a point of diplomatic tension. On Aug. 31, Sudan foreign minister Ibrahim Ghandour told Voice of America, “China supported Sudan in its very dark days when Sudan was let down by the US.” US State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the next day, “Warrants for his arrest remain outstanding and we strongly support the ICC’s efforts to hold accountable those responsible for those acts. We oppose invitations, facilitation or support for travel by persons subject to outstanding ICC warrants.”

China has maintained close relations with Sudan since the 1990s, after Sudan became one of the first countries to diplomatically recognize China in the . Beijing’s support for Khartoum has ranged from backing its attempts to crush revolt in the south to building

5 http://qz.com/493227/china-welcomes-an-accused-war-criminal-to-a-parade-lambasting-japanese-war- crimes-during-wwii/, last accessed 14 October 2015 ICC-02/05-01/09-251-AnxI 23-10-2015 7/12 EC PT

Bashir a new and investing heavily in its oil industry. During Bashir’s visit this week the two also agreed to cooperate on space flight technology.

“It is reasonable and justified for China to invite president Bashir to attend the commemorative activities,” said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a press briefing. “China will accord him with due treatment during his stay in China.”

Asked about the irony of inviting a state leader accused of war crimes when so many similar atrocities took place during World War Two, Hua said that was “over thinking” things.

Sudan Vision

Al Bashir Flies to to Attend S. Sudan Peace Agreement Signature6

Khartoum – government has announced that President Al Bashir will participate today along with Presidents of Kenya and besides Ethiopian Premier the ceremony of South Sudan Peace Agreement signature by President of South Sudan, Slva Kiir Mayardit ending a 20 month ware between the government troops and the former First Vice President of South Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar.

South Sudan government Spokesperson, Ateny Wek Ateny affirmed that presidents of each of Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and the Ethiopian Premier will arrive in Juba this morning for a one-day mini-summit during which President Salva Kiir will sign the peace agreement. He added that South Sudan government is still not satisfied toward the agreement prepared by IGAD.

The announcement comes a day after a consultative meeting brought together South Sudan cabinet members, state governors, heads of commissions and other institutions.

The leadership meeting, which was chaired by the South Sudanese leader in Juba was followed by a consultative meeting with the Security Council members.

Last week, President Kiir declined to sign the agreement and requested for 15 more days to consult his constituents. The agreement was signed by the armed opposition leader, Riek Machar and the representative of the former political detainees, .

Meanwhile, the East African regional bloc (IGAD) did acknowledge Wednesday’s mini- summit on the agreement to resolve the South Sudanese conflict to be held in Juba.

The IGAD Secretariat, in a statement, requested all IGAD-Plus members to send their respective delegations "to witness and attend the long awaited historic moment”.

Last week, President Kiir declined to sign the agreement and requested for 15 more days to consult his constituents. The agreement was signed by the armed opposition leader, Riek

6 http://news.sudanvisiondaily.com/details.html?rsnpid=253942, last accessed 14 October 2015 ICC-02/05-01/09-251-AnxI 23-10-2015 8/12 EC PT

Machar and the representative of the former political detainees, Pagan Amum.

Meanwhile, the East African regional bloc (IGAD) did acknowledge Wednesday’s mini- summit on the agreement to resolve the South Sudanese conflict to be held in Juba.

The IGAD Secretariat, in a statement, requested all IGAD-Plus members to send their respective delegations "to witness and attend the long awaited historic moment”.

“The Secretariat of IGAD also hereby reminds the office of the special envoy of South Sudan to avail the relevant documentations in Juba, earlier enough,” reads the statement.

It is worth noted that President Omer Hassan Al Bashir has urged his South Sudan counterpart, Salva Kiir to sign the internationally-backed regional mediated peace deal aimed at ending the 20-month old conflict in the world’s youngest nation.

By Al-Sammani Awadallah, 25 August 2015

Africa Confidential

The latest last-minute deal7

Under the threat of an and more sanctions, the government signs a peace agreement

Delight and relief that the Juba government has finally signed a peace deal with the rebel movement is mixed with widespread fear that the deal will not hold. There is much scope for future disagreement but the main concern is that many in the government and its army still dream of defeating Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon's insurgents. They know that it was the divisions in Riek's ranks that meant he needed peace more than the government.

After days of doubt, President signed the agreement in Juba on 26 August. On 25 August, Foreign Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin Bil told United Nations- sponsored Radio Miraya in Juba that there was merely 'a possibility' that a deal peace would be signed but spoke of 'areas of reservation' that had not 'even been discussed' at meetings mediated by the Inter- Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) in . Divisions persist among both the politicians and the military, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA).

The rebel leader, former Vice- President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, and the reinstated Secretary General of the governing Sudan People's Liberation Movement, Pa'gan Amum Okiech, had already signed. Pa'gan said he would not return to Juba unless Lieutenent General Salva, the SPLM Chairman, also signed (AC Vol 56 No 17, Politicians undermine new peace deal).

7 http://www.africa-confidential.com/article/id/11197/The_latest_last-minute_deal, last accessed 14 October 2015 ICC-02/05-01/09-251-AnxI 23-10-2015 9/12 EC PT

The , widely seen as the godfather of South Sudan's Independence from Sudan in 2011, had meanwhile submitted a draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for wider sanctions and an arms embargo if peace were not agreed by 1 September. IGAD pressured Salva Kiir by sending Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Sudan's First Vice-President Bakri Hassan Salih and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to Juba beforehand.

There is still a sense that anything could happen. 'Salva and a lot of government people want to sign but there is a small group of powerful people resisting,' a long-term Juba analyst told . That group includes army officers and speculation abounds about some of Salva's closest allies, such as the Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Paul Malong Awan (AC Vol 55 No 9, Calling time on the killing).

IGAD insisted the text to be signed would be the same as that agreed in Addis Ababa on 17 August. 'We are not agreeing to any further changes', the Spokesman for Riek's SPLM-in- Opposition (SPLM-IO), James Gatdet Dak, told us. The government had gained big concessions in the IGAD negotiations in August but the proposed demilitarisation of Juba remained a major sticking point, government sources told AC. IGAD's draft agreement on 24 July had given the SPLM-IO a majority of posts in the governments of Upper , Unity and Jonglei, the three Greater states where most fighting has occurred since December 2013. After IGAD members met in Uganda on 10 August, the proposed SPLM-IO share was cut to 40% from 53%, and the government's raised to 46%.

The 17 August agreement removed clauses in the July agreement that allowed Commander Riek a 195-man armed entourage in Juba and it also removed mention of an international force from IGAD, the African Union and the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), to take over security in the capital. That had caused widespread outrage. The removal of armed forces beyond a 25- kilometre perimeter was maintained. This, government sources told us, was an affront to national sovereignty. It remains problematic. 'The government has reservations about demilitarisation,' the Presidential Press Spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, told AC on 25 August. 'These have been included and will be dealt with.'

Sanctions controversy

Under a 14-day extension that IGAD granted Salva when he refused to sign on 17 August, Juba had until 1 September to sign – in other words, to convince naysayers in Juba. Additional sanctions to those already imposed on individuals would require unanimity in the UNSC. Britain is 'pretty supportive', said a Western diplomatic source, while was also expected to agree. 'Russia has been critical but not to the point of threatening to outright block it,' said a UN source. 'China has said they're happy to move forward if the region supports it.' That was all before Juba signed and it's less clear what happens if the government or others break the latest agreement.

Supporters of sanctions admit they are difficult to implement. Some US officials feared that an embargo would disproportionately affect the Juba government: the transfer of arms to it is easier to monitor than Khartoum air- dropping materiel to the SPLM-IO and re-arming its troops on the Sudanese side of the border. ICC-02/05-01/09-251-AnxI 23-10-2015 10/12 EC PT

Sudan's National Party regime may be a 'sponsor' of the IGAD peace deal but it's unlikely to abandon rebels in (GUN), some of whom had already jumped off Riek's ship. Many fear the SPLA will also go on fighting and withdrawal of most of the troops from Juba would not stop that.

Although both Upper Nile and Unity states are to be led by SPLM-IO, recent changes in GUN state governors, especially the appointment as caretaker Governor on 16 August of Chol Thon Balok in Upper Nile State after SPLA troops had driven out the SPLM-IO, suggest that the government still plans to defeat Riek's forces militarily, said another long- term observer.

Lt. Gen Chol, a Dinka from Upper Nile, former Commander of the SPLA Fifth Division and latterly, Deputy COGS for Moral Orientation, has a 'reputation in the army for taking no prisoners' and we 'can be sure that he has not been mandated nor would be inclined by preference to hand over control of the State to Riek's forces' as the IGAD document requires, the analyst added. There has been a huge mobilisation of forces and equipment up the Nile towards and northern Jonglei, including newly trained and equipped soldiers and also tanks. Many normally impassable roads have already dried out because the rains have been scant.

Bloomberg Business

South Sudan to Host Peace-Deal Talks as UN Threatens Action8

August 25, 2015 Juba (AFP) - South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has finally agreed to sign a peace deal and power-sharing accord to end a 20-month civil war, his spokesman said Tuesday.

Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny told AFP that the presidents of Kenya, Uganda and Sudan plus Ethiopia's prime minister "will converge on Juba tomorrow morning for a one day summit, and the President of the Republic of South Sudan will sign the peace agreement."

The spokesman said, however, that the government was still unhappy with the accord, drawn up by the regional bloc IGAD.

"The government has some reservations... even if the President will sign," Ateny said.

South Sudan's rebel leader Riek Machar, a former vice president, signed the deal last Monday, in line with a deadline to do so. Both sides in the conflict have been facing the threat on international sanctions if they refuse to sign.

But Kiir only initialled part of the text, and his government slammed the accord as a "sellout" -- saying it needed more time for consultations.

8 http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-25/south-sudan-to-host-regional-summit-tomorrow-on- peace-accord , last accessed 8 October 2015 ICC-02/05-01/09-251-AnxI 23-10-2015 11/12 EC PT

Key issues of disagreement include details of a power-sharing proposal between the government and rebels, which could see Machar return as vice-president.

Ateny also said the government was unhappy over calls to demilitarise the capital Juba, hand over greater powers to the rebels in the oil-rich Upper Nile region, and see foreigners in charge of a Monitoring and Evaluation Commission -- the body that will police the implementation of the peace deal.

Sources in IGAD also confirmed plans for the deal to be signed in Juba on Wednesday, with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and chief mediator Seyoum Mesfin due to attend.

An IGAD official said rebel leader Machar would not be there because security provisions were not yet in place.

- Plans for 'Truth, Reconciliation and Healing' -

South Sudan's civil war erupted in December 2013 when Kiir accused his former deputy Machar of planning a coup, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that has split the poverty-stricken, along ethnic lines.

Marked by widespread atrocities on both sides, the war has been characterised by ethnic massacres and .

At least seven ceasefires have already been agreed and then shattered within days -- if not hours -- in the world's newest country, which broke away from Sudan in 2011.

The peace proposal has been put forward by the regional eight-nation bloc IGAD, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, as well as the United Nations, African Union, China and the "troika" of Britain, Norway and the United States.

The 72-page accord commits both sides to implementing a "permanent ceasefire" within 72 hours after signing.

Military forces also have 30 days to gather for "separation, assembly and cantonment" -- or confinement to barracks, with their weapons secured in storage -- with a security review ahead of an eventual reunification of forces.

All foreign forces in the war, including Ugandan troops backing Kiir, must leave within 45 days, while foreign militia forces, including rebels from neighbouring Sudan's Darfur and Nuba mountain regions, must also be disarmed and sent home.

No troops are allowed closer than 25 kilometres (15 miles) to the capital Juba, with only presidential guards, police and guard forces protecting infrastructure can remain in the city.

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The deal gives rebels the post of "First Vice President", alongside the current vice-president. That means Machar would likely return to the post he was sacked from in July 2013, six months before the war began.

Signatories also take responsibility for the war, "apologising unconditionally" for the tens of thousands killed.

A Commission for Truth, Reconciliation and Healing will be set up to investigate "all aspects of violations", with a "Hybrid Court" -- set up in collaboration with the African Union -- to try crimes including possible genocide and crimes against humanity.