JUNE 2020 COUNTRY UPDATES

ROHINGYA - BURMA/BANGLADESH

Burma: Burma's military (Tatmadaw) launched "clearance operations" against the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine state, displacing thousands in late June. It is difficult to get an accurate picture of what is happening with much of the area in an internet blackout and restrictions on humanitarian access. There has been ongoing fighting between the Tatmadaw and AA, a group from the largely Buddhist Rakhine ethnic group that is seeking greater autonomy for the western region, also known as Arakan. Dozens have died and tens of thousands been displaced in the conflict. Save the Children says 18 children were killed and 71 injured or maimed between January and March. Thousands of villagers fled to neighboring townships and villages out of fear the Tatmadaw would assume anyone staying behing was loyal to the AA. There were reports of fighting in the area as well as houses being burned down. The embassies of the US, Australia, Canada, and the UK issued a joint statement expressing concern about the clearance operations as did the UN. The Tatmadaw termed its violent expulsion of the Rohingya in 2016 and 2017 as clearance operations. Internet restrictions in

Internet restrictions have now gone on for over a year in eight townships in Rakhine state and one in nearby Chin state, making it the longest internet ban in the world. Restrictions were lifted in Maungdaw township in May but remain elsewhere, effecting over one million people. The Tatmadaw said it has no plans to recommend the lifting of internet restrictions, blaming nationalism and hate speech circulating online for an increase in conflict (though Rakhine groups earlier this week pointed out that conflict has actually increased since the restrictions were imposed last June).

Bangladesh: There are 50 confirmed COVID19 cases among Rohingya in the camps in Bangladesh and nearly 2,500 cases across Cox's Bazar. Fear of testing and access to testing have both led to very few people actually being tested though. Only 536 Rohingya have been tested in the camps so far. Some of the fear is decreasing as humanitarian agencies no longer require those that get tested to remain in quarantine for two days. The Guardian has an excellent overview of the current situation in the camp and the challenges facing humanitarian aid groups and the Rohingya.

Justice Mechanisms: The small West African country of The Gambia made history last year when it brought a case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Burma of committing genocide in its attacks against the Rohingya. There is a new and urgent need for other countries to support The Gambia and the case at the ICJ as The Gambia's Attorney General and Justice Minister, Abubakar Ba Tambadou, has resigned to take an unspecified position at the UN.

Boats: In a moment of hope for humanity, Indonesian fisherman on the island of Aceh rescued 94 Rohingya (79 of them women and children) stranded off their coast. It is believed that the Rohingya were originally on another boat and had been transferred to this boat by traffickers and then abandoned. Early this month, a Malaysian task force intercepted a boat that had been at sea for four months with the 269 survivors who are currently being held by authorities. There were originally 300 on the boat that had been transferred from yet another that had 800 people. The location of the boat with 500 is still unknown. Regional states have overwhelmingly denied entry to boats carrying Rohingya in recent months. Malaysia alone pushed back 22 boats since May 1.

SUDAN

Protesters took to the streets in several cities including the capital of Khartoum on June 30 to demanding economic reforms; the creation of a transitional parliament that represents all regions of the country; appointment of civilian governors; and accountability for past atrocities. This was a significant date as it marks 31 years since the military coup which brought Omar al-Bashir to power. The transition government is facing a number of challenges, including an economy in tailspin. A virtual meeting of the "Friends of Sudan" on June 25 concluded with the World Bank pledging a grant of $400 million to Sudan and 40 different partners promising to send in a total of $1.8 billion. Sudan currently has a debt estimated at $60 billion. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said, “We must be able to mobilise financial support for Sudan, and the world needs Sudan as a democratic country.”

Among areas that were protesting, civilians in Nertiti, in Darfur have staged a sit-in, demanding accountability for ongoing attacks on civilians. They were successful in the government removing the local police director, the military commander and the head of the intelligence unit in Nertiti as well as a judge after a meeting with high-level government officials. They also agreed to establish a public court and appoint three public prosecutors, to enhance the Rule of Law in the locality. People have grown wary of the continued status quo as the replacement of Bashir appointed government officials has been delayed as peace talks in Juba between the transitional government and rebels has been slow.

Ali Kushayb, a Sudanese militia leader accused of committing atrocities in the Darfur region of the country, has been detained and is awaiting trial at the ICC in the Hague after turning himself in. A court official took nearly half an hour to read out the list of 53 charges during a priliminary hearing, including murdering civilians, destroying and burning villages, rape, pillage and forcible displacement. Gibreel Hassabu, a lawyer at the Khartoum-based Darfur Bar Association, said Kushayb's arrest was a sign that justice will be delivered to the Darfur people and added that the case could pressure the government to quickly hand over al-Bashir and two other suspects wanted by the ICC who have been imprisoned in Khartoum. “Kushayb's trial is a starting point to bring justice to the victims. His arrest restored hope that the government could go forward and hand over others wanted including al-Bashir to The Hague,” he said.

SOUTH SUDAN

With the two specters of inter-communal violence and COVID19, the situation is dire in South Sudan.  United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) chief David Shearer said on June 23, 2020, that increased inter-communal clashes are causing more suffering in South Sudan and could unravel the country’s fragile peace agreement. "Since December 2019, there has been an escalating cycle of violence in Jonglei [state] involving the Dinka, Nuer and Murle communities. Hundreds of people have been killed or injured, women and children abducted, cattle stolen, homes burnt to the ground and thousands forced to flee to escape the violence,” Shearer said. Equally worrying are reports that “Fighters in uniform have been observed amongst those engaged in the violence indicating that more organized forces may be joining,” Shearer said. He also said he hoped an agreement on appointing state governors reached by South Sudan’s political parties on June 24 would help establish clear lines of authority and reduce the likelihood of such clashes. Although a peace agreement was signed in 2018 between the two opposing factions in South Sudan, the appointment of governors of the states within the country has been slow to occur. UNMISS counted 420 incidents of fighting between January and May of this year. In many cases there were deaths and also abductions from both sides, women and children taken. This is four times as many as what was reported in 2018. 

In another worrying sign that COVID19 and violence are combining to endanger the South Sudanese people, thousands of people including staff working for charity organizations have fled into the bush, forcing aid agencies to suspend operations in and around the Pibor Administrative Area. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Thursday it is not able to evacuate and treat the wounded due to the escalating inter-communal violence in the area. Doctors Without Borders said it has suspended operations in Pibor after most of its staff fled with their families. Last week, the ICRC said in a statement that during April and May, thousands of armed youth spent weeks mobilizing, preparing and trekking across Jonglei State, which is about twice the size of Switzerland. By the time they reached communities in and around Pibor, rumors of imminent attacks had emptied towns and villages, leaving the elderly, women and children to bear the brunt of the attacks. The UNMISS chief, David Shearer, says that the number of recorded COVID-19 cases in South Sudan, which stands at around 1,900, might seem low, but limited testing and social stigma obscure the true magnitude of the pandemic. Shearer remained hopeful, however, that the agreement previously mentioned, concerning the distribution of state governorships between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement in Government (SPLM-IG), led by President Salva Kiir, and the SPLM in Opposition, led by First Vice President Riek Machar, has the potential to create more stability.   “A truly unified national leadership would have acted promptly and stepped in to curb this conflict,” he said. Instead, the violence has been allowed to play out and is being used to sort out power arrangements at the national and subnational levels. Last week, the humanitarian country team appealed to donors for an extra $390 million to respond to additional needs. 

The World Food Programme  (WFP) reported that as of June 26, 2020, they had reached 3.7 million South Sudanese beneficiaries with one to three months’ worth of food assistance since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Double-ration distributions for June and July assistance are nearing completion at all refugee camps and Protection of Civilians sites. In addition, WFP has prepared COVID-19 risk communication material for over 3,000 distribution points.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

On June 27th Congolese Justice Minister Celestin Tunda was arrested and then later released. Reasons for the arrest and interrogation were not released, however President Tshisekedi and Tunda had clashed the day before over proposed legal reforms to the judiciary by Tunda's party that would give the Justice Ministry more control over criminal prosecutions. The arrest points to the growing tension between President Tshisekedi’s UDPS party and former President Kabila’s FCC party, which still holds heavy political sway over the country as Tshisekedi struggles to establish his power as independent of Kabila’s shadow. Prime Minister Ilunga has threatened to resign over Tunga’s “arbitrary” detention and says that the magistrates responsible for the arrest should face charges. In a joint statement, the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom opposed the reforms stating, “Undermining this independence would erode protection of civil and political rights in the [Congo]”. Hundreds of protestors gathered on parliament grounds and were later dispersed by police using tear gas and water cannons. 

The DRC celebrated 60 years of independence from Belgium last week. Doing so brings memories back to the speech given by then Prime Minister and national icon Patrice Lumumba who demanded that colonial countries be held accountable for their history. "We experienced the slurs, the insults, the beatings that we had to undergo morning, noon and evening, because we were negroes," he stated in rebuttal to Belgium’s claim that Belgian King Leopold II had come on a “civilizing mission”. Lumumba was executed only six months later, he was 35. Because of COVID-19, no ceremonies were held in the DRC this year to mark this day of independence. Instead, people were invited to participate in a day of meditations. 

After two years, 3,463 cases, and 2,277 deaths, the DRC and the World Health Organization have declared the ebola epidemic in the eastern part of the country to be officially over. The head of the WHO celebrated that there is now a licensed vaccine for ebola and that treatments have been developed to help stop the spread and save lives of those infected. However, Dr. Moeti, the African Regional Director for the WHO cautioned that as this pandemic ends, there is still an ebola outbreak in Equateur province, as well as outbreaks of measles, malaria, and 6,000 coronavirus cases that: “are all reminders of the need to ensure continuity of essential health services for other life-threatening conditions while at the same time fighting COVID19”.

President Tshisekedi’s former chief of staff, Vital Kamerhe, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for embezzling $50 million of government funds. This is the first time that someone considered politically untouchable has been tried and found guilty of corruption in the DRC. However, there has been notable criticism that Kamerhe, a potential future political rival for Tshisekedi, is the only case of corruption that has been pursued, despite many other key players being involved. Kamerhe insists that he is being framed, and laughed out loud in court when his sentence was read. 

In mid-June the ADF militia murdered another 19 people in eastern Congo, including men, women, and children. This brings the total to around 500 civilians killed by the ADF since last year in retaliation for the DRC army’s targeted military campaign against ADF bases.

Last but not least, a new report by Global Witness and the Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF) has uncovered evidence indicating mining magnate and billionaire Dan Gertler used an international money laundering network to attempt to evade US sanctions and continue doing business in DRC.