Fund for Peace By J. J. Messner & Kendall Lawrence 24 June 2013 Sudan Continued strife between Sudan and South Sudan added to the pressures that both states experienced during 2012. Armed conflict took place between South Sudan’s Unity state and Sudan’s South Kordofan over control of the oil fields and the pipelines in the highly contested Abyei territory. The lack of agreement over the demilitarized zone and Abyei territory has impeded discussions on South Sudan exporting oil through Sudan. Sudan’s decrease in oil revenue was due largely to delays in South Sudan’s production coming online, thus preventing Khartoum from Read the full article…

Freedom House 24 May 2013 Sudan’s government struggled during 2012 to contain an economic crisis triggered by the 2011 independence of South Sudan. The two nations came close to war after South Sudan halted oil production and occupied Sudan’s main oil field. An agreement to end many of their outstanding disputes was reached in September but failed to resolve the status of the Abyei region. Sudan’s government responded brutally to social protests in June, conducting mass arrests and placing further restrictions on the embattled media. An armed uprising continued unabated in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states, worsening a dire Read the full article…

International Committee of the Red Cross May 2013 In disputed areas between South Sudan and Sudan, military confrontations escalated into an international armed conflict between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF). A comprehensive agreement defining, among other things, a demilitarized border zone was signed in September; however, discord over its implementation remained. In Blue Nile and South Kordofan states, hostilities between armed groups and the SAF persisted. International actors had limited access to these areas. Most humanitarian assistance was channelled through designated national organizations. In Darfur, people continued to be affected by the non-international armed Read the full article…

United States Department of State 19 April 2013 Sudan is a republic with power concentrated in the hands of authoritarian President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his inner circle. The National Congress Party (NCP) continued to control the government, continuing more than 23 years of near absolute political authority. The country last held national elections in April 2010, the first multiparty elections in 24 years. The elections, which several opposition parties boycotted, did not meet international standards. Observers reported restriction of civil liberties, intimidation, threats of violence, lack of transparency in vote tabulation, and other problems. Voters reelected the president and Read the full article…

26 February 2013 Human Rights Watch (Juba) – Sudanese authorities should charge or release six members of opposition parties who have been detained in poor conditions by Sudanese security, most of them for weeks, without access to lawyers or adequate medical care. The six are members of parties that participated in negotiations with rebel groups in January over an agreement endorsing peaceful and armed opposition to Sudan’s government. While detention for taking up arms against the government, or incitement to do so, is a legitimate ground for detention, Sudanese security agencies have overly broad powers of arrest. They routinely deny detainees, Read the full article…