Designation of Republic of South Sudan for Temporary Protected Status in the USA

Temporary Protected Status Designated Country: South Sudan

TPS  Initial Registration Deadline: April 10, 2012

TPS Expiration Date: May 2, 2013

EADs Auto-Extended Through: If you currently have an EAD under Sudan TPS, then please look at the Sudan page for the auto-extended through date

TPS Designation Date: November 3, 2011

The forms to register for TPS are:

•   Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status
•   Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization

To register you must file both forms together, even if you do not want work authorization.
The table below shows the required application fees you must pay based on your situation.

If you are	And	Then	And,
Currently NOT a TPS beneficiary under the Sudan designation (or have a pending TPS application under TPS Sudan) and you are between the ages of 14 and 65 (inclusive)	You are applying for a TPS-related EAD	You must submit the Form I-821 application fee	You must submit the Form I-765 application fee
Currently a TPS beneficiary under the Sudan designation (or have a pending TPS application under TPS Sudan) and you are between the ages of 14 and 65	You are applying for a TPS-related EAD	You do not need to submit the Form I-821 application fee	You must submit the Form I-765 application fee.  HOWEVER, if you have a pending I-765 under TPS Sudan, you do not need to submit the Form I-765 application fee
Currently NOT a TPS beneficiary under the Sudan designation (or have a pending TPS application under TPS Sudan) and you are under age 14 or over age 65	You are applying for a TPS-related EAD	You must submit the Form I-821 application fee	You do not need to submit the Form I-765 application fee
Currently a TPS beneficiary under the Sudan designation (or have a pending TPS application under TPS Sudan) and you are under age 14 or over age 65	You are applying for a TPS-related EAD	You do not need to submit the Form I-821 application fee	You do not need to submit the Form I-765 application fee
Currently NOT a TPS beneficiary under the Sudan designation (or have a pending TPS application under TPS Sudan), regardless of age	You are not applying for a TPS-related EAD	You must submit the Form I-821 application fee	You do not need to submit the Form I-765 application fee
Currently a TPS beneficiary under the Sudan designation (or have a pending TPS application under TPS Sudan), regardless of age	You are not applying for a TPS-related EAD	You do not need to submit the Form I-821 application fee	You do not need to submit the Form I-765 application fee

You must also pay the separate biometrics fee if you are age 14 or over.

If you are unable to pay the filing fee, you may submit a Request for Fee Waiver, Form I-912 (or a written request). For more information about fee waiver guidance, click here.

Filing for Employment Authorization
When filing for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) it is important that you do not check the following boxes on your Form I-765 next to “I am applying for” if you do not want to request or extend an EAD:

•   Permission to accept employment
•   Replacement
•   Renewal of my permission to accept employment

For additional information on requesting employment authorization and automatic extensions of EADs, see the ‘Temporary Protected Status’ link to the left.

Filing for Employment Authorization

When filing for an Employment Authorization Document (EAD) it is important that you do not check the following boxes on your Form I-765 next to “I am applying for” if you do not want to request or extend an EAD:

•   Permission to accept employment
•   Replacement
•   Renewal of my permission to accept employment

For additional information on requesting employment authorization and automatic extensions of EADs, see the ‘Temporary Protected Status’ link to the left.

Filing an Application for Temporary Protected Status

When completing your Form I-821 you must answer all questions listed in Part 4, Eligibility Standards, Question 2, on Form I-821.  If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, you must explain on a separate document and/or submit supporting documents with your application.

Mailing Your Application

If you:	Then, mail your application to:
Applying through the U. S. Postal Service	U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Attn:  TPS South Sudan P.O. Box 8677 Chicago, IL  60680-8677
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Attn:  TPS South Sudan P.O. Box 8677 Chicago, IL  60680-8677	U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Attn: TPS South Sudan 131 S. Dearborn – 3rd Floor Chicago, IL 60603-5517

Granted TPS by an Immigration Judge or BIA

If an Immigration Judge or the Board of Immigration Appeals granted you TPS, there are additional steps you must complete. For more information, see the ‘Temporary Protected Status’ link to the left.

Further Information
For additional TPS information for South Sudan, see the “Federal Register Notice” and the “Fact Sheet” links to the right.

This Notice announces that the Secretary of Homeland Security
(Secretary) has designated the Republic of South Sudan (South Sudan)
for Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for a period of 18 months,
effective November 3, 2011 through May 2, 2013. Under section 244(b)(1)
of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), the Secretary is
authorized to grant TPS to eligible nationals of designated foreign
states or parts of such states (or to eligible aliens having no
nationality who last habitually resided in such states) upon finding
that such states are experiencing ongoing armed conflict, environmental
disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions that prevent
nationals from returning safely.

This designation allows eligible South Sudan nationals (and aliens
having no nationality who last habitually resided in the region that is
now South Sudan) who have continuously resided in the United States
since October 7, 2004 to obtain TPS. In addition to demonstrating
continuous residence in the United States since October 7, 2004,
applicants for TPS under this designation must demonstrate that they
have been continuously physically present in the United States since
November 3, 2011, the effective date of the designation of South Sudan.
The Secretary has established November 3, 2011, as the effective date
so that the 18-month designation of South Sudan will coincide with the
18-month extension period of TPS for Sudan, which is also being
announced today. Although November 3, 2011, is a future date,
applicants may begin applying for TPS immediately.

 This designation is unique because on July 9, 2011, South Sudan
became a new nation and independent from the Republic of Sudan, which
has been designated for TPS since 1997. Some individuals who are TPS
beneficiaries under the current designation of Sudan may now be
nationals of South Sudan, calling into question their continued
eligibility for TPS under the Sudan designation. These individuals may,
however, now qualify for TPS under the South Sudan designation. This
Notice sets forth regular procedures and special procedures necessary
for nationals of South Sudan (or aliens having no nationality who last
habitually resided in the region that is now South Sudan) to register
and to apply for TPS and Employment Authorization Documents (EADs) with
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).

 Given the timeframes involved with processing TPS applications, the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recognizes that individuals who
have EADs under Sudan TPS that expire November 2, 2011 may not receive
new EADs under South Sudan TPS until after their current EADs expire.
Accordingly, the validity of EADs issued under the TPS designation of
Sudan has been automatically extended for 6 months, through May 2,
2012. This automatic extension includes individuals who are now
applying for TPS under the designation of South Sudan but were granted
TPS and were issued an EAD under the Sudan designation. This Notice
explains how TPS beneficiaries and their employers may determine which
EADs are automatically extended and how the extension affects
employment eligibility verification (Form I-9 and E-Verify) processes.
This Notice also describes examples of acceptable evidence of South
Sudanese nationality required for TPS registration under the South
Sudan designation.

 For further information on TPS, including guidance
on the application process and additional information on eligibility,
please visit the TPS Web page at http://www.uscis.gov/tps.
You can find specific information about this designation and about TPS for
South Sudan by selecting ``TPS Designated Country--Republic of South Sudan''
from the menu on the left of the TPS Web page. From the South Sudan page,
you can select the ``South Sudan TPS Questions & Answers'' section from the
menu on the right for further information.You can also contact the TPS Operations
Program Manager by mail at the Status and Family Branch, Service Center Operations
Directorate, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of
Homeland Security, 20 Massachusetts Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20529-
2060 or by phone at (202) 272-1533 (this is not a toll-free number).
Note: The phone number provided here is solely for questions regarding
this TPS notice. It is not for individual case status inquiries.
Applicants seeking information about the status of their individual
cases can check Case Status Online available at the USCIS Web site
at http://www.uscis.gov, or call the USCIS National Customer Service Center
at 1-800-375-5283 (TTY 1-800-767-1833). Further information will also be
available at local USCIS offices upon publication of this Notice. 

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-10-13/html/2011-26537.htm

DHS Announces 18-Month Extension of Temporary Protected Status for Sudan and Designation for South Sudan

Current TPS Beneficiaries Also Granted Automatic Extension of Work Authorization

Released Oct. 13, 2011

WASHINGTON— Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano extended the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) designation for Sudan for 18 months. She also designated the new Republic of South Sudan for TPS for 18 months. Both the extension and the new designation are effective Nov. 3, 2011, and will continue through May 2, 2013.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) strongly encourages nationals from these countries (and persons with no nationality who last habitually resided in either country) to review the Federal Register notices for the extension and the new designation published today and follow the instructions on how to file an initial or re-registration application for TPS.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is also automatically extending the validity of employment authorization documents (EADs) issued under the last extension of Sudan TPS for an additional six months, through May 2, 2012. Any individual who has a valid TPS Sudan EAD is covered by this automatic extension, even though USCIS may ultimately register the individual under the South Sudan TPS designation and issue a new EAD reflecting his or her new nationality.

All affected individuals seeking to obtain or maintain their TPS must file their application package no later than April 10, 2012.

During the past year, DHS and the State Department have reviewed the conditions in Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan—a nation that came into existence on July 9, 2011. Based on this review, Secretary Napolitano has determined that an 18-month extension for Sudan is warranted due to the ongoing armed conflict and the extraordinary and temporary conditions that prompted the last TPS designation of Sudan on Oct. 7, 2004. Secretary Napolitano also designated South Sudan for TPS due to similar ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions.

TPS only applies to eligible Sudanese or South Sudanese nationals who have continuously resided in the United States since Oct. 7, 2004. There are approximately 340 individuals who DHS anticipates will be eligible either to re-register for TPS for Sudan or to obtain TPS under the South Sudan designation.

All individuals registering for TPS under the new designation for the Republic of South Sudan or re-registering for TPS under the extension for Sudan must file a Form I-821, Application for Temporary Protected Status, and a Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization, accompanied by any required fees or a fee waiver request. Failure to submit the required application and biometric fees or a properly documented fee waiver request will result in the rejection of the TPS application package. For TPS and EAD fee requirements, please see the Federal Register notices for the extension and the new designation or the accompanying USCIS Fact Sheet. For information on fee waivers, visit USCIS’s Fee Waiver Guidance Web page.

Further details on the Sudan TPS extension and South Sudan TPS designation, including information regarding the application requirements and procedures, are available at www.uscis.gov/tps and in the Federal Register notices published Oct. 13, 2011.

TPS forms are free and available online at www.uscis.gov/forms or by calling the toll-free USCIS Forms line at 1-800-870-3676. Applicants may also request more information by contacting USCIS’s National Customer Service Center toll-free hotline at 1-800-375-5283.

For more information on USCIS and its programs, please visit www.uscis.gov or follow us on Twitter (@uscis), YouTube  /uscis) and the USCIS blog The Beacon.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid= 
48f111e0ab9f2310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=68439c7755cb9010VgnVCM10000045f3d6a1RCRD

Making Tax Work in South Sudan

November 14, 2011

– By Matthew Benson

South Sudan must strengthen its internal infrastructure in order to ensure development in the country

Nothing is certain in life but death and taxes. Needless to say, nowhere is it possible to escape the former; but it’s all too easy to shun taxes in South Sudan. The system as it presently stands is too complex, difficult to understand, enforce, and comply with. Meanwhile, abundant oil rents and aid – in combination with an underdeveloped economy – threaten to undermine incentives to tax in the first place.

Though we all may despise paying them and no matter how dry one might find the subject, taxes are important – and arguably central – to state-building efforts, or the arduous process of establishing mutually accountable, legitimate, public institutions.[1] Indeed, beyond bankrolling basic public goods and services, taxes can help forge more accountable, responsive, and representative governments.

Tax and State-Building

Seminal works on the subject argue that taxes, in combination with the largely external threat of war, were the lynchpin to European state consolidation. This amounts to the ‘fiscal-social contract,’ in which the general public is able to hold ruling elites to account by monitoring state spending and subsequently voting elected officials out of office if they fail to deliver on commitments. [2] Intuitively, the essence of the theory holds true for sub-Saharan Africa and post-conflict countries more broadly – including South Sudan.

That said, ideas around tax and state-building have yet to be translated into effective policy – especially in post-conflict states. A forthcoming review of tax policies in these types of countries reveals taxation to be frequently understood as a solely economic concern, with little or no consideration for historical or state-building roles.[3] Post-conflict state-building challenges are immense and the likelihood of civil war resuming is typically high – especially if natural resources are evident.[4] Put simply, there’s no excuse for not wielding all the tools potentially at our disposal for assisting states transition from war to peace – and these must also include tax reforms. South Sudan presents a pressing opportunity to buck this trend.

Tax Challenges in South Sudan

It might be a new country, but South Sudan is not starting with a fresh tax system. The system is constructed of a patchy mixture of lingering policies from the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium, subsequently altered by successive regimes in Khartoum and then, in places, rejected or again changed by the SPLA and SPLM during and following the civil war. Although the topic is understudied in South Sudan, taxation – and especially the act of resisting its payment – can serve as a powerful tactic of rebellion. It therefore may not come as a surprise that the current system of tax laws is complicatedly recorded in several different legislative documents. For example, information on Personal Income Taxes is noted in the 2009 Tax Act, details of Corporate Income Tax are included in the 2009 Investment Act, while each of the 10 states implement their own ‘Gevana’ taxes – roughly equivalent to an internal customs duty.[5]

In addition to the confusion caused by the intricate ‘legacy system’, which is also regressive, the following are six tax challenges identified in a forthcoming review of South Sudan’s tax system that are potentially under-examined, or viewed through a strictly economic lens, in current discussions on taxation: oil, aid, an underdeveloped economy, numerous exemptions, establishing a professional cadre of tax administrators and reducing threats to their physical security, and multiple border taxes. [6]

Oil

South Sudan’s present budget is approximately 98% dependent on oil revenue. Estimates on reserves vary between reserves lasting another 10, 15, or even 50 years. [7] Now that the country is independent and receives a much larger proportion of oil revenues, its budget is expected to increase in the coming year. Although the extent of which remains unknown, there’s a bounty of other untapped mineral wealth likely lurking beneath the soil. It’s a strong possibility that the ‘resource curse’, in which natural resources provide perverse incentives for ruling elites to neglect the needs of their citizenry for personal gain, looms on the horizon.[8]

Aid

Despite the stumbling global economy, international donors have committed $719 billion USD in aid to South Sudan for 2011. Most of this is dedicated to addressing social, humanitarian and infrastructure needs.[9] Although debates in academic and policy circles as to the precise correlates and causation persist[x1] – there is compelling evidence that both abundant aid and natural resource wealth decrease incentives for elites in post-conflict countries to tax their citizenry[x2] .[10]

The Economy

At present, the government is the largest single employer with an estimated 300,000-400,000 individuals on the payroll. The second biggest vocation is cattle herding. [11] Exact statistics are difficult to verify, but the majority of the country’s 8-14 million citizens are subsistence farmers. Of the small and medium businesses in Juba – where commerce is relatively high – most are owned by citizens of nearby Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea. Given these figures, what, or whom, is there to tax in the first place? And how should one levy tax without harming developing industries?

Exemptions

Approximately 100,544,691 SDG or $37,565,038 USD was recently lost as a result of tax exemptions in Central Equatoria alone[x3] . Although politically sensitive, it’s likely that many of these exemptions are economically unjustifiable. There are unverified reports that elected officials have been using the funds to sponsor the construction, and purchase, of personal homes and vehicles. It is also unclear whether construction companies are paying taxes when implementing lucrative infrastructure projects.[12] Fortunately, President Kiir recently announced five accountability and transparency measures, which include a requirement that all public officials publish their income and assets.[13]

Tax Administrator Training and Physical Security

Some tax collectors report having been threatened, beaten, or even arrested after attempting to collect taxes from business owners – particularly if they were high-level fighters during the civil war. Traders from Kenya and Uganda can be equally dangerous, as they are sometimes armed to ward off bandits. Due to common interruptions in education during the civil war, many tax collectors and inspectors are too undereducated to carry out their jobs effectively. A candid interview[x4] revealed that some tax collectors have trouble calculating basic percentages and may stick to a 10% levy on the goods and services they assess despite laws that say otherwise.[14] Both are significant concerns that threaten the legitimacy and effectiveness of the burgeoning cadre of tax administrators. This is important when considering that, in addition to police and military officials, the tax-man (or woman) might be the first contact citizens have with the state. Upcoming tax structural reforms – most notably the prospective formation of a South Sudan Revenue Authority, similar to those in Uganda and Kenya – will likely tackle some training challenges.[15] Moreover, the education of some tax administrators has been underway in Uganda.[16]

Multiple Border Taxes

This concerns the high number of tax collection tables at border crossing points. Interviews reveal up to 11 different tables, manned by the staff of separate government agencies – including the police, SPLA, and customs – each levying their own tax at the Nimule border checkpoint, the main entry point from Uganda. Recent efforts have sought to crack down on the high number of tables.[17] Nevertheless, members of the business community report being overtaxed.[18] Justification for the duplication of tax collection efforts is likely attributable to the relative ease with which it is possible to collect border taxes, and the confusion over precise legislative status. There is, perhaps justifiably, a degree of mistrust and misunderstanding between tax officials and the public at large.

Towards State-Building-Oriented Tax Reforms in South Sudan

The potential solutions to these tax challenges are, of course, neither simple nor necessarily tried-and-tested. There’s also some evidence of an emergent national discussion on taxation. The most obvious of which is the inception of the Fiscal Intergovernmental Task Force, which explicitly seeks to reduce the government’s dependency on oil revenues.[19] Another area for hope is through varying attempts in fiscally decentralised states to shift away from dependence on central government transfers by raising their own revenue. Northern Bahr el Ghazal, for example, has independently introduced several tax awareness adverts linking taxation to public service delivery.[20]

A potential method of tackling the ‘resource curse’ is to increase budgetary transparency through a combination of measures to enhance fiscal obedience. This includes the adoption of a stabilisation fund and an Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to increase oil revenue transparency.[21] Building on the idea of a stabilisation fund is that of cash transfers to individual citizens from oil wealth. According to the most vocal of proposals applicable to other oil rich countries, eligible citizens or households could be identified through biometric identification. Taxes on a percentage of the amount disbursed could subsequently be levied on recipients as a way of introducing the idea and importance of taxation into the population at large.[22] Although biometric identification raises substantial security and privacy concerns, and it is not clear how and why elites would risk losing their grip on natural resource rents by adopting such a scheme, the approach holds some promise. More locally, participatory budgeting initiatives serve as ‘bottom-up’ ways to assist citizens in becoming more engaged with the democratic process while also monitoring public spending on essential public services. Moreover, evidence from other post-conflict countries shows that fiscal transparency across ethnically divided states can lead to peace-building gains.[23] Examples include initiatives such as Participatory Expenditure Tracking Surveys (PETS) for the health and education sectors along with ‘Right to Information Campaigns’, both of which have yet to be introduced, as well as increasing the number of Constituency Development Funds.[24]

Another eligible post-conflict tax reform includes a focus on urban, rather than rural, taxation. Evidence from other countries reveals that land taxation is frequently neglected for fear of sparking local conflict. However, there are some indications that a measure of debate over land tax might lead to healthy disruptions in entrenched interest groups[25]. It might also be one of the few areas where progressive taxation[x5] can be introduced.[26] From a practical standpoint, maps tend to be more readily available, and less contested, in urban areas. Although many small and medium businesses might be owned by citizens of neighbouring countries, another proposal is to shift away from presumptive taxation and ‘formalise’ this typically hard-to-tax sector through streamlined accounting and tax incentives to shift away from presumptive taxation.[27] The point of both reforms isn’t to necessarily raise enormous amounts of revenue – it is instead to increase the proportion of the citizenry engaging with the state over public decision-making.[28]

Taming the negative externalities of aid by taxing it is likely to be the most controversial proposal (primarily among South Sudan’s booming expatriate community). There are fears that tax exemptions on aid and the services agencies use sends a negative message that national and international staff working for aid agencies – which are frequently coveted jobs in post-conflict countries – are somehow above the law. Discussions around the taxation of aid have previously taken place in East Timor and Afghanistan. However, they were rejected in both countries on the premise that the UN Convention on Privileges and Immunities accords the UN and international aid agencies with diplomatic exemptions.[29]

These are just a few preliminary findings from a primarily external study of taxation and state-building in South Sudan. The real discussion and research undoubtedly needs to take place within the country – and not just among members of government-sponsored task forces and tax administrators in decentralised states. The first and most vital step forward is to begin provoking discussions around who and what to tax among the majority of South Sudan’s citizenry. Unfortunately, however, the window for reform might be fast closing as South Sudan becomes increasingly preoccupied with quarrels with the northern Republic of Sudan over oil-sharing, debt-sharing, currency, and border disputes. All the while, the risk of internal conflict simmers. Although these concerns are of course critical, there is still no excuse for neglecting the potentially critical governance gains to be earned through effective taxation in combination with revenue transparency and participatory budgeting.

http://africanarguments.org/2011/11/14/making-tax-work-in-south-sudan-by-matthew-benson/

Sudan, South Sudan trade blame for deteriorating security

Sudan, South Sudan trade blame for deteriorating security
Christian Science Monitor
Sudan President Bashir and South Sudan President Kiir are heaping blame on one another amid first cross-border attacks. By Nenad Marinkovic, Guest blogger / November 14, 2011 Editor’s note: This piece was originally published on Nov. 10. …

South Sudan Refugee Camp Bombed – Samaritan’s Purse Reports
YouTube
Samaritan’s Purse VP of Programs reports from inside the refugee camp that was bombed Nov 10, 2011 in Yida, South Sudan. Learn more: http://ar.gy/kM3.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS1EDjtvlko

South Sudan joins ICAO
eTurboNews
By Dr. Wolfgang H. Thome, eTN Uganda | Nov 14, 2011 (eTN) – As the long march for the new Republic of South Sudan continues into independence, the young country has made another milestone step when it finally was accepted as the 191st member of ICAO. …

War again possible along Sudan’s southern border
USA Today
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) – The presidents of Sudan and the new nation of South Sudan are both predicting the possibility of a new war in an oil-rich region that has seen a spike in cross-border attacks. Troop build-ups are being reported on both sides of …

South Sudan replaces anti-corruption chief
Reuters Africa
JUBA (Reuters) – South Sudan appointed a senior judge to head its anti-corruption commission at the weekend, in a possible bid to revitalise the organisation which has failed to produce a single conviction since it was set up in 2006. …

South Sudan refugee-camp raid raises tensions
Al Jazeera
The Yida refugee camp in the recently formed nation of South Sudan – home to 20000 people – was hit by a bomb on Thursday, witnesses said. Many feel the government of Omar al-Bashir, the president of Sudan, is to blame. South Sudan split from Sudan in …

Alaska lawmakers seek to force state’s oil-wealth investment fund to divest of …
MiamiHerald.com
By SEAN COCKERHAM ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A bipartisan group of Alaska state legislators hopes to force managers of the $37 billion Alaska Permanent Fund to dump the stocks of companies doing business in Iran, but past efforts to divest from Sudan, South …

Sudan Accused of Bombing Refugee Camp in South Sudan, Killing 12
Democracy Now
Sudan is being accused of bombing a refugee camp in the newly formed nation of South Sudan, killing at least 12 people. The bomb hit a region where more than 20000 refugees live. Growing violence along the border between the two nations has forced …

Sudan Rebel Groups Form Alliance to Topple Bashir
Voice of America
Sudan’s government has been fighting rebels in Darfur since 2003. Clashes with rebels in the states of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan erupted earlier this year. Bashir and his allies have accused newly-independent South Sudan of supporting the rebels, …

South Sudan: Making Tax Work in South Sudan
AllAfrica.com
Needless to say, nowhere is it possible to escape the former; but it’s all too easy to shun taxes in South Sudan. The system as it presently stands is too complex, difficult to understand, enforce, and comply with. Meanwhile, abundant oil rents and aid …

Sudan: Dr. Kamal Obeid – Acts of Rebel Movements Reflect State of Confusion At …
AllAfrica.com
He said that the new thing was the adoption of the government of South Sudan to these rebel movements and its permit for them to meet in Juba, adding that this move reflect ill intention in dealing with the events at the region. …

South Sudan: Towards a higher education fit for twenty first century
Sudan Tribune
It is my hope that we will have more statesmen than politicians when it comes to designing a policy for higher education in South Sudan. When South Sudan declared its independence on 9th July 2011, it inherited nine public and sixteen private …

UN lauds South Sudan’s decision to back global treaty against anti-personnel mines
DefenceWeb (press release)
The United Nations welcomed the decision of South Sudan to become the newest member of the global convention banning the use, stockpiling, production and sale of anti-personnel mines, describing it as an “historic step” for a country plagued by …

Nile Commercial Bank continues to refund customers as it reopens
Sudan Tribune
Earlier this month the bank reopened in Rumbek, the capital of Lakes state, giving 6000 customers access their money after the bank was bailed out by the South Sudan Central Bank. The manager of the Nile Commercial Bank (NCB), Daniel Mabor Machol, …

UDF denies supporting rebels in South Sudan
Sudan Tribune
12 November 2011 (ST) In a press conference called by, Joice James Konyi and John Jal Thiac, both members of Jonglei’s parliament, on Saturday said their party is not supporting formation of rebel group against the government of South Sudan. …

BRIEF: South Sudan’s Governors Forum kicks off in Juba
Middle East North Africa Financial Network
JUBA, Nov 14, 2011 (Sudan Tribune – McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) — Governors of the ten states of South Sudan arrived in Juba on Sunday, for a forum that will discuss progress and challenges faced in each state. …

US, China in Sudan great game
Asia Times Online
This move will shape events in North and South Sudan and tell us much of the relations between the US and China. The Sudanese conflict entails religion and ethnicity – a Muslim-Arab north with Khartoum as capital, and a Christian-African south with …

President Salva Kiir Mayaardit: The Victim, the Judge and the Executor

“It is not a crime for a lady to get married to the man of her choice. Forceful marriage, like experience has shown, can sometimes be very disastrous. Why are you now complaining yet none of you applied to marry my daughter?” –President Kiir’s first comment on the detention of journalists.

By PaanLuel Wel, Washington DC, USA.

Dear Mr. President, we, the honorable citizens of the Republic South Sudan, are deeply appalled by the continuing detention of the two journalists—Ngor Garang of Sudan Tribune, who was arrested on November 2, and Dengdit Ayok of The Destiny Newspaper, forcefully detained on November 5. So far, South Sudanese domestic organizations and media groups—the Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS), Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), South Sudan Human Right Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA), Sudan Tribune (ST), South Sudan Nation (SSN) etc—as well as renowned international organizations—Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists, the New York Times etc—have all released press statements condemning the autocratic action taken by your government and calling for the immediate, unconditional release of the two journalists in line with media freedom in our interim constitution.

Mr. President, it is very disconcerting, if not chillingly embarrassing, to us the citizens of this great country that these domestic and international organizations should be begging your government to abide by and uphold the freedom of expressions, enshrined in your own hand-written constitution, at a time when the International Community has unequivocally come to the rescue of South Sudan at the UN Security Council against the unprovoked aggression from (north) Sudan. Your actions, Mr. President, are gratuitous distractions not only from the somber business of embarking on serious development of our infant nation but also from averting harrowing threat of invasion from (north) Sudan.

Mr. President, the decisions you have taken since the publication of the article “Nyan-e-Bany” by The Destiny in Juba are outrageous because they demonstrate one unassailable fact: you are the victim, the self-appointed judge of your own case and the law executor, all at the same time in total disregard to the rule of law and the sanctity of the constitution. That you may have felt some genuine personal grievances—a libel lawsuit for apparent defamation—in the wake of the article “Nyan-e-Bany” is not something we can dismissingly question. In that regards, Mr. President, we feel that you should have diligently follow the due process of law and rightfully claim some redress to right wrong, perhaps, done unto your names and that of your family in a civil court of law. Mr. President, the morality and legality of our constitution demand that the best course of action for you and your family was to honorably register your case before our noble judges.

As the victim, Mr. President, our laws would have afforded you ample time and space to present and argue your case, through your lawyers, demonstrating the falsehoodness of the alleged impregnation of your daughter by an alien. You would have conclusively counter-verified that the wedding was never a cover up meant to ward off shame and embarrassment. You would have established beyond any reasonable doubt how none of the South Sudanese bachelors ever applied to have your daughter’s hand in marriage and how that frustration compelled her to seek international deliverance. You would have discounted the suspected infiltration of our State House by foreigners and allayed our misgivings that our national security might have long been compromised. And in the end of it all, Mr. President, the sweet victory, in the minds and hearts of your beloved subjects, would have been yours and yours alone. They, your alleged accusers, Mr. President, would have been morally crucified and publicly humiliated!

Unfortunately, Mr. President, you willfully and combatively chose to take the law into your own hand, making yourself the wronged victim as well as the sole judge to decide the merit of your own case before your own self. By ordering the detention of the two journalists and the immediate closure of The Destiny newspaper, you are hauntingly trampling on the freedom of the media and on our freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 9 (2) of the constitution of the Republic of South Sudan which states that “the rights and freedoms of individuals and groups enshrined in this bill shall be respected, upheld and promoted by all organs and agencies of government and by all persons.” You overlooked that Article 9 (2) and unconstitutionally set yourself up as the judge of your own case and unlawfully declared the two journalists guilty of defamation. Their continued illegal incarceration is a testimony of how far you can purposely abuse state powers we invested in you to safeguard our national interests.

It is not a crime, Mr. President, for South Sudanese to speak their minds on pertinent national issues unless it is proven so in a court of law. Instead of lodging a defamatory lawsuit against the news media Mr. President, you supposed it morally sound and legally appropriate, in the vastness of your imperial wisdom, to gag up the media through intimidation and harassment. We wonder if you had conferred with President Al-Bashir to tutor you in that old game of state oppression of its own citizens. As our dear elected leader, Mr. President, our expectations are that every thoughts and actions emanating from you should be exemplary to others. We believe that is not asking or expecting too much from you though we stand to be corrected.

The implications of your decisions and actions in this case, Mr. President, are sobering. Consider a country, Mr. President, wherein the citizens habitually take law into their own hands and settle scores among themselves on spot without seeking the guidance of the law and the wisdom of the judges. Consider comparing your actions to the ones taken by George Athor Deng plus others after losing in the general election. How could we, Mr. President, continue to condemn South Sudanese rebels’ action of taking up arms against your government instead of seeking redress from the court of law when you, the president, have no respect for the constitution? If you resort to abuse of state powers that easily on flimsy ground, how could we advise the warring tribes like the Murle-Dinka-Nuer to observe the rule of law when the President has strong penchant for being a judge and the police in his own case?

Lest you get us wrong Mr. President, we are not against individuals choice and freedom to choose their life partners and nor are all of us against your decision to be the first ever African head of state to marry off his daughter to a foreigner. While some of us are ready to congratulate you on bringing home that Guinness-Book-of-the-Year record for handing over Adut to an immigrant, we would like to remind you that our society is still a deeply conservative one. Unlike your progressive household, most South Sudanese citizens do still cherish their time-tested cultural heritages. They have honorably resisted the wanton destructions and erosion of their cultural and social identity from the combined forces of Arabism and Westernization. As much as they admire other people cultures, Mr. President, they are still fervently proud of who they are and what their cultural identity represent to them.

To these cores group Mr. President, and we have to remind you that they are the majority of those who elected you into office, the marriage of your daughter was a national humiliation. For one, they could not comprehend how their beloved President could distrust every young man in South Sudan to the extent of giving away the First Daughter to a foreigner? Secondly, they are deeply worried of your own safety since foreigners freely made it into your own house and allegedly impregnated the First Daughter under the watchful eyes of your security guards. Thirdly Mr. President, they wonder if your security guards could have done a better job of securing your household instead of excelling in arresting and intimidating South Sudan media.

Furthermore, by resorting to the use of force instead of abiding by the rule of law, we wonder if there is a truth to the alleged cover up story. Mr. President, is it true that your expressed outraged is actually a confession of someone expose in the act of deceiving the nation? If that is the case, was it a wise decision for you to employ state resources to conduct a sham wedding let alone detaining journalists for speaking the truth? You may have been forced into it by your dear daughter but we hold you responsible for the detention of the journalists and for the supposed attempted cover up. It is highly inconceivable that the security guards acted in the absence of your nodding. After all, you have the veto power—presidential decrees—and you could easily, by decree, free them from confinement if you wish so.

Mr. President, we urge you to unconditionally and immediately set the journalists free. The examples you are setting are transforming you into the greatest enemy of your own government. A democratic nation as we are must respect the rule of law, and that include you, the president. Otherwise, we the citizens of South Sudan will be left dumbfounded by the pooled conspiracy against the good people of South Sudan: the rebels are mercilessly slaughtering innocent civilians across the countryside, Al-Bashir is threatening to invade South Sudan, your government has been consistently defrauding the nation through corruptions and you, Mr. President, is arresting journalists and intimidating the masses. What onerous sin have we committed against you guys that we must pay in blood and flesh?

You can reach PaanLuel Wël at paanluel2011@gmail.com, PaanLuel Wel (Facebook page), PaanLuelWel2011 (Twitter account) or through his blog account at: https://paanluelwel2011.wordpress.com/

President Kiir Mayaardir_ The Victim, the Judge and the Executor-1.pdf