A Sudanese court sentenced 11 members of Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) to death by hanging April 22 in relation to last year's attack on Khartoum. As the sentence was read, the defendants yelled slogans, decrying what they said was an injustice and expressing support for JEM leader Khalil Ibrahim. Five other defendants were acquitted. (AlJazeera [2], April 24)
Meanwhile in South Sudan, more than 170 people were killed in clashes between members of the rival Lou Nuer and Murle ethnic groups in Jonglei state. Doyak Chol, commissioner of Akobo county, said April 20 that 177 bodies had been found, and that he expected the number to grow. In one of the 16 villages razed in the attacks, many children drowned in a river as they tried to flee gunmen. Remote Jonglei state—where French oil giant Total holds a massive, mainly unexplored concession—has been hit hard by cattle raiding and related killings that have split communities along ethnic lines. (AlJazeera [3], April 21)
See our last posts on Sudan [4], Darfur [5], and South Sudan [6].
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