2017 in South Sudan

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2017
in
South Sudan

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The following lists events in the year 2017 in South Sudan .

2017 (MMXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 2017th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 17th year of the 3rd millennium, the 17th year of the 21st century, and the 8th year of the 2010s decade.

South Sudan Country in Africa

South Sudan, officially known as the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East-Central Africa. It gained independence from the Republic of the Sudan in 2011, making it the most recent sovereign state with widespread recognition. Its capital and largest city is Juba.

Contents

Incumbents

Salva Kiir Mayardit South Sudanese politician

Salva Kiir Mayardit is a South Sudanese politician who has been President of South Sudan since its independence in 2011. He is a Dinka and prior to independence, he was President of the Government of Southern Sudan, as well as First Vice President of Sudan, from 2005 to 2011.

James Wani Igga Vice President of South Sudan

James Wani Igga is a South Sudanese politician who is currently serving as the Vice President of South Sudan. He was Speaker of the National Legislative Assembly from 2011 to 2013 and secretary general of the SPLM.

Events

February

United Nations Intergovernmental organization

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization tasked with maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international co-operation, and being a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It was established after World War II, with the aim of preventing future wars, and succeeded the ineffective League of Nations. Its headquarters, which are subject to extraterritoriality, are in Manhattan, New York City, and it has other main offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna and The Hague. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development, and upholding international law. The UN is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193.

2017 South Sudan famine

In the early months of 2017, parts of South Sudan experienced a famine following several years of instability in the country's food supply caused by war and drought. The famine, largely focused in the northern part of the country, affected an estimated five million people. In May 2017, the famine was officially declared to have weakened to a state of severe food insecurity.

Unity State state in South Sudan

Unity, sometimes known as Western Upper Nile, was one of the 10 states of South Sudan. Unity state was in the Greater Upper Nile region. It had an area of 38,837 square kilometres (14,995 sq mi). Unity was inhabited predominantly by two ethnic groups: the Nuer majority, and the Dinka minority.

Deaths

Gabriel Tang Southern Sudanese rebel leader

Gabriel Gatwech Chan was a rebel militia leader in South Sudan. General Tang led a southern border militia allied to the Khartoum government during Sudan's civil war. Most of his fighters are of the Nuer ethnic group. Members of the Sudanese armed forces loyal to Gen Tang in Malakal clashed with the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) in 2006, killing about 150 people, and in 2009 in breach of the peace deal. In April 2011, clashes between his militia and the SPLA in the state of Jonglei killed at least 57 according to government officials. Shortly thereafter, Tanginye surrendered to SPLA forces and had been under house arrest in Juba awaiting charges against him. During the South Sudanese Civil War, he allied with Lam Akol's militia, a Juba linked rebel group called the National Democratic Movement (NDM) and became its chief of staff. In January 2017 he visited a NDM-allied group, the Tiger Faction New Forces, in the Hamra area in the northern Upper Nile. In course of this visit, the Tigers were attacked by SPLM-IO-affiliated fighters belonging to the militia of John Uliny, and Tang was killed alongside most of the Tigers.

South Sudanese Civil War conflict in South Sudan between government and opposition forces; began on 14 December 2013

The South Sudanese Civil War is an ongoing conflict in South Sudan between forces of the government and opposition forces. In December 2013, President Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar and ten others of attempting a coup d'état. Machar denied trying to start a coup and fled to lead the SPLM – in opposition (SPLM-IO). Fighting broke out between the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and SPLM-IO, igniting the civil war. Ugandan troops were deployed to fight alongside the South Sudanese government. The United Nations has peacekeepers in the country as part of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). In January 2014 the first ceasefire agreement was reached. Fighting continued and would be followed by several more ceasefire agreements. Negotiations were mediated by "IGAD +". A peace agreement known as the "Compromise Peace Agreement" was signed in August 2015. Machar returned to Juba in 2016 and was appointed vice president. Following a second breakout of fighting within Juba, the SPLM-IO fled to the surrounding and previously peaceful Equatoria region. Kiir replaced Machar as First Vice President with Taban Deng Gai, splitting the opposition, and rebel in-fighting has become of major part of the conflict. Rivalry among Dinka factions led by the President and Paul Malong Awan have also led to fighting. In August 2018, another power sharing agreement came into effect.

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Lords Resistance Army insurgency Ongoing insurgency in central africa

The Lord's Resistance Army insurgency is an ongoing guerrilla campaign waged by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) insurgent group since 1987. Currently, there is low-level LRA activity in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic. The movement is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the "spokesperson" of God and a spirit medium. It aims to overthrow Yoweri Museveni's Ugandan government and establish a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and Acholi tradition.

War in Darfur Ongoing genocidal conflict in Southwestern Sudan

The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, is a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting the government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing Darfur's non-Arab population. The government responded to attacks by carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the indictment of Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.

Politics of South Sudan

The politics of South Sudan concern the system of government in the Republic of South Sudan, a country in East Africa, and the people, organisations, and events involved in it.

Houthi insurgency in Yemen civil war in Northern Yemen

The Houthi insurgency in Yemen, also known as the Houthi rebellion, Sa'dah War, or Sa'dah conflict, was a military rebellion pitting Zaidi Shia Houthis against the Yemeni military that began in Northern Yemen and has since escalated into a full-scale civil war. The conflict was sparked in 2004 by the government's attempt to arrest Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a Zaidi religious leader of the Houthis and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty. Initially, most of the fighting took place in Sa'dah Governorate in northwestern Yemen, but some of the fighting spread to neighbouring governorates Hajjah, 'Amran, al-Jawf and the Saudi province of Jizan. Since 2014 the nature of the insurgency has changed with the Houthi takeover in Yemen and then into the ongoing Yemeni civil war (2015–present) with a major Saudi-led intervention in Yemen beginning in 2015.

Lords Resistance Army Ugandan rebel movement

The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), also known as the Lord's Resistance Movement, is a rebel group and heterodox Christian group which operates in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Originally known as the United Holy Salvation Army and Uganda Christian Army/Movement, its stated goals include establishment of multi-party democracy, ruling Uganda according to the Ten Commandments, and Acholi nationalism.

Sudanese nomadic conflicts non-state conflicts between rival nomadic tribes taking place in the territories of Sudan and South Sudan

Sudanese nomadic conflicts are non-state conflicts between rival nomadic tribes taking place in the territory of Sudan and, since 2011, South Sudan. Conflict between nomadic tribes in Sudan is common, with fights breaking out over scarce resources, including grazing land, cattle and drinking water. Some of the tribes involved in these clashes have been the Messiria, Maalia, Rizeigat and Bani Hussein Arabic tribes inhabiting Darfur and West Kordofan, and the Dinka, Nuer and Murle African ethnic groups inhabiting South Sudan. Conflicts have been fueled by other major wars taking place in the same regions, in particular the Second Sudanese Civil War, the War in Darfur and the Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

States of South Sudan

The States of South Sudan were created out of the three historic former provinces of Bahr el Ghazal (northwest), Equatoria (southern), and Greater Upper Nile (northeast). The 32 states are further divided into 180 counties.

Peter Gatdet Yak or Peter Gadet was a former Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) general who was the leader of the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA), a rebel movement in South Sudan. He was born between 1957 and 1959 in Mayom County, South Sudan.

Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile ongoing conflict in Sudan

The Sudanese conflict in South Kordofan and Blue Nile, also referred to by some media as the Third Sudanese Civil War, is an ongoing armed conflict in the Sudanese southern states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile between the Sudanese Army (SAF) and Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a northern affiliate of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) in South Sudan. After some years of relative calm following the 2005 agreement which ended the second Sudanese civil war between the Sudanese government and SPLM rebels, fighting broke out again in the lead-up to South Sudan independence on 9 July 2011, starting in South Kordofan on 5 June and spreading to the neighboring Blue Nile state in September. SPLM-N, splitting from newly-independent SPLM, took up arms against the inclusion of the two southern states in Sudan with no popular consultation and against the lack of democratic elections. The conflict is intertwined with the War in Darfur, since in November 2011 SPLM-N established a loose alliance with Darfuri rebels, called Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).

Between July 2011 and mid-2012, a severe drought affected the entire East African region. Said to be "the worst in 60 years", the drought caused a severe food crisis across Somalia, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya that threatened the livelihood of 9.5 million people. Many refugees from southern Somalia fled to neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia, where crowded, unsanitary conditions together with severe malnutrition led to a large number of deaths. Other countries in East Africa, including Sudan, South Sudan and parts of Uganda, were also affected by a food crisis.

Human rights in South Sudan

Human rights in South Sudan are a contentious issue, owing at least in part to the country's violent history.

Ethnic violence in South Sudan has a long history among South Sudan's varied ethnic groups. South Sudan has 64 tribes with the largest being the Dinkas, who constitute about 35% of the population and predominate in government. The second largest are the Nuers. Conflict is often aggravated among nomadic groups over the issue of cattle and grazing land and is part of the wider Sudanese nomadic conflicts.

South Sudan–United States relations Diplomatic relations between the Republic of South Sudan and the United States of America

South Sudan–United States relations are the bilateral relations between the Republic of South Sudan and the United States of America.

Heglig Crisis

The Heglig Crisis was a brief war fought between the countries of Sudan and South Sudan in 2012 over oil-rich regions between South Sudan's Unity and Sudan's South Kordofan states. South Sudan invaded and briefly occupied the small border town of Heglig before being pushed back by the Sudanese army. Small-scale clashes continued until an agreement on borders and natural resources was signed on September 26, resolving most aspects of the conflict.

The following lists events that happened during 2011 in Sudan.

Yemeni Civil War (2015–present) Civil war

The Yemeni Civil War is an ongoing conflict that began in 2015 between two factions: the Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi led Yemeni government and the Houthi armed movement, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen.

2016–19 Wau clashes

Heavy armed clashes have been ongoing in Wau State since late June 2016, between the Dinka-dominated Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and local opposition forces, consisting of tribal Fertit militias as well as fighters claiming allegiance to Riek Machar. It is unclear to what extent these rebels are actually part of the SPLM-IO or acting independently while using the SPLM-IO's name. So far, the clashes resulted in the arrest of the state's governor, Elias Waya Nyipuoc, widespread death and destruction in the state capital, Wau town, and the displacement of up to 150,000 people.

References

  1. "Famine declared in part of South Sudan by government and UN". whio.com. 20 February 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-02-21. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
  2. "Top rebel commander killed in clashes in Upper Nile". radiotamazuj.org. 4 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2017-01-09. Retrieved 20 February 2017.