Statement of the Troika Embassies in Juba, South Sudan

The text of the following statement was issued jointly by the Embassies of the United States, Norway, and the United Kingdom in Juba:

On the occasion of the visit of the Norwegian and UK Special Representatives to Juba this week in advance of the expiry of the pre-transitional period on 12 November, the Troika wishes to reiterate its commitment to South Sudan. The people of South Sudan want and deserve peace.

We have heard the commitment from all parties to the permanent ceasefire. We expect the parties to make these commitments explicit and public. We have reinforced the fundamental importance of avoiding a return to armed conflict – any outstanding issues should be resolved through dialogue and compromise.

We welcome the fact that President Kiir and Dr. Riek Machar will be meeting face to face this week to discuss the many outstanding issues and hope this will become more regular and include all the signatories of the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS). We recognise the region’s leadership, and welcome IGAD’s initiative to bring all the parties back together in Addis Ababa. It is important that these meetings provide the clarity necessary to allow people across the country to retain confidence in this process. Any unilateral action is against the agreement and the spirit of the peace process. We call on IGAD to regularise the status of Dr. Machar since we believe this would facilitate greater progress.

We recognise that there are discussions ongoing about the next steps and in order to ensure the peace process stays on track and moves forward, we believe that the parties now have to determine how they will address the challenges the agreement has faced since September 2018. This should include:

an immediate release of the funding previously promised by the Government for the peace process
commitment from all sides to make faster progress in the creation of the National Unified Forces
a clear timetable for inclusion of the agreement in the constitution
a compromise interim proposal to address the number of states
inclusion of 35% of women in every level of government as agreed by all the parties in Addis; this along with greater youth representation would build a stronger peace

We reaffirm our conviction that allowing civil society and the media to engage in discussions about this agreement is essential to ensure sustainable peace and an inclusive government.

This is a critical period to make progress on these pre-transitional tasks as agreed by the parties almost fourteen months ago, to exercise the spirit of political compromise at the heart of the agreement, and to move the South Sudanese peace process forward by establishing a genuine unity government on 12 November in accordance with the commitments made by the parties in the R-ARCSS. We also recognise that the R-ARCSS sets out a much wider range of tasks to be addressed under each of its chapters. We look forward to working with the parties and the IGAD on the transparent and accountable implementation of the R-ARCSS and emphasise that maintaining the ceasefire is the fundamental requirement for successful implementation of all aspects of the peace process.

AAIB report: Rolladen-Schneider LS7, pilot suffered a heart attack in-flight

The pilot was flying his glider on a cross-country flight from Talgarth Airfield in South Wales towards Snowdonia National Park. When the pilot did not return a search was launched. The glider and deceased pilot were found in a field 3 nm south of Blaenau Ffestiniog. A post-mortem examination of the pilot found he had suffered a heart attack in flight which would have either rendered him unconscious or been fatal.

Read the report.

Published 7 November 2019

34th Universal Periodic Review: UK statement on Kazakhstan

Palais — The Universal Periodic Review takes place in Geneva.

The United Kingdom is encouraged by the Government of Kazakhstan’s action to reduce prison population, improve prison conditions and thoroughly investigate instances of torture. These changes are vital to ensure the strengthening of the rule of law and democracy.

We remain concerned that libel remains a criminal offence and libel charges are used to control the media and restrict freedom of expression of journalists. We are concerned that political parties, public associations, religious organisations and other civil society institutions find it difficult to register and operate legally.

We support Kazakhstan’s resolve to combat corruption, which is linked to many human rights violations and abuses.

We recommend that Kazakhstan:

In line with ILO standards, implement legislation to protect freedom of association and peaceful assembly, and define and criminalise all slavery and slavery-like practices, including domestic servitude, and forced and bonded labour.
Accept OSCE recommendations on the electoral system in preparation for the next parliamentary elections.
Implement urgently the UNCRC to protect children from sexual violence and early marriage.

Published 7 November 2019

ESFA Update: 7 November 2019

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Latest information and actions from the Education and Skills Funding Agency for academies, schools, colleges, local authorities and further education providers.

Rail merger raises competition concerns

As part of its mergers work, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is responsible for examining whether competition issues arise from the granting of new rail franchises. It has therefore been looking into the award of West Coast Rail (WCR) to a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia.

Following its initial Phase 1 investigation, the CMA has found competition concerns relating to 21 routes – 17 between Preston and Scotland (terminating at Glasgow or Edinburgh) and 4 between Oxenholme and Carlisle. This is because passengers will only be able to choose from West Coast Rail – operated by a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia – for 17 routes, or TransPennine Express, operated solely by FirstGroup. On the 4 remaining routes, passengers can only choose from 3 operators in total: West Coast Rail, TransPennine Express and one other operator.

The CMA is concerned this could lead to higher fares and less availability of cheaper tickets because train passengers would have no alternatives, or limited options, to choose from.

The companies now have the opportunity to offer methods to address the CMA’s concerns. In previous cases, such as the award of the East Midlands Rail franchise to Abellio and FirstGroup and MTR’s acquisition of South Western, the CMA’s concerns were resolved by the companies agreeing to price caps on affected lines.

However, should any proposals offered be considered insufficient by the CMA, a more in-depth Phase 2 investigation will be conducted.

The CMA’s decision comes in advance of the start of the franchise, due to commence on 8 December 2019. Further details on the investigation can be found on the case page.

Notes to editors

The CMA is the UK’s primary competition and consumer authority. It is an independent non-ministerial government department with responsibility for carrying out investigations into mergers, markets and the regulated industries and enforcing competition and consumer law.
Under the merger control provisions of the Enterprise Act 2002 in conjunction with the Railways Act 1993, the CMA may look into the award of UK rail franchises to ensure that no competition concerns arise.
Under the Enterprise Act, FirstGroup and Trenitalia will now have 5 working days to propose undertakings in lieu (UILs) of reference to resolve the competition concerns raised by the CMA. If it does not propose UILs, or if the CMA is not satisfied with them, the merger will be referred to an in-depth (‘phase 2’) investigation.
Media queries should be directed to press@cma.gov.uk, on 020 3738 6460.