A wife grieved as her husband was buried in a field in Jamam refugee camp in South Sudan Thursday. (Photo: Paula Bronstein / Getty Images via The Wall Street Journal)
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FIT TO PRINT The layout team prepares an edition of The Citizen newspaper, an English language daily, at their offices in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba on January 28, 2011. Their French-made printing press produced magazines and books in Belgium for over a decade, but is now relocated to Juba, and is South Sudan’s first-ever printing press. (Photo: Peter Martell /AFP-Getty Images via the Boston Globe / The Big Picture)
Newspapers: history’s first draft, and society’s voice.
ANEW A man runs through the streets waving a South Sudan national flag in celebration of the country’s independence in Juba, South Sudan, late July 8, 2011. South Sudan became the world’s newest nation early Saturday, officially breaking away from Sudan after two civil wars over five decades that cost the lives of millions. (Photo: Andrew Burton / AP via the Boston Globe / The Big Picture)
DUBYA LATER South Sudanese president Salva Kiir, wearing a cowboy hat given to him by former president George W. Bush in 2005, arrives to celebrate the formal proclamation of his country’s independence Saturday. Bush was a major proponent of South Sudan’s statehood, helping broker an agreement between Sudan’s central government and rebels that allowed the southern part of the country to secede. (Photo: Tyler Hicks / The New York Times)
We, the People of South Sudan,
Grateful to the Almighty God for giving the people of South Sudan the wisdom and courage to determine their destiny and future through a free, transparent, and peaceful referendum in accordance with the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, 2005;
Recalling our long and heroic struggle for justice, freedom, equality and dignity in South Sudan;
Remembering and inspired by the selfless sacrifices of our martyrs, heroes and heroines;
Dedicated to a genuine national healing process and the building of trust and confidence in our society through dialogue;
Determined to lay the foundation for a united, peaceful and prosperous society based on justice, equality, respect for human rights and the rule of law;
Committed to establishing a decentralized democratic multi-party system of governance in which power shall be peacefully transferred and to upholding values of human dignity and equal rights and duties of men and women;
Conscious of the need to manage our natural resources sustainably and efficiently for the benefit of the present and future generations and to eradicate poverty and attain the Millennium Development Goals;
Do hereby, through this Southern Sudan Legislative Assembly, amend the Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan, 2005, which shall be adopted and hereafter referred to as the “Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011,” and shall be the supreme law by which the independent and sovereign South Sudan shall be governed during the Transitional Period, and undertake to abide by, respect and defend it.
SWEAT EQUITY A soldier in the Sudanese People’s Liberation Army stood in line Tuesday during a rehearsal for an Independence Day ceremony in Juba. South Sudan is expected to declare its independence on July 9. (Photo: Goran Tomasevic / Reuters via the Wall St. Journal)
Polls have opened for the second day of voting in southern Sudan’s historic referendum to determine whether the region will become an independent nation or continue to be part of Sudan. On Sunday, the first day of voting passed off largely peacefully but more clashes in the disputed border region of Abyei left dozens dead. In the southern capital Juba, the atmosphere was festive with voters queueing for hours outside polling stations. (via South Sudan secession vote resumes - Africa - Al Jazeera English)
The World had an on-the-ground report last week that gives some background on the vote. We’ll be keeping a close eye on this as it goes ahead.
