Soldiers came in the night and slit throats, the cathedral had been looted and people were in hiding. These were the reports we heard from Martin, a man who had fled from Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan. Even as al-Bashir was greeted by polite applause in Juba, his government was carrying out what have been described as “especially egregious” atrocities just north of the border.
South Kordofan and the bitterly contested area of Abyei have significant cultural and historical ties to the South. Many in the region fought as part of the SPLA. Khartoum would like to see rebel elements extinguished and the people Arabized. The governor of the region is Ahmed Haroun, a war criminal wanted by the ICC (International Criminal Court) for crimes against humanity committed in Darfur.
Bombings, indiscriminate massacres and a campaign of terror have driven thousands into the mountains. Here they are isolated from any kind of help. The government in Khartoum refuses to recognise the displaced people and has hindered aid organisations from providing vital food and health care. Those with more resources may have succeeded in fleeing the area – Martin had made it to Juba and felt safe (he even said he was happy for his name to appear on the internet) – but he spoke of others still being hunted who it is not safe to identify.
Evidence of mass graves in the area has been found by the Satellite Sentinel Project – a project supported by George Clooney and Google that keeps a watchful eye on Sudan using satellites and corroborating evidence on the ground. Condemnations have been forthcoming from the international community; action, not so much.
Meanwhile in Juba, life after independence goes on. The new currency supposedly came out Monday, although I have yet to see any of it – the old pound is still in use at least for the next couple of months. A country code (+211) has come into effect. The UN has now admitted South Sudan as member number 193. Maps are even beginning to show the new border. The country is now well on its way to acquiring the trappings of an independent state. Building the nation’s economy and social structures may take a longer time, but contrary to the snide remarks about a new “failed state”, the future seems promising.
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which led to the birth of South Sudan, did not ignore the regions left behind. Abyei was to hold a separate referendum to decide whether to be part of the North or South - when and if this will happen is now uncertain. South Kordofan and the Blue Nile were to hold “popular consultations”, but now even this vague promise seems unlikely to be fulfilled.
With the South separate and independent the North will hope that the international community will shift its focus. Those in Sudan still at odds with the ruling elite in Khartoum will hope this doesn’t happen. But even as satellites watch on we seem unable to prevent the unfolding tragedy.
Showing posts with label the Sudan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the Sudan. Show all posts
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
Sunday, 26 June 2011
38 years of conflict
The Sudan gained independence from Britain in 1956. It spent 38 of the next 50 years embroiled in civil war. The history of conflict in the Sudan is complicated and descriptions have often simplified or distorted the reality of the situation. However, the simplest description of the conflict requires only one word: tragic.
How many have been killed between 1956 and 2011 may never be known. Estimates for the First and Second Sudanese Civil Wars (1955-1972 and 1983-2005 respectively) are over two million when war-related famine and disease are included. This is some of the worst loss of life from conflict since the Second World War. But the full devastation is not told by simple casualties. In addition to those killed, millions have been displaced, forced from their homes and land, their lives shattered. And there is also the unquantifiable tragedy of the wasted potential of a fertile land and the complete prevention of any kind of economic or social development in so many places. There is no-one in South Sudan who hasn’t been affected by the conflict.
One man I spoke to had fought in the first Civil War. He spoke of his village being bombed. A younger man tells me he left his home and grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya – his brother was killed in the war. Others talk of fathers and relatives who fought.
One night I am told of a man who was arrested and killed after receiving a letter from his brother in Uganda. His brother wrote asking how he was coping, having heard of the famine conditions in Sudan at the time. The content of the letter was deemed as evidence that too much information had been communicated outside the country.
Another story was told of a woman lining up for food with her infant child on her back. She waited in the crowd being pushed and shoved for hours until she finally got some food. When she reached for the child she found it was dead, crushed by the desperation of the crowd trying to get food.
The suffering inflicted on the Sudanese people from famine and displacement was exacerbated by an antagonistic government that repeatedly prevented international assistance from reaching those in need. In 2009 the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir, the first time a sitting head of state had been indicted by the court. In 2010 a second warrant was issued including charges of genocide.
I sat around one night with a group of young men born at the beginning of the 1980s. For them they had known conflict almost their entire lives. “In Europe when young people sit around they talk of other things, but here we talk about politics” said one of them to me. For us, so often, the events of the news are dramatic but far away and politics is an academic diversion more than a pressing reality. For these men politics and conflict had directly informed their whole lives; to be a passive spectator wasn’t an option. Yet they were not fatalistic, they spoke hopefully and proudly of their country and its future and seemed to have a clear sense that they had a role to play.
Everyone here has been touched by the conflict on some personal level. Even as South Sudan prepares for Independence fighting has reignited in the border areas and the future of Darfur seems uncertain. For some in Juba the peace feels like a precarious one. And for some in other parts of the country there is no peace at all.
How many have been killed between 1956 and 2011 may never be known. Estimates for the First and Second Sudanese Civil Wars (1955-1972 and 1983-2005 respectively) are over two million when war-related famine and disease are included. This is some of the worst loss of life from conflict since the Second World War. But the full devastation is not told by simple casualties. In addition to those killed, millions have been displaced, forced from their homes and land, their lives shattered. And there is also the unquantifiable tragedy of the wasted potential of a fertile land and the complete prevention of any kind of economic or social development in so many places. There is no-one in South Sudan who hasn’t been affected by the conflict.
One man I spoke to had fought in the first Civil War. He spoke of his village being bombed. A younger man tells me he left his home and grew up in a refugee camp in Kenya – his brother was killed in the war. Others talk of fathers and relatives who fought.
One night I am told of a man who was arrested and killed after receiving a letter from his brother in Uganda. His brother wrote asking how he was coping, having heard of the famine conditions in Sudan at the time. The content of the letter was deemed as evidence that too much information had been communicated outside the country.
Another story was told of a woman lining up for food with her infant child on her back. She waited in the crowd being pushed and shoved for hours until she finally got some food. When she reached for the child she found it was dead, crushed by the desperation of the crowd trying to get food.
The suffering inflicted on the Sudanese people from famine and displacement was exacerbated by an antagonistic government that repeatedly prevented international assistance from reaching those in need. In 2009 the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir, the first time a sitting head of state had been indicted by the court. In 2010 a second warrant was issued including charges of genocide.
I sat around one night with a group of young men born at the beginning of the 1980s. For them they had known conflict almost their entire lives. “In Europe when young people sit around they talk of other things, but here we talk about politics” said one of them to me. For us, so often, the events of the news are dramatic but far away and politics is an academic diversion more than a pressing reality. For these men politics and conflict had directly informed their whole lives; to be a passive spectator wasn’t an option. Yet they were not fatalistic, they spoke hopefully and proudly of their country and its future and seemed to have a clear sense that they had a role to play.
Everyone here has been touched by the conflict on some personal level. Even as South Sudan prepares for Independence fighting has reignited in the border areas and the future of Darfur seems uncertain. For some in Juba the peace feels like a precarious one. And for some in other parts of the country there is no peace at all.
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