Save Sudan; A Plea to the United
Nations and the International Community
Sudanese Famine Victims
In the past few months, the world has heard so much about
the Iraq War, and all the atrocities that Saddam Hussein has committed, yet a
few thousand miles away, another country, Sudan, exists where many of the same
atrocities are committed. Here, we are not dealing with nuclear weapons, but
rather the freedom of millions of Southern Sudanese, who are oppressed by the Khartoum
government. In the civil war, which has blazed on for the past twenty years,
many political parties have battled, all for the same reasons, religious/ethnic
discordance, political dissension, and economic hardship. The war seems poised
against the Southern Sudanese, as they have been forced out of their homes and
have been made to flee their native land, and flee to neighboring countries, or
be enslaved. This genocide must end now, for the sake of millions of innocent
lives, for the sake of a unified international community, and for the sake of
Sudan.
A Brief History- Timeline[1]
1896 Anglo-Egyptian forces invade Sudan.
1953 Anglo-Egyptian Agreement was the first step towards self-government National Unionist Party- parliamentary government
1955 Equatoria Corps, a rebel group, stage uprisings in the south – beginning of civil war.
1956 Sudanese Independence- governed by the People’s Democratic Party and the Umma Party (the original government from before Anglo-Egyptian invasion)
1958-1969 Political Unrest. Two military coups (Abboud and Numeri) and revolutions. Power fluctuates between the Umma-PDP and the military regime.
1969-1971 Communist Uprisings. Numeri regime becomes Communist. U.S. cuts off aid, which proves detrimental. Communist purging in 1971.
1972 Addis Ababa Agreement results in an autonomous southern region.
1976 Nothern coup leads to “National Reconciliation” between North and South.
1977-1983 “September Laws”- Introduction of Islamic law.
1984-1985 Severe drought.
1985- 1986 More Political Unrest.
1988 Democratic Unionist Part and the SPLA seek abolishment of “September Laws”
1989 Omer al-Bashir, current dictator, stages a successful coup, announcing the end of the Islamic Law. Unrest between Sudanese People’s Liberation Army factions.
1990 Bashir’s intentions to revive Islamic Law is revealed. South is outraged.
1999 Bashir eliminates Parliament. Dictatorship.
<2003 Peace Talks
Religious/ Ethnic Tension
The
North, predominantly Arab- Islamic, has always held the reins of the Sudanese
government, disagreeable to the non-Arab Africans of Christian, Animist, or
other Indigenous faiths. As a result of this discrepancy, the Khartoum
government has never given the Southern Sudanese the equal voice they deserve.
At the height of the religious tension was the sequence of events from 1976 to
1990. This period began with a notion of “National Reconciliation,”
to re-unite the North and South, yet again, the Khartoum government interposed
the shar’ ia or Islamic Law, know
as the “September Laws.” This crippled hopes the South had for
religious freedom. After this act, the South lobbied for the abolishment of the
“September Laws,” which was granted during Bashir’s military
coup, though it was later discovered that his thoughts really remained on
creating an Islamic state, a hard blow for the South.[2]
Economic Instability
The prolonged conflict also has much to do with the fact that many of the countries natural resources lie in the South, inducing more tension. Oil, Sudan’s largest export[3], is much more abundant in the South than in the North, so the Khartoum government is funding new explorations for oil in the South, however, in the process, they are forcing the Southerners off their lands, so that they are competitively out of the economic scheme.[4] In addition, due to the drought and resulting famine of 1984-5, much tension has arisen because of the lack of water sources in the North. Efforts have been planned to create pipelines from the Southern marshlands to Northern reservoirs, but this would cause even more minority Southerners to be displaced at the hand of the Khartoum.[5] Because of the extensive fighting and political dissension in Sudan, the government has not paid much attention to the economic hardships of the country, making it near a collapse.
Human Rights Violations
Terrible
human rights violations have come out of this dissension. Mainly Southern
Sudanese, more than 2 million have died due to war-related causes.[6]
Millions of 
Southern
Sudanese have been displaced because of Khartoum’s southern oil field
explorations. These people have been forced into other neighboring, war-torn
countries or they are captured as slaves.[7]
Surprisingly, governmentally sanctioned slavery still prevails in Sudan, as the
genocide occurs. One report says that, “government-sponsored militia
groups continue to abduct women and children into slavery.” [8]
When slavery has been abated in most developed countries, what makes it okay to
let slavery exist in Sudan? There have also been cases made of slave genital
mutilation, by their masters, an undeniable human rights violation.[9]
What Can Be Done?
There is no point in wasting time hoping that peace talks will prove fruitful, since at the end of four peace talks, there has been no considerable progress.[10] Instead, it is up to the international community to help amend this national rift. Many neighboring countries are trying to stabilize themselves, so it would be futile to demand aid for Sudan, when they themselves need it. However, countries like the United States, clearly a developed country, and the UN can help to end the situation.
The first step toward this goal is by reaching a global awareness of the crisis. In an article called “SARS Or Sudan: Which is more important?” one journalist expressed the idea that the new SARS epidemic has hundreds of articles published about it everyday, yet nobody seems to notice or take action of the crisis in Sudan, even though it appears to be even more dire.[11] By spreading information about the conflict, people will be more motivated to aid the cause, instead of just because they are obligated to do so. It is most important that this reaches developed countries that can actually give aid to help end this problem. This can be achieved by covering the crisis in the news, newspapers, radio, magazines, and other media sources.
Secondly, the Khartoum slave market must be shut down immediately. Since the US is the international peace keeping body, the UN should decree that it be abolished. It is definitely the UN’s responsibility to end this bondage, since it clearly violates Article 4 of the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which says that “No one should be held in servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. “ [12] It is obviously up to the U N to enforce their own laws.
The next situation that must be relieved is the issue of Southern Sudanese displacement. These acts by the Khartoum government to force the Southern Sudanese out of their homes directly violates Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that states, “Everyone has the right to property…No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property.”[13] One way they may be aided is if the UN dispatches its army to help the Southerners defend their rights and homes. This situation is one that must also be relieved immediately.
Lastly, if countries as powerful and influential as the United States offered to mediate the peace talks, or even extend them to the United Nations, the civil war would see a possible end, because this would show the Khartoum and SPLA that it is a topic that the international community wants to see resolved. Just a few days ago, France applied for observer standing at the Nairobi peace talks, so that they would be able to help with the negotiations,[14] showing a good initiative toward a final resolution, something that all countries should hope and strive for, regardless of their political, religious, or ethnic bias.
When the Kosovo Conflict was at hand, it took ten years before NATO intervened, and after that point, it only took eleven weeks to resolve. The civil war in Sudan has been raging on for the past twenty years, without any intervention. Similarly, the war in Iraq was not provoked by any immediate threat to the US, but the US still took action anyway. The Iraqi conflict only took about a month to resolve because the US intervened. The two situations are clearly not synonymous, and by no means is an invasion the solution, but since they include many of the same issues, they should be given equal priority. Isn’t it time that the world turns its head to the conflict in Sudan? The US has placed Sudanese government on the list of terrorist nations, yet the US refuses to help liberate the Southern Sudanese, who are clearly against the government. We cannot simply avert our eyes to this genocide or any other, for it is everyone’s responsibility to strive for peace that would be beneficial to all countries, regardless or race, religious belief, or ethnicity.
Picture Sources
1. DISCovering World History Reproduced in Student Resource
Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. October, 2001.
http://galenet.galegroup.com/servlet/SRC/infotrac gold student resource center
2. Audrery Macklin <http://www.kairoscanada.org/english/programme/sudanaction.htm>
3. Hgh McCullum <http://www.kairoscanada.org/english/programme/sudanaction.htm>
4. “At the Slave Market In Khartoum” < http://digital.nypl.org/mmpco/>