Although there is a long road ahead to achieve sustainable peace and formidable challenges remain, the hope is Sudan can turn the page on decades of war that has left hundreds of thousands dead and millions displaced, particularly in Darfur and the Two Areas (South Kordofan and Blue Nile).
The peace agreement, between Sudan’s transitional government and the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF), a broad alliance of armed and other movements, and Minni Minawi’s Sudan Liberation Movement, is not yet comprehensive as it did not include two other important armed movements.
Expected to be formally signed in early October, the deal has been hailed as a ’historic achievement’ by the UN secretary-general, and the international community also commended the government of South Sudan for its positive role as mediator and urged hold-out groups to join the peace process.… Seguir leyendo »
In 2011, Sudan and South Sudan sought outside help to prevent a return to war along what would become their international border. This effort followed a resurgence of violence in border areas: a new insurgency in South Sudan’s Unity State in April; the Sudanese army’s move into Abyei, an oil-rich area claimed by both countries, in May; and renewed fighting in the Sudanese states of South Kordofan and Blue Nile (known as the “Two Areas”) in June. Part of the UN Security Council’s response to their requests for support was its deployment of a peacekeeping mission, the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).… Seguir leyendo »
Sudan and South Sudan’s relationship is of vital importance to resolving conflicts in both countries. Khartoum, and other countries in the region, clearly benefit from a stable South Sudan.
Once-fraught relations between the two countries have improved in recent years, helped by substantive discussions over shared interests, including oil exports, support for armed groups, and border security. Khartoum should now use its influence in Juba to seek better regional cooperation and a peaceful resolution of internal and cross-border conflicts.
A more sophisticated Sudanese approach that ensures southern armed groups are part of a more inclusive, and thereby stable, government in Juba, is in Khartoum’s own best interests.… Seguir leyendo »
When world leaders meet in New York next week for summit meetings hosted by the UN and the U.S. to tackle the global refugee crisis, they must redouble their efforts to resolve those conflicts driving the global exodus and to prevent new conflicts before the emergency is compounded. Additionally, leaders should commit to resettle at least 10 per cent of the world’s refugees annually, share responsibilities more equitably, increase support for front-line states facing the greatest challenges, and respect fully the rights of refugees.
The number of refugees and internally displaced now stands at more than 65 million, the largest figure ever recorded.… Seguir leyendo »
After years of obscurity and little reliable international reporting, the vast human catastrophe in Sudan’s Darfur region is again in the news. It was regularly making headlines before 2008, when the then-five-year-old genocide in Darfur had claimed hundreds of thousands of African lives, but a lack of sustained mainstream attention meant that the surging violence fell off the radar.
Few could have predicted that this remote and obscure region in western Sudan would galvanize American civil society. Then again, how could the loss of attention have been so rapid?
The United Nations recently estimated that 300,000 Darfuris had been displaced in the first five months of this year; more than 1 million civilians have been displaced since the fall of 2008.… Seguir leyendo »
President Omar al-Bashir’s 23-year rule in Sudan has known almost ceaseless civil war, the recent secession of South Sudan and an indictment for genocide by the International Criminal Court against Bashir himself. Currently, his government is under attack by various rebel armies with an estimated combined strength of 60,000, as well as protests sparked by the withdrawal of gas subsidies, massive budget deficits, failed harvests and steep increases in food prices. Bashir’s days may be numbered.
Yet his removal would not end the conflict; it could even trigger a new civil war. The groups challenging Bashir are united by their common hatred of him and his party rather than by a shared vision for Sudan’s future.… Seguir leyendo »
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to visit South Sudan on Friday, a little more than a year after it seceded from Sudan. Despite all the predictions at South Sudan’s birth that it would become a failed state, the much more vexing problem lies across its border — what to do about Sudan, whose government is responsible for more death and destruction than all of its neighboring Middle Eastern and North African dictatorships combined.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide, exhibits vulnerabilities that marked the final chapters of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and Libya’s Moammar Gaddafi.… Seguir leyendo »
Less than a year after South Sudan declared its independence, it appears headed for war once again with its northern neighbor, Sudan. At the same time, marginalized northerners are rebelling against the government of Sudan’s president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The international community has called for a cease-fire and peace talks, but the return of violence is not necessarily a bad thing. Soldiers killing one another in war would be far less devastating than thousands of women and children starving to death while waiting for a negotiated peace that will never come.
Mr. Bashir’s government cannot be trusted. It has for years systematically betrayed its agreements — signing dozens of treaties and then violating them.… Seguir leyendo »
I have seen what happens when the world turns its back and looks the other way. For 20 years I have worked in Sudan, helping its people struggle through the horrors of starvation and murderous attacks. During Sudan's civil war, the people in the south were being butchered. Shockingly, it took the deaths of more than 2 million before the world finally called it genocide.
When President George W. Bush came to office, he didn't look the other way. Instead, he engaged all parties and forced them to sit down to negotiate what we hoped would be an end to the violence.… Seguir leyendo »
Le Soudan et la République du Soudan du Sud, devenue indépendante le 9 juillet 2011, connaissent en 2012 une extension des conflits près de leurs frontières (Sud Kordofan, Nil bleu au Soudan), Jonglei au Sud mais également dans les zones contestées comme Abyei. Après les bombardements de Khartoum au Sud, le SPLA, armée de la République du Sud Soudan, a fait une incursion dans la zone pétrolifère de Heglig le 11 avril. Les pourparlers entre le Soudan et le Soudan du Sud sont interrompus. A l'Ouest, les conflits du Darfour demeurent, avec une intensité moindre, mais pourraient resurgir notamment avec des alliances avec le Sud Kordofan et le MPLS contre Khartoum.… Seguir leyendo »
Sudan is once again at war with itself — or, more accurately, the ruthless regime in Khartoum is again waging war on peoples at the marginalized peripheries as a means of crushing growing rebellion. The primary target in this widespread conflict is not the people of Darfur, although they continue to languish amid ghastly violence and deprivation. No, these latest targets are the African people of the border regions between northern Sudan and the new Republic of South Sudan: the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.
Last May, Khartoum’s military seized Abyei, a contested border region where Khartoum had refused to allow a promised referendum on self-determination in January 2011.… Seguir leyendo »
South Sudan was born as an independent nation on July 9, 2011, with good will and a bounty. Three hundred and fifty thousand barrels of oil per day provided the government with $1,000 per year for each of its 8 million citizens.
But the only pipeline to market runs through northern Sudan, giving the government in Khartoum control over South Sudan’s economic artery. And on independence day there was no agreement on the terms of pipeline use.
When Sudan was still one country, 50 percent of the revenue from southern oil went to the central treasury, comprising 40 percent of its budget.… Seguir leyendo »
When South Sudan declared independence in July, the international community breathed a sigh of relief. A difficult six-year process, set forth in the ambitious 2005 peace agreement that ended Sudan's 22-year-long civil war, was finally over. The world appeared to feel it could stop focusing on Sudan.
But Sudan's wars have not ended. They have, in fact, multiplied. Five of Sudan's 16 states are mired in armed conflicts. Since June, new conflicts have erupted in two volatile states — Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile — just north of the South Sudan border, while the three states in the western region of Darfur are still a war zone, although that conflict has dropped from the headlines.… Seguir leyendo »
My life has been profoundly changed by a blind teenage boy. His name is Ker Deng. He belongs to the Dinka tribe in southern Sudan.
Arab raiders from northern Sudan enslaved Ker in his infancy. His mother later told him how they were captured and forced to leave their home in southern Sudan. Many of their relatives and neighbors, especially men, were killed. Homes were burned. Cows and goats were stolen. Ker and his mother were tied to a camel and taken to the north as booty of war.
Ker will always be haunted by the vivid memories of abuse meted out by his sadistic master: frequent beatings and death threats, racial abuse, forced conversion to Islam and, of course, ultimate denial of his humanity.… Seguir leyendo »
Au cours de la période précédent le référendum de janvier sur la séparation du Sud-Soudan, l'Union africaine (UA) et les pays voisins se sont fortement attachés à empêcher que les désaccords continus quant à la démarcation des frontières, le partage du pétrole, la citoyenneté et autres questions controversées ne viennent faire dérailler le référendum. Grâce à la médiation du Groupe de haut niveau de l'Union africaine sur le Soudan et aux efforts des gouvernements africains et occidentaux, dont les ressources nécessaires pour le préparer, un référendum pacifique a été réalisé et le résultat accepté par les deux parties.
Ce succès, et la récente déclaration d'indépendance de la République du Sud-Soudan, n'exonèrent pas la région de ses responsabilités vis-à-vis des deux Soudans, compte-tenu des défis auxquels les relations entre les deux Etats font encore face.… Seguir leyendo »
Il y aura bientôt un an et demi, comme résultat d'une analyse de plusieurs mois et de rencontres avec de très nombreux observateurs et acteurs des interminables conflits soudanais, nous remettions à la Commission des affaires étrangères de l'Assemblée nationale le rapport d'information qu'elle nous avait commandé sur la situation au Soudan.
Si la tonalité pessimiste qui courait au long de notre propos nous a paru un temps exagérée, compte tenu de la manière dont les élections générales d'avril 2010 et le référendum de janvier 2011, surtout, se sont finalement déroulés, à la surprise et à la satisfaction de la communauté internationale, force est aujourd'hui de constater que nous n'étions sans doute malheureusement pas loin de la vérité.… Seguir leyendo »
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