Genocidal Massacres in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile State, Sudan

Genocidal Massacres in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile State, Sudan

Hashem Mekki, Genocide Watch

1 November, 2012

As a Nuban, I am disappointed that the international community has ignored the crimes against humanity committed by the Sudanese Armed Forces against our people. Because its priority is to avoid a return to war between Sudan and South Sudan, the international community has turned a blind eye to bombing, starvation and massacres in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile. To make matters worse, the US and EU are now even pushing for investment in Sudan – the perpetrator of the violence – thereby helping the regime of Al-Bashir continue its human rights abuses unhindered, the same way it did in Darfur.

It is clear to Nubans that the Khartoum regime aims to punish those who sided in the past with the Southern Sudan’s Sudanese People Liberation Movement (SPLM). In June 2011, on the eve of South Sudan’s independence, an aerial assault on Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile states made this clear. As in Darfur, the victims have mostly been civilians including children, the elderly and women. In October 2012, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and its militias on the one hand, and the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) on the other, have been fighting over the two large cities in the region, El-Deleng and Kadugli.

Ahmed Haroun, the governor of the state who belongs to the governing National Congress Party (NCP), and is under indictment for crimes against humanity by the ICC, is clearly behind the violence. He is said to be using Nuban civilians as human shields, and eyewitnesses report that Haroun is mobilizing his cabinet members to gather civilians to appear in “peaceful” public gatherings, to portray the cities as calm and stable despite the bloodshed. Weapons factories south of Khartoum produce heavy weaponry, tanks, ammunition, and artillery that are being used against the Nuban people, and are also shipped to fight other groups in Sudan and the Middle East. Some weapons are reported to have been received by the Sudanese Armed Forces from the Iranian government. Iran has conducted military exercises off the Sudanese coast. Most Nubans in the Diaspora have applauded efforts by the SPLM-N to capture El-Deleng and Kadugli, because of the relentless attacks by government forces.

On August 5, 2012, Sudan and South Sudan finally reached a deal on oil revenues. Lack of agreement on this issue had threatened to take the two countries back to full-scale war. This agreement resulted from concerted effort by the United States, EU, and the African Union. It will last until South Sudan builds an alternative route to a port in Kenya or Djibouti. Immediately following the oil agreement, the Sudan government launched assaults on the Nuba. The only reason Sudan and South Sudan bowed to external pressure for the oil agreement is that they are both desperate for oil revenues. Although proponents of the “oil accord” deem it to be a step toward resolving critical issues such as border demarcations and relief of stress on the two Sudans’ economies, it does not resolve and may even exacerbate major security issues within Sudan, particularly in the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, and Darfur regions. There are three reasons for this view.

First, the accord provides a huge infusion of cash ($3 billion) to the Khartoum regime, thus empowering Al-Bashir and his cronies to buy more weapons in support of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and its militias, making it easier for them to commit violence against people on the Sudanese peripheries. When the regime last had access to unlimited oil revenues, before the secession of South Sudan, the result was genocide in Darfur. In a protracted conflict situation, empowering one party over the other can worsen dire humanitarian conditions for those excluded from the “agreement.”

Second, there is an environmental dimension to the conflict that has been largely ignored. The extraction of oil mostly occurs in fields either in Southern Kordofan (the Nuba Mountains), or in nearby regions including Abyei, Heglig, and the South Sudan’s Unity State. As agro-pastoralists, oil pipelines pose serious threats to the livelihoods of the Nuban people, including chemical hazards and the destruction of grazing lands.

Third, it does not make sense for the international community advocate sanctions on Sudan on one hand and call for economic investments on the other, knowing that investments will be siphoned off by the Khartoum regime to fuel its conflicts. Providing a dictatorial regime with access to more financial resources will result in more aggression against the people of the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, and Darfur.

It is also important to note that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has indicted Omar Al-Bashir on ten counts. Arrest warrants have already been issued, twice in 2009 and again in 2010 for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Darfur.

The influx of Nuban refugees to the Yida camp in South Sudan has increased dramatically since the conflict began. The camp is now home to 63,000 refugees, according to UNHCR. According to reports, South Sudan now hosts over 170,000 refugees from the Sudanese states of Blue Nile and South Kordofan – only a fraction of the 700,000 people who, according to the UN, have been displaced or severely affected by the fighting between the Sudanese army and the SPLM-North (SPLM-N). The report also points out that most of these fleeing people are internally displaced, and they receive little in the way of humanitarian assistance. The international community has completely failed to exert real pressure on the Sudanese government to allow humanitarian access to these regions. The United Nation’s Security Council passed a resolution calling for just that, but four months later Al-Bashir’s regime has yet to allow access. Consequently, about one million people in the region are suffering from food insecurity and starvation.

It is unlikely that the government of Sudan will ever allow food to reach the Nuba Mountains.

The Nuba people have not given up. They are determined to drive the Sudanese Armed Forces out of the Nuba mountains. In an event organized by the Nuban Diaspora in Britain in July 2012, there were protests against the inaction of the British Prime Minister David Cameron. In Sudan, an anti-government rally demanded regime change, calling for Omar Al-Bashir to be brought to justice by the ICC. Rallies have also been held in New York, Washington DC, Cairo, and other cities around the world. Is anyone listening?

Works Consulted:

Snaap, Trevor. Death in the Nuba Mountains. FP Foreign Policy. July 9, 2012.http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/09/death_in_the_nuba_mountains

Sudan Tribune. Act for Sudan letter to the UN Security council on emergency need for humanitarian relief in the Nuba Mountains, Blue Nile, and Darfur. 23 September 2012

Kaufman, Rabbi. Fiddling While Sudan Burns. Help Nuba-A Sudan Advocacy Organization. October 11, 2012.

Sudanese rebels attack South Kordofan capital again, denies death of civilians. October 23, 2012. http://radiotamazuj.org/en/article/airlift-nuba-refugee-camp-grows

The Nuban in the Diaspora: Ahmed Haroun’s usage of people as human shield wouldn’t save him liberation of Kadugli and Eldeling. http://www.nubatimes.com/main/News/2029

The Elders welcome new funds to address the refugee crisis in South Sudan. 07 September, 2012 http://theelders.org/article/elders-welcome-new-funds-address-refugee-crisis-sudans

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