"An African Tragedy" Photos

The photos taken in Sudan of the Janjaweed showing the hurt they inflicted on their own people are appalling. In the first picture, the Janjaweed soldiers look young and this makes me wonder if they truly realize what they are doing. I assume that these young soldiers were put into training at an even younger age, and that killing and their other acts of violence were instilled in them as the "right way" in their most impressionable years. However, that is definitely not an excuse for their actions. Seeing the picture of the starving three year old who was just admitted into the Nutrition Center, I wonder how anyone could do this. Even if you have been raised to kill, there must be something deep in the hearts of the Janjaweed soldiers that tell them this is wrong. However, the soldiers may justify their actions because they feel they must support the government of their country. Or maybe they feel they have only two options: fight for the Janjaweed and live or fight against the Janjaweed and die.
When I look at the the starving people, it reminds me of Benson, in the novel They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, when he was waiting for food and said, "[we were] weak with hunger, ribs collapsed in" (143 Benson Deng). He also described the refugees as being stick-like, and this is clearly shown in the photos. When I see these photos, it makes me fully grasp that the stories in They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky are not imagined. These problems are real and they are happening right now.

To view "An African Tradegy" go to:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/08/30/slideshow_040830

They Poured Fire on us From the Sky

Benjamin, Benson, and Alepho are examples of people who were affected by the fighting in Sudan. These are characters in the novel They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky, which tells of the trials of the Sudanese people. Benson and Benjamin had to flee from their homeland and go to Ethiopia, while Alepho stayed in his own village and faced hardships there. Benson and Benjamin had to walk for three months through the desert, and although for part of the time they were protected by the SPLA, this rebel army was still not very kind to the boys. At one time in the story, Benson was kicked off the water truck (which he was riding with the other young boys) because he had fallen asleep by the engine to stay warm. Even the forces that were supposed to be kind to the people were occasionally hostile. This book also gives an example of a young girl who had been raped by a Janjaweed soldier and her body had been broken by it. The war affects so many people in such a variety of different ways, but Alepho acknowledges, "From wat [he] could see, men or women, children or adults, young or aged, rich or poor, war was making everyone equal." (123 Alephonsian Deng). The civil war in Sudan is being fought without any rules of morals. There is no limit to the killing. Much of the conflict is a battle for control of resources in the South, although there is no one in Sudan who seems capable of utilizing these natural resources (oil is an example of a resource that is abundant in Sudan). Sudan must develop a more diverse economic base in order to survive and help this conflict because people are relying on the agricultural resources but these are very fragile due to drought and famine. Most of the countries surrounding Sudan have their own political problems and therefore are not in the position to intervene and assist the country. Due to the size of Sudan, this country has become a base for guerrillas and terrorists. Osama bin Laden had set up his operations in Sudan before he was kicked out and relocated in Afghanistan. There has been increased international concern for the people in the western Darfur region, but I think other countries should be concerned for Sudan as a whole because they have had fighting in their country for over twenty years and the root of this problem is still the same. Someone or something needs to take action so this civil war does not continue, get worse, or evolve into genocide.

(People dying in Darfur).

Sources:

They Poured fire on Us from the Sky

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-05-01-darfur_x.htm

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/sudan-political-groups.htm

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/genocide_in_sudan/

www.people.hbs.edu/talsalaam/Political%20Documents/Sudan-CivilWarGenocide.doc -

http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/sudan_genocide_genocide_in_sudan_1.jpg

Current Conflict: Darfur

In February 2003, African tribes in Darfur rebelled against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum and over 200,000 have died since that time. Many other tribes have also rebelled due to neglect or suppression. The Janjaweed, the pro-government Arab militia have tried to crush these rebellions and in doing so, has killed many people atrocious ways. (The Sudanese government denies supporting the Janjaweed, but they armed this group and do support it). They have also committed rape, theft, and other crimes. Although most of the bad name goes to the Janjaweed, as it rightfully should, both the militia and the rebels have done terrible things without concern for human rights. They have done these things as terrorist acts in order to try and inflict physical and psychological damage on the opposing forces. Millions have been

killed and in the past few decades, there is an estimated four million refugees who have tried to flee their homes to get away from the danger of the conflict. An estimated 2 million of these people have died in their efforts.

(Above: Map of location of Darfur in Sudan)


Sources:
http://www.savedarfur.org/content?splash=yes
http://www.darfurinformation.com/
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/6/6e/Darfur_map.png

SPLA divided into 3

In August 1991, there was still fighting going on between the north and the south but the SPLA was fighting from within. The group was not agreeing on various issues and therefore split into three different factions of the rebel army. These factions were the Nasir led by Colonel Garang, the second rebel faction was led by William Nyuon Bany, and the third was formed by Kerubino Kwanyin Bol. The coalition of these groups was called SPLA United, but the groups fought occasionally and this lost them much of their credibility in the West.Although there are many different groups controlling (or fighting for control) in many different areas of Sudan, there are many places without any form of government. Sudan is simply too large for Khartoum's government or the rebel forces to control it all. (The U.S. not only has Washington, D.C., it has state governments that help control the country.)

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan_People's_Liberation_Army
http://www.splmtoday.com/

SPLA vs. Khartoum

The SPLA protects and controls many areas of Sudan, including Equatoria, Bahr al Ghazal, the Upper Nile provinces, Darfur, Kordofan, and the Blue Nile provinces. The government, on the other hand, controls a large amount of the major south towns and cities including Juba, Wau, and Malakal. The cease-fire that the peace plan had put into place was violated in October 1989 and the fighting has raged in Sudan ever since. In February 2003, African tribes in Darfur rebelled against the Arab-dominated government in Khartoum and over 200,000 have died since that time. Many other tribes have also rebelled due to neglect or suppression. The SPLA often lead rebellions or aid tribes that are involved in one. The Janjaweed, the pro-government Arab militia have tried to crush these rebellions and in doing so, has killed many people atrocious ways. (The Sudanese government denies supporting the Janjaweed, but they armed this group and do support it). They have also committed rape, theft, and other crimes. Although most of the bad name goes to the Janjaweed, as it rightfully should, but both the militia and the rebels (including the SPLA) have done terrible things without concern for human rights. They have done these things as terrorist acts in order to try and inflict physical and psychological damage on the opposing forces. Millions have been killed and in the past few decades, there is an estimated four million refugees who have tried to flee their homes to get away from the danger of the conflict. An estimated 2 million of these people have died in their efforts.

(Picture of SPLA soldiers)

Sources:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/spla.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan_People
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/69/Sudan-people-liberation-army-spla-2.jpg

SPLA

After the 1985 coup, President Nimeiry was overthrown by the new government and these new leaders made large changes in order to try and reconcile the north and the south. However, the Shari’a laws instituted by Nimeiry, often known as the September Laws were held in place. In May 1986, the new Sadiq al-Mahdi government tried to make peace with the SPLA, which was led by Col John Garang de Mabior. Garang formed the SPLA in 1983 when he was sent to Bor to end a rebellion of 500 southern troops who were resisting to be moved north. Instead of ending the rebellion, he encouraged other groups to rebel and set himself at the head of the rebellion against Khartoum. In 1986, the SPLA and many other Sudanese political parties had a meeting in Ethiopia and agreed that their goal was to abolish Islamic law and to assemble a constitutional conference. This declaration was called “Koka Dam.” In 1988, the SPLA and the Democratic Unionist Party agreed on a peace plan containing these elements: abolition of military pacts with Egypt and Libya, stop the enforcement of Islamic law, an end to the state of emergency, and a cease-fire. After this peace plan, they planned on assembling the constitutional conference. In February 1989, the Sadiq al-Mahdi government approved the plan and had several meetings with the SPLA. Also, the conference was scheduled to convene in September 1989 but the military government, which took control on June 30, 1989 did not want to negotiate with the SPLA without preconditions. This angered the DUP/SPLA and very little was resolved in the negotiations that took place.

















Sources:
http://www.thewe.cc/thewei/&_/images8/chad/spla.jpe
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/spla.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sudanese_Civil_War

SSLM

Joseph Lagu was the leader of a group of southern forces opposed to the people who held power in Khartoum. In 1971, he announced the creation of the Southern Sudan Liberation Movement (SSLM) and the large majority of exiled southern politicians supported him. Anya Nya leaders also supported Lagu. (Anya Nya was a Southern Sudanese separatist rebel army created during the First Sudanese Civil War. The name means "snake venom" in the Madi language).

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anyanya
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/sudan-civil-war1.htm