Conflict in South Sudan.
South Sudan which is officially known as the ‘Republic of South Sudan’ is a landlocked country in eastern Africa with plains in the north and centre and highlands in the south, along the border with Uganda and Kenya. The White Nile, which flows north through the country is its major geographic feature and it supports agriculture as well as large wild animal populations. South Sudan is bordered by Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda. The recent conflict in South Sudan after its independence has sparked up a lot of interest recently in the media. South Sudan came into being because of the struggle of its people and the commitment of international community to the peace agreement with Sudan. Already, the world’s newest country seems to be a failed state before it was born on July 9, 2011, despite its enormous natural resources and the determination of its people. This research therefore seeks to bring to the fore: the formation of South Sudan (history), reasons for its current conflict, as well as UN and AU interventions in the region.
History
As indicated above, it was actually part of Sudan until its independence. The Egyptians conquered it (Sudan) in 1874 and established the province of Equatoria. In 1885 however, the Islamic Mahdist revolutionaries entered the territory. Fortunately, the British troops who happened to be there helped defeat the invaders and thus took over Sudan in 1898. Britain and Egypt ruled the country in conjunction as ‘Anglo-Egyptian Sudan’. In the early 20th century, some Christian missionaries converted a large segment of the population and introduced English to the region. The result was a clearly defined line between the Arab north, the black African animists and Christians in the south. Egypt and Britain ruled Sudan until 1953, when Anglo-Egyptian granted Sudan self-government. Although series of war broke out in the country due to its separation, it was intensified in 1983 when President Gaafar Mohamed Nimeiri abrogated the treaty and declared all of Sudan a Muslim state, ruled by shariah (Islamic law). In response, the southern rebels formed the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and fought the government for more than two decades. The government troops did not only unleash vicious massacres against civilians and the entire villages but also it provoked internecine violence between tribes and ethnic groups. A cease-fire was declared between the Sudanese government and the SPLA in July 2002. During peace talks, the government agreed to a power-sharing government for six years, to be followed by a referendum on self-determination for the south whiles there were fighting on both sides during the peace negotiations.
On Jan. 9, 2005, after three years of negotiations, a peace deal was reached between the southern rebels, led by John Garang of the SPLA, and the Khartoum government, ending Africa's longest-running civil war. Under the deal, roughly half of Sudan's oil wealth was given to the south, as well as nearly complete autonomy and the right to secede after six years. Nevertheless, two weeks after Garang was sworn in as first vice president as part of the power-sharing agreement, he was killed in a helicopter crash during bad weather. Rioting erupted in Khartoum, killing nearly 100 people. Garang's deputy, Salva Kiir, was quickly sworn in as the new vice president, and both north and south vowed that the peace agreement would hold.
In July 2009, an international tribunal at The Hague redefined the border of Sudan's oil-rich Abyei region, giving the North rights to the lucrative Heglig oil field, and the South retained rights to the larger oil field in Abyei.
In April 2010 elections, Salva Kiir, head of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement, was re-elected president of the semi-autonomous South, taking 93% of the vote. He opted not to run for national president, choosing instead to remain the leader of southern Sudan leaving no doubt that he supported independence.
In a historic seven-day secessionist referendum that began in southern Sudan on January 9, 2011, 98.8% of voters chose independence from the north. Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir accepted the results and said he would not seek re-election when his term expires in 2015.
The Bush administration negotiated the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which in addition to setting the date of the referendum also called for people in the contested region of Abyei to participate in the vote. That vote, however, has been delayed because a decision on what constitutes the residents of Abyei has not been reached. Tribal leaders in the region have made it clear that their loyalty lies with the south, but there has not been a date set for a vote in Abyei. Any declaration of affiliation with the south by Abyei could trigger an attack from the north. Abyei sits between northern and southern Sudan and has historically served as a bridge between the two. When voting began in southern Sudan, at least 23 people died in Abyei, confirming the speculation that the region continues to be a matter of contention. In May 2011, armed forces from Sudan seized control of Abyei, which the south Sudanese government called an act of war. More than 20,000 people fled and the United Nations sent an envoy to intervene.
In July 2011, after years of fighting, the Republic of South Sudan declared its independence and became Africa's 54th state. Thousands celebrated in the streets of South Sudan's capital, Juba when Mr Kiir, president of South Sudan, finally signed the interim constitution.
Reasons for Current Conflict in the Sudan
The fortunes of these two countries remain deeply intertwined. Oil from the south runs through pipelines to refineries in the north and both sides badly need the revenue. The Sudanese capital, Khartoum, was the scene of significant protests in September, 2013 after the government, in an effort to compensate for the loss of oil revenue, stopped subsidizing gasoline, which nearly doubled in price. The recent fighting in South Sudan has again disrupted oil production there, with foreign workers fleeing the violent clashes in the oil-producing states of Unity and Upper Nile, shutting down facilities as they departed. Others have begun fleeing the country. According to the United Nations, 13,000 refugees have entered Kenya, more than 5,000 have fled to Ethiopia and nearly 3,000 have crossed the border into Sudan. Sudanese face successions of internal and external challenges to peace. Moreover, the two nations’ paths are inherently entangled given their collective history, current political and economic situations, and mutual dependence. In May 2011, violence erupted in the hotly disputed border area of Abyei, killing an unknown number of civilians and creating a humanitarian crisis through the displacement of an estimated 100,000 people. While Juba and Khartoum agreed to temporary security arrangements for Abyei, including the withdrawal of all forces, the deployment of Ethiopian peacekeepers, and the creation of a demilitarized zone under the auspices of a United Nations-approved security force, the long-term feasibility of these arrangements and status of Abyei are still unclear. In January 2012, South Sudan voluntarily shut down its oil production amid accusations that Sudan was stealing its oil. With tensions mounting in April 2012, violence between the north and south again flared along the border, this time over the Heglig oil installation. Through considerable international pressure, including resolutions by the African Union and United Nations, the international community helped to curb the confrontation and compel the reopening of negotiations.
What began as a power struggle between Dr Machar and President Salva Kiir has taken on overtones of a tribal conflict. The Dinka, to which Mr Kiir belongs, is pitted against the Nuer, from which Mr Machar hails.
The Dinka people are an ethnic group inhabiting the Bahr el Ghazal region of the Nile basin, Jonglei and parts of southern Kordufan and Upper Nile regions. They number around 4.5 million people according to the 2008 Sudan census, constituting about 18% of the population of the entire country, the largest ethnic tribe in South Sudan. Dinka are one of the branches of the River Lake who speak Nilotic languages, including the Nuer and Luo. They are believed to be the tallest people in Africa along with the Tutsi of Rwanda and have no centralised political authority, instead comprising many independent but interlinked clans. Some of those traditionally providing ritual chiefs, known as the "masters of the fishing spear" or beny bith, who provide leadership for the entire people and appear to be at least in part hereditary.
The Nuer people are a Nilotic ethnic group primarily inhabiting the Nile Valley. They are concentrated in South Sudan, with some representatives also found in south-western Ethiopia. They speak the Nuer language, which belongs to the Nilo-Saharan family. The natures of relations among the various southern Sudanese tribes were greatly affected in the 19th century by the intrusion of Ottomans, Arabs, and eventually the British. Some ethnic groups made their accommodation with the imperial attackers and others did not and in effect pitting one southern ethnic group against another in the context of foreign rule. The Dinka treated the resisting Nuer as hostile, and enmity developed between the two groups as a result of their differing relationships to the British. In 2006, the Nuer was the tribe that resisted disarmament most strongly. Members of the Nuer White Army, a group of armed youths often autonomous of tribal elders' authority, refused to lay down their weapons, which led Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers to confiscate Nuer cattle, destroying their economy.
These two groups (Dinka and Nuer) have a history of economic and political rivalry, and of bloody confrontation. In 1991, after a power struggle among the southern rebels, Mr Machar broke away from John Garang and Mr Kiir, the leader and his deputy, respectively, of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (S.P.L.A.) and Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (S.P.L.M.), and allied his Nuer militia with the North. In March, Dr Machar criticized Mr Kiir’s authoritarian leadership; he also announced that he would challenge Mr Kiir for the S.P.L.M.’s chairmanship and run for president in 2015. Mr Kiir fired Mr Machar as vice president in July, accelerating the collapse of the fragile government’s tribal balance of power. Mr Kiir’s critics in the South argue that he has driven out the reformers in his party and is surrounding himself instead with loyalists from his home area and former aides of President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan. Mr Kiir has made some compromises with Khartoum over sharing oil revenues and the status of the contested border region of Abyei. He might argue this was to stabilize South Sudan’s relationship with Sudan, but others say he has granted too much. Since fighting broke out in Juba on 15th December, nearly 500,000 people have now fled their homes. Mass killings have been reported in the media. 75,000 people have sought refuge at various UN compounds across the country, where they are camped in makeshift and congested conditions, putting them at serious risk of disease outbreaks. South Sudan is increasingly reliant on emergency aid, with the number of people in need of food aid doubling from 2011 to 2012. The country needs urgent support to respond to the humanitarian crisis now and be able to provide enough food, water and essential services to its people over the coming years. Insecurity and targeted attacks on aid workers like the UN and AU continue to make it extremely difficult to deliver aid to all who need it. Better protection of civilians, a cessation of hostilities and a committed peace process are immediately needed. It is still not clear exactly what triggered this crisis. The government insists it was an attempted coup whiles others suspect a minor clash between rival security forces at a time of tense political negotiations, may have provoked President Kiir to pounce on his rivals. This is tantamount to undermine South Sudan's attempts to build a strong comprehensive democracy.
UN and AU intervention in South Sudan.
In operation within South Sudan is the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) which was established on 8 July, 2011 by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1996 and comprises 5,884 civilian, 5,508 military and 376 police personnel well far below the capacity required for the enormity of the task at hand, as can clearly be seen from the images of the humanitarian crisis in the offing. The Security Council for an initial period of one year, mandated UNMISS to consolidate peace and security, and to help establish the conditions for development with a view to strengthening the capacity of the Government of the Republic of South Sudan to govern effectively, democratically and to establish good relations with neighbours, ensuring peace and security to its citizens.
The UNMISS has started taking actions in order to resolve the instability in the region by taking the following steps; i. Humanitarian Efforts. Due to the ongoing fighting and instability that has made humanitarian access a serious challenge throughout much of South Sudan, and in spite of security risks and the logistical difficulty of reaching many vulnerable populations, UN humanitarian agencies and their partners have launched a multi-sector aid response that has reached nearly 158,000 displaced South Sudanese so far. The World Food Program (WFP), for example, is currently providing much-needed food assistance to tens of thousands of displaced South Sudanese civilians both on and off UN bases, and is working to screen children who are vulnerable to severe malnutrition. For its part, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is providing clean water to the displaced and constructing latrines at UNMISS bases sheltering them in order to prevent the spread of disease. UNICEF has also provided essential medical supplies to support emergency health programs in areas of the country affected by fighting, and is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) to vaccinate children at displacement camps against measles and polio. Meanwhile, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has been working to provide shelter and other critical relief items to South Sudanese civilians who have been forced to flee their homes, including blankets, plastic sheeting, kitchen equipment, mosquito nets, and soap. ii. Promotion of stability in South Sudan. The U.S. has deployed five military advisors to support UNMISS in strategic planning to prevent further violence in the region. UNMISS stationed UN police in 10 state capitals and 23 counties and established 15 permanent company-operating bases in all states but one. With UNMISS and U.S. support, South Sudan has seen the number of civilian casualties decrease since independence. UNMISS is also developing South Sudan’s security institutions and policies, preparing them to eventually function independently. iii. Training the Police Force. UNMISS is providing training and technical support for South Sudanese law enforcement, having instructed nearly 3,500 police officers and 35 prison managers. To enhance transparency and accountability, the mission developed a screening and registration process for officers, and to date has registered over 49,000 officers in an electronic database. iv. Supporting the disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration program (DDR). Through DDR, ex-combatants voluntarily surrender their weapons and receive rehabilitation, counselling, and skills-training. With UNMISS support, these efforts have resulted in the collection of 10,400 weapons and the demobilization of 12,525 combatants. Specifically, UNMISS monitors DDR to ensure that all weapons are collected voluntarily. UNMISS also observes the progress of SPLA’s Action Plan to remove all child soldiers from its ranks.
Also the African Union Peace and Security Council decided on 24 October 2012 to give a six-week delay to Khartoum and Juba to strike a deal on Abyei where there is a dispute in the oil producing region, on the basis of a proposal made by an African panel mediating between the two countries. The Council also decided to hold the referendum in October 2013 and to refer its decision seeking the support of UN Security Council if the two parties fail to reach a deal during the 6 weeks.
The African Union’s Peace and Security Council met at the Heads of State level, on the South Sudanese crisis and decided to establish a Commission under the AU to investigate the human rights violations and other abuses committed, and make recommendations on ways and means to ensure accountability, reconciliation and healing among all South Sudanese communities.
Inferring from the above causes of the conflict in South Sudan, there seems to be mistrust among the leaders, who are key players (President Salva Kiir a Dinka who is accusing Dr Riek Machar his former vice a Nuer, now rebel leader of plotting a coup and the latter also accusing the former of being dictatorial) to this political and tribal conflict. In light of this, the peaceful talks already going on in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, should be followed with actions by Kiir, to release the 11 political leaders from the camp of Machar who states that, he is ready to sit to resolve the conflict after his request has been granted. Also, Mr Kiir despite his principles to bring justice to his suspected traitors, should emulate the African hero Nelson Mandela, who just passed away and as well, a strong constitution for democracy should be established to ensure that there is an agreement between these two major tribes.