---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: John Ashworth <[email protected]> Date: Tue, Sep 13, 2011 at 12:55 AM Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] Fw: Blue Nile and South Kordofan wars continue To: Group <[email protected]>
Articles 1 and 2 (below) appear to be rather contradictory. If indeed "Life Returns to Normal Track in Sudan's Blue Nile" then one wonders why there is a need for the Sudan parliament to okay Blue Nile military action. It is likely that fighting between military forces has ceased in Damziin, as that has never been part of SPLA-N's territory, but it is highly unlikely that life has returned to normal for the people of Damziin, especially those perceived to be SPLM-N supporters, or southerners. See articles 7 and 8, below. Fighting continues elsewhere in the state. "Parliament approves the military option to fight the rebellion against Blue Nile state, and orders the authorities concerned to proceed in applying this decision". In fact the legitimate elected authority in the state is Governor Malik Agar, but he has been summarily dismissed. It is disturbing to see that once again Khartoum believes it can solve a problem by military means, "without taking negotiations into account". Fighting continues in South Kordofan, despite Khartoum's self-declared cease-fire (articles 4 and 5, below). John 1. Sudan parliament okays Blue Nile military action (AFP) – 12/09/11 KHARTOUM — Sudan on Monday approved military action over the embattled state of Blue Nile bordering South Sudan just days after the rivals agreed to withdraw their troops from another flashpoint border region. Parliament approved "the military option" in Blue Nile, where rebels have close historic links with newly independent South Sudan, the head of a committee dealing with emergency matters said. "Parliament approves the military option to fight the rebellion against Blue Nile state, and orders the authorities concerned to proceed in applying this decision without taking negotiations into account," Ismail al-Haj Mussa said. "We reject all foreign interference or pressure, no matter where it comes from," Haj Mussa told a special session of parliament in Khartoum. "We have decided to proceed to defend the sovereignty of Sudan." The move comes after the governments of the rival Sudans struck a new agreement on Thursday to withdraw their forces from the border region of Abyei where United Nations troops have been deployed. The previous day, Sudan's military said it inflicted heavy losses on rebels in Blue Nile state after US Special Envoy to Sudan Princeton Lyman warned the conflict was a barrier to improved relations between Khartoum and Washington. Khartoum has been seeking improved ties with the United States as a reward for allowing the south to secede on July 9. "Certainly we can't go forward... if we have a major conflict going on, and we have humanitarian and human rights issues that haven't been addressed," Lyman said. On Wednesday, the official SUNA news agency quoted Sudan military spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad as saying the army "clashed with remnants of Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) on Wednesday afternoon near Bau town in Blue Nile state, and inflicted heavy losses on them." A number of soldiers were also killed and wounded in the clashes, he said. Deadly clashes erupted on September 2 in Blue Nile between the Sudanese army and former rebel forces of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), now the party of power in the south. The United Nations said on Wednesday that Sudan had denied international aid agencies access to Blue Nile, estimating that at least 50,000 people had so far been displaced by the fighting. Defence Minister Abdelrahim Mohammed Hussein told Monday's session of parliament the military had killed more than 100 former rebels and captured upwards of 40 since the fighting in Blue Nile began. "Our forces have killed more than 100 SPLM members and captured 44, among them seven officers, and wounded another 244," he said. The Blue Nile flare-up represents the third major conflict to unfold since May in southern districts just across its new international border with South Sudan. As in nearby South Kordofan, where a similar conflict broke out three months ago, Blue Nile's population is heavily divided between supporters of the government and of the SPLM-North. Shortly after the fighting started, the government sacked Blue Nile's elected governor Malik Agar, replacing him with an interim military ruler. Khartoum government forces occupied Abyei in May and more than 110,000 people fled their homes to South Sudan, which also claims the border region. The two governments reached the latest accord on Abyei during talks in Addis Ababa, Edmond Mulet, UN assistant secretary general for peacekeeping, told reporters on Thursday after a UN Security Council meeting. The accord was brokered by an African Union mediation panel led by South Africa's former president Thabo Mbeki, Mulet said. "They have agreed that between September 11 and 30 there is going to be a redeployment or withdrawal of the troops" from Abyei by both sides, he said. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iyEjsEqSjgkH1FfHZvX2i3XQnOfw?docId=CNG.ce4fea73ac6d8ab718e8b25bba5a6f8c.8a1 END1 2. Life Returns to Normal Track in Sudan's Blue Nile 2011-09-10 20:15:26 Xinhua Life has returned to its normal track in Damazin, capital of Blue Nile State in southeastern Sudan, following armed clashes between the Sudanese army and fighters belonging to the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA)-northern sector. "The situations in Damazin are heading towards calmness and stability and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are maintaining the initiative," Maj. Gen. Yahya Mohmaed Khair, designated governor of Blue Nile State, told reporters. He explained that military operations were still ongoing at some areas of the state, where pockets of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) were suspected to be. He reiterated the SAF's willingness to end the fighting, saying that "we use force at the narrowest possible range. We at the armed forces want the military operations to end as soon as possible to achieve security and stability." He further denied that great numbers of people were killed during the recent clashes in the state, explaining that the victims were about 21. "12 of the SAF members and six policemen have martyred in addition to three citizens who have fallen in cross-fire," Khair said. The governor reiterated his government's support for the Humanitarian Aid Commission to play its role in securing the needs of the people who had been affected by the recent violence in the state, and said the government encouraged the voluntary return of the displaced after the security situations in the state turn calm. In the meantime, military commanders belonging to the SPLM- northern sector have expressed their rejection to war and urged the SPLA fighters to opt for peace and stability. "We are against the war and in support of peace. We are ready to build the peace in Sudan. We urge all the military men who belong to the SPLM to listen to the sound of reason and wisdom so that we can work together to build peace in Blue Nile State and in Sudan generally," Col. Hussain Mahmoud, an SPLA commander in Blue Nile, told reporters. Meanwhile, the displaced persons continued their voluntary return to their villages in Blue Nile, particularly in Damazin and Al-Rusairies cities, after the relative calmness in the region. The markets and enterprises have resumed their activities, and internal transportation flew normally, while the local government embarked on implementing special measures to secure the humanitarian services for the returning families. Kauther Yousif Al-Atta, a Sudanese citizen from Blue Nile, told Xinhua that "We urge our brothers and sisters to return to their areas. The security is prevailing." The Blue Nile State has recently witnessed violent clashes, which pushed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to declare the state of emergency and sack the state's governor Malik Aqar. Blue Nile State occupies a strategic location as it borders South Sudan and Ethiopia. The state is also neighboring Sudan's South Kordofan State where similar clashes are taking place between the government troops and the SPLA. The SPLA's northern faction, which fought alongside the SPLA in the civil war between north and south Sudan, has around 20,000 fighters in Blue Nile State. http://english.cri.cn/6966/2011/09/10/2743s657725.htm END2 3. Sudan army speak about new victories in Blue Nile September 10, 2011 (KHARTOUM) — A Sudanese official estimated the number of Blue Nile refugees at five thousand while the army said it had broken the siege imposed by rebels on Giessan town near the Ethiopian border. On 9 September, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported that the fight, which started one week ago, between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and rebel group the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) continues to drive civilians out of their homes and into exile in Ethiopia. Last Thursday the SPLM-N leader Malik Agar told reporters from Kurmuk, which is located south of Geissan and also near the border of the Republic of South Sudan, that his group controls 80% of the Blue Nile, except al-Damazin and al-Roseris located in the northern part of the state. The Blue Nile military governor Yahia Mohamed Kheir said SAF special forces successfully broke the siege of Geissan and evacuated the wounded soldiers from the town on Friday afternoon. He further dismissed Agar’s statements saying it it is Sudan’s army who control 80% of Blue Nile. The SAF governor further pledged that the Sudanese army will recover control of the while state very soon. Khartoum accuses the newly independent state of South Sudan and the ruling SPLM of supporting their former comrades in North Sudan particularly in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile. The Sudanese minister of information stated that they seized documents proving that the salaries of 20,000 SPLA fighters in the Blue Nile are being paid by the Juba government. She added that the South Sudan government cannot deny this fact. Sana Hamad al-Awad stressed that elected governor "Agar has lost his loyalty to the country and its constitution." Speaking about the humanitarian situation the minister said the official number of people who fled the clashes to the neighbuoring Ethiopia is estimated between 3,500 to 5,000 persons. She added that the government is discussing with Addis Ababa ways to repatriate them back to Blue Nile state. The minister further urged the political forces to support the army stressing that the government seeks a negotiated solution and respects their initiative to stop the war. The UNHCR estimated on 9 September that some 20,000 Sudanese refugees had crossed into Ethiopia over the past week. It also said the number internally displaced people has reached 35,000 families according to the Sudanese Red Crescent Society. (ST) END3 4. Sudan Army Kills More Than 50 Civilians in Nuba Mountains, Opposition Says By Salma El Wardany - Sep 12, 2011 12:32 AM GMT+0300 Bloomberg More than 50 civilians were killed by the Sudanese army in the Nuba Mountains in the state of Southern Kordofan, said a spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, an opposition group. Spokesman Qamar Delman, speaking by telephone from the regional capital of Juba, said members of Sudan’s armed forces bombed Abu Gabeiha, a civilian area. The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement is allied with the government of South Sudan, which gained independence July 9. Sudanese army spokesman Al-Sawarmi Khaled didn’t answer calls to his mobile phone seeking comment. Southern Kordofan is Sudan’s main oil-producing state, and Sudan’s government has been trying to disarm fighters there and in Blue Nile state who fought alongside South Sudan’s forces during the two-decade civil war. After South Sudan gained independence, clashes erupted on June 5 in Southern Kordofan, forcing more than 150,000 people to flee their homes, according to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Southern Kordofan accounts for 115,000 barrels of oil a day, according to the energy ministry. South Sudan assumed control of 75 percent of the country’s former daily crude output of 490,000 barrels a day. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-11/sudan-army-kills-more-than-50-civilians-in-nuba-mountains-opposition-says.html END4 5. U.N. wants end to South Kordofan violence UPI Published: Sept. 8, 2011 at 12:33 PM UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 8 (UPI) -- The Sudanese government is called on to immediately end its air assault on the border state of South Kordofan, U.N. officials said. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir recently called for a cease-fire in South Kordofan and denied reports of mass graves and ethnic violence in the area. Khartoum blames rebel forces from South Sudan for much of the violence in the border regions. Francis Deng, the U.N. special envoy for the prevention of genocide, and Edward Luck, a U.N. special adviser on the responsibility to protect, in a message to Khartoum, called for an immediate end to the assault on South Kordofan. "We remind the government of Sudan of its responsibility to protect its populations, irrespective of their ethnic, religious or political affiliation, from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity," they said in a statement. Conflict has spread to Blue Nile state along the border between Sudan and South Sudan. Sudan, through its official news agency, has repeatedly brushed off allegations regarding the severity of the violence. Both experts, nonetheless, called on Khartoum to get serious about the violence and conduct an investigation into alleged crimes committed there. "If the government is unable to do so, it should allow a prompt international investigation into the ongoing attacks against the civilian population in South Kordofan," they said. Bashir is accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Khartoum isn't party to the Rome Statute that created the International Criminal Court, however. http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2011/09/08/UN-wants-end-to-South-Kordofan-violence/UPI-44871315499616/ END5 6. Sudan’s anti-war demo flops September 9, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – Sudanese opposition parties have failed to hold their planned protest on Friday against the war in the country’s flashpoints of South Kordofan and Blue Nile after the authorities refused to allow the action. The National Consensus Forces (NCF), an umbrella of mainstream opposition parties in Sudan, last week called for the anti-war demonstration and asked supporters to march in protest following Friday’s prayer to the presidential palace in Khartoum and hand a memorandum dubbed “the declaration of Sudan.” However, the opposition was forced to call off the protest after police authorities refused to give it permission on the pretext that the security situation in the country does not allow for such action. Some opposition parties, Sudan Tribune has learned, intend to renew calls for the protest but police authorities vowed to crack down on any “unlawful gathering.” Sudan’s opposition parties accuse the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of a long list of failures, including the breakup of the country and its economic malaises. The country has so far escaped the “Arab spring” which saw repressive regimes in neighboring Egypt, Libya and Tunisia tumble down under the weight of popular revolts. Sudan’s presidential adviser and NCP’s vice-president, Nafe Ali Nafe, on Thursday called on the Sudanese citizens not to join the opposition on Friday. “Those who go to Friday prayer will not take to the streets with Juba’s Alliance,” he told reporters in Khartoum, in reference to the fact that the NCF was initiated in the capital of what is now the Republic of South Sudan which seceded from Sudan in July this year. The hard-line NCP figure said that the entire Sudanese nation backs the country’s army in its war against the rebellion of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North’s [SPLM] forces in Blue Nile and South Kordofan. War erupted between Sudan’s army (SAF) and SPLM-N forces since early July in South Kordofan and three months later in the Blue Nile, two states bordering South Sudan and with a history of armed struggle alongside the former rebels-turned-ruler SPLM in Juba against the government in Khartoum. Over 160,000 people were forced to flee their homes in the South Kordofan but the government refuses to allow international aid groups to provide humanitarian assistance or to open camps. In the Blue Nile no estimations have yet been done. According to Nafi, what is happening in the two states was a rebellion against the state and that the Sudanese armed forces were doing their job, adding that there is no option but to “crush” the rebellion and end the existence of any army other than SAF. (ST) END6 7. Al-Turabi’s party calls for overthrowing Sudan’s government September 11, 2011 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese opposition Popular Congress Party (PCP) led by the veteran Islamist Hassan Al-Turabi has stepped up anti-government rhetoric, accusing Khartoum of committing “ethnic cleansing” in Blue Nile and calling for its ousting. Addressing a gathering of pro-opposition supporters on Sunday, the PCP’s political secretary Kamala Omer accused the government of carrying out “ethnic cleansing” in the Blue Nile state. The PCP official further accused the government of “violating the constitution, betrayal and working to fragment the country.” Blue Nile state, which borders the Republic of South Sudan, last week descended into clashes between Sudan’s army and forces of the armed opposition Sudan People’s Liberation Movement North (SPLM-N) led by the state’s governor Malik Aggar. Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting the SPLM-N rebels in Blue Nile and South Kordofan state, which has been racked by similar fighting since June. Following the outbreak of Blue Nile’s unrest, Sudanese president Al-Bashir declared a state of emergency and sacked Aggar, appointing a military ruler in his place. Al-Turabi’s party, which is a splinter faction of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP), refuses to engage in dialogue and continues to call for regime change. Other opposition groups, mainly the National Umma Party of former prime minister Al-Sadiq al-Mahdi and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of Mohamed Osman Al-Mirghani, opted for dialogue with the NCP, giving rise to speculation that the two parties will feature in the new NCP government. Meanwhile, the NCP’s official spokesman and media secretary Ibrahim Gandur on Sunday said that the committee tasked to propose a new government’s makeup has finished its work and submitted its report to the NCP’s chairman and the country’s president Al-Bashir. Gandur, speaking to Sudan’s official news agency SUNA, said that the next government would include all the parties which agree with his party on the proposed program. The NCP official declined to divulge which parties would be included but he insisted that the next government would be geared towards implementing programs rather than accommodating political rivalries. “We are not talking about a party-based government we are talking about a government based on a program,” he added. According to Sudan Tribune’s sources, the anticipated government will be composed of only 15 ministers in contrast with the current 32 ministers. (ST) END7 8. Al Jazeera video on mass graves Sent to me by a colleague: "I thought you'd want to check out this Al Jazeera video, which shows Sudanese Red Crescent Society workers in Blue Nile State, wearing red vests or white aprons, masks, and rubber gloves, while tying up dead bodies wrapped in white tarps and loading them onto white, SRCS trucks. This adds even more visual confirmation of how Satellite Sentinel Project had first reported the SRCS body pick-up and disposal operations in and around Kadugli, including the use of white body bags and/or tarps. URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2EK1jSAnaU According to the interviews in this Al Jazeera video, which Satellite Sentinel Project found while scouring the Web for open-source intel in Arabic: ** 26 dead bodies were retrieved ** Other bodies weren't retrieved because there are military operations in that area ** Some areas are inaccessible because of unexploded ordnance ** You can see there are refugees starting to return after calm has been restored in Damazin ** Some people have returned to work, and some shops are open in Damazin" END8 9. SPLM-N denies getting support from South Sudan and members arrested By Ngor Arol Garang September 9, 2011 (JUBA) - The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement - North (SPLM-N) secretary general Yasir Arman, categorically denied accusations by the Sudanese government that they are receiving support from the Government of South Sudan (GoSS). The SPLM-N is an offshoot of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), which rules the newly independent state of South Sudan. The movement is currently fighting Khartoum’s forces in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states. The South Kordofan conflict began in early June while the one in Blue Nile broke out last week. The two sides traded blame on who fires the first shots. Tensions have mounted in the two states and other territories along Sudan’s poorly-defined border with South Sudan since the south declared independence in July. The territories are all still home to tens of thousands of people from ethnic groups that sided with the south during decades of civil war that led up to independence. “The NCP [National Congress Party] propaganda that the Government of the Republic of South Sudan is behind what is going on in the two areas does not hold water. The NCP themselves were fighting in the two areas and have had problems in these areas for the last 22 years of their rule. In contrast, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan is just two months old. The NCP is clearly looking for a scapegoat to hang their defeats”, reads the statement signed by Arman. Arman explained that Khartoum fought the people of Eastern Sudan, Darfur and the South Sudan long before the Republic of South Sudan was born and accused Sudan’s ruling party of creating the ongoing conflicts in the two states. “The current conflict is a creation of the NCP in that they sowed the seed of the problem when they voluntarily destroyed the CPA; attempted to disarm the SPLA/N and rejected the Addis Ababa Framework Agreement. The SPLM/N and other resistance movements and democratic forces are determined to put an end the illusive NCP program of the second Islamic Republic, a Taliban Republic that is based on heavy human cost and loss, denial of diversity, ethnic cleansing, genocide and terrorism”, he adds. He described the government’s plan to crush the SPLM-N as “wishful thinking" and an "impossible mission”. He claimed to have defeated government forces on Wednesday destroying a convoy on the outskirts of Damazin and capturing Khor Dahab, which the SAF forces used as a base for assembling and mobilizing forces to attack Gissan town which is one of the SPLM-N strongholds. Arman said SAF launched attacks from the Eastern Part of Blue Nile in the two areas of Gissan-Menza, but they were repelled, resulting in the fall of Khor Dahab garrison. He slammed the NCP for carrying out “arbitrary arrests” of it members across the country and the “closure of its offices and confiscation of vehicles and properties“, including West and South Darfur and offices and ones in Kassala. The SPLM-N SG said the NCP’s security agencies have made 38 SPLM-N related arrests, including the following: Mohammed Mahmoud Al Awad, the SPLM-N political secretary for the Northern state in the city of Dongolla Hashim Musa, the finance secretary Shams Eldin from the finance secretariat Ibrahim Gasim, Mirghani Tiya and Maker Deng Kur, former SPLM-N members from South Sudan Ustaz Arbab Mohamed Ibrahim, the SPLM-N candidate for the position of governor of Western Darfur Saad Sandell, former State Legislative Assembly member Abu Baker Yousif Zakaria, secretary of the SPLM-N for administration and organization Daoud Arbab, secretary of finance Samer Yousif, secretary of women affairs Abu baker Haroun, chairperson of Eldain district, whose whereabouts remain unknown Khalid Abdel Qawi, secretary general of the SPLM/N, his aged mother, wife and sister were also reportedly interrogated Nazar Bushara, well known SPLM/N activist The SPLM-N leadership said they have resolved to install former deposed Blue Nile governor Malik Agar as commander-in-chief of the movement while General Abdel Aziz Adam El Hilu, who is fighting in South Kordofan, as chief of staff. Yesterday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that “UN agencies and international humanitarian partners... have requested permission from the government to travel to Sennar [the neighbouring state] and to secure parts of northern Blue Nile state to assess the situation and assist in addressing humanitarian needs”. "But they have so far been denied access to do so," it said, adding that, as in nearby South Kordofan, where a similar three-month-old conflict is still raging, the government has insisted that aid be provided through national partners such as the Sudanese Red Crescent. The UN estimates that 60,000 people have been displaced by the conflict in South Kordofan and the Sudan Red Crescent Society estimates 35,000 in Blue Nile. (ST) END9 10. Mapping War Crimes in Sudan: An Open Letter to George Clooney Published in Sudan Vision Issue #: 2442, Issue Date: 13th September, 2011 In a letter to Hollywood actor George Clooney regarding his activism on Sudan, Samar Al-Bulushi raises a number of concerns around the motives, accountability and politics behind the Satellite Sentinel Project. Dear George, I have been following your recent activism on Sudan with great interest. While I admire your commitment to peace and human rights, I believe that you need to more critically evaluate the implications of your Satellite Sentinel Project, designed as an ‘early warning’ monitoring system for war crimes. The mainstream media’s celebration of your project warrants a closer look at what it means for the people you seem determined to help. The project you launched last December sounds simple enough. According to your website, it ‘combines satellite imagery analysis and field reports with Google's Map Maker technology to deter the resumption of war between North and South Sudan’. Private satellites that you hire monitor troop movements, and project partners analyse the collected images and post them on the website ‘to remind the leaders of northern and southern Sudan that they are being watched’. As you characterised this operation in a December 2010 TIME magazine article, ‘We are the anti-genocide paparazzi … if you know your actions are going to be covered, you tend to behave much differently than when you operate in a vacuum.’[1] While the press has lauded this form of ‘cyber-diplomacy’ – some going so far as to credit you with bringing about South Sudan’s independence [2] – I propose a more rigorous consideration of: (1) who is involved in the decision-making and what information is shared and not shared; (2) how you portray the various actors and interests involved; and (3) what independence means for the people of South Sudan. Let’s explore my first question on information and decision-making: what data is collected by the Satellite Sentinel Project? Who has access to it? What information is shared with the public on your website, and what is not shared? How is this determined? According to your website, the Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) is a collaboration between Not On Our Watch, the Enough Project, Google, the United Nations UNITAR Operational Satellite Applications Programme (UNOSAT), DigitalGlobe, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative and Trellon, LLC. DigitalGlobe's largest customer is the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency, which gathers non-classified images for use by the US Department of Defense, intelligence agencies and other government bodies.[3] The US Africa Command (AFIRCOM) lists DigitalGlobe as a resource for its work on the continent. Do you have a policy on sharing data with government entities and the US military? All of your partners except UNOSAT are US-based, meaning that most, if not all, decisions and interpretations of data are done outside Sudan. None of your public advocacy includes analysis or policy recommendations by Sudanese intellectuals or policy experts. At a minimum, the absence of Sudanese actors and thinkers from your campaign reveals a lack of interest in the internal political processes that are crucial for strengthening democratic citizenship. In terms of the way you portray the actors and interests involved, according to the SSP and its partners (with the Enough Project – part of the Center for American Progress – the most active and vocal member), Southern Sudanese peoples have been struggling for independence for years, which the north has allegedly resisted largely because it did not want to lose access to the abundant economic resources in the South. Referring to the data collected by the SSP, you and your partners warn about the risk of crimes against humanity and even genocide against Southern Sudanese by the Khartoum government. As such, you insist the time to ‘act’ is now. As you, together with your colleague, John Prendergast, wrote on the eve of South Sudan’s independence: We were late to Rwanda. We were late to the Congo. We were late to Darfur. There is no time to wait. With your support, we will swiftly call the world to witness and respond. We aim to provide an ever more effective early-warning system: better, faster visual evidence and on-the-ground reporting of human rights concerns to facilitate better, faster responses.[4] In your narrative, the Sudanese people are reduced to either victims or perpetrators – passive victims incapable of formulating their own path to peace and justice, or evil-doers requiring punishment. The people of Sudan are invisible in the global conversation, now heavily shaped by your project. The very real political issues at stake are diluted into nebulous questions of morality and the ‘responsibility to protect’, in which external actors like yourself claim a moral authority to defend people who have no way of holding you accountable in this monitoring system you helped to construct. As you stated in a January 2011 interview on MSNBC about your project, ‘We can do things that governments can’t, because we are individuals.’[5] Would a wealthy Sudanese individual be permitted to launch a satellite over the United States or the United Kingdom with the same declared goal of protecting the citizens of these states from torture, unjust imprisonment or any number of abuses that have been documented in either of these two countries? How is it that your widely celebrated form of advocacy–solidarity simultaneously champions the sovereignty of one nation (South Sudan) while repudiating that of another (Sudan)? Despite your stated commitment to monitor both northern and southern actors, the Satellite Sentinel Project highlights almost exclusively the actions of the Khartoum government and its army, the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). In the context of North–South conflict, both the governments of north and South Sudan have prevented UN peacekeeping missions from performing their duties, and US Senator Leahy recently questioned the annual US$100 million in military aid provided by the US to South Sudanese forces in light of the reports of abuses those very forces have perpetrated. Meanwhile, your partners at the Enough Project recently called for more arms to be delivered to the South Sudan army. Your selective attention to actors involved in this conflict creates a skewed understanding of the political dynamics – the public is led to believe that violations are committed by one party only (the Khartoum government), and that these abuses are occurring in a vacuum, motivated entirely by local greed, religious intolerance or evil. Failure to look beyond the ‘civil’ war narrative reflects a complete disconnect from geopolitics – no state is immune from the broader sphere of global economic and political activity. For example, according to a newly published report by Norwegian People’s Aid about land acquisition in the South, nearly 10 per cent of the land in the brand new nation of South Sudan has already been sold or leased to corporations, many of them foreign corporations.[6] Foreign investors have signed agriculture, biofuel and forestry deals that cover 2.64 million hectares of land (approximately the size of Rwanda). These deals took place in the context of a global rush for African farmland in the wake of the food, fuel and financial crises of 2007–08.[7] Two of the largest deals have been negotiated with American companies: Jarch Capital and Nile Trading and Development. What, then, does independence actually mean in the context of the global financial crisis and growing competition over land, oil, food and water? Will it lead to a better life for South Sudanese peoples? Even before the state’s formal declaration of independence on 9 July 2011, South Sudanese had been invited to open up their country for business. Your project is now playing an active role in integrating South Sudan into the global economy. According to the World Bank, the Satellite project has the potential not only to deter atrocities but also to build the world’s newest independent nation. On the eve of a jointly organised event, a World Bank official proffered a justification for your collective initiatives: ‘South Sudan is an expansive region that is currently poorly mapped. Without basic geospatial information, it is difficult for the government, civil society, development partners, and all stakeholders to visualize plans, see existing infrastructure, and target areas where they want to work and develop projects. This will also empower the Southern Sudanese community to develop their own solutions using maps.’[8] If only it were that simple. Geographic information is integrally linked to equality in terms of access to data, information, and knowledge. The above quote references an array of actors (government, civil society, development actors) as though each wield equal power in decision-making. In the fledgling young state of South Sudan, it is difficult to dismiss the political and economic leverage held by development ‘partners’ like the bank as it dangles millions of potential dollars in aid while demanding that the ‘right’ institutions and policies are needed for the country’s ‘socio-economic transformation.’[9] In this era of ‘global solidarity’, it appears that so-called ‘humanitarians’ and capitalists employ the same language of partnership and empowerment. Will your Satellite Project monitor the removal of populations from land acquired by foreign or private actors, or from land designated by the World Bank as critical to infrastructure projects? Will the South Sudan judiciary be empowered to hold legally accountable those responsible for the mass displacement of people whose resources – not lives – are more valuable to the global economy? As the citizens of South Sudan negotiate the difficult road ahead, we can expect them to challenge the grandiose language of solidarity, partnership and progress utilised by humanitarians and capitalists alike. We can expect them to ask difficult questions of their so-called partners who are quick to provide ready-made solutions. Will you and your partners be receptive to this questioning? If indeed your primary concern is the welfare of the Sudanese people, it seems you must be. BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS By Samar Al-Bulushi http://news.sudanvisiondaily.com/details.html?rsnpid=199026 END10 ______________________ John Ashworth Sudan Advisor [email protected] +254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile) +249 919 695 362 (Sudan mobile) +27 82 853 3556 (South Africa mobile) +44 750 304 1790 (UK/international) +88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone) PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily reflect the views of any organisation -- The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is not the author of the content and the source is always cited. You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.co.za/group/sudan-john-ashworth -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "JFD info" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/jfdinfo?hl=en.
