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Background
(September, 2001) Sudan's civil war has endured for 18 years. Rebel
armies in southern Sudan continue to fight against Sudanese government
forces and their militia in a bid for political autonomy or independence
for southern Sudan. The long war is complicated by violent military and
ethnic divisions among southerners. Numerous southern commanders have
repeatedly changed allegiances during the conflict, and some northern
groups opposed to the government have formed a military alliance with
southern rebels. The combination of constant war and periodic droughts
has caused serious food shortages. The government and rebel armies have
exploited massive amounts of international relief aid that flows into
the country.
The war has left an estimated 2 million persons dead in southern and central
Sudan since 1983. At the beginning of 2001, approximately 4 million Sudanese
were internally displaced, and 420,000 Sudanese were refugees in neighboring
countries. Despite the war, some 360,000 refugees from other countries
resided in Sudan.
Recent Political / Military / Human Rights Developments The war
persisted during the first nine months of 2001. Rebels launched a military
offensive in the south's Bahr el-Ghazal Province, capturing two towns.
Pro-government militia also launched attacks in Bahr el-Ghazal Province.
Complicated armed clashes continued near oil fields in southern Sudan's
Western Upper Nile Province pitting government forces, pro-government
militia, rebels, and anti-rebel southern troops against each other. Splits
within the local ethnic Nuer population also fed the violence.
The government continued to pump oil from oil fields in the war zone,
providing the government with substantial new revenue that enabled it
to double its military expenditures compared to 1998. Human rights advocates
charged that the government military used airplane runways and roads built
by international oil companies to attack the local population. "Across
the oil-rich regions of Sudan, the government is pursuing a 'scorched
earth' policy to clear the land of civilians and to make way for the exploration
and exploitation of oil by foreign oil companies," a report by a
British relief agency, Christian Aid, stated in early 2001.
Government planes continued to bomb civilian and humanitarian sites in
southern Sudan, although reportedly less frequently than last year. Various
sources reported that up to 40 aerial bombings occurred during May-July,
including attacks against camps for displaced persons. The Sudanese government
announced a bombing cessation on May 24 but proclaimed a bombing resumption
on June 11.
The U.S. government continued a thorough review of its policy toward Sudan.
President Bush appointed former U.S. Senator John Danforth in September
as a special envoy to search for peace in Sudan. "Sudan is a disaster
for all human rights. We must turn the eyes of the world upon the atrocities
in Sudan," Bush said. The Bush Administration stated in April that
improved relations with Sudan hinged on an end to the Sudanese government's
aerial bombings of civilian targets, fewer restrictions by Sudanese authorities
on humanitarian aid deliveries to the south, and elimination of international
terrorist organizations based in Sudan. The U.S. House of Representatives
approved the "Sudan Peace Act" in June, which would attempt
to bar international oil companies from operating in Sudan. A Senate version
of the bill was still under consideration.
UNICEF stated in February that it was helping to demobilize 2,500 rebel
child soldiers. Some observers criticized UNICEF's handling of the demobilization
and expressed skepticism whether some of the children were combatants.New
Uprooted Populations
Many of Sudan's 4.4 million uprooted people have fled repeatedly from
place to place during the course of the long civil war. At least 150,000
additional people became uprooted during the first eight months of 2001,
according information pieced together from various field reports.
Aid workers reported that 55,000 newly displaced people fled from 48 villages
in southern Sudan's conflicted oil zone during 2000 and early 2001. A
rebel military offensive in Bahr el-Ghazal Province in early 2001 pushed
50,000 people from their homes. Some 40,000 residents of central Sudan's
Nuba Mountains region fled government military attacks during the first
eight months of the year. Smaller numbers of people fled their homes temporarily
because of aerial bombing attacks.Humanitarian Conditions
"There is perhaps no greater tragedy on the face of the earth today,"
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell stated at a congressional hearing
about Sudan in March. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom
warned at the same hearing that "the situation in Sudan has grown
worse."
The UN World Food Program (WFP) stated that "we have a looming crisis
on our hands," with 3 million Sudanese nationwide facing food shortages.
"The food security situation is worsening more quickly than expected,"
WFP warned. Humanitarian aid workers expressed concern about potential
famine in Western Upper Nile Province of southern Sudan. The town of Bentiu,
a magnet for displaced families in Sudan's oil-producing region, suffered
24 percent malnutrition, according to WFP. Inadequate distributions of
food relief triggered violence among competing populations and competing
armies in Western Upper Nile Province, prompting some local leaders there
to request that food deliveries be suspended. Crop failures and livestock
deaths in and near the key southern town of Juba might worsen malnutrition
among 200,000 local residents, one international relief agency reported
in February. Catholic bishops in southern Sudan urged aid agencies to
establish emergency feeding centers in addition to aid drops of food to
assist 30,000 newly uprooted people from 17 villages. WFP reported that
it was able to deliver 12,000 tons of food aid during May -- less than
half the 28,000 tons needed by local populations.
Funding shortages and security risks continued to impede humanitarian
efforts during the first nine months of 2001. WFP appealed to international
donors for $135 million but received only a fraction of that amount. Sudanese
government officials regularly blocked relief assistance to about 15 locations
and placed new restrictions on UN humanitarian flights to the village
of Mapel, a key staging point for relief flights in the south. The Sudanese
government threatened to place visa restrictions on international aid
staff seeking to enter the country. Some relief workers complained that
UN officials were too passive in pushing for humanitarian access to conflict
areas in Western Upper Nile Province.
Pro-government combatants in southern Sudan took four aid workers hostage
for a week in March. A pilot for the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) was killed in May when undisclosed persons fired on his plane,
forcing a temporary suspension of all Red Cross flights. Bombs from a
Sudanese military plane nearly hit a food-laden UN relief plane in mid-air
in June, forcing cancellation of a food delivery. ICRC staff evacuated
a medical base in January hours before an attack by pro-government militia.
Numerous humanitarian workers temporarily evacuated from the government-controlled
town of Wau in mid-year because they feared a rebel attack.
The head of the U.S. Agency for International Development traveled to
the Sudan capital, Khartoum, to press for improved international access
to needy populations and an end to aerial bombings.
