Three Years of War in Nuba Mountains: Another failure of the International Community
After three years of war in Nuba Mountains, the indiscriminate bombardment and the massive human rights violation continue to escalate. During the last five weeks, the Jnajweed (Rapid Respond Forces as the government call them), were deployed in large numbers to several areas in Nuba mountains. The government media reported on April 26, 2014*, that the Janjweed militias were legal troops, affiliated with the National Security forces; and their mission in Nuba Mountains was to end the insurgency in the region during this summer.
Few days after the militia arrived in Southern Kordofan, they engaged in fighting in Daloka with the SPLM/N and lost one of their important leaders. In response to the Janjweed defeat, the Sudanese government bombed Kauda for three days in a raw with over 54 bombs from May 27 to May 30, 2014. The indiscriminate bombardment destroyed civilian’s houses, orphans school and humanitarian NGO offices. More importantly, the civilians in Kauda reported many unexploded bombs, which endanger the lives of children and farmers in the area.
According to news reports and local resources, the Sudanese intelligence forces in Kadugli, executed 30 local merchants on May 28, 2014**. The merchants were arrested in different periods in the last few monts; as they were accused of smuggling food supplies to the SLM/N controlled areas. According to the resources; another 24 were executed the same day in Khor Alfan near the military base in Kadugli. The second groups identity was not confirmed, but some of them might be civilians accused of supporting the SPLM/N.
The reports from inside Southern Kordfan continue to be more difficult to get out, because of the increased security restriction on movement and the communication censorship. The humanitarian situation in the region continued to deteriorate, but no solutions appear in the horizon.
In the memory of the day the war started three years ago, Arry organization call on the conscious of humanity, to listen to the crying voices of the Nuba peoples; the voices that cry for help, justice and peace. Arry also would like to remind the leaders of our world, and the international community, that they have already broken their promise to protect the vulnerable peoples in the face of their vicious governments. The world leaders had failed millions of peoples in Nuba Mountains, Darfur and Blue Nile, and they ran out of excuses for their fatal failure. Therefore, we call on the peoples who believe in more just and peaceful world, to continue their efforts to make the voices of the victims heard and take courageous actions to end the suffering of the peoples in Nuba Mountains and other conflict areas in Sudan.
Background:
Few weeks before the secession of South Sudan on July 2011, the peoples of Nuba Mountains felt abandoned. They found themselves a minority with no allies in the new Islamic/ Arabic country of Northern Sudan. This frustration was fuelled by the complicated and confusing situation of Nuba Mountains after the independence of South Sudan.
Nuba peoples fought beside the Southern Sudanese during the civil war from 1985-2005, on the basis of shared grievances of marginalization and exclusion by the central government. But the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005; focused only on South Sudan situation and left the area destiny undefined. According to the peace agreement; after five years of the transitional government the people in Nuba Mountains should elect new governor, and local representatives in the state parliament. They should also start a process called “The Public Consultation,” which was the most deceptive process ever created to determine peoples destiny. No one had any idea about this vague process or how to implement it on the ground.
Therefore, the future of the region became unknown. On June 5th, 2011, after disputed elections of the Nuba mountains state’s governor, the war started in the area once again, a war that could be avoided, if the International Community and the Sudanese government were more responsible to insure reliable plan to build peace in Nuba mountains and help the people to make their own choices freely and independently.
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*see Shrooqu net work (http://www.ashorooq.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=39064%3A2014-04-26-19-33-38&catid=32%3A2008-07-30-07-03-25&Itemid=1163)
