30 May 2008
analysis
Washington, DC — "The town of Abyei has ceased to exist. Brigade 31 of the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, has displaced the entire civilian population and burned Abyei's market and housing to the ground. These events were predicted, and absent effective word and action, they became inevitable. [but] as this report goes to the press, the United States has not even made a public statement regarding the violence Khartoum instigated in Abyei." - Roger Winter
Roger Winter visited the oil-rich area Abyei, on the disputed boundary between North and South Sudan, from May 16-17. This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains his report issued today by the Enough Project. Previous reports by Roger Winter on Abyei, and its critical role in having the potential to ignite even greater violence in Sudan, can be found at http://www.enoughproject.org/reports/soundingalarmabyei (April 2008) and http://www.enoughproject.org/abyei (January, 2008).
Also included below is the joint statement by three U.S. presidential candidates on Darfur.
Notable among the points stressed by Winter is that the Bush administration, despite previous rhetoric for peace and in opposition to violence in Sudan, continues to be engaged in a process of "normalization" with the current Sudanese government, In contrast to strong public statements about Darfur, U.S. policy towards Sudan has also been driven by continued interest in cooperation with Khartoum against "international terrorism." For analysis of the background to this policy contradiction, see "Sudan: Walking Loudly, Carrying a Toothpick" (http://www.africafocus.org/docs07/sud0704b.php) and "Sudan: Why Doesn't Bush Act on Darfur?" (http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/sud0612b.php)
For earlier AfricaFocus Bulletins on Sudan and related links, see http://www.africafocus.org/country/sudan.php
For recent news and commentary on Sudan, see, in particular, http://www.sudantribune.com and http://allafrica.com/sudan
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Abyei Aflame: An Update From the Field
Roger Winter
Enough Project
http://www.enoughproject.org/reports/abyei_update_may08
05/30/2008
Five weeks after ENOUGH issued its report "Sounding the Alarm on Abyei" the town of Abyei has ceased to exist. Brigade 31 of the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, has displaced the entire civilian population and burned Abyei's market and housing to the ground.
These events were predicted, and absent effective word and action, they became inevitable. Somehow, the government of the United States of America missed all the signals - again. As this report goes to the press, the United States has not even made a public statement regarding the violence Khartoum instigated in Abyei, the resulting humanitarian emergency, the damage done to the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, or CPA, or prospects for peace and democratic transformation in Sudan.
This paper is based on my travel to Abyei from May 16-17. For background on Abyei, please see ENOUGH strategy papers "Abyei: Sudan's Kashmir" and "Sounding the Alarm on Abyei".
Background
Comprehensive peace in Sudan hinges upon successful, peaceful resolution of the issue of Abyei, the volatile and oil rich area astride the boundary between North and South Sudan. Khartoum's three-year failure to implement the CPA's Abyei Protocol has resulted in skyrocketing political tensions, large-scale recent killings, and a rapid military build-up by all sides that caused experts to foresee the resumption of conflict in the region.
During my visits in February and March of 2008, I documented the illegal presence of Sudanese Armed Forces in the Abyei area. During this period, the Sudan Armed Forces's 31st Brigade used terror tactics to systematically clear the population from the villages outside of Abyei town. The village of Todaj, for example, was rendered devoid of population due to nightly shooting by the Brigade. A nearby International Organization for Migration reception center, set up to assist returning people who had been displaced by Khartoum-inspired violence years earlier, was shut down.
The tension in the Abyei area was palpable. On May 13, an incident between the Sudan People's Liberation Army, or SPLA[1], police and SAF[2] occurred in Dokora village, about four miles north of Abyei.
Violence exploded, quickly spreading across the area. On the afternoon of May 14, local officials reported heavy bombardment of Abyei's civilian areas, as well as looting and burning of markets and homes by SAF forces. This precipitated the mass flight of thousands of civilians to safety in the South.
Abyei Emptied: May 16-17
Our first stop in Abyei town was to meet with U.N. civilian staff and the military peacekeepers from the U.N. Mission in Sudan, or UNMIS, mandated to monitor the situation on the ground. Despite their armored personnel carriers, the UNMIS contingent from Zambia was reluctant to move outside its headquarters and civilian U.N.
staff did not have the access around town to be in a position to understand its condition. SAF's 31st Brigade was visibly present in the town and remains so, as of the publication of this report. With assistance from the Joint Integrated Unit,[3] or JIU, and an SPLA detachment, we were able to access much of the town. It was empty.
You could look the full length of streets and see no one. I counted only 10-12 civilians, several of whom appeared to be mentally unstable. The others, sneaking back to where their homes once stood, were evidently attempting to salvage any remaining blankets or belongings. The market had been looted and burned to the ground.
Many structures were still smoldering. Block after block of traditional homes were reduced to ashes. Approximately 25 percent of the town's structures were totally destroyed. Shortly after our visit, we received reliable reports that most of the rest was aflame.
Abyei, as it had existed several days earlier, had ceased to exist.
Although there were a number of civilian casualties, most of the people of the Abyei area were able to flee. Local SPLM officials estimated 106,500 displaced people dispersed southward to nearly 20 sites, such as the town of Agok, a three day walk south of Abyei, where we spent the night of May 16. The vast majority arrived without belongings, and many families had been separated during their flight. Women wailed for their lost children. Although momentarily safe in GOSS-controlled areas, Khartoum's terror tactics continued. The sound of overflights by the government's notorious Antonov aircraft, a precursor to bombardment during the decades of the North/South war, further terrorized the population in the Abyei region.
The rainy season has begun in Abyei and surrounding areas, with desperate consequences for the displaced. That night in Agok it rained mercilessly and became quite cold. Without shelter, the coughs of infants and old folk began. Our communication with appropriate people in Khartoum, Juba, and Washington appeared to help jump-start an international humanitarian response, already begun by on-site local officials and NGOs such as Mercy Corps and Catholic Relief Services. With international sources now estimating 90,000 people displaced from their homes for at least the second time, Abyei's former residents will likely require substantial assistance for the foreseeable future.
How Did We Get Here: A Policy Failure Foretold
Accounts following our visit detail extensive hostilities between SAF and the SPLA during May, with reportedly substantial casualties on both sides.[4] Although death is commonplace in Sudan, fatalities due to direct fighting between SAF and the SPLA, the military arms of the National Congress Party and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement respectively, has been rare since these parties signed the CPA in January 2005.
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