Cold Blooded Mass Murder in the Nuba Mountains in Sudan

Cold Blooded Mass Murder in the NubaMountains in Sudan

by Samuel Totten

13 June 2011

Over the past two weeks, Government of Sudan troops have carried out a vicious and murderous attack on the people of the NubaMountains in the Sudanese state of South Kordafan. This is the very same government that, beginning in 2003, perpetrated genocide in Darfur. Indeed, this is the very same government led by Omar al Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of genocide and crimes against humanity for the atrocities perpetrated in Darfur.

Military jets and Antonov bombers have created havoc in the NubaMountains; farms, tukuls (mud and grass homes), and churches have been burned to the ground; tens of thousands have been forced from their homes out into the wilderness; and untold numbers have been killed.

In Kadugli, the capital of South Kordafan, the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) have gone door to door in search of suspected members and supporters of the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Movement (SPLM) and executed them on the spot. GoS troops have also planted land mines throughout the area. In Dilling, GoS soldiers carried out their own search for members and supporters of the SPLM and slit their throats upon capturing them.

While there are UN troops (United Nations Mission in Sudan or UNMIS) in the NubaMountains they have largely served no purpose, except to exacerbate the situation. First, they have largely observed the violence and done nothing to attempt to halt it. Second, two sources, both of whom must remain unnamed, have reported that Egyptian soldiers with UNMIS in Kadugli were seen raping local women. Third, when a crowd of civilians sought sanctuary at UNMIS headquarters in Kadugli they were purportedly told to leave and go to Dilling, some 120 miles away -- a horrific journey on foot in the face of the ongoing attacks. Finally, there are reports that UNMIS personnel told people to head north when seeking safety, thus leading them directly into the hands of the GoS troops. It is no wonder that rumors are afloat that those Egyptian soldiers with UNMIS are on the payroll of Khartoum.

Various reasons are aswirl as to why GoS troops attacked the people of the NubaMountains. First, some four weeks ago, Sudanese President Omar al Bashir threatened that if the people of the region did not readily accept the newly elected Ahmed Haroun, who is wanted by the ICC on over 40 counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes for the horrors perpetrated in Darfur, as their governor they would suffer the consequences. In fact, in a speech in Kadugli, al Bashir stated, unequivocally, that his soldiers would chase them up into the mountains as they did in the 1990s, leaving them without food to starve to death once again. Second, when members of the SPLA, who, along with the vast majority of people in the NubaMountains were in favor of Adul Aziz, a popular and former commander of the SLPA, becoming governor, refused to take off their uniforms when ordered to do so, GoS troops attacked them. Third, many believe that the real reason behind the attack is that al Bashir wants to gain absolute control over South Kordafan and all border areas with South Sudan in order to have a strong hand in negotiations over Abeyi, a oil rich region along the border. Along with that, there are rumors that al Bashir wishes to gain control of as much land as possible along the border, an area that is poorly demarcated, to strengthen his hand in future negotiations with South Sudan.

Al Bashir has a propensity for killing those he disagrees with, those who question his policies, those who challenge his dictates, those whose land he desires, and/or those he looks upon with distain and wants gone. He’s done it previously in the Nuba Mountains (in the 1990s when he carried out genocidal acts and virtually starved people to death), in Darfur between 2003 and today during which over 400,000 blacks Africans perished, and now, once again, in the Nuba Mountains. Finally, the world should not forget, just because the Comprehensive Peace Agreement has been signed by the north and south, that, al Bashir, as president of Sudan, oversaw a large part of the north-south war that resulted in some two million deaths.

Al Bashir specializes in carrying out crimes against humanity, genocidal actions, and genocide, and he does so whenever he wishes in the belief that he can and will do so with impunity -- the ICC or any other court be damned.

For the sake of the people of the NubaMountains, for the sake of civilization, for the sake of our own decency, we, the rest of the world, must show him that he is wrong and that impunity does not reign.