Press Release/Commentary by ESPAC posted on October 12, 2001 at 12:22:45: EST (-5 GMT)

THE WAR ON TERRORISM: THE UNITED STATES AND THE SPLA IN SUDAN

The European-Sudanese Public Affairs Council
Date of Publication: 12 October 2001

President George W. Bush's 20 September 2001 address to Congress and the
American People, responding to the horrific atrocities of 11 September,
declared a war on terrorism.(1) The point was also made that it was not
just terrorism associated with Islamic fundamentalism that was to be
targeted, but all forms of terrorism. One can only but hope that
President Bush's declaration, the result of an unprecedented tragedy,
may also result in a solution to one of the world's longest-running
civil wars, the conflict in Sudan.

The United States must be encouraged as part of its international
campaign against terrorism to end the terrorism central to the Sudanese
conflict. It is now also clear that Sudan has sought to cooperate in the
fight against terrorism for several years.(2) Washington is uniquely
placed to do so given its previously close relationship with the Sudan
People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a group intimately associated with
terrorism within Sudan. The American government definitions of terrorism
and international terrorism are clear. The relevant definitions come
from Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f (d):

* The term terrorism means premeditated, politically motivated violence
perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational or clandestine
agents, usually intended to influence an audience.

* The term international terrorism means terrorism involving citizens of
the territory of more than one country.

Civil war has raged off and on in Sudan since 1955 and has been fought
between various Sudanese governments and rebels in southern Sudan. Since
1983 the principal rebel protagonist has been the SPLA led by John
Garang. It is clear that the SPLA has been guilty of widescale
terrorism. The list of "noncombatant targets" that have been murderously
attacked is all too long. These attacks have included the widespread
murder of Sudanese men, women and children, the murder of international
relief workers, the shooting down of civilian airliners, indiscriminate
mortaring and rocketing of urban areas in southern Sudan, resulting in
hundreds of civilian deaths, attacks on food relief barges and fishing
boats on the Nile, the torture and execution of southern political
opponents, and the laying of landmines. In 2001, the SPLA escalated its
campaign and attacked civilian oil targets, claiming to have inflicted
"heavy casualties".(3) Africa Watch also reported that the SPLA has
also been involved in terrorism in Ethiopia. In one instance, the SPLA
murdered over 500 Ethiopian civilians in the lower Omo valley of south-
west Ethiopia. (4)

The Murder of Civilians

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Sudan has
provided graphic evidence of the SPLA's premeditated use of terrorism
against civilians. He documented an incident in which John Garang's SPLA
forces attacked two villages in Ganyiel region in southern Sudan. The
SPLA murdered 210 villagers, of whom 30 were men, 53 were women and 127
were children. The Special Rapporteur stated that:

"Eyewitnesses reported that some of the victims, mostly women, children
and the elderly, were caught while trying to escape and killed with
spears and pangas. M.N., a member of the World Food Programme relief
committee at Panyajor, lost four of her five children (aged 8-15 years).
The youngest child was thrown into the fire after being shot. D.K.
witnessed three women with their babies being caught. Two of the women
were shot and one was killed with a panga. Their babies were all killed
with pangas. A total of 1, 987 households were reported destroyed..."
(5)

The United States government is clearly aware of this particular
incident, having mentioned the massacre, and the SPLA's refusal to
account for the incident, in its own 'Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices'. (6) The Ganyiel incident is sadly only one of many similar
instances of SPLA terrorism. Amnesty International, for example,
recorded another incident in which SPLA forces lined up 32 women from
the village of Pagau, 12 kilometres from Ayod in southern Sudan, and
then shot each once in the head. Eighteen children were reported to have
been locked in a hut which was then set on fire. Three children who
attempted to escape were then shot. The rest burnt to death. In Paiyoi,
an area north-east of Ayod, Amnesty International reported that 36 women
were burnt to death in a cattle byre. Nine others were clubbed to death
by the SPLA. (7) While the methods of killing them may be different
there is no difference between the terrorism inherent in the Ganyiel
massacres and the American tragedies.

Shooting down of civilian airliners

The SPLA has also admitted the shooting down of civilian airliners
within Sudan, incidents involving considerable loss of civilian life. In
one instance the SPLA shot down a civilian airliner taking off from
Malakal in southern Sudan, killing sixty people. Two days later the SPLA
announced it would continue to shoot down civilian aircraft. A further
civilian aircraft was shot down with the deaths of thirteen passengers
and crew. (8)

The shelling and rocketing of civilians

The American government's own 'Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices', have documented examples of SPLA terrorism, including that
the SPLA "conducted indiscriminate mortar and rocket attacks on the
southern city of Juba, killing more than 40 civilians and wounding many
others. These attacks...seemed intended to terrorize the inhabitants".
(9) In another instance, the American government stated that the SPLA
had continued the random shelling of Juba, killing over 200 southern
civilians.(10) SPLA shelling of civilians has been a feature of the
past decade. Similar shelling was reported as recently as 2000. In
February 2000, for example, Reuters correspondent Rosalind personally
witnessed: "a pillar of smoke rising from the besieged town of Mayom,
subject to daily bombardments by rebels as the try to advance eastwards
to the oil development." (11)

The murder of aid workers

The SPLA has also murdered dozens of humanitarian aid workers from the
mid-1980s onwards. In one attack alone, for example, SPLA gunmen killed
23 relief workers, drivers and assistants.(12) In 1998, the SPLA
murdered relief workers in the Nuba mountains, and in 1999 the SPLA
murdered four aid workers assisting with a Red Cross project in southern
Sudan.(13) Senior American officials have confirmed that: "The SPLA-
Mainstream has engaged in...torturing or killing relief personnel".(14)
In May 2001, SPLA gunmen shot at an International Committee of the Red
Cross airplane, killing one of the pilots.(15)

The use of landmines

The SPLA has also callously and indiscriminately used landmines within
civilian areas. Washington's Sudan 'Country Report on Human Rights
Practices', for example, documented that the SPLA "indiscriminately laid
land mines on roads and paths, which killed and maimed...civilians."(16)
An Africa Watch report stated that SPLA "land mines are planted at well-
heads, on roads, near marketplaces, and close to injured people, so that
would-be rescuers are blown up."(17)

'The New York Times' has describing the SPLA as "brutal and predatory",
stating that they "have behaved like an occupying army, killing, raping
and pillaging" in southern Sudan, and calling SPLA leader John Garang
one of Sudan's "pre-eminent war criminals".(18) Eight US-based
humanitarian organisations working in Sudan, including CARE, World
Vision, Church World Service, Save the Children and the American Refugee
Committee also publicly went on record to state that the SPLA has:
"engaged for years in the most serious human rights abuses, including
extrajudicial killings, beatings, arbitrary detention, slavery, etc."
(19) Human Rights Watch has additionally commented: "The SPLA has a
history of gross abuses of human rights and has not made any effort to
establish accountability. Its abuses today remain serious." (20)

Amnesty International has also documented that the SPLA is ruthless in
preventing civilians from leaving its areas for refuge in government-
controlled areas. In the Nuba mountains, for example, the SPLA imposed a
"civilian exclusion zone" around areas it dominated in order to deter
civilians leaving. Those leaving were murdered by the SPLA. (21)
African Rights has spoken of: "a nihilistic attitude towards civilians
and existing social structures." (22)

An even more chilling account, which directly echoes that of African
Rights, is provided by Dr Peter Nyaba, a member of the SPLA National
Executive Committee. As a former SPLA military officer, Nyaba is in a
unique position to describe the behaviour of the SPLA within those areas
of Sudan in which it controlled or operated within: "Once they were
deployed at the war front, their first victims became civilians, whom
they...terrorised, brutalised, raped, murdered and dehumanised." (23)

Turning American military support for the SPLA into pressure for peace

The United States government is in a particularly strong position to
dramatically address SPLA terrorism in Sudan. `The Clinton
Administration's military, diplomatic and political support for the SPLA
has long been an open secret. In its programme of supporting the SPLA,
tens of millions of dollars worth of covert American military assistance
has been supplied to the rebels. This has included weapons, landmines,
logistical assistance, and military training. (24) The British
newsletter 'Africa Confidential' has previously confirmed that the SPLA
"has already received US help via Uganda" and that United States special
forces are on "open-ended deployment" with the rebels.(25) It is clear
that according to the United States government definition of terrorism
and international terrorism, that the SPLA is a group guilty of both
terrorism and international terrorism. The Bush Administration's stated
desire to see the end of the funding of terrorist acts must also address
the fact that the United States Congress this year voted millions of
dollars in assistance to the SPLA. (26)

Rather than supporting violence the American government could be a
crucial peace-maker within Sudan. Reversing previous encouragement of
the SPLA to continue its violence, Washington could assist in bringing
all sides to the conflict towards a negotiated settlement of the
conflict, based on the offers of an internationally-monitored referendum
on the status of southern Sudan (27) and all-party roundtable
constitutional talks that are already on the table. There is no excuse
for continuing the war. The Khartoum authorities have repeatedly called
on the rebels to accept a ceasefire and enter into peace talks. (28)
Khartoum has also repeatedly called upon the international community to
urge the rebels to seek a peaceful solution to the conflict. (29) It is
a matter of record that it is SPLA rebels who continue to prolong the
Sudanese civil war despite considerable international pressure on them
to accept a ceasefire and enter into peaceful negotiations. (30) While
acknowledging the referendum offer, the SPLA has been reluctant to act
upon it. (31)

In keeping with its declared war on terrorism, it would be comparatively
easy for the Bush Administration to dramatically de-escalate the awful
conflict in Sudan. Washington could go further than just ending any
financial and military assistance and actively discourage the use of
terrorism by the SPLA. It can also play a central part in pressurising
the SPLA into taking the Sudanese peace process seriously. This is an
opportunity the United States cannot afford to miss.

Notes


1 President Bush, 'Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the
American People', 20 September 2001, Washington-DC.
2 See, for example, 'Sudan Offered Up bin Laden in '96', 'The
Washington Post', 3 October 2001, and 'Resentful West Spurned Sudan's
Key Terror Files', 'The Observer', London, 30 September 2001.
3 See, for example, 'Sudan Rebels Claim First Attack on Oilfields,
Inflicting "Heavy Casualties"', News Article by Agence France Press on 7
August 2001 and 'Garang: Oil Firms are Targets', News Article by BBC
News on 17 June 2001.
4 'Denying "The Honor of Living": Sudan A Human Rights Disaster',
Africa Watch, New York, 1989, p.158.
5 'Situation of Human Rights in the Sudan', UN Special Rapporteur
Gaspar Biro, E/CN.4/1996/62, 20 February 1996.
6 See, for example, 'Country Reports on Human Rights Practice'
1996, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, United States
Department of State, Washington-DC, 30 January 1997, p.2.
7 'Sudan: The Ravages of War: Political Killings and Humanitarian
Disaster' Amnesty International, London, AI Index: AFR 54/29/93, 29
September 1993, p.25.
8 'Denying "The Honor of Living": Sudan A Human Rights Disaster',
Africa Watch, London, 1989, pp.116-17.
9 'Country Reports on Human Rights Practices', 1990, Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, United States Department of State,
Washington-DC, February 1991. p.387.
10 'Country Reports on Human Rights Practices', 1992, Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, United States Department of State,
Washington-DC, February 1993.
11 'Rag-tag Rebels Fight for Sudan's Oil Riches', News Article by
Reuters on 14 February 2000 at 14:24:21.
12 'Denying "The Honor of Living": Sudan A Human Rights Disaster',
op. cit., p.116.
13 See, 'Sudan Aid Workers Executed', News Article by BBC World on
3 April, 1999 at 03:25 GMT.
14 John Prendergast, 'Crisis Response: Humanitarian Band-Aids in
Sudan and Somalia', Pluto Press, London, 1997, p.54.
15 See 'US Condemns Deadly Attack on ICRC Plane Over Sudan', News
Article by Agence France Press on 9 May 2001.
16 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices', 1995, Bureau of
Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, United States Department of State,
Washington-DC, 1996, p.7.
17 'Denying "The Honor of Living": Sudan A Human Rights Disaster',
op. cit., p.157.
18 'Misguided Relief to Sudan', Editorial, 'The New York Times', 6
December, 1999.
19 'Humanitarian Organizations Oppose Plan Providing Food to
Sudanese Rebels', Press Release by InterAction, the American Council for
Voluntary International Action, Washington-DC, 30 November, 1999.
20 'Rights Group Warns US Against Feeding Sudan Rebels', News
Article by Reuters on 14 December, 1999 at 11:34:40.
21 'The Tears of Orphans': No Future Without Human Rights, Amnesty
International, London, 1995, p.89.
22 'Food and Power in Sudan', African Rights, London, 1997, p.82.
23 Peter Nyaba, 'The Politics of Liberation in South Sudan: An
Insider's View', Fountain Publishers, Kampala, 1997, pp.49-50.
24 'The Sunday Times', London, 17 November 1996. For further
details of American support to the SPLA see 'Ex-President Opposes Policy
of Aiding Khartoum's Foes', 'The Washington Times', 25 September 1997;
'Sudan's American-aided guerrillas', 'The Economist', 25 January 1997;
'Sudan Accuses US of Supplying Rebels with Mines', News Article by
Xinhua, 21 January 1999; 'US flies in howitzers to subdue Sudan',
'Africa Analysis', No 290, 6 February 1998; 'Albright Meets Sudan
Rebels, Pledges US Support', News Article by Reuters on 10 December
1997.
25 'Africa Confidential', 15 November 1996
26 'Sudanese Rebels to Receive Dlrs 3 Million in Assistance', News
Article by Associated Press on 25 May 2001.
27 See, 'Sudan offers South secession', News Article by BBC on 22
February 1999; 'Southern secession better than more war: Sudan's
president', News Article by Agence France Presse on 22 February 1999;
'Sudan Says Happy for South to secede', News Article by Reuters on 7 May
1998.
28 See, for example, 'Sudan's Bashir Reiterates Commitment to
Peaceful Settlement', News Article by the German Press Agency (DPA) on 7
August 2001; 'Khartoum Urges Rebels to "Stop Fighting and Talk"', News
Article by Agence France Presse on 5 June 2001: 'Sudanese Government
Welcomes Carter's Initiative to End the War in southern Sudan', News
Article by ArabicNews.com on 26 April 2001; 'Sudan's Government in
Favour of Ceasefire in 18-year Civil War', News Article by Agence France
Presse on 22 April 2001 and 'Government "Ready for a Ceasefire', News
Article by United Nations Integrated Regional Information Network, 15
May 2001; 'Sudan calls for Western Pressure on southern Rebels to Accept
Ceasefire', News Article by Agence France Presse on 26 April 2000.
29 See, most recently, 'Government Urges International Community to
Pressurise Rebels to Accept Cease-fire', News Article by Associated
Press on 27 August 2001. See also, for example; 'US Catholic Clerics
Urged to Pressurise Garang into Accepting Cease-Fire', News Article by
Sudan News Agency on 27 March 2001; 'Britain Can Pressurize
Rebels to Realize Cease-Fire, Sudanese Diplomat', News Article by SUNA,
26 February 2001.
30 See, for example, 'Annan calls on Sudan's SPLM leader to sign
ceasefire', News Article by Agence France Presse on 7 August 1999.
31 See, for example, 'SPLA plays down deal on referendum in
southern Sudan', News Article by BBC, on 7 May 1998, at 13:24 GMT.