If Sudan is at all familiar it is probably because the Blue Devils' latest basketball recruit, Luol Deng, calls it home. But what the average Duke student doesn't know is that according to Secretary of State Colin Powell, "There is no greater tragedy on the face of the earth than the one unfolding in Sudan." The ongoing 16- year civil war has claimed over two million lives and displaced four million civilians.
Why does no one pay attention? Half as many deaths in the Rwandan genocide in 1994 still plague the collective conscience of the United States and its allies, while the Sudanese conflict continues, rousing little international interest. The reason is that in this war there has been no quintessential media moment that encapsulates the conflict. Sudan's civil war is not one of splashy, sensational events. Instead it is ignored and forgotten. The roots of Sudan's conflict are so inextricably intertwined that they cannot be easily simplified by CNN for mass consumption.
American Christian groups claim that it's fundamentally a religious war defined by the Islamic north's persecution of the Christian south. While partially true, this is an oversimplification.
The majority of Muslims live in the north, while the Animists and Christians are concentrated in the south, though there is a significant mixing of populations. Now compound the religious conflict with racial division--an Arab north (actually a motley group with a perceived common ethnic identity) united around a common language, and the African south that is a diverse collaboration of tribes speaking over 80 different languages. Add to the mix a colonial history marked by unequal rule within the country and the result is a recipe for disaster.
Britain and Egypt, Sudan's colonizers, created a dichotomous Sudan by investing in education and infrastructure in the north, while effectively ignoring the south beyond subduing rebel movements. The government of Sudan imitated this policy until substantial oil deposits were discovered in the south.
Another difficulty in understanding the Sudanese civil war is the unclear good guy/bad guy distinction. The war crimes of the Government of Sudan are substantially the worst of the two sides, including documented slavery, the forced displacement of millions of Sudanese from the oil fields, the ban of U.N. distributed humanitarian aid and genocide. The "good guys" according to recent United States policy--the Sudanese People's Liberation Army, the rebel forces of the south--are likewise guilty of raping, looting, forced child conscription and intercepting humanitarian aid while letting the needy starve.
Until recently, the United States has acted passively, financing the SPLA and placing economic sanctions on the GOS, but taking few proactive steps to generate lasting peace. Sept. 11 did shift U.S. attention to Sudan with regard to national security interests. Until 1996 Osama Bin Laden was operating out of Khartoum, and despite the nominal cooperation of the GOS in the war on terrorism, additional terrorist links within the country led to the halt of relocation programs of orphaned Sudanese boys to the United States. The country is run by Islamic fundamentalists, who have officially declared a jihad on all non-Muslim civilians within the borders. The oil wealth of the government, together with its history of cooperation with al Qaeda, beg close supervision from the CIA.
The Sudan Peace Act, which was passed by Congress last month but received little press, demonstrates some initiative on the part of the United States to finally demand peace in Sudan. It is potentially significant, but the weak language will again result in inaction. The strongest part of the legislation is its terminology for the wholesale slaughter by the GOS of the southern civilians. Genocide, by international law if not by individual moral standards, demands action. Will the United States act? It's now up to President George W. Bush to take the powers Congress granted him through the language of the Sudan Peace Act and make the peace process an reality.
The United States has taken steps in brokering peace in Sudan, but it has not gone far enough. If peace there is ever going to be more than just a personal cause of a basketball star--first Manute Bol and now Duke's own Luol Deng--then the government must get on the ball. 16 years of continual war must end.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.