Attack on UN Barge in Jonglei

For some reason it doesn't bother me that the world has no idea what is going on in Southern Sudan. I suppose I have grown sufficiently cynical that I believe that there is only so much information that people can take in over the course of the day, and understanding a war in a place someone has never heard of that seemingly has no outward connection to the "Western World" could just be too much to ask for. Why would this make the top world news headlines in a time of economic crisis, nuclear bomb tests in North Korea, and EU elections?

A part of me strongly believes that if more countries got involved, it would make things even worse. Sometimes people just need to work things out themselves. But in this case, people have been left to work things out themselves for over 50 years and things have not gotten any better. I do not believe the CPA to be a peace agreement, it is acting as merely a five year ceasefire until the referendum in 2011. There is much being done to undermine the CPA, both overtly and covertly. Backing of the LRA as well as other armed tribal groups to carry out attacks within Southern Sudan to name one.

But this incident? This is not good. The barges carrying food from WFP were headed to Akobo, in Jonglei, which is the same state from my previous post (although still 2 days drive away from where I was). What I didn't mention in that post was that this region has been plagued by clashes between Dinka and Murle, Jikani Nuer and Murle, etc. Cattle raids, abducting children, etc. Hundreds of people killed at this point over the course of a few months. But now that they've attacked a UN agency? That is when this issue gets picked up by the international media. Not only did they attack a UN convoy, but the convoy had an escort from the SPLA, the army of Southern Sudan. These are Southerners fighting Southerners.

What will happen if the South votes for independence in 2011 and people realize they do not have a common enemy anymore?

dreadlocked child soldiers

In case the news hasn't reached the US, the LRA is still movin' and shakin' their dreadlocked child soldiers all over Southern Sudan and Eastern Congo. There are thousands of refugees in Central and Western Equitoria states and more people keep pouring in from taking refuge in the bush.

Simba's Dad, who also works in Southern Sudan in a town called Maridi, had to grab his quick run bag, run to his car, and drive 7 hours to Juba in order to avoid gunfire next to his compound. There were only 7 LRA members against a whole SPLA barracks, and a whole battalion of UNMIS peacekeepers, and the latter two groups just scattered. People were running away from 7 men. This article does a fantastic job of presenting how some communities are handling the insecurity by defending themselves when they realize no help is coming.

This war in Eastern Congo and with the LRA has been going on for so long (20 years!) and the only hope I have is that the media is able to influence enough coverage for people to stand up and take note. Although with the troubles of President Bashir in Darfur and Gaza there is only so much that people can focus on at any one time.

Although it did not get picked up by any international news agency, there was heavy fighting in Malakal (capital of a Southern Sudanese state very very far away from Juba) last week by a renegade rebel General with dubious ties to both the North and to the Vice President of the South who had conveniently timed his attack for the day Bashir came to Juba, shutting down the Juba airport (took me over an hour to drive the 20 mins to work) and preventing the UN from evacuating NGO staff in a timely manner (they finally did so a couple days later). A friend mentioned UNICEF staff had to hide under their prefabs and had to yell their updates into the phone to be heard over the explosions. Together with the announcement by the ICC that will take place this Wednesday on whether President Bashir will be inicted makes things in Southern Sudan a little...depressing right now.

Before you completely freak out, the security situation has been assessed by multiple parties and there is no indication that there will be any trouble in Juba. And we are prepared.

Jenn Warren

I wanted to give a shout-out to my amazingly talented friend Jenn, who is a freelance photojournalist working here in Southern Sudan. She tends to cover stories about individuals caught up in large movements. Like the mass distribution of over 1,000,000 long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets - the first of its kind in Southern Sudan. And the use of dirty syringes in India. And people living in FEMA trailer parks following Hurricane Katrina. And the mass displacement of people following the military operation against the LRA.

You can find here work here. Did I mention her photographs are amazing?

Jenn's work titled "Seeking Shelter" covering the displaced LRA victims in Southern Sudan were also recently featured on a BBC website's "In pictures" segment.

Enjoy!

New tactic with the LRA

Starting on December 14th, the governments of DRC, Uganda and Southern Sudan launched a joint military offensive (Ugandan war planes, Southern Sudanese and DRC troops) aimed at forcing Joseph Kony, the leader of the rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), to sign a peace agreement. Kony helped negotiate the agreement, and promised to sign seven times, but has not shown up at any of the four agreed-upon dates to sign.

Joseph Kony (left), leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, shakes hands with Riek Machar (center), Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan, in a May 2006 meeting at Yambio to discuss LRA activity in the region. Vincent Otti, Kony's deputy, stands on the right of Mr. Machar. The man in the red beret is a member of the UPDF (Ugandan Government's military). Source - Wikipedia accessed 19/12/08.

Joseph Kony is a particularly nasty person - under his leadership, the LRA has systematically abducted over 60,000 children since the late '80's, and Kony has anywhere from 27 to 50 wives (mostly abducted girls). In 2005, Kony and three of his senior commanders were indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity, which include murder, enslavement, sexual enslavement and rape. Despite all this, Kony declares himself a the "spokesperson" of God and a spirit medium, and that the LRA is fighting for the Ten Commandments.

The LRA believe they are protecting the Acholi people of northern Uganda from a government run by southerners. But, while in the late 1980's-2005 they focused on their campaigns in Northern Uganda, since 2005 they have been operating in DRC, CAR, and Southern Sudan.
Since I arrived in Southern Sudan a little more than a year ago, there have been countless attacks by the LRA in Central and Western Equitoria. Same tactics - abducting children and raping women. This happens mainly on the border, but reports of raids on villages (mainly for food and supplies) farther in the interior are also sporadically reported. Roads connecting Juba, Yei, Lainya, Torit and Nimule have been shut down (the Ugandan border), as have roads between Maridi, Yambio, and Tambura (DRC and CAR borders). Our programmatic operations and those of countless other agencies have been affected and costs of the mandatory armed escorts for travel along those roads around times of insecturity have soared.

Part of my job is scanning the UN/NGO security reports for trouble around Tambura county, where we have one staff member based and a peer education program running. One of the payams (equivalent to a town) the peer educators normally go to on the border with DRC and CAR, named Source Yubu, was attacked this past year, and the Payam Administrator, who did not run and hide but tried to negotiate with the rebels, was shot and killed. He was our biggest ally - he was HIV positive and talked openly about his status and experience with his people. Not one person did more to tackle stigma and discrimination, and promote understanding and compassion, than he did.

So how do I feel about the change in tactic of the international community, from peace talks and negotiations to military offensives? I have mixed feelings. Joseph Kony was not going to willingly come out of the jungle to sign an agreement and turn himself over with all of the ICC, that's for sure. And armed conflict always claims civilian lives. Neither way is perfect.

So which is the lesser of the two evils? Trying to end the LRA's guerrilla warfare with peaceful means and negotiations while the LRA kills more people and destabilizes the region, or try to force Kony and the LRA out with force while killing the child soldiers abducted from their families who are now LRA combatants, and forcing thousands of cilivians around the areas where the LRA have their bases out of their homes? What do you think?