-Caveat Lector- : In Sudan, childhoods of slavery : Dale Gavlak : Special to The Christian Science Monitor : http://www.christiansciencemonitor.com/durable/2000/08/22/fp6s1- : csm.shtml : KHARTOUM, SUDAN : In a halfway house run by a Dinka tribal chief, 14-year-old Shama Amal : waits for the day when he will see his mother again. : If that day ever comes, it would put an end to an ordeal that began : nine years ago, when the Dinka boy, then 5, was kidnapped by an Arab : cattleman and made a slave. Shama escaped after his master put burning : coal in his palm - punishment for letting livestock stray. : In this impoverished African nation, some 14,000 southern Sudanese chil- : dren and women have been abducted in recent years, according to : government figures. : Officials in the capital, Khartoum, say the kidnappings are simply part : of intertribal conflicts. But critics insist that the abducted, whom : they call "slaves," number far greater and that their enslavement is : part of a government-sponsored program of forced Islamization - an : accusation Sudanese officials dismiss as false propaganda. : Human rights organizations, as well as Christian church officials, : allege that the fundamentalist Islamist government is involved in : abducting southerners of animist and Christian backgrounds. Since 1983, : the predominantly African southerners, most of them of the Dinka tribe, : have fought for autonomy from the Muslim north. : A spokesman for the Sudan Council of Churches says that the "regime's : goal is to establish an Islamic state and society in Sudan that means : churches will have to be marginalized, squeezed." : Other Christian leaders, who also asked not to be named, say "slave- : like practices are going on not only in Sudan's countryside, but also : in the capital Khartoum, and it has become a big business." They allege : that children are brought from the south and given to : government "bosses" as servants. Then they are taken to : government "peace camps" where, they claim, the boys receive Muslim : names and Islamic indoctrination through intense study of the Koran. : Recently the US envoy to Sudan, Harry Johnston, told the UN Human : Rights Commission in Geneva that slavery "is still rampant" in Sudan, : and Christian Solidarity International has reported buying freedom for : 4,968 slaves for $35 each, the local value of two goats. : "Our sisters and brothers in Sudan are hurting, oppressed, dying," says : the Rev. James Goode, head of the National Black Catholic Clergy in the : US. "Many are slaves ... and they are crying out for our help and : assistance." Fr. Goode is set to address a Sept. 9 gathering at the UN : organized by New York City churches and other groups to focus on Sudan. : In May 1999, following widespread criticism, the Sudanese government : formed the Committee for the Eradication of the Abduction of Women and : Children (CEAWC). The establishment of the CEAWC has earned tempered : praise from human rights groups. : Amnesty International has called the committee's establishment a "very : important and positive step," but its Sudan representative, Annette : Weber, cautions that mechanisms must be set up "not only to bring : people back, but to work for preventing further abductions." : Ahmed Mufti, CEAWC director, says that since his office opened, "there : has not been one single case of abduction reported," He adds, "We are : not only interested in addressing the symptoms of abduction, but : abduction itself, and the root causes. There is no point in returning : these abductees if tomorrow you have another abduction." : Slavery in Sudan has deep roots in the country's past of repeated wars, : including the current civil war, which has dragged on for 17 years. : The largest number of abductions reportedly take place in Bahr el : Ghazal, Darfur, and Kordofan. There, Arab tribesmen, collectively known : as baggara (cattle herders) carry out raids on mainly Dinka land, but : also parts of the Nuba Mountains. Human rights groups allege that the : baggara are armed and protected by the government. : The attackers take livestock, belongings, and harvests - and need : carriers to transport the goods. Consequently, captive women and : children become part of the baggara's workforce. They fetch water and : firewood, herd livestock, and do heavy manual labor. : "The identity of people is changing dramatically," Ms. Weber says. "If : a girl was abducted when she was five years old, and now she's 20, her : name may be changed to a Muslim name or another name suggesting a : family bond has been established." : The CEAWC collaborates with the Dinka Committee, headed by chief James : Aguir. Mr. Aguir works with other tribal leaders to track down missing : people. He also runs the Khartoum halfway house where rescued slaves : stay until relatives are found. The United Nations Children's Fund and : Save the Children are overseeing some of CEAWC's activities in field : research, and CEAWC has received a $1,400,000 donation from the : European Union. : Still, solutions are elusive. The head of UNICEF, Carol Bellamy, has : voiced concern that buying back slaves will only encourage more : trafficking. Says Aguir: "What we need now is peace. If there is no : peace in the future, then these abductions can happen again." : Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ : Before you buy. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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