---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: "Eric Reeves" <[email protected]> Date: Aug 18, 2017 19:20 Subject: Rewarding Policies that Starve Children in the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan To: "Eric Reeves" <[email protected]> Cc:
*Rewarding Policies that Starve Children in the Nuba Mountains of South > Kordofan* > > Eric Reeves | August 18, 2017 | http://wp.me/s45rOG-8046 > > The *National Islamic Front/National Congress Party regime in Khartoum* has > continued for over six years with its brutal, immensely destructive > humanitarian blockade of rebel-controlled areas of *South Kordofan *and *Blue > Nile* states. The results in the *Nuba Mountains* of South Kordofan have > been devastating, and the poor harvests that seem likely this year because > of weather conditions will make things much worse. > > Despite the continuation of the blockade, and despite “humanitarian > access” as a key U.S. requirement for the permanent lifting of U.S. > economic sanctions, the *Trump administration*—confused and easily > strong-armed by the U.S. intelligence community—gives all signs of indeed > lifting sanctions on Khartoum this coming *October 13th*, less than two > months’ time from now. > > > <http://sudanreeves.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/trump_flicker_face_yess.jpg> > > To be sure, it was the *Obama administration *that began this > accommodation of the regime’s *génocidaires*, declaring in a preposterous > and viciously expedient statement that there had been a “sea change” of > improvement of humanitarian access in Sudan > <http://wp.me/s45rOG-8021>—including > in this characterization of where “access” had improved both *Darfur* (where > Khartoum continues to deny humanitarian access to roughly a third of the 3 > million people the UN declares are in need of assistance > <http://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/sudan-humanitarian-bulletin-issue-18-31-july-13-august-2017>) > and *South Kordofan*. > > > <http://sudanreeves.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Screen-Shot-2017-01-14-at-12.35.29-PM.png> > > *Obama administration ambassador to the UN Samantha Power preposterously > declared (January 13, 2017) that there had been a "sea change" of > improvement in humanitarian access in Sudan* > > We learn how destructive the Obama administration’s gross > misrepresentation of access issues is in a piece from *Bronwen Dachs*, > which appeared yesterday in *The Boston Pilot* > <http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=180076/>; Dachs has worked > as a reporter in Africa for *Catholic News Service (CNS) *for more than a > quarter of a century. > > The entire dispatch appears below, but I highlight a moment that should > bring the deepest shame to those members of the Obama administration who > put in motion the move to reward Khartoum by initially lifting sanctions: > > "Here, I have shed tears watching emaciated women with babies on their > backs being turned away when they get to the front of the long line because > there is nothing left for them," Oliver Waindi, executive director of the > Bishop Gassis Relief and Rescue Foundation, told CNS. "The suffering is as > I imagine hell to be." > > "There are a lot of children dying here," Waindi said, noting that before > the changed weather patterns of the past two years, "people had very little > to eat, but now they have nothing at all." > > <http://sudanreeves.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/DSC01714.jpg> > > *Nuba child dying of starvation* > > Could there be a greater crime against humanity than to deny people in the > most acute distress the most basic means of living? (See my discussion of > this question in "On the Obstruction of Humanitarian Aid," *African > Studies Review**, *Volume 54, Number 3 (December 2011), pages 165 – 74 | > http://wp.me/p45rOG-I6/). And yet it continues, and all signs from U.S. > diplomats and military/intelligence officials > <https://www.dabangasudan.org/en/all-news/article/us-official-meets-with-sudan-speaker-explains-sanctions-decision> > make > clear that the decision will be to lift permanently sanctions on this > heartless and cruel regime, one that remains on the State Department list > of “state sponsors of international terrorism”—and with good reason (see | > *http://wp.me/p45rOG-220/ > <http://wp.me/p45rOG-220/>*). > *Khartoum’s Ambitions in the Nuba Mountains* > > Many things seemed to have escaped the attention of—or simply been ignored > by—the Obama and Trump administrations. There were really only two > significant conditions for the permanent lifting of sanctions: (1) improved > humanitarian access (the degree of “improvement” left conveniently > unspecified) and (2) the end of offensive military actions, including > aerial bombardment of the Nuba Mountains—by *Antonov bombers* attacking > fields, agricultural production, and civilian villages, and by much more > precise military aircraft (e.g., the *Sukhoi-25’s *in the regime’s air > force, which have repeatedly, deliberately attacked hospitals, including > one operated by *Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).* > <http://sudanreeves.org/wp-admin/t> > > > <http://sudanreeves.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Sukhoi_Su-24_inflight_Mishin-2.jpg> > > *A Sukhoi-25, used to attack the MSF hospital in Frandala, South Kordofan > for a second time* > > <http://sudanreeves.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/photo-3.jpg> > > *Young Nuba child severely injured by an Antonov bombing attack* > > Perversely, by prohibiting aerial strikes, the Obama/Trump administrations > have made all the more important the maintaining of the humanitarian > blockade on South Kordofan and Blue Nile. War in these regions has been > predominantly war against civilians: they have been the primary targets of > aerial as well as ground assaults since violence began in *early June > 2011* > <http://sudanreeves.org/2011/07/17/us-un-refuse-to-speak-honestly-about-compelling-evidence-of-genocide-in-south-kordofan/> > *.* Denied military opportunity to complete their ambitions in these two > areas—historically aligned with South Sudan militarily and politically > during the long civil war (*1983 – 2005)*—Khartoum depends even more now > upon humanitarian blockades to subdue the rebellion growing out of the > regime’s terrible abuses of the people of these regions. > > The identification of the civilian population with the military resistance > is made clearest in a passage from *leaked minutes of an August 31, 2014 > meeting of the most senior military and security officials of regime* (the > authenticity of these minutes has been established beyond reasonable doubt, > and even the *U.S. State Department *acknowledges their authenticity; see > | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1w5/). > > At one point in these minutes (which can be found in their entirety, > including the Arabic original, at | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1wk/), we hear > from *General Siddiq Amer, Director General of Intelligence and Security:* > > Let us continue to dismantle the armed movements. The mechanisms to do > that are already in place and working*. This year the Sudan People’s Army > (SPLA) managed to cultivate large areas in South Kordofan State. We must > not allow them to harvest these crops. Good harvest means supplies for the > war effort. We must starve them, so that, commanders and civilians desert > them and then we can recruit the deserters to use them in the war to defeat > the rebels.* > > Of course it was not the *Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-North > (SPLM/A-N) *that cultivated the crops but the people of South Kordofan. > No doubt bountiful crops assist the SPLM/A-N to survive, but the conflation > of the *people* of South Kordofan (the “cultivators”) and the *SPLM/A-N *is > all too telling. And it is reflective of war policies by this regime in its > various genocidal counter-insurgency efforts—in Darfur, in the oil regions > of South Sudan, and in the Nuba Mountains during the terrible years in > the *1990s* when the regime declared a *fatwa *against the Nuba people > and imposed a precedent-setting humanitarian blockade. > <http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/in-sudan-genocide-anew/2011/06/17/AGVhCVZH_story.html> > > > <http://sudanreeves.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/south_kordofan_5_6_2012_11.jpg> > > *One victim of Khartoum's humanitarian blockade of the Nuba Mountains* > > *Consequences of Lifting Sanctions Permanently* > > Again, the Trump administration again gives every sign of permanent > lifting sanctions on Khartoum, first imposed in *1997* by *President > Clinton *in response to the regime’s conspicuous support of international > terrorism—*Osama bin Laden* resided in Sudan from *1992 – 1996*, the > years in which al-Qaeda came to fruition. Notably, the Clinton Executive > Order imposing sanctions emphasized in its Preface “the prevalence of > human rights violations, including slavery and the denial of religious > freedom” <https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1997-11-05/pdf/97-29464.pdf> (this > language was ignored out of ignorance or mendacity by the current senior > U.S. official in Khartoum, *Charge d’Affaires Steven Koutsis* | > http://wp.me/p45rOG-24G/). > > > <http://sudanreeves.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/cda-koutsis_new-347x433.jpg> > > *U.S. Charge d’Affaires in Khartoum, Steven Koutsis* > > How will Khartoum respond to this grossly misconceived decision by the > Trump administration? > > Convinced that there will be no re-imposition of sanctions, no matter what > it does domestically, the violence will increase in South Kordofan and > humanitarian access will continue to be denied until South Kordofan is > starved into submission. Military victory over the Darfur rebel groups was > completed with the ghastly* Jebel Marra offensive of 2016*, in which *chemical > weapons were used against civilians > <https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/09/chemical-weapons-attacks-darfur/>* > . > > > <http://sudanreeves.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Screen-Shot-2016-10-11-at-3.26.05-PM.jpg> > > *An infant dying from a chemical weapons attack by Khartoum in the Jebel > Marra region of Central Darfur; see the September 2016 Amnesty > International report at > | > https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/09/chemical-weapons-attacks-darfur > <https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/09/chemical-weapons-attacks-darfur>/* > > And while violence remains at extremely high levels, this is primarily the > responsibility of the militias, most notably the *Rapid Support Forces > (RSF)*—now officially incorporated into the regular Sudan Armed Forces > (SAF). And since the RSF will be redeployed to finish the military job in > South Kordofan during the coming dry season (beginning in > *November/December*), the people will be left at the mercy of the more > irregular Khartoum-sanctioned Arab militia groups that are already > responsible for most of the continuing predations upon African tribal > groups, both in camps for displaced persons and in rural areas, where farms > continue to be violently expropriated from their African owns on a wide > scale (see | *(“Changing the Demography”: Violent Expropriation and > Destruction of Farmlands in Darfur, November 2014 – November 2015" | > *December > 1, 2015 | http://wp.me/p45rOG-1P4/). > > In South Kordofan Khartoum will find the SPLM/A-N badly divided between > the brilliant *leader of the Nuba, Abdel Aziz al-Hilu* and his *Blue Nile > counterpart, Malik Agar*, and *senior SPLM/A-N official Yasir Arman*. > Even with forces united, resistance would have been extremely difficult, > given Khartoum’s redeployment of the RSF and its ability to focus > militarily exclusively on South Kordofan and Blue Nile. Divided, the > SPLM/A-N is greatly weakened. > > The consequences of the apparently inevitable military victory are too > hideous to contemplate, especially given the fierce success of SPLM/A-N > military resistance to date. But one thing I know from my time in the Nuba > in *January 2003*—as the broadest outline of the *Comprehensive Peace > Agreement (January 2005)* were coming into focus—is that the people of > the Nuba will fight to the death. There will be no surrender, since in the > view of the Nuba people surrender entails submitting to cultural > extinction, loss of all land rights, and constant abuse by the immense > holding force Khartoum will put in place. > > Humanitarian access may finally be granted, but only after military > victory—and even then, only on what will be a thoroughly punitive and > vengefully dilatory schedule set by Khartoum (which has refused to > negotiate such access in good faith since the *February 2012*, when the > *Tripartite > Agreement* on access was first proposed by the *UN*, the *African Union,* and > the *Arab League).* > > The Nuba will have been destroyed. > > *********************************** > > *“In Sudan's Nuba Mountains, no food left, and children are dying,” **The > Boston Pilot,* > > August 17, 2017 | > http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=180076 > > by Bronwen Dachs > > When people talk about potential famine, they mention South Sudan. But > about 1 million people who live just over the border, in Sudan's Nuba > Mountains, also face a food emergency. > > "I call it famine," said Bishop Macram Max Gassis, retired bishop of El > Obeid, Sudan. The "hunger the people are experiencing" in the Nuba > Mountains is "not totally due to the cruelty of nature but, unfortunately, > is man-made." > > A survey in the diocese's area of operation, published in June, found that > 74 percent of respondents had no food in their homes and 55 percent had, in > the previous 30 days, at least one member of the household go a whole day > and night without eating at least once. > > South Sudan won its independence from Sudan in 2011, and Nuba was a > disputed region that remained in Sudan, despite its people's affiliations > with the South. > Today, people in Sudan's Nuba Mountains are being bombed by their own > government, Bishop Gassis told Catholic News Service. The Diocese of El > Obeid issued a statement in early August stating that Nuba communities "are > surrounded by battle lines, effectively isolated." It said delivery of > basic services by the Sudanese government and international humanitarian > organizations stopped in mid-2011. > > The diocese "is one of a handful of humanitarian actors delivering > critical and life-saving assistance in the area under extremely difficult > conditions characterized by high levels of insecurity," its statement said. > > The suffering "is evident in the vast number" of people needing food aid > and is worse than any previous suffering in the memory of any diocesan > staff member, the statement said. > > "Here, I have shed tears watching emaciated women with babies on their > backs being turned away when they get to the front of the long line because > there is nothing left for them," Oliver Waindi, executive director of the > Bishop Gassis Relief and Rescue Foundation, told CNS. "The suffering is as > I imagine hell to be." > > "There are a lot of children dying here," Waindi said, noting that before > the changed weather patterns of the past two years, "people had very little > to eat, but now they have nothing at all." > > Bishop Gassis said last year, the rainy season was poor, and this year > floods have ruined what little people were able to plant. "To give you a > picture of how bad things are," residents of the Nuba Mountains are walking > for weeks to seek refuge in South Sudan, Waindi said. "They do that > because, in South Sudan, when their turn comes to get a simple bowl of > grain, they are more likely to get it," he said. > > *[Dachs has covered Africa for CNS for more than 25 years.]* > -- > > Eric Reeves, Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s François-Xavier > Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights > > > > [email protected] > > www.sudanreeves.org > > Twitter@SudanReeves > > About Eric Reeves: http://sudanreeves.org/about-eric-reeves > > Philanthropy: > *http://ericreeves-woodturner.com/woodturnings-available-for-purchase-dire > <http://ericreeves-woodturner.com/woodturnings-available-for-purchase-dire>* > -- To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/southsudankob View this message at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/southsudankob/topic-id/message-id For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. 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