A letter from Sudan
Studying international crimes and criminology is important in understanding today’s inter- and intrastate conflicts, and atrocities committed. However, I’ve always been missing a more practical knowledge and insight in the very theoretical approach that is often inherent to university education. In order to understand the issues being studied more thoroughly and in depth, grasps what conflict means and does, I believe one should actually go to areas where conflict has been or is ravaging.
For me, this opportunity came in April this year when, being an exchange student in South Africa, I got the chance to join a research group of the University of Pretoria. Under supervision of a very knowledgeable coordinator, who is also a professional war-photographer and four other students from different countries (Zimbabwe, Malawi, Nigeria and Finland) I went to Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan, for 10 days. All students conducted their own research about their specific topic. My research focused on the perception of people from Southern Sudan concerning the indictment of the International Criminal Court of Sudanese president al-Bashir, and if the indictment affects their security situation. It’s incredible how much you learn during such a research trip. Not only regarding substance and content, but also about issues as methodology, dealing with corruption and approaching specific social situations. Never did I realize the significance of the course ‘research methodology of international crimes’ more, and at the same time I was never more aware of how little a course can prepare you for issues you are going to face ‘in the field’.
In Sudan there has been a war between the north and the south for over 50 years. The second civil war started when the Muslim north imposed Sharia law on the non-Muslim south, but apart from religion it is also about oil resources and marginalization. When in 2005 the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed between the northern National Congress Party and the southern Sudan People Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), a government was established in South Sudan. Also, a timeline was set out for a referendum in 2011 to vote about secession from the north. In the four years of peace, little progress and development has come to Juba. The city looks like a poor village, with huts and gravel roads. Many parts are still ruined, and when landing with a plane in Juba you see parts of other planes lying around the huts that surround the airstrip. The safety situation at first appears to be quite okay. I could move around on bota bota’s (motorbikes) if I was with one of the African students, and people were friendly and curious. After a couple of days however I realized the threat in Juba does not come from the population, but from the government and specifically the army. The SPLM does not exercise effective or centralized control over its army, partially because they have no budget to pay salaries. The SPLA consists of predominantly illiterate former rebels who seek individual power. When walking around in Juba, every 100 meters a SPLA soldier asks you what you are doing and why, especially if he just saw another soldier doing it. My supervisor, the Finish student and me were arrested for taking pictures, which we knew was a sensitive topic, by the next soldier while having had permission from the first one. After hours of negotiation and eventually erasing pictures and paying 200 Sudanese pounds we were released.
To answer my research question, I interviewed many local and international NGO’s, UN organizations and Southern Sudanese people. A general finding was that the ICC indictment, that charges al-Bashir for crimes committed in Darfur, does not mean much to people. There is a strong perception that what happened in Darfur is completely different from the war between the north and the south. The indictment therefore doesn’t represent any form of justice for them. Their justice still has yet to come, and this can only be achieved by secession from the north. The indictment actually raises questions as to why al-Bashir hasn’t been prosecuted for the atrocities committed in South Sudan, which took many more lives than in Darfur. As for the security situation, it is feared that the indictment will undermine the CPA and will consequently cause a revival of the conflict. At the same time, many people see the conflict reviving anyway. To them, the current situation is seen as just a phase in the overall conflict, with 2011 being the next phase. The south will then either vote for secession, which the north will not allow since the oil deposits are in the south, or the referendum will be postponed, because the crucial steps before the referendum have not been fulfilled yet (elections and border demarcation), which the south will not accept. In both scenarios, conflict will return in 2011. Added to this pessimistic view is the increasing tribal fighting, currently especially between the Dinka and Murle tribes in Jonglei State, inside Southern Sudan. These conflicts traditionally evolve around cattle raiding, but their nature seems to change towards ethnic cleansing. Whether an independent South Sudan is going to be a ‘new Somalia’ as some people claim is yet to be seen, but the fact that it will be confronted with a challenging future is already an eminent reality.
Anne Schuit
ICC student
VU University Amsterdam
The Netherlands
