This Week in South Sudan – Week 47

Monday 17 November

Tuesday 18 November

  • UNHCR started relocating 15,000 stranded South Sudanese refugees, from a way station in western Ethiopia to Pugnido Refugee Camp, some 300 kilometres away.
  • The SPLA-IO and SPLA-Juba factions have reportedly decided on a phased withdrawal of Ugandan troops from South Sudanese territory during an IGAD workshop in Addis Ababa.

Wednesday 19 November

Thursday 20 November

Friday 21 November

  • South Sudan’s peace talks -expected to resume on 24 November, have been postponed to allow the SPLM-IO to discuss the ongoing negotiations at a party conference in Pagak.

Saturday 22 November

Sunday 23 November

  • The joint committee tasked with demarcating Sudan and South Sudan’s border concluded ‘successful’ meetings in Addis Ababa, and agreed to meet again in Khartoum on 7 December.

This Week in South Sudan – Week 46, Part 2

Friday 14 November

Saturday 15 November

Sunday 16 November

  • A workshop on the implementation of South Sudan’s Cessation of Hostilities (COH) agreement started in Addis Ababa on Saturday, bringing together SPLA and rebel commanders of the SPLM-IO.
  • President Salva Kiir accused IGAD of delaying the peace process, claiming imposed recess and holidays whenever the two factions are nearing a breakthrough ‘is why peace has not yet been signed.’

This Week in South Sudan – Week 46, Part 1

Monday 10 November

Tuesday 11 November

  • The SPLM-in-Opposition has dropped their demand for President Salva Kiir to step down, and proposed to remove Vice President, James Wani Igga, instead, as well as the vice presidency itself.
  • Police in South Sudan’s Lakes state, deployed in Rumbek to quell down insecurity threats, have withdrawn from all hotspots due to poor relations between the public and the authorities.

Wednesday 12 November

Thursday 13 November

  • European Parliament press release: MEPs call on IGAD, the African Union and the global community to impose targeted sanctions on South Sudan.

 

This Week in South Sudan – Week 45, Part 2

Friday 7 November

Saturday 8 November

Sunday 9 November

 

Journal of Eastern African Studies, Special Issue: Politics and violence in eastern Africa: the struggles of emerging states, c.1940-1990

The newly published Special Issue of Journal of Eastern African Studies, Politics and
violence in eastern Africa: the struggles of emerging states, c.1940-1990, edited by
David M. Anderson and Øystein H. Rolandsen, features four articles relating to South
Sudan:

 

1. Political violence and the emergence of the dispute over Abyei, Sudan, 1950–
1983. By Luka B. Deng Kuol.

Why has the issue of Abyei come to gain such a prominent place in the political
relations between Sudan and South Sudan? This article traces the origin of the
current contestation over the status of Abyei, and assesses the impact of political
violence in Abyei on the history of conflict between the Government of Sudan and
the people of the south. Through its analysis, the article demonstrates that the Abyei
issue gained political significance not only because of repressive violence from the
government and its allies, but also through the people of Abyei’s shared experience
of political struggle against oppression.

 

2. The grassroots nature of counterinsurgent tribal militia formation: the case of the
Fertit in Southern Sudan, 1985–1989. By Daniel S. Blocq.

Many counterinsurgent tribal militias emerged during the second civil war in
Southern Sudan, and existing studies give the impression that formation of these
groups was largely a top-down process. This article challenges that assumption
through the study of the Fertit militia, arguing that formation of tribal militias
emerged from decision making at the local level, carried out by tribal leaders. The
article discusses the wider applicability of these insights and, generally, proposes a
more nuanced approach to the study of counterinsurgent militia formation. The
approach suggests simultaneous attention to state interventions and local
interactions.

 

3. Ethiopian state support to insurgency in Southern Sudan from 1962 to 1983:
local, regional and global connections. By Lovise Aalen.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Government of Ethiopia supplied Southern
Sudanese insurgents with arms, training and political support. This support has been
explained as retribution for Sudanese aid to Eritrean rebels fighting against the
regimes of Emperor Haile Salassie and the Derg. However, through analysis of
primary sources, this article shows that Ethiopian policy was also influenced by local
concern for state control in Ethiopia’s Western region of Gambella, by the regional
interests of Middle Eastern powers in the Horn of Africa and by the global context of
Cold War, reflecting a network of multi-level proxy wars.

 

4. Discourses of violence in the transition from colonialism to independence in
southern Sudan, 1955–1960. By Øystein H. Rolandsen & Cherry Leonardi.

The Torit Mutiny of August 1955 in southern Sudan did not trigger a civil war, but
state violence and disorder escalated over the following years. This article explores
how the outlook and strategies of the government officials who inherited the state
apparatus of the Anglo-Egyptian condominium contributed to this development. The
article outlines a great degree of continuity in state authoritarianism and repressive
governance discourse from the colonial period to the post-colonial period, and in the
principles in which southerners were ruled under the pretext of being ‘developed’,
‘modernized’ and ‘civilized’.

 

These articles are the outcome of the PRIO project, The Dynamics of State Failure
and Violence and earlier versions were presented at the Durham University
Conference 8-11 May 2014.

This Week in South Sudan – Week 45, Part 1

Monday 3 November

  • South Sudanese officials accused Khartoum of launching a bombing raid on a village in Western Bahr el Ghazal over the weekend.
  • The SPLA and the rebel forces traded accusations over who started new fighting in the town of Dolieb, in Upper Nile state, on Sunday.

Tuesday 4 November

  • VoA South Sudan in Focus interview with Riek Machar:’Our Desire is to Have Peace in South Sudan.’
  • President Salva Kiir concluded a two-day visit in Khartoum with President Al Bashir where they discussed outstanding issues between the two countries.

Wednesday 5 November

  • The U.S. delegation to the UN Security Council informed it will circulate a draft resolution establishing an international sanctions regime against South Sudan.
  • Human Rights Watch: South Sudan’s neighbors should pressure the UN Security Council to establish an arms embargo.
  • Juba warned possible western sanctions could undermine the ongoing peace negotiations.

Thursday 6 November

Demystifying the White Army: Nuer Armed Civilians’ Involvement in the South Sudanese Crisis

Article posted in ACCORD Conflict Trends Magazine, 2014/13, by PRIO Researcher Ingrid Marie Breidlid, and Michael J. Arensen.

 

The article argues that although the conflict erupted as a result of division within the SPLM, the mass mobilization in opposition areas, e.g. of Nuer civilian fighters, illustrates this is not only a political dispute, but also a crisis of governance. A durable solution to the ongoing crisis would therefore have to address local grievances and rebuild the relations and trust between the state and the society.

 

Abstract:

Less than three years after gaining independence, South Sudan faces a new civil war. Since December 2013, over a million people have been displaced and more than 10 000 killed in fighting between the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO), led by former vice president Riek Machar. Political divisions within the ruling party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), quickly devolved into violent clashes within the army (Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army – SPLA) in the capital Juba, and subsequent army defections. Atrocities committed by government forces against the Nuer in Juba during the same period triggered a mass mobilisation of Nuer civilians in Greater Upper Nile and revenge killings of Dinkas in areas captured by the SPLM/A-IO. Reinforced by politicised ethnic rhetoric, the brutal targeting of civilians by both sides has since continued, resulting in condemnations from the region and international community. The involvement of armed civilians in carrying out such atrocities, and their relations with the conventional forces, is poorly understood. In particular, the White Army – Nuer civilian fighters aligned with the opposition – have gained notoriety. Media reports have perpetuated popular narratives of the White Army as a ferocious, tough and brutal group of uncontrollable Nuer youth. This article intends to demystify the White Army by examining its history, role in Nuer society, structure and cooperation with the SPLM/A-IO. Increased comprehension and engagement with armed community structures, such as the White Army, is necessary to facilitate a durable solution to the current conflict.

 

For the full article, click here.

 

This article is an outcome of the PRIO project “Youth and Violence in South Sudan” which is funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More results from this project is available in the two PRIO briefs below:

This Week in South Sudan – Week 44, Part 2

Friday 31 October 

Saturday 1 November

Sunday 2 November 

This Week in South Sudan – Week 44, Part 1

Monday 27 October

  • According to a Global Witness report, South Sudan’s first post-independence oil deal with Star Petroleum is high-risk and in urgent need of further scrutiny.
  • Fighting erupted again between government forces and rebel troops in Unity State in South Sudan; each side blamed the other for initiating the clash.
  • According to a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, Luke Patey, the Chinese gov. and China National Petroleum Corp. are reviewing their oil relationships with Sudan and South Sudan.
  • More than 60 civilians injured in fights at a Protection of Civilians (PoC) site next to the United Nations House on the outskirts of Juba.
  • President Salva Kiir accepted to share power with a “non-executive” prime minister appointed by the rebels, however the SPLM-in-Opposition does not agree to this condition.

Tuesday 28 October

Wednesday 29 October

Thursday 30 October

This Week in South Sudan – Week 43, Part 2

Friday 24 October

Saturday 25 October

  • Death toll allegedly hits 59 in Lake state after ongoing clashes between government security forces and pastoralists.
  • Participants of the 28-day Yei reconciliation workshop in South Sudan’s Central Equatoria, said the current approach being adopted is already bearing fruit.

Sunday 26 October