Local militias causing havoc in southern Sudan – CPMT
NAIROBI, July 15, 2005 (IRIN) — Armed Lou Nuer militias left their established routes and water points from January to June to carry out aggressive acts against communities in the Upper Nile region of southeastern Sudan, a report by the US-sponsored Civilian Protection Monitoring Team (CPMT) said.
“The Lou Nuer conflict with other communities generated an unacceptable scale of displacement and deprivation among the general population,” the CPMT said in its June report.
It documented a number of incidents from heavy fighting and rape to cattle rustling, particularly near Duk Padiet in western Jonglei State.
The conflict continued to contravene the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A) on 9 January, which guaranteed the security of south Sudanese civilians, it added.
“These people, looking forward to peace after decades of conflict, are losing confidence in the “peace” as they continue to be killed, robbed and looted,” the CPMT warned.
Traditionally, the Lou Nuer, who inhabit the water-scarce middle Jonglei region, move with their livestock between rainy season and dry season pastures on a seasonal basis.
During the dry season, water and pasture become limited and most pastoralist groups move their livestock towards the so-called “toich”, the floodplains of the Nile.
Despite the fragile and complex environment, reports from Pact, an agency supporting grass-roots peace efforts in Sudan, have highlighted some positive conflict-resolution efforts also underway in the area.
When the Lou-Nuer left the “toich” to return to their home-areas in May, a full-scale conflict with a group of some 3,500 armed Gawar Nuer and Holl Dinka was prevented by a “rapid response” initiative led by local peace actors, which opened a safe passage for the Lou Nuer through Duk Dinka territories.
According to Pact, several Lou community leaders had led efforts in Waat and Yuai to reconcile the divided Lou community with the hope that this would provide a foundation for positive relationships among communities and their neighbours.
A UNICEF-sponsored report on grassroots conflicts in Sudan said as the dry season progressed, pastoralists from various ethnic groups tended to concentrate around the last available water and grazing resources, increasing incidents of cattle rustling, abductions, and violent clashes.
As a result, most communities had formed their own informal militia – known as the ‘jesh mabor’ or white army – for self-defence.
However, these groups served as a pool of men and boys periodically mobilised by actors in the wider civil war, such as the Sudanese government, the SPLM/A and Nuer factions that split from the SPLM/A in 1991.
A humanitarian source in the region said overall, cattle rustling and violence in the region was less prevalent than in the past. “It has now been reduced to pockets of violence,” he said.
The general opinion, he added, was that the proliferation of weapons in the region had brought harm to the people and the arms needed to be collected.
“Almost everyone of the age of 16 and above is carrying a gun. It creates a lot of havoc and fear among the people,” he said.
He also warned against treating the Lou Nuer as a homogeneous group.
Gabriel Yuol Dok, deputy chairman of the South Sudan Liberation Movement/Army, formed in 1999 in the Upper Nile region to restore order and unity among the Nuer people, said a Lou-Lou reconciliation conference had taken place in Yuai from 5 – 11 July.
“The people have agreed to try to resolve the conflict amongst themselves, stop the fighting and cattle rustling and restore the unity of the people in Yuai,” he said on Friday. “There have been no reported incidents lately. It is relatively stable at the moment.”