South Sudan needs to recognize citizenship

By Nasredeen Abdulbari

May 12, 2011 — The proper birth of any sovereign nation starts with the adoption of a set of fundamental principles according to which it would be governed. In this context, the draft of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011 has recently been released, and will soon be approved by the South Sudan Legislative Assembly. The Constitution is not entirely a new document. It is, in point of fact, an amended version of the South Sudan Interim Constitution of 2005.

Like all constitutions in the world, the South Sudan Transitional Constitution of 2011, which falls in 82, A4 pages and contains 201 articles and 5 schedules, determines, inter alia, the structure of the government of the new republic, the guiding principles that would lead the new nation, the relationship between the main organs of the state, and the relationship between the individual and the state.

Unlike some previous constitutions of Sudan, the draft of the constitution does not make any mention of the identity of the new nation, and rightly so. The fundamental idea on which constitutions are based nowadays is citizenship, not ethnic, cultural, or religious identities. Wisdom therefore dictates that nations, states, and governments concentrate directly on how different identities could peacefully live together, and establish a strong nation, rather than sparking unnecessary debates over the identity of the state.

There are of course several issues that deserve throwing light on, but this article limits itself to the issue of citizenship, which is mentioned in the draft constitution in Chapter II. This Chapter consists of two articles, 45 and 46, titled “Citizenship and Rights” and “Duties of the Citizen”, respectively.

Article 45 (1) recognizes the alienable right of citizenship to every person born to a Southern Sudanese mother or father. This article enables thousands of individuals who hail from Southern Sudanese fathers or mothers, and not from parents who both come from Southern Sudanese origins, to acquire the nationality of South Sudan. In addition, Subsections 5 and 6 recognize dual or multiple nationality. They provide that Southern Sudanese may acquire the nationality of another country, and that non-Southern Sudanese may acquire the nationality of South Sudan by naturalization. The detailed rules that will regulate acquisition of another citizenship or that of South Sudan are to be worked out by the nationality law, which will be adopted later. Subsection 4 unequivocally prohibits arbitrary deprivation of nationality acquired by non-Southern Sudanese. This transitional constitution by these provisions avoids discrimination against women, violation of the rights of the child, and prohibition of the desirable recognition of the dual and multiple nationality principle.

It is of course yet to be seen whether nationality laws and regulations would be consistent with the aforesaid provisions. Recent statements, however, by South Sudanese officials give us reasons to be cautiously optimistic. In the last week of this April, the Minister of International Cooperation in the South stated that South Sudan would give all Northern Sudanese who are residents of South Sudan the right to choose between the nationality of the new state and the retention of their Sudanese nationality. He said South Sudan would abide by the applicable international norms as far as nationality and citizenship are concerned. He also said this was their unchangeable position, regardless of what the government in Khartoum would do as far as the status of Southerners in the North is concerned.

Sudan has lost too many decades, because of wars that have been ignited by the inability of the Sudanese to appreciate and effectuate the notion of citizenship. We, the Sudanese, unnecessarily wasted time and financial and human resources on wars and shows of public bickering over the identity of our nation. It is time now to learn from our history. That means, at the moment, the recognition, not only in theory but also in practice, of citizenship as the basis of rights and duties in Sudan and South Sudan. It also means that our failure to coexist and establish an irresistible nation should not prevent us from seizing any opportunity to cooperate and recognize the internationally recognized rights of individuals, the most important of which is the right to nationality and citizenship. In this regard, the provisions of Article 45 of the draft constitution of South Sudan and the statements made by the International Cooperation Minister of the South are a great step in the right track. The Government in the North should also take a similar step in the same direction for the future of political relations and economic cooperation between the Republic of Sudan and the soon-to-be Republic of South Sudan.

* Nasredeen Abdulbari is a Sudanese lawyer and academic. He is a lecturer at the International and Comparative Law Department, University of Khartoum. This article was published by the Star newspaper in Nairobi on May 9th, 2011.