The Invasion of Abyei: two years of more agony
By Luka Biong Deng
May 19, 2013 – On 21st May 2013, the people of Abyei have spent two years of more agony and they will remember again the sad memories of how their lives and livelihoods were shattered by Bashir when he invaded Abyei in May 2011. But such memories will be bitterer this year as their Paramount Chief Kuol Deng has been assassinated not by any other person but by Bashir. Bashir seems to be specialized in selecting May as the month in which he causes suffering to the Ngok Dinka. He devastated Abyei in May 2008 and May 2011 and now assassinated its paramount chief in May 2013. This assassination happened by the time the people of Abyei are returning back to their home areas and to start afresh with a long journey of recovering from the devastation of Abyei area and trauma caused on them by Bashir. This insatiable appetite of Bashir for causing agony on Ngok Dinka has reached its climax when he killed their paramount chief on 4th May 2013.
Based on the trauma survey conducted by Kush Inc. among the displaced Ngok Dinka, about 82% of people with children had a child or children who became ill or injured as a result of the attack of Abyei by Bashir in May 2011. More than half (51%) of the displaced population became ill or injured as a result of the attack but higher among women with 58.3% of them became ill or injured. Almost 38% of the displaced population met the criteria for the Post-Trauma Stress Disorder illness but higher among women with more than half (51%) affected by the illness. This illness diminishes a person’s ability to function independently, regulate behavior, reason and solve problems such as reconciliation with former enemies. These statistics are astonishing and extremely high compared with other post-conflict contexts but they clearly reflect the amount of suffering caused by Bashir on the people of Abyei.
With the assassination of their chief, the people of Abyei are becoming even more traumatized. If one could imagine the feeling of an old woman who returned to Abyei after a long displacement in the North since mid 1980s and she got displaced in May 2008 when she was about to settle down; returned back to settle down but displaced again in May 2011 and returned back in 2013 to hear that her paramount chief has been assassinated. With the news about the death their chief, at least one adult person in every household of Ngok Dinka shed tears and even more during his burial ceremony. When Edward Lino, the prominent leader of Ngok Dinka, shed tears on the day of the burial, many Ngok Dinka and others were moved and sobbed as well. If one could imagine the amount of tears shed all over the world for the untimely death of Chief Kuol, then you can assess the level of agony and suffering inflicted again by Bashir on the people of Abyei. I shed tears that day in the same way I wept when Dr John died because I saw in their untimely death a real loss of the much-needed wisdom and leadership during critical times of peace-building in Abyei and South.
Chief Kuol Deng inherited the Ngok Dinka Chieftainship from his brother Chief Moyak Deng who was also assassinated in 1970 by Sudan Government in Abyei town with others including his two brothers (Bulabek and Chan) and his uncle (Arop Mahdi). Chief Moyak was accused of supporting Abyei Anya Nya insurgent initiated in 1964 and headed by his brother Arop Deng as a reaction to the atrocities committed by the Government of Sudan in Abyei. These atrocities included the massive devastation and displacement of the Ngok Dinka from their villages along Ngol River and the burning to death of more than 200 Southern Sudanese including the mother of Minister Deng Alor in the presence of government officials and the paramount chief of Misseriyia in their major towns of Muglad and Babanusa.
After his assumption of chieftainship in 1976, Chief Kuol provided a solid and people-servant leadership during the relative peace after Addis Ababa Peace Accords in 1972 but also during the most difficult times of prolonged second civil war that ended in 2005. He managed to keep the voices of people Abyei alive during the difficult times such as the 1977 massacre when more than 100 Ngok Dinka including the late Mijak Abiem who were travelling to Abyei town from Muglad and wiping out any presence of Ngok Dinka in Abyei area in the mid 1980s. He survived assassination attempt in Abyei town in 1981 when Sudan Government attacked him with some members of his family who gathered for a dinner and that resulted in the killing of his cousin Alor Arop. He was arrested in December 1982 by Sudan Government with other leaders of Ngok Dinka as they were accused of organizing Anya Nya II insurgency in Abyei and Bahr el Ghazal region under the leadership of his brother Miokol Deng.
Ten days before his assassination, two Misseriyia delegations from traditional authorities and senior officers of the notorious Popular Defence Force went to Khartoum and met with national government (National Security, Presidency, Defense, Misseriyia clique around Bashir) to discuss their settlement plan in Abyei and ways of discouraging the return of Ngok Dinka to their home areas. In these meetings the role of Chief Kuol was discussed as the symbol of the return of Ngok Dinka to their home areas and hard supporter of the conduct of Abyei Referendum to ensure Abyei joining the South. His presence in Abyei area was seen by Sudan Government as an obstacle to its settlement plan in Abyei. In fact his assassination was part of a mega plan developed by the Sudan Government to settle Arab nomads in Abyei area while destabilizing the return of Ngok Dinka to their home areas.
As Sudan Government is trying to twist facts around the incident, it is important to put some of these facts straight. Chief Kuol and other members of Ngok Dinka were moving with UN on 4th May as part of their normal visit to inspect the areas of Abyei, particularly the northern areas. On their way back to Abyei town, the armed Arab militias supported by Sudan Government stopped the UN vehicles and asked instead the UN to hand them the Ngok Dinka passengers in the UN vehicles, particularly the Paramount Chief with clear intention of assassinating them. The UN force commander refused their demand and negotiated with them for almost six hours to allow them to proceed to Abyei town. During the six hours negotiation, the armed Arab militias used all possible means to provoke and humiliate UN forces and Ngok Dinka passengers. When the UN force commander accepted their demand to return back with UN vehicles to the oilfield area of Kec (Differa), one of the armed Arab militia singled out Paramount Chief and shot him in the UN vehicle and died instantly.
The reaction to the death of paramount chief was overwhelming. In Abyei, the Ngok Dinka showed special respect to their leader by the huge presence of almost every Ngok Dinka adult during the burial. I have never seen Ngok Dinka so united as they put behind their minor differences. The people of the South in all ten states remarkably showed their solidarity with the people of Abyei and mourned the death of Chief Kuol almost in the same way they mourned the death of their founding leader; Dr John Garang. In fact President Salva expressed it all the overwhelming feeling of the people of the South in his powerful and emotional statement on the death of Chief Kuol. This reaction of the South to the death of Chief Kuol was a real public plebiscite of how the people of the South see Abyei as an integral part of the South.
While Government of Sudan, unsurprisingly, embarked on blaming the deceased for provoking the armed Arab nomads to overact, the Sudanese people, civil society organizations and other political parties abhorred the assassination of paramount chief and some even held the Sudan Government responsible. The reaction of African Union, UN, European Union, leaders of the neighbouring countries and some other leaders was spontaneous and with one key message not to delay again the resolution of the final status of Abyei.
There is no doubt that Chief Kuol Deng has been exceptionally honoured by his people in Abyei, people of the South, people of Sudan and indeed the international community. If Chief Kuol were to rise to see how he was mourned, he would know how much legacy he left behind. As Chief Kuol was a source of hope, resilience and endurance for the people of Abyei area, his death should make the people of Abyei more determined to protect their ancestral land and to ensure Abyei remaining as part and parcel of the South and to nurture the values and principles for which he fought for during his life. The real redemption for the death of Chief Kuol is to mobilize all available efforts to ensure Abyei is peaceful and prosperous within the Republic of South Sudan by May 2014. In fact the assassination of Chief Kuol Deng was by itself a referendum for the final status of Abyei.
The author is a fellow at Harvard Kennedy School. He can be reached at [email protected] . This article is published also by the New Nation Newspaper