Fwd: [sudan-john-ashworth] The White Army
Elisabeth Janaina
From: John Ashworth <ashwor...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Feb 23, 2012 at 12:33 PM
Subject: [sudan-john-ashworth] The White Army
To: Group <sudan-joh...@googlegroups.com>
The current White Army is not a standing army, but a force of armed
civilians who are normally dispersed but can come together as an army
when there is a general feeling within the community (and particularly
within the armed youth) that it is necessary. Once they do so, they
operate with remarkable cohesion and organisation under strong
leadership. They have good communications and intelligence. Their
current fighting style apparently contrasts with the Murle, who have
been operating in very small groups, probably not under central
command, staging small and widely separated attacks in true guerilla
fashion. Amongst both the Lou Nuer and the Murle it is doubtful
whether either traditional structures (chiefs, elders, women, etc) or
"modern" leadership structures (members of parliament, senators, local
government officials, civil society groups, etc) have any significant
influence on the armed youth.
As article 1 (below) states, there is some connection between the
diaspora and the White Army, as much of the core message of the
internet statements appears to reflect the feelings of the community
on the ground. This is actually quite rare for the South Sudanese
diaspora, whose pronouncements are often out of touch with the daily
reality at home. Nevertheless it is clear that the pro-White Army
propaganda from abroad comes from a very small group of individuals,
perhaps as few as three or four, who may use false names and who
fabricate imaginary conferences and networks to bolster their
credibility.
This has caused a reaction with "moderate" diaspora groups now
producing their own statements in opposition to the "extremists".
While it is good to hear that the diaspora in general does not support
violence, there are two problems with this. Firstly, it just creates a
new internet war, not uncommon for South Sudanese, with various groups
claiming legitimacy and potentially attacking each other verbally.
Secondly, even much of the "moderate" internet traffic still labels
the Murle as the prime culprits, and thus is still partisan in a
conflict in which all sides have committed atrocities against each
other and each side has its own version of events. Neither of these
dynamics is particularly conducive to peace.
What is clear from the second article (below), is that people in
Jonglei State take the law into their own hands and act, according to
their own perception, in self-defence because the government has been
unable to provide security for them. It should be a priority for both
state and national government to create a climate of security within
Jonglei State. In the short term that probably means hugely increasing
the number of army and police in the state to provide buffer zones
between communities, to guard population centres and protect people,
property and livestock, and to react quickly to attacks. It also means
training the security forces not to commit human rights abuses (see
other articles I have circulated today and yesterday about
misbehaviour by security personnel). After a climate of security and
confidence has been achieved, which could take many months or even
years, only then will the government be in a strong position
successfully to go ahead with its planned disarmament process. Roads
and other forms of development, provided in a way that is perceived as
equitable by all communities in the state, are also part of the
solution. At the same time, both high-level peace conferences and the
churches' grassroots peace process need to go ahead side by side to
try to address the root causes of these longstanding conflicts and to
bring reconciliation; another process which could take years.
John
BEGIN
1. South Sudan Officials Rebuff the White Army Comeback
Posted by Annette LaRocco and Nenad Marinkovic on Feb 22, 2012
Enough Project
BOR, South Sudan – The recent spate of violence in Jonglei state has
drawn the world’s attention to the cyclical problem of inter-communal
violence in South Sudan. When another round of violence between the
Lou-Nuer and Murle people reignited in late December 2011, it was
accompanied by disturbing press releases from the so-called Lou-Nuer
White Army calling for the extermination of the Murle people, which
appalled the public in South Sudan and beyond.
The original White Army came into being during the later years of the
Second Sudanese Civil War as an irregular force of Nuer youths aligned
with a breakaway faction of the SPLA. It remained active in South
Sudan until just after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement, or CPA, when the government began dismantling and disarming
the group.
However, there has been a recent resurgence of a group of Lou-Nuer
youths adopting the White Army's name. The group’s public messages
have called for radical measures against the Murle community in
Jonglei state, offering mass extermination as the “solution” that
would once and for all end the long-standing inter-communal conflict
between Murle and Lou-Nuer and Dinka in Jonglei. In a press release
from late December, 2011, they called for massive mobilization of
Lou-Nuer youth to wipe out Murle population:
"The Nuer Youth White Army will continue operations on the daily basis
until all Murle are finished so that they will not raid the Nuer
anymore. We call on SPLA soldiers who do not want to die this year to
stay out of our way. The Nuer White Army is well armed and no power
can stop it."
Despite the shocking rhetoric, leading officials from Jonglei state,
including the governor himself, do not give too much importance to
these statements, attributing them to Lou-Nuer diaspora, as opposed to
youth residing in Jonglei. In a meeting with the Enough Project,
Jonglei state governor Kuol Manyang Juuk laughed at the White Army’s
bombastic remarks, including the suggestion that the president of
South Sudan, Salva Kiir, would end up like the fallen Libyan dictator,
Muammar el-Qaddafi, if Kiir attempts to disarm the White Army.
Extraordinary statements like this have caused government officials to
view the new White Army’s calls with ridicule, rather than concern.
Governor Manyang confidently stated that the new “White Army” is
merely made up of “fanatics” from Lou-Nuer diaspora in the United
States waging an “internet war.”
Like the state’s governor, the chief of security agencies in Jonglei,
Duop Lam, is convinced that the press activities of the new White Army
are tangential to current situation on the ground. He believes the
newly reconstituted White Army is actually a small group of Lou-Nuer
diaspora attempting to use the media to manipulate local politics in
Akobo County, the epicenter of where Lou-Nuer youth are mobilizing
against the Murle in Jonglei.
Indeed, it appears that the bulk of these press releases have
originated from the Lou-Nuer diaspora abroad. While the diaspora’s
level of involvement in the escalation of the violence remains
unclear, a South Sudanese immigrant living in Seattle has recently
drawn criticism for his role in raising $45,000 for Lou-Nuer youth in
Jonglei. Many officials in Jonglei state believe the Lou-Nuer diaspora
are using the current atmosphere of inter-communal violence and
tension in an attempt to further their extreme political views from
afar. Presumably, however, there could be some level of communication
between armed groups in Akobo and their "spokespeople" abroad, though
this may not necessarily indicate that the armed youth on the ground
see the members of the diaspora as their legitimate emissaries.
Despite the confidence of the Jonglei state government, the rhetoric
of ethnic cleansing coming from the new White Army should be a cause
for concern. Historically, members of the South Sudanese diaspora,
acting along ethnic lines, have tried to influence political events in
South Sudan. Unlike in the past, when the diaspora engagement was
usually divorced from the realities on the ground, this group of
Lou-Nuer activists in the U.S. appears to be in sync with current
events in Jonglei. The rhetoric of their statements is in line with
the sentiments expressed by Lou-Nuer from Akobo County in discussions
with high-ranking South Sudan officials sent from Juba to mediate and
in interviews with Enough.
Many questions remain unanswered about the alleged re-emergence of the
White Army in South Sudan. However, the governor insisted that the
answers lay not in Jonglei state but with the diaspora. He suggested
Enough reach out to these individuals who claim to represent the White
Army.
“Go to the United States and ask them [the Lou-Nuer diaspora] what
they think,” said Governor Manyang, dismissing the suggestion that the
recent violence in Jonglei marks a resurgence of the White Army.
Regardless of the connection between Lou-Nuer youth in Jonglei state
and diaspora members, inter-communal violence in South Sudan is a very
real issue. Rather than dismissing the diaspora’s rhetoric out of hand
as an external issue, Governor Manyang and others within the
government of the Republic of South Sudan would do well to examine the
linkages between diaspora rhetoric and monetary support, on the one
hand, and outbreaks of violence in Jonglei state, on the other.
Whether or not the youth of Jonglei are united under the banner of the
White Army, the fact remains that inter-communal violence in Jonglei
state, and throughout South Sudan, threatens to erode the fragile
social and political stability of the new nation.
http://enoughproject.org/blogs/south-sudan-officials-rebuff-white-army-comeback
END1
2. Armed Civilians Challenge South Sudan Government
Posted by Nenad Marinkovic on Feb 15, 2012
Enough Project
BOR, South Sudan -- While the government of South Sudan is pondering
the best way to tackle growing insecurity and prospects of persistent
inter-communal hostility, the restive state of Jonglei, the scene of
the recent deadly clashes, is enveloped in fear, anxiety, and
anticipation of likely reprisal attacks—a situation which, if not
handled sensibly, may escalate.
Nothing but a single metal pole, driven into the ground, marks the
border dividing two hostile communities, the Murle in Pibor and the
Dinka in Bor County. Civilians from either side rarely cross this
ambiguous borderline.
“There are no Murle people in the state capital,” said Orozu Daky, a
pastor at the Presbyterian Church who hails from Pibor, the epicenter
of the recent clashes. Pastor Duky blames the government for
marginalizing the Murle community, saying that, unlike other
communities, the Murle don’t have many high-level advocates.
“There is no one to bring our case out. We don’t enjoy basic rights in
Jonglei state,” Duky told Enough.
Pibor still bears marks of the recent conflict: households burned to
the ground, trenches along the town’s defense lines, and talk and fear
of the massive mobilization in Lou Nuer and Bor Dinka areas to
“finish” the conflict once and for all—a continuation of the rhetoric
used prior to the December attacks that raised concerns about ethnic
cleansing and even genocide. South Sudan police have reported nearly
two-dozen cases of raiding and killing just in the past few weeks in
both Bor and Pibor County.
In a dramatic show of force in late December and early January, Lou
Nuer and Bor Dinka unleashed major destruction against the Murle
community in Pibor County. Locals in Pibor town say more then 3,000
were killed, some 1,000 children and women were abducted, and 375,000
cattle were stolen. The United Nations, however, cautioned against
such inflated estimates of casualties. Humanitarian aid groups warn
the recent clashes could trigger a large-scale humanitarian crisis in
South Sudan.
On the way to the Jonglei capital of Bor, the checkpoint along the
road looks over the flat and nearly bare grassland and seems to be
manned by as many trained men the state government could assemble,
from traffic police officers, the wildlife protection corps, and
prison guards. Beyond that point, villages stand abandoned, one after
another, in troubling tranquility.
Jonglei Deputy Governor Hussein Mar Nyuot said that Bor is overwhelmed
by people moving to be closer to overt government presence.
“There are goats and cattle on the streets as people from the villages
are moving to town,” he said. Security concerns have forced businesses
and hotels in town to close earlier than usual, and the increased
presence of armed forces is apparent.
John, a Dinka from Bor, said people have left their villages and
headed to the capital for safety.
John said he travelled from Pibor to attend the funeral of his young
nephew who was killed by Murle. His nephew was part of a group of
young Bor Dinka who attacked the town of Gurmuk in Pibor County on
February 7, killing nine Murle and wounding 11 more. John said he was
in Pibor, helping an international aid agency distributing food to
displaced Murle, when his nephew attacked Gurmuk.
“If I was in Bor at the time, I wouldn’t let him go,” John said.
John’s story is a common one in Jonglei state. The poisoning residue
of South Sudan’s war-ridden past is abundant in these parts of the new
country. Unlike educational or economic opportunities, weapons are
plentiful for local youth, regardless of the government’s recurrent
disarmament activities. And Lou Nuer and Bor Dinka hold a massive
grudge against the Murle as a whole for their notoriety as child
abductors and cattle thieves—a perception government officials and
community leaders have done too little to address, and in some cases,
have even stoked.
“What criminals from Murle community are doing can only be described
as terrorism,” Deputy Governor Hussein told Enough. “If we don’t
disarm civilians, South Sudan may turn into a failed state,” he said,
and then in an allusion to Somalia, added, “We may start running our
country from a hotel while being protected by the international
forces.”
http://enoughproject.org/blogs/armed-civilians-challenge-south-sudan-government
END2
______________________
John Ashworth
Sudan, South Sudan Advisor
+254 725 926 297 (Kenya mobile)
+211 919 695 362 (South Sudan mobile)
+27 82 050 1235 (South Africa mobile)
+44 750 304 1790 (UK/international)
+88 216 4334 0735 (Thuraya satphone)
PO Box 52002 - 00200, Nairobi, Kenya
This is a personal e-mail address and the contents do not necessarily
reflect the views of any organisation
--
The content of this message does not necessarily reflect John
Ashworth's views. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, John Ashworth is
not the author of the content and the source is always cited.
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "sudan-john-ashworth" group.
To post to this group, send email to sudan-joh...@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
sudan-john-ashw...@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.co.za/group/sudan-john-ashworth