Sir, - One of the most scandalous episodes in modern African history is taking place in Sudan today with the systematic isolation and subjugation of the Nuba people. A campaign of terror involving abduction, slavery, torture, rape, starvation and cultural indoctrination is being waged against the people of the Nuba mountains in Central Sudan. The civil war in the Sudan includes a vicious struggle in the Nuba Mountains between the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the national Islamic Front (NIF) forces of the Sudanese government.
The Nuba are being displaced from their land and many are forced to enter so-called "peace camps" where forced labour and Islamisation are common. These actions are depriving the Nuba of their livelihood, destroying their culture and depriving them of their ancestral land. The Sudanese government also refuses to permit access of any kind, humanitarian or other, to the Nuba Mountains. Land access has been impossible for more than 10 years and air access is extremely hazardous. Again, this policy aims to isolate the people and weaken their defences.
On May 22nd 1998, the Sudanese government promised the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the Nuba area would be opened up to a UN team to assess needs and make arrangements for the delivery of relief food. The subsequent wrangling over procedures and the deaths of two Sudanese relief workers abruptly halted the UN-sponsored aid efforts.
The Nuba live in a state of sporadic famine brought about by the continued oppression and isolation they suffer under their own government. Despite this, no UN agency or NGO operating under the UN's Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) has yet been willing to publicly visit the Nuba Mountains or address this life-threatening crisis. No formal response to appeals for assistance has been received from the UN or the Sudanese government.
Last month, a UN assessment team was granted permission to visit the Nuba Mountains but under no circumstances to deliver aid. This visit has yet to be fulfilled. While a ceasefire was declared by the Government in parts of Southern Sudan on August 3rd, 1998, this was not extended to the Nuba Mountains. On more than 10 occasions since then, Nuba villages have suffered aerial bombardment by state planes. Several civilians have been killed and injured in these and other military assaults. And despite the fact that Sudan signed the Convention on the Prohibition, Use, Production, Transfer and Stockpiling of Antipersonnel Landmines and on their Destruction in December 1997, the Government continues to use their weapons against its own people.
Ireland is a member of the Partners of IGAD which has been working to achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict in Sudan and the Minister for Foreign Affairs, David Andrews, has taken a particular interest in the Sudanese crisis. In recent days, Trocaire has written to the Minister urging him to encourage the Sudanese government to make good their recent promise to allow a UN mission to visit the Nuba Mountains and to bring an end to the human rights abuse.
The Nuba people urgently need free access for humanitarian agencies to deliver aid to the war affected areas of the Nuba Mountains. The Nuba also require free access, for trade and cultural exchange, to all their neighbours with the Sudan and to bordering countries. If the Nuba are to begin to recover their livelihood and economy the Government must also extend its ceasefire to the Nuba region. - Yours, etc., Justin Kilcullen, Director, Trocaire,
Blackrock, Co Dublin.