Email 
Print 
This week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced its formal arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, and the atmosphere inside Sudan, as RI discovered last week, is very tense. The staff of the United Nations, as well as other humanitarian organizations, have been told to be on the highest alert. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has warned, "Whatever happens (Sudan) must protect UN personnel" and act responsibly.
Bashir mockingly told the ICC to "eat" the expected warrant. This is the first ICC arrest warrant ever issued for a sitting president.
Just last week, President Barack Obama was urged by members of the US Senate’s African Affairs Subcommittee to appoint a high-profile Special Envoy to Sudan. Chairman Russ Feingold stated, "As you well know, the security situation in Sudan remains very volatile and has the potential to deteriorate in the coming weeks."
Actually, as this request was being made, there was a major flare-up in Malakal in Upper Nile State between a militia group linked to the army of North Sudan, known by their acronym SAF, and the forces of South Sudan, known as SPLA. Our team from Refugees International – three board members and two advocates – was in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, when word spread of the widespread and frightening conflict between the two forces.
Ever since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 between North and South Sudan -- crafted with the help of former UN Ambassador and Senator, John Danforth, now a member of Refugees International’s board -- there has been a very fragile peace in place.
However, we’ve also seen some major outbreaks in violence. In late 2006, hundreds died and thousands were displaced when fighting erupted, again in Malakal, between SAF militia forces, led by Gabriel Tang, and SPLA forces. In May 2008 in the town of Abyei, an oil rich and contested area on the border between North and South Sudan, a small skirmish between two soldiers exploded into a full scale military confrontation which left the town razed and almost all of its civilians displaced.
Ironically, last week’s outbreak in Malakal started when Tang came back to the city and SPLA forces demanded that he leave. Over several days, 57 people died, most of them SAF or SPLA soldiers. More than 25 civilians were killed and almost as many injured.
The spread of incidents like the one in Malakal could be the spark that ignites South Sudan yet again. Fortunately, for the time being, the situation seems to be stable. But today, the world waits with hope that the CPA will survive and the devastating fractures of the tenuous peace between North and South Sudan do not prevail.
--Eileen Shields-West
Board Member, Refugees International
Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.
