Realities of the Current Conflict

Described by the New York Times’ Adam Ellick as “The Worst Atrocity You’ve Never Heard Of,” the Nuba Mountains returned to fullscale conflict in 2011. The conflict has been marked by a disregard for civilian life by Sudan’s government forces, which have failed to distinguish between civilians and combatants and used disproportionate force in supressing the SPLM/A-N insurgents. 2 Since data began being kept on bombing in Southern Kordofan in 2012, more than 4,000 bombs have been dropped, with some villages being bombed over 300 times, leading to significant civilian casualties. 3 The Sudan Consortium and National Human Rights Monitoring Organisation were able to independently verify 46 deaths and 140 injuries to civilians as a result of the bombing in 2015 alone. 4

Monitors have reported a high number of attacks on civilian infrastructure, including farmland, communal grain mills, areas with high percentages of displaced persons, locations of provision of medical care, functioning civilian markets, churches, mosques and schools. In addition, attacks increase at the time of planting and harvesting, indicating a deliberate strategy to disrupt food production. This has led to catastrophic outcomes for the rural Nuba communities, particularly those living within the SPLM/A-N controlled territories, disrupting the entirety of life in Nuba Mountains. Evidence that this is part of a deliberate plan was forwarded by Eric Reeves, who reprinted what appeared to be leaked government minutes, “We have instructed the Air Force to bomb any place, whether it is a school, hospital, or a nongovernmental organization operating in rebelcontrolled areas without permission from the government. Such presence is offensive and should be destroyed.” 5 Although we are not in position to verify the authenticity of the document, its words are chilling.

Since the resurgence of the conflict, the Sudanese government has routinely bombed civilian areas, mostly using Antonov cargo planes and Ilyushin 76 jets operating out of Sudanese military airports. Evidence collected by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and other actors demonstrated that the bombs being used include both “barrel bombs” and cluster munitions, both types of ordnance being considered inherently indiscriminate. 6 This has been the basis of an assessment by many that war crimes and crimes against humanity are occurring in Southern Kordofan. This is based on both the inherently indiscriminate nature of many of the weapons used, weapons that by their nature cannot be aimed with sufficient accuracy to ensure that they target military assets. At the same time, there appears to be a deliberate attempt being made to target civilians living in areas where the SPLM/A-N is the controlling authority or their assets. 7

“The planes have soured our life. Previously life was there and you could taste it! Now there is nothing at all to taste!” 8

The conflict has severely limited access to basic commodities and any form of assistance. This situation is complicated further by the political and military intimidation imposed by the Sudanese regime on bordering South Sudan state as well as the fact that the Nuba Mountains are geographically isolated, making the transport of such commodities in from the outside challenging. In this situation, geography is complicated by the fact that SPLM/A-N areas are cut off from government-controlled areas by the front lines and transport in of goods from South Sudan have to contend with the civil conflict which has been ongoing there since 2013. In addition, the government of Sudan has blocked access to the area, citing concern about the possible diversion of assistance to the rebel forces. While restricted assistance efforts are operating under severe scrutiny in the Nuba Mountain, this has put significant strain on the Nuba Mountains population living within SPLM/A –N controlled areas. Areas of the Nuba Mountains controlled by the Sudanese government equally remained largely deprived of assistance with the possible exception to this being the Sudanese Red Crescent Society, which is widely assumed to operate far outside of the realm of standards of independent and impartial humanitarian aid.

Almost five years of diplomatic and advocacy efforts to facilitate humanitarian access to the conflict zones through Sudan in the Nuba Mountains and Blue Nile have been unsuccessful. Continued targeting of civilians has increased food insecurity, hindered access to clean drinking water and healthcare and has deeply disrupted livelihoods, including agriculture and markets. Where civilians have been internally displaced, they have often been confronted with a lack of arable or fertile land for farming and many fears to enter their fields to cultivate due to insecurity. In the words of one,

As a political organisation, the SPLM/A-N can be described as male dominated institution. This is due, at least in part, to the fact that it is entrenched in, and relies upon support from the local population, particularly from rural Nuba communities, whose culture is characterised by a patriarchal social order. Over the years, the SPLM/ A-N has espoused a rhetoric of gender equality and recognition of women’s roles. Formative documents of the movement, including founding manifestos, refer specifically to notions of gender equality and equal representation. However this rhetoric has arguably not led to any substantive progress for women9 within political structures of the movement or Nuba society in SPLM/A-N controlled territories more broadly. The SPLM/A-N remains a traditional, male-dominated, and militarised movement with no clear agenda for delivering on their rhetorical commitments to gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Many would argue that the desperation of the situation in which the SPLM/A-N and its constituencies find themselves and the need for immediate survival outweigh the imperative for progress on gender equality, leaving this issue necessarily relegated to the side lines

until the conflict subsides. This is a slippery slope argument, given the length of the conflict and the concurrent lack of progress on gender equality that can be observed in the Nuba Mountains. The SPLM/A-N leadership and political structures as well as the culture of the organisation and its patterns of political discourse and engagements remain to a large extent gender-blind and with strong patriarchal tendencies.

While this paper does not identify gender disparities and inequality within the SPLM/A-N as main drivers of the current violent conflict, it does argue that gender disparities experienced by those living under SPLM/A-N control adversely affect Nuba people as a whole. Gender equality 10 and peace are closely linked: while peace is vital to promote gender equality, gender inequality can also undermine peace and drive conflict and violence. In the case at hand, gender inequality cannot only compromise opportunities for real peace-building, it could also undermine the viability of the SPLM/A-N movement. Unless gender inequality is specifically addressed, communities living with conflict and gender disparities will continue to suffer inequalities even in subsequent periods of peace. As United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 states, “Where cultures of violence and discrimination against women and girls exist prior to conflict, they will be exacerbated during conflict times. If women do not participate in the decision-making structures of a society, they are unlikely to become involved in decisions about the conflict or the peace process that follows.” This unfortunately accurately describes the situation for women and girls in areas 11 under SPLM/A-N control in Nuba Mountains. Women and girls remain embedded in traditional roles, disempowered both in the household and in political spheres. Despite being the base of the SPLM/A-N and the Nuba community’s survival, they remain largely marginalised and lack concrete influence over the political and social organisation that affects their lives and their well-being.