South Sudan: Darfur, a New Country, and Hope

Given what's been happening in northeastern Africa, I'd better start with a sort of backgrounder. Not about Africa: about the Catholic Church.

• Is it okay for Catholics to care about social justice?
  • Yes (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1928-1942)
• Does the Church think religious freedom is important?
  • Yes (Catechism, 2104-2109)
    • For everyone?
      • Yes (Catechism, 160, 2104, 2106, 2107)
• Is refusing to help in a genocide okay?
  • Yes (Catechism, 2313)
• Is helping the poor a good idea?
  • Yes (Catechism, 1039, 2449)

Now, about Africa: last month, Sudan was one country: run by 'civilized' folks who lived in the north; with folks who were ethnically and religiously different from the rulers, mostly in the south.

'The Natives are Dying' - This Time Someone Acted

Not too many years back, folks in southern Sudan, particularly Darfur, were dying in wholesale quantities. Partly because they couldn't get food. Eventually, folks outside Sudan noticed that the 'natives' were dying, and took a hard look at what the 'civilized' folks were really up to. (Another War-on-Terror Blog July 14, 2008)

I think the 'civilized' folks trying to protect their children from a blasphemous - I am not making this up - teddy bear¹ had something to do with this change in attitude.

Then there was the time that the 'civilized' rulers' rounded up 13 women: and charged them with wearing trousers. (Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 7, 2009)) The teddy bear and trousers situations aren't anywhere near as lethal as what was being done to folks down south in Sudan - but I think they illustrate what sort of attitude the country's 'civilized' rulers had.

The Religious Angle

I think one reason it took so long for folks outside Africa to notice how bad things were in Sudan is that just over half of the folks living there were Africans - "black," as we say. They weren't, for the most part, wealthy - and weren't part of the 39% of Sudan's population who were ethnically Arab.

About 70% of the total population in Sudan were Muslims - the 5% who were Christians lived mostly in Khartoum, or in the south. (Another War-on-Terror Blog April 23, 2008))

The blacks down south, including quite a few of Sudan's Christians, 'just happened' to be finding it very difficult to get food.

That's where the charges of genocide came in.

Does this 'prove' that Islam is icky, and all the usual 'towelhead' diatribe?

Hardly. I've corresponded with Muslims who were quite willing to live in a world where not everybody believed and lived exactly the way they did.

I think that the Muslim crazies we read about in the news may be about as representative of their faith as the Ku Klux Klan is of Christianity.

I've discussed living in a big world before:

• "Freedom, Burma / Myanmar / Myanma, and Getting a Grip"
  (June 29, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Related posts
    • Living in a big world link list
• "Loving Neighbors: No Matter What"
  (May 10, 2011)
• "Why I'm With the Holy See on Quran Burning Position"
  (September 8, 2010)
• "'Towelhead,' 'Retard,' and Talking Sense in a Global Society"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 24, 2009)

South Sudan Celebrates Independence: Now the Work Begins

Excerpts from recent news:

"African clergy advise quick action on South Sudan's challenges"
Katherine Veik, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (July 11, 2011)

"African clergy say the Republic of South Sudan, which gained independence on July 9, must take steps to resolve an increasingly violent conflict in the troubled border region of South Kordofan.

" 'If the Government of South Sudan does not sit down to address the issues raised by the militia groups, it could become a nightmare with no stability for the South,' said Bishop Daniel Adwok of Khartoum in a recent interview with the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need...."

---

"South Sudan's flag raised at independence ceremony"
Will Ross, BBC News Africa (July 9, 2011))

"Tens of thousands of South Sudanese have watched the raising of the new country's flag at an independence ceremony in the capital, Juba.

"Salva Kiir signed the constitution and took his oath of office in front of the jubilant crowds, becoming president of the world's newest nation.

"Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir and UN chief Ban Ki-moon were among dignitaries watching the events.

"Sudan earlier became the first state to officially recognise its new neighbour.

"The world's newest nation was born at midnight local South Sudanese time (2100 GMT), the climax of a process made possible by the 2005 peace deal that ended a long civil war.

"The south's independence follows decades of conflict with the north in which some 1.5 million people died...."

---

Looks like Sudan's president Bashir beat that genocide rap. (Another War-on-Terror Blog (April 26, 2010, July 14, 2008) Maybe that's 'not fair.' I don't know. I think that it's a good idea for all of us to deal with what we've done here and now, rather than get sorted out later - and that's another topic. (August 8, 2010)

Back to Africa's newest nation:

"Catholics working for peaceful birth of South Sudan"
Katherine Veik, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (July 8, 2011)

"Local and international Catholic organizations are working to ensure a peaceful transition to independence for South Sudan on July 9, after two decades or struggle that killed or displaced over six million people.

"South Sudan's people will be 'free to build a society the way they want to according to their own vision,' said Bishop John H. Ricard, a representative for the U.S. bishops' Committee on International Justice and Peace, speaking to CNA from the southern capital Juba on July 8...."

I'm with the American Bishop, and Bishop Daniel Adwok of Khartoum: my hope and prayer is that folks in South Sudan build their country "according to their own vision." And have the good sense to "sit down to address the issues raised by the militia groups."

South Sudan has a lot of work to do. It won't be easy: but I think it can be worth the effort.

Related posts:

• "Sudan, Darfur: My Take"
  (January 8, 2011)
• "Lemming Tracks: Sudan, Africa, Independence, Unity, and Getting a Grip"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (January 6, 2011)
• "Sudan, Election Results, and Genocide: Not Much to Do, But Pray"
  (May 1, 2010)
• "Darfur: Overview of the Current Mess, and Some Background"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (April 23, 2008)
• "British Teacher Home from Sudan: Gillian Gibbons, Muslim Clerics, and a Teddy Bear named Mohammed"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (December 3, 2007)
  • Links to posts touching on the matter of a teddy bear named Mohammed vs. Islam, including:
    • "Mohammed the Teddy Bear vs Islam: The Saga Continues"
      (December 1, 2007)
    • "Sudan Court Defends Islam: Teacher Found Guilty of "Inciting Religious Hatred" / Inciting Religious Hatred - With a Teddy Bear??!"
      (November 29, 2007)
    • "Beyond the Teddy Bear: Sudan, the Darfur Genocide, and Islam"
      (November 29, 2007)
    • ¹ "Sudan Defends Islam Against Blasphemous Teddy Bear"
      (November 28, 2007)
    • "Islam vs. the Blasphemous Teddy Bear"
      (November 27, 2007)
  • Blasphemous teddy bear?? I am not making that up

In the news:

• "African clergy advise quick action on South Sudan's challenges"
  Katherine Veik, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (July 11, 2011)
• "South Sudan's flag raised at independence ceremony"
  Will Ross, BBC News Africa (July 9, 2011)
• "Catholics working for peaceful birth of South Sudan"
  Katherine Veik, CNA (Catholic News Agency) (July 8, 2011)

Background:

• "South Sudan"
  CIA World Factbook (page last updated July 11, 2011)

Sudan, Election Results, and Genocide: Not Much to Do, But Pray

I don't know how prayer works: not at the nuts-and-bolts operational level. But I've quite certain that it does. Work, that is. Right now, folks in Sudan could use prayer. No pressure, just a suggestion.

Sudan: Dubious Election Results; Folks in Danger

Not-good news from Sudan is, sadly, nothing new. Like what the Catholic News Agency published yesterday:

"Sudanese Catholic bishop warns serious post-election conflict is likely"
Catholic News Agency (April 30, 2010)

"Though areas of Sudan have reported peaceful elections, a bishop in the south of the country warns that genocidal violence could begin again. The transformation of political disputes into serious conflict is now 'a likely scenario,' he says.

"Bishop of Tombura-Yambio Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala, commenting in a statement to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), said people's frustrations were heightened by allegations of corruption in the April 11-15 general elections. The elections were the first multi-party poll in 25 years.

Questionably-ethical elections are nothing new - and not unique to any one nation. (Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 8, 2010))

I'm particularly - dubious - when a nation run along the lines of Sudan has an election in which the bunch currently in charge 'just happens' to win. Particularly if the election has little irregularities here and there. Like ballots from a troublesome area that 'just happen' to get torched before they're counted.

Sudan's the place, by the way, where the country's rulers are (valiantly?) striving to defend Islam against women who wear trousers and a teddy bear named Mohammed. (Another War-on-Terror Blog (September 7, 2009, December 3, 2007)) You can't make that sort of stuff up, folks.

Back to that article:

"...President Omar al Bashir's National Congress Party, the incumbent party in Khartoum, was victorious in the election. Sitting Vice-President Salva Kiir and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) scored up to 90 percent in its southern heartlands.

"The election was marred by reports of voter intimidation, vote-rigging, ballot mix-ups and breaches of voter privacy.

"An arson attack on a truck transporting ballot papers took place in Bishop Hiiboro's region of Western Equatorial State.

" 'The election results may spark serious violence [soon],' the bishop told ACN. 'The violence may be compared to nothing less than a genocide because there are many deep-seated animosities in the hearts of many people of different ethnic groups in the south.'

"He warned that resentment festers over unresolved issues such as the border dispute between north and south Sudan centering on the oil-rich Abyei region...."
(Catholic News Agency)

The northern dude winning 90% of the votes, in the southern heartlands? Putting that in perspective for Americans, that'd be like the sovereign state of Georgia (allegedly) giving 90% of its votes to a carpetbagger, shortly after the War Between the States. American history books generally call it the "Civil War" - understandable, since the Yankees won.

Yeah: I'm dubious about that overwhelming victory in the polls.

Sudan: What Went Wrong?

In a way, it'd be easier to make a list of what's gone right in Sudan, since that territory got independence in 1956. I gave an overview of the last 38 years in another blog:

• "Darfur: Overview of the Current Mess, and Some Background"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (April 23, 2008)

I'll admit that I have a fairly well-defined point of view, when it comes to Sudan. I also think that one reason that Sudan stayed 'off the radar' for Western news for so long has to do with a sort of cultural legacy we have.

Over-simplifying the situation in Sudan, the country's run by people who are, by 19th-century standards, fairly "civilized." Folks living in the southern part of the country are distinct from the rulers in a number of ways: and are, again by 19th-century standards, "natives."

I think that's one reason why it took several million 'natives' 'just happening' to drop dead, for many Westerners to twig that something wasn't quite right in Sudan. Again, in my opinion.

Dicey Election Results, Discontented Voters, and Brightly-Burning Ballots: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

People who are fed up - and then some - with the status quo sometimes take rather direct action. Generally, it seems, without carefully thinking through what's likely to happen next.

I'm on the same page with Bishop Hiiboro: Violence is a very real possibility in his part of the world. I'm also inclined to accept his view of who's primarily responsible, with a grain of salt:

"...Bishop Hiiboro blamed the SPLM for the lack of progress.

" 'The sole responsibility for this debacle lies in the hands of the southern Sudanese themselves both within the camp of the ruling party and other political parties.

" 'The senseless death of southern Sudanese citizens is going to be due to the inability of the political leaders to craft a better conflict resolution process.'

" 'Pushing differences to the point of national meltdown and exasperating tribal and religious differences just to come to power or to retain power at all costs is out of the domain of healthy politics,' he told ACN...."
(Catholic News Agency)

That phrase, "sole responsibility," may make more sense in context of the full interview - which isn't in the article. Me? I think that when a country's rulers are ethnically, culturally, and religiously distinct from their subjects - and the subjects are dying in droves - the folks in charge might have something to do with the situation.

But, Bishop Hiiboro is there, with access to much more information than I have.

Somewhat-related posts:

• "Nun's Chapel in Chile Bombed: Prayer Wouldn't Hurt"
  (April 30, 2010)
• "Accommodating Indigenous Cultures: Including Ours"
  (January 10, 2010)
• "John Holdren Quote Could be Accurate: That Bothers Me"
  (October 30, 2009)
  • I'm one of those people who think that the solution to Africa's problems
    • Won't be solved by having fewer Africans
• "Zambia: Corruption, Hospitals, and Bishops"
  (July 22, 2009)
• "You've Probably Heard: Darfur is a Mess, and Journalists are Getting Killed"
  Apathetic Lemming of the North (May 15, 2008)

In the news:

• "Sudanese Catholic bishop warns serious post-election conflict is likely"
  Catholic News Agency (April 30, 2010)