When I think about how we ,as human beings ,have treated each other for thousands of years it is a miracle that humans exists at all. Why is it that we fight,plunder,ravage,and conquer from each other? With so much talk about war,corruption,power and greed globally, I started thinking about the different places in the world that these instances have occurred and still do. One place that has seem to fall "under the radar" is Sudan. The Darfur region of Sudan was something that I had heard about,seen thirty second soundbites and images of, felt stunned but helpless to do anything to help and angry that things seemed to be static in efforts to improving the situation.I discovered that these events become very complicated and complex as they evolve and that there is always a history and many sides to a story.
Sudan is an ancient land that is rich in history.Many countries have descended upon the land as a place to barter for gum arabic,spices and slaves.Countries such as Egypt,Greece,British, France and Belgium have fought to gain control over the vast land and its inhabitants.Christians and Muslims have fought to influence the beliefs of the constituents.It seems that the beginning of the twentieth century marked a real turning point for Sudan;one of conflict from within,hate towards one another,bloodshed,greed and power.This story sounds vaguely familiar as history has a haunting way of repeating itself.
The first civil war of the twentieth century began in 1955 between the North and the South regions.The military lead by General Abbud lead a coup against the government that is successful. By 1962 a civil war breaks out in the christian South.In 1964 Abbud is forced out and a National government is elected and by 1969 General Mohamed El-Nimeiri leads another coup and is President and in power.There is another failed coup attempt in 1971 and by 1972 the South achieves a peace agreement and becomes self-governing for ten years. Meanwhile by 1978, oil reserves are discovered in the South.
...you may have guessed where this is going...
Islamic Sharia law is introduced,tension builds in the South,
Sudanese People's army is created under the leadership of John Garang. Angry and oppressed citizens does not make a good mix for peace. Nimeiri is expelled from power .By 1993,another coup has dissolved the previous government and Omar-al-Bashir is the new leader.
Once again the stability is gone and the government is unable to run the country.Sound familiar?By the time 1999 rolls around,the country is exporting oil and Bashir has dissolved the National Assembly and declared a state of emergency which brings us to the present millennium,2000.With such a history of uncertainty,the stage is set for more civil unrest,human rights violations and ties to terrorism. The story begins with oil reserves and fertile grazing lands and the beginning of the Darfur genocide.
Sources:
http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=aa86
http:/www.sudan.net/history.php
http:/www.insightonconflict.org/conflicts/sudan/conflict-profile/timeline
Heather,
ReplyDeleteI love how much emotion you put into your writing. This seems to be a topic you are passionate about. It saddens me how uneducated the American public is about Sudan. As you said, the country flies "under our radar" and nobody seems to care. I think that education is the best means to prevent this sort of thing from happening. I barely learned anything in depth about Africa until I studied Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad in my freshman year of college. Even in that book the African people are basically part of the scenery.
Unfortunately, history repeats itself as you said, and it is a sad and dangerous thing. I wish there was some way to end the madness.
-Katie
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteI really got the full scope of the trouble still in Africa when I read Nelson Mandela's autobiography about the struggles in his life and apartheid.It was long but good.
Heather