AFRICA: Africa World Press Guide

compiled and edited by WorldViews

STRUGGLES UNKNOWN
Sudan and Western Sahara

Long-running struggles in two countries in Africa rarely capture headlines in the Western media and thus go unnoticed with their significance unappreciated. The resource materials listed in this chapter describe the origins and natur e of the ongoing civil war in Sudan and the struggle for self-determination by the people of the Western Sahara.

Sudan

Africa's largest country has been wracked by civil wars that have raged in Sudan in modern times, from 1955 to 1972 and from 1983 to the present. The protagonists--broadly defined--have been successive governments in the northern capital of Khartoum (pred ominantly Islamic fundamentalist in character) and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM)--and its military wing, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA)--in the heavily Christian south of the country.

Oxfam's "Country Profile," Sudan: A Na tion in the Balance (Peters 1996) is the most up-to-date, balanced, and accessible guide to the country, its people, and its struggles.

Sudan: The Forgotten Tragedy (Deng et al. 1994), a collection of essays delivered at an October 1993 symposium convened by the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., provides an informed introduction to the history and complexity of the ci vil war. Authors Ali Abdalla Abbas, Taisier Mohamed Ahmed Ali, Francis M. Deng, Peter Nyot Kok, Bona Malwal, and Kamal El Din Osman Salih all have firsthand knowledge of the struggle, from academic positions in the University of Khartoum to being particip ants in peace negotiations between the SPLM and the government of Sudan.

Booklets written by John Prendergast, Director of the Horn of Africa Project of the Center of Concern (Washington, D.C.), present the struggle in Sudan in clear and readable terms. See, for example,

Sudanese Rebels at a Crossroads: Opportunities for Building Peace in a Shattered Land (1994);
"For Four Years I Have No Rest." Greed and Holy War in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan (Prendergast and Hopkins 1994);
The Outcry for Peace in the Sudan (1996); and
Diplomacy, Aid and Governance in Sudan (1995).

Other readable introductions to the civil war and its consequences are:

Short-Cut to Decay: The Case of the Sudan (Harir and Tvedt 1994), an analysis of the conflict by academics at universities in Sudan, Norway, Germany, England, and the Netherlands; and
War Wounds: Development Costs of Conflict in Southern Sudan (Twose and Pogrund 1988), interviews, case studies, photographs, and other materials that portray the conflict as it is seen and felt by Sudanese from different sides of the political spectrum.

Francis M. Deng, a former minister of state for foreign affairs in the Sudan government, and Professor John O. Voll, past president of the Sudan Studies Association, are both prolific and highly respected authors of books on Sudanese affairs. See, for example, Deng's War of Visions: Conflict of Identities in the Sudan (1995) and Voll's Sudan: State and Society in Crisis (1991).

Other books that provide background on the conflict include

Southern Sudan: Too Many Agreements Dishonoured (Alier 1992), a perspective on the conflict by a magistrate and government peace negotiator from southern Sudan;
Sudan 1898-1989: The Unstable State (Woodward 1990), a political analysis of the Sudanese state by a lecturer in the Department of Politics, University of Reading (England); and
Beyond Conflict in the Horn: Prospects for Peace, Recovery and Development in Ethiopia, Somalia and the Sudan (Doornbos et al. 1992).

Human Rights Watch/Africa has produced two book-length studies of the impact of the civil war:

Civilian Devastation: Abuses by All Parties in the War in Southern Sudan (Rone 1994), and
Behind the Red Line: Political Repression in Sudan (Rone 1996).

See also the reports issued regularly in recent years by African Rights (London), Amnesty International (London), Fund for Peace, Human Rights/Horn of Africa Program (New York), Human Rights Watch/Africa (New York), and U.S. Committee for Refugees (Was hington, D.C.).

A recommended reference book on Sudan is Historical Dictionary of the Sudan (Fluehr-Lobban et al. 1992).

Finally, lest the large and beautiful country of Sudan and its ancient civilization be reduced unfairly to images of its terrible war we recommend Sudan: The Passing of Time (Ribière 1994), a colorful photo-study of the heart-shaped land and the people of Sudan.

For more information: the January-March 1996 issue of WorldViews: A Quarterly Review of Resources for Education and Action (Oakland, Calif.) contained a guide to Sudan-related organizations and publications, including the Sudan Democratic Gaz ette (London), Sudan Update (London), and the Sudan Council of Churches (Khartoum).

Sudan Chronology

1899--Anglo-Egyptian agreement establishes the British-dominated Condominium.
1922--Britain grants independence to Egypt, but reserves the question of Sudan's future
1930--"Southern Policy" is introduced secretly to isolate the south culturally and linguistically from the north.
1947--The Juba conference confirms the abandonment of the "Southern Policy"; south and north are integrated.
1951--Egypt claims sovereignty over Sudan.
1956--Sudan becomes independent.
1958--Military coup led by General Ibrahim Abboud, with support from Western powers.
1962--Sustained guerrilla war begins in the south.
1964--The "October Revolution" overthrows Abboud and installs a national government let by Sir al-Khatim al-Khalifa.
1969--A group of Free Officers in the army, let by Ga'afar al-Numeiri, stage the "May Revolution."
1972--Southern Sudan becomes a self-governing region.
1973--Sudan's first Permanent Constitution is proclaimed.
1975--Following a coup attempt against him, Numeiri centralizes power.
1976--Exiled Opposition Front defeated as it tries to seize countrol of country.
1980--Regional Government is introduced in northern Sudan.
1983--Civil war erupts again with the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Army led by John Garang. Islamic Shari'a replaces civil penal codes.
1985--Numeiri is deposed by senior army officers.
1986-1989--Civilian coalition governments rule Sudan.
1989--Sudan's third period of democracy ends with military coup on June 30th led by Brigadier General Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Behir. In October, fighting resumes in the south.
1991--Food shortages and international relief operations.

Western Sahara

The people who inhabit the desolate but phosphate-rich desert land between Morocco and Mauritania on the Atlantic Coast of Northwest Africa--the Saharawi (or Sahrawi)--have been fighting for political and economic freedom from Moroccan domination since 19 73. The long but little-known struggle in the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara, led by the resistance forces of the Polisario Front, has won for the Saharawi people diplomatic recognition from more than 70 nations for their self-proclaimed Saharan Arab Democratic Republic and a commitment from the United Nations to sponsor a referendum and to monitor the United Nations Peace Plan that was adopted by the UN Security Council in 1991.

Author and political analyst Tony Hodges has studied the Western Saharan issue for many years, traveling extensively in the region. Hodges gave the English-speaking world its first in-depth look at the Polisario struggle against the Western-supported M oroccan regime in Western Sahara: The Roots of a Desert War (Hodges 1983).

Hodges later produced the authoritative Historical Dictionary of Western Sahara (Pazzanita and Hodges 1994). Now in its second edition, the 564-page reference volume contains a chronology, a 21-page introduction to the Western Sahara (land and p eople), an alphabetically arranged dictionary of the key actors and movements that have shaped the history of this region, and a comprehensive bibliography of printed materials in English, French, and Spanish.

Minority Rights Group International (London) published its first report on the Saharan struggle by Tony Hodges in November 1984. Updated by the author and republished in 1991, The Western Saharans (Hodges 1991) is the most complete and readable summary of the struggle up until 1991. Popularly styled introductions to the Western Sahara conflict that pick up where the MRG reports leave off include

Report of Delegation to Western Sahara (Woodcraft Folk 1993);
A Briefing Pack on Western Sahara (Western Sahara Campaign 1995);
Sahrawi Refugees (Refugee Council n.d.), and
Western Sahara: A Country Fact Sheet (Western Sahara Awareness Project 1993).

Anthropologist and documentary filmmaker Danielle Smith produced a 30-minute video-documentary in 1994 that gives voice and identity to the refugees who fled to southwest Algeria from the Western Sahara after the invasion and occupation by Morocco in 1 975.

Song of Umm Dalaila: The Story of the Sahrawis, according to Danielle Smith, aims "to shatter the wall of silence that has kept the terrors and tragedy of the Sahrawi struggle in darkness." The video captures the spirit of the Sahrawi peopl e's two-decade long struggle for freedom and peace and it celebrates the fantastic accomplishments of the refugees (especially the women) in rebuilding their lives and communities in exile.

Song of Umm Dalaila, Smith points out, "appeals to the conscience of the international community to ensure the Sahrawi people exercise their right to self-determination, to regain their homeland. At the same time, the video challenges audiences to reconsider their views of Third World peoples as passive, helpless victims, by presenting an example where the values of hard work and determination persist in spite of great adversity." Filmmaker Danielle Smith is developing a study guide for Song of Umm Dalaila for students aged 14 to 18.

For information on the video and the guide, write: Danielle Smith, 231 Elgin Ave., Flat 1, London W9 1NH, England. Or contact the Western Sahara Campaign (address below).

English-language studies of the Western Sahara conflict include

"The Conflict in the Western Sahara," by George Joffé, in Conflict in Africa (Furley 1995), pp. 110-133;
Fueling the Fire: U.S. Policy and the Western Sahara Conflict (Kamil 1987), a critical examination of Western support for Morocco's King Hassan;
International Dimensions of the Western Sahara Conflict (Zoubir and Volman 1993), ten essays that include an assessment of the conflict in the post-cold war era and an analysis of the UN-supported plebiscite;
"The Non-Interventionary Norm Prevails: An Analysis of the Western Sahara," by Karin von Hippel, in The Journal of Modern African Studies 33, no. 1 (1995): 67-81; and
War and Refugees: The Western Sahara Conflict (Lawless and Monahan 1987), essays that originated from an international symposium organized by the Refugee Studies Programme, Oxford University.

Reports issued by New York-based human rights organizations on the Western Sahara conflict and related topics include Western Sahara: Keeping It Secret. The United Nations Operation in the Western Sahara (1995) and Human Rights in Morocco (1995), both published by Human Rights Watch/Middle East, and Cleaning the Face of Morocco: Human Rights Abuses and Recent Developments (1990), produced by the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.

Updated reports on the Western Sahara struggle are available from the Western Sahara Campaign, Oxford Chambers, Oxford Place, Leeds LS1 3AX, England. Tel/fax: (0113) 245 4786.

Western Sahara on the Internet

The Internet is the best source for current information on events in Western Sahara. Begin with the home page of the Swiss solidarity organization, ARSO (Association de soutien a un référendum libre et régulier au Sahara Occidental): Link to ARSO.. The ARSO site contains news reports, background information, documents, bibliographies, and links to other Web sites. Much of the English-language information at this site has been translated in to Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French.

The Western Sahara Campaign's home page is another good source: Link to WSC. This site contains news reports from Algerian radio broadcasts, the Agence France Presse news service, and the London office of Polisario. Links to other Web sites are also provided.

Other Web sites:

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