DATE=05/12/99
TYPE=U-S OPINION ROUNDUP
NUMBER=6-11287
TITLE=SLAVERY; CIVIL WAR IN SUDAN GRIND ON OUT OF VIEW
BYLINE=ANDREW N. GUTHRIE
TELEPHONE=619-3335
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
CONTENT=
INTRO: AS ONE UNITED STATES DAILY PAPER PUTS IT, YUGOSLAVIA'S
KOSOVO PROVINCE MAY BE GETTING ALL THE ATTENTION IN THE NEWS, BUT
AN INTERNAL PROBLEM IN THE SUDAN IS CAUSING MUCH MORE SUFFERING,
MOSTLY OUT OF PUBLIC VIEW.
WE GET A SAMPLING OF EDITORIALS FROM THE AMERICAN PRESS ON THAT
INFREQUENTLY-DISCUSSED AFRICAN NATION NOW, FROM _______________
IN TODAY'S U-S OPINION ROUNDUP.
TEXT: /// OPT /// SUDAN IS AFRICA'S LARGEST NATION, STRETCHING
FOR THOUSANDS OF KILOMETERS ALONG THE NILE RIVER IN THE NORTHEAST
OF THE CONTINENT. ITS PROBLEMS STEM, AT LEAST IN PART, FROM ITS
LOCATION, CROSSING THE CONTINENT'S GREAT ETHNIC AND GEOGRAPHICAL
DIVIDING LINE, THE DESERT.
IN THE NORTH, THE PEOPLE IN CONTROL ARE ARABIC AND MUSLIM AND
POPULATE THE CAPITOL, KHARTOUM. BUT IN THE SOUTH, THE MAJORITY
OF PEOPLE ARE BLACK AFRICAN, AND FOLLOW THE CHRISTIAN OR
ANIMISTIC NATIVE AFRICAN RELIGIONS. MANY OF THEM SPEAK DINKA.
IT WAS THE BRITISH AND EGYPTIANS WHO CARVED OUT THE BORDERS OF
THE SUDAN IN THE LAST CENTURY, AND RULED OVER THE NATION UNTIL
THE MID 1950S. THE COUNTRY'S CIVIL WAR BETWEEN THESE TWO
FACTIONS HAS DRAGGED ON NOW FOR MORE THAN A DECADE AND SHOWS FEW
SIGNS OF ENDING. /// END OPT ///
AS SEVERAL U-S PAPERS ARE POINTING OUT TO READERS, ALMOST TWO
MILLION PEOPLE HAVE DIED IN THE SUDAN SINCE THE WAR BEGAN IN
1983, BUT PRESS COVERAGE PALES IN COMPARISON TO THE ONSLAUGHT OF
PICTURES AND STORIES ABOUT THE CIVIL WAR IN KOSOVO. WE BEGIN OUR
SAMPLING IN THE CAPITOL OF INDIANA, WHERE A CONFERENCE ON THE
SUDAN SITUATION WAS RECENTLY HELD, AND WHERE "THE INDIANAPOLIS
STAR" SAYS IN PART:
VOICE: THE SERBIAN ASSAULT ON ... KOSOVO MAY BE GETTING ALL OF
THE WORLD'S ATTENTION, BUT THERE'S A FAR BIGGER ATROCITY
SHAPING UP IN EAST AFRICA. ... IN KOSOVO, TWO-THOUSAND
PEOPLE DIED IN 1998. EVEN WITH THE MASS MURDERS BEING
REPORTED, IT'S NOTHING LIKE WHAT'S HAPPENING IN SUDAN,
WHERE MORE THAN 70-THOUSAND PERISHED THE FIRST HALF OF
1998. THE MUSLIM ARAB GOVERNMENT IN THE NORTH IS PITTED
AGAINST BLACK CHRISTIANS - - DINKAS AND THE NUBA
MOUNTAINS PEOPLE - - IN THE SOUTH. ... THE SITUATION
IS FURTHER COMPLICATED BY THE POPULAR DEFENSE FORCE,
ROAMING TRIBAL MILITIA THAT WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE
KHARTOUM GOVERNMENT HAVE TAKEN THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE,
MOSTLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN, INTO SLAVERY. ... THE WAR IN
SUDAN IS A COMPLICATED AND GRUESOME AFFAIR THAT THE
WORLD IS LARGELY IGNORING. ... A WAY MUST BE FOUND TO
STOP THE KILLING.
TEXT: "THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE" SAYS THAT THE ISSUE OF
SLAVERY FLOURISHING IN THE MODERN WORLD HAS PITTED SOME HUMAN
RIGHTS GROUPS AGAINST OTHERS IN TRYING TO DECIDE THE BEST WAY TO
END IT.
VOICE: IN ONE OF THE MOST WRENCHING MORAL DEBATES OF THE DAY,
HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS ARE ARGUING OVER THE ETHICS OF
PURCHASING THE FREEDOM OF ENSLAVED WOMAN AND CHILDREN IN
SUDAN ... PRIVATE CHARITIES - - LED BY THE
GENEVA-BASED CHRISTIAN SOLIDARITY INTERNATIONAL (C-S-I)
- - ARE RAISING MONEY TO REDEEM THE FREEDOM OF
THOUSANDS HELD IN BONDAGE AS SEX SLAVES, LABORERS AND
HOUSEHOLD HELP. ... WHO COULD ARGUE WITH SUCH A
RIGHTEOUS CAMPAIGN TO SAVE WOMEN AND CHILDREN FROM CRUEL
BONDAGE AND RETURN THEM TO THEIR HOMES AND FAMILIES?
ODDLY, THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S [EMERGENCY] FUND
HAS DECLARED THE SLAVE-REDEMPTION EFFORT AS
'INTOLERABLE.' UNICEF SAYS THE BUYBACK PROGRAM IS NOT
A LASTING SOLUTION; DOES NOT CHANGE SOCIAL ATTITUDES
THAT ALLOW SLAVERY AND ACCEPTS THE NOTION THAT HUMANS
MAY BE BOUGHT AND SOLD. /// OPT /// ... REBEL GROUPS IN
THE SOUTH SAY THEY ARE FIGHTING FOR MORE POLITICAL
AUTONOMY, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM AND DEMAND THE REPEAL OF
HARSH ISLAMIC LAWS ENACTED IN THE 1980S. THOSE GOALS
REMAIN ON A DISTANT AND UNCERTAIN HORIZON, BUT THE AGONY
OF SUDAN'S UNCOUNTED THOUSANDS OF SLAVES IS REAL,
IMMEDIATE AND CRIES OUT TO THE WORLD FOR HELP. /// END
OPT ///
TEXT: AFTER A TRIP TO SOUTHERN SUDAN THIS YEAR, VIRGINIA
REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN FRANK WOLF COMPLAINED ABOUT WHAT HE CALLED
WHITE HOUSE AND STATE DEPARTMENT INACTION IN THE CONFLICT DESPITE
PLEAS FROM HIM AND [DAYTON] OHIO DEMOCRATIC REPRESENTATIVE TONY
HALL. BUT SURVEYING THE SCENE, "THE WASHINGTON TIMES" WONDERS
WHY THIS COUNTRY SHOULD GET INVOLVED.
VOICE: THE INTERTRIBAL CONFLICT THERE HAS LASTED FOR 15 YEARS
AND IS INCREDIBLY COMPLEX. THOUGH THE NATIONAL ISLAMIC
FRONT (N-I-F), WHICH CONTROLS MOST SUDANESE GOVERNMENT
ACTIVITY, HAS BEEN BLAMED AS THE AGGRESSORS AGAINST THE
CHRISTIANS AND ANIMISTS OF THE SOUTH, THE SUDAN PEOPLE'S
LIBERATION ARMY OF THE SOUTH HAS ALSO KILLED EN MASSE.
.... AND AS EVEN THE MISSIONARIES ADMITTED, GOVERNMENT
BOMBS DO NOT HAVE A RELIGION DETECTOR ON THEM. GIVEN
THAT THIS LONG-TERM WAR IS A MIX OF RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL
AND ETHNIC CONFLICTS, AND THAT THE 'VILLAINS' MAY BE
ACTIVE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE WAR, IT APPEARS TO BE A WAR
LEFT BEST ALONE. BUT THAT ARGUMENT ONLY HOLDS IF
AMERICANS IGNORE THE FACT THAT THE SUDAN HAS BEEN ON THE
STATE DEPARTMENT'S TERRORIST LIST SINCE 1993 ... AS LONG
AS THE UNITED STATES CONTINUES TO 'NEGOTIATE' WITH A
GOVERNMENT THAT SHELTERS TERRORISTS, MAKES ITS TARGETS
CHURCHES AND HOSPITALS, AND DEFENSELESS WOMEN AND
CHILDREN, THERE IS LITTLE HOPE FOR IMPROVEMENT IN THE
SUDAN.
TEXT: TURNING LASTLY, TO "THE BOSTON GLOBE," WE FIND SOME SHARP
CRITICISM OF UNICEF -- THE UNITED NATIONS CHILDRENS' ORGANIZATION
-- FOR ITS OPPOSITION TO THE OTHER GROUPS, BUYING AND FREEING THE
SUDANESE SLAVES.
VOICE: /// OPT /// UNICEF, WHICH RUNS ITS OWN INOCULATION AND
FOOD RELIEF PROGRAMS IN COOPERATION WITH THE SUDANESE
REGIME IN KHARTOUM, AT FIRST TRIED TO DENY THE EXISTENCE
OF SLAVERY IN SUDAN. WHEN THAT BECAME IMPOSSIBLE, THE
U-N ORGANIZATION TURNED ITS IRE NOT AGAINST THE SLAVE
TRADERS OR THE REGIME THAT ENCOURAGED THEN BUT AGAINST
THE HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS SEEKING TO FREE THE SLAVES.
UNICEF ARGUED, PREPOSTEROUSLY, THAT THESE GROUPS SHOULD
INSTEAD BE TRYING TO STOP SUDAN'S LONG-RUNNING CIVIL
WAR; THAT BUYING THE SLAVES' FREEDOM WOULD ENCOURAGE THE
ARMS TRADE; AND THAT THE VERY PURCHASE OF A HUMAN BEING
IS INTOLERABLE. /// END OPT /// ... UNICEF'S CRITICISM
OF THOSE WHO LIBERATE SLAVES REEKS OF THE POLITICIZED
BEHAVIOR THAT HAS GIVEN ITS MASTER, THE U-N GENERAL
ASSEMBLY, A BAD NAME. HUMAN RIGHTS HAVE NO MEANING IF
THEY ARE NOT UNIVERSAL.
TEXT: THAT CONCLUDES THIS SAMPLING OF U-S PRESS OPINION ON THE
SITUATION IN THE SUDAN.
NEB/ANG/GE
12-May-99 1:52 PM EDT (1752 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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