Military

DATE=10/17/03

TYPE=Dateline

NUMBER=7-37954

TITLE= Sudan: Slavery and Civil War

BYLINE=PAT BODNAR

TELEPHONE=619-0720

DATELINE=Washington

EDITOR=Carol Castiel

CONTENT=

DISK: DATELINE THEME [PLAYED IN STUDIO, FADED UNDER DATELINE HOST VOICE OR PROGRAMMING MATERIAL]

HOST: Sudan's vice president and the country's main rebel leader are in Kenya for what many people hope will be the final round of negotiations aimed at ending Africa's longest-running civil war. The conflict between the mainly Muslim north, and Christian and animist south has plagued the country for much of its history, since independence from Britain in 1956. Both sides have been under intense international pressure to end a conflict that has resulted in the death of nearly two million people, displacement of millions more, and slavery for some of the country's citizens.

In this edition of Dateline, Pat Bodnar talks with one young Sudanese man, who shares his story of captivity and his journey to freedom.

PB: The civil war in Sudan has taken a serious economic and human toll. It has also affected neighboring Uganda, Libya and Egypt. More southern Sudanese have been killed in the conflict than in the wars in Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia, Haiti, Burundi and Rwanda combined.

Francis Bok is a Dinka. The Dinka are the most numerous people in the country. Until the age of seven he lived on a farm with his family in the southwest town of Gorian. One day in 1986 when he was seven, Francis walked to the regional market to sell his family's eggs and beans. The same day, an Islamic paramilitary group launched a brutal and deadly attack on the community. Two thousand women and children were abducted. Francis Bok was among them.

Dalet: Francis Bok Act 1

"And they stormed the market, and started killing women and children in the market. They started capturing the children. I tried to find my way. One of the militiamen came after me. He grabbed my hand. He put me with the other kids who had been captured. After they finished, they marched us up to the north. I saw a twelve-year old girl killed on the way. She couldn't stop screaming because she saw her mother and father shot and killed. The man shot her in the head, because he didn't want her to cry. We were divided up by the militiamen. I was taken by Giemma Abdulah. He became my master for a decade."

PB: When Francis Bok arrived at the farm of the Muslim militiaman, Giemma Abdullah, he thought he was being welcomed by the man's family, which included a son who was close to his age. Instead, he was taunted, whipped, and left with the family's livestock.

Dalet: Francis Bok Act 2

"When I first came I thought I would be welcomed by the whole family. They were singing a song 'abeed'. But it was not a song, but an Arab word (slur) from Northern Sudan and other countries, meaning black slave. Adults and children were participating chanting 'abeed, abeed' meaning black slave. They started beating me, and then this man told me to go with the animals. I was shocked and surprised that this horrible man who had children my own age would isolate me from the family with animals and then send his children to beat me."

PB: After two failed attempts to escape that nearly cost him his life, finally, at seventeen, Francis Bok was successful in his third attempt.

Dalet: Francis Bok Act 3

"I said, I don't care what happens to me this time. I'm not a little boy any more. I could fight back. And I escaped. I was lucky nobody saw me. God was watching me. I ran to the nearby town. I got help from a truck driver who helped me get to Khartoum, the capital. I went into a refugee camp. Some of the Dinka from the region and same tribe I am from, helped me finish my process through the black market. Eventually I got to Egypt. "

PB: In 1999, Mr. Bok was sponsored by Lutheran Social Services to leave Cairo and move to the United States, where he now lives and works. He has become an eloquent spokesman for the worldwide anti-slavery movement. Mr. Bok has recorded his own experience of slavery and flight to freedom in a new book, "Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity", published by St. Martin's Press.

Since its independence in 1956 Sudan has been in a state of civil war for all but ten years. Nearly 2 million people have been killed and over 4 million people have been displaced.

PB: Joel Frushone is an Africa Policy Analyst for the U.S. Committee for Refugees, a non-profit organization that works with refugees worldwide. He says Sudan's civil war has helped to fuel tribal and ethnic unrest.

Dalet: Frushone Act 1

"The Dinka is a tribe that has been marginalized by the Muslims for a long time. The animosity there runs very deep."

PB: The latest stage of Sudan's civil war began in 1973, when the Sudanese Peoples' Liberation Army rebelled against the government. The SPLA fought to end government rule in the Southern part of Sudan, which is mainly Christian and animist.

Ambassador David Shinn, is an adjunct professor at George Washington University's Elliot School of International Affairs. He is a former Ambassador to Ethiopia and a past State Department coordinator for Somalia. He says the underlying anger and disparity in Sudanese culture, has only fueled the strife.

Dalet: Shinn act 1

" You have differences between north and south; between religions; between those who were receiving disproportionate share of state resources. You had cultural difference, language differences you had ethnic differences. You roll this all into one package and you have a good formula for problems."

PB: Before Osama bin Laden went to Taleban-ruled Afghanistan, he lived in Sudan and was protected by the Khartoum government. Sanctions are currently in place against the government of Sudan, as a state-sponsor of terrorism, and a trafficker of humans. Roger Winter is the Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, responsible for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance. He says the government in Khartoum has contributed to the country's entrenched problems.

Dalet: Roger Winter Act 1

"The current government in Sudan came to power June 30, 1989 by coup. It was a radical government that was involved in the destabilization of its neighbors in a very aggressive Islamic mode. It was a government accused of trying to assassinate Hosni Mubarak. There have been a lot of difficulties between the government and the U.S.but also engaged in this internal civil war."

PB: Now, there is hope that peace may be at hand in Sudan. U.S. observers and diplomatic analysts say that the Muslim Sudanese government and rebel leaders are close to reaching an agreement. Indeed they may be "80 percent there" according to some estimates.

Ambassador David Shinn says peace in Sudan would have a large regional impact.

Dalet: Shin Act 2

"Sudan is the largest country geographically in Africa. It borders nine countries and the Red Sea. If you have peace and stability in Sudan, you have a leg up in solving regional problems in all of those other nine countries."

PB: The peace accord might be reached by the end of the month (October). If it is implemented, it could end one of the bloodiest ongoing conflicts. The Agency for International Development's Roger Winter says progress to date on the ending the civil war, has meant progress on ending slavery in Sudan.

Dalet: Winter Act 2

"Most of us who have been involved in that effort think we are very close to having a final agreement. A great deal of progress has been made. But in the period as the peace process has been moving forward, the issue of slavery has received a lot of attention. Things seem to have significantly improved, which doesn't mean they are perfect. For example some of the key slave trading groups have made peace with some of the former raidee population".

PB: There are still issues to be worked out between the Sudanese government and the rebels before a final peace deal can be reached. Both sides have agreed to security arrangements in the south, which has been one of the most difficult issues to negotiate. But other issues remain on the table, including-- placement of troops, sharing of political power, the fate of the nation's capital Khartoum, and the distribution of Sudan's oil wealth. The USCR's Joel Frushone elaborates.

Dalet: Frushone Act 2

"One of the largest sticking points is the military. In this current proposal, it was suggested Sudan needs a military nearly 40 thousand strong. Part of that would include incorporating some of the rebel groups such as the SPLA, into the Khartoum government military of the north. That has been a sticking point for years, a unified military. Another sticking point is the political issue of how to share the wealth, the oil. If that can be agreed upon, and an integrated military is agreed upon, I think they can start moving forward on the issues that would allow the uprooted Sudanese to come homedevelopment, starting schools again, hospitals, and rebuilding the country."

PB: Observers are cautiously optimistic about peace in Sudan. If an accord is implemented, Sudan's rebels would be brought into a process that suggests political integration and the eventual rebuilding of the country. For its part, the Khartoum government has moved in recent months toward political reform, releasing political prisoners, ending censorship of newspapers, and lifting a travel ban on some opposition figures.

For Dateline, I'm Pat Bodnar.

[Music: Sudanese: keep low under last graph and sign-out, the up full]