Jennifer Warren

Peace, What Peace

In January 2010, Southern Sudan will mark the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), which ended 21 years of war. The CPA has brought relative peace to the semi-autonomous region - a fragile peace with Khartoum - but violence across the South is escalating.

Despite the international community's attempt to develop Southern Sudan in the past 5 years, the country remains trapped in a cycle of war. For over a year now, internal tribal clashes and cattle raids have grown increasingly organized and brutal.

Since the first attack on 5 March 2009, over 2,000 people have been killed, and thousands more displaced - more than those in Darfur this year. Adding to internal conflicts and cattle raids, the LRA attacks on Congolese and Sudanese villages have continued relentlessly in the Equatorias since December 2008.

Some believe that Khartoum is orchestrating the violence, proving to the international community that the South cannot manage the responsibility of independence - cannot provide a safe environment for Sudanese people, or the refugees they are now hosting. What is definite is that each attack, each massacre, moves the country further away from peace and further away from independence.

'As you see us now, we don’t have food to eat, we don’t have clothes. Lol Nuer killed many of our people. We are only the few people remaining. We can’t stay here. We are hiding ourselves in the bush, on the bank of the river. During the day we come back to Torkej to dismantle our tukuls and huts. To dismantle the tukul takes 10 days, and then we transport the wood to the bank of the river and take it to Nasir. When we sell the wood, we will buy a little sorghum and share it.'Nyabol Badeng, from Torkej, dismantles her tukul to sell the wood and grass in Nasir for food. Torkej, Jikany Nuer territory, was attacked on 8 May by the larger Lol Nuer tribe, and is vulnerable to repeated cattle raids and attacks because of their placement on the river and proximity to Lol Nuer lands. Nyabol's 8 children and husband were all killed in the nighttime raid, and she is terrified to return home for fear of another violent attack. The Lol Nuer are perpretrators of repeated cattle raids and attacks against the Dinka, Murle, and Jikany Nuer sub-tribe. Tribal violence overall in Southern Sudan has dramatically increased in 2009, with over 2000 deaths, more people than have been killed in Darfur.
   
‘Our place was destroyed. We don’t have anything. During the time when we were trying to cultivate, all our plants were burned, and the attackers took all the cattle from the Likuangole civilians. They took a huge number. When your cattle are taken, you remain with nothing. Nobody will help you.’The Chief of Likuangole, Lukademo Alan, escaped the Nuer attack on 8 March 2009. He returned to his village with other chiefs to find an empty and looted home. 450 people were killed, mostly women and children, the market and tukuls raided. Murle and Nuer tribes repeatedly conduct cattle raids on the other, but the attacks have gotten increasingly violent since the start of the year. Women and children are now being targeted and killed.
   
‘Now Sudan has the CPA but we are still killing ourselves. Nothing has changed, nothing. In the villages, they don’t know peace. If we tell them that we have peace, they say “What peace now? The Nuer come to attack, and you say that we have peace. What peace?” It is much worse than before. What has changed is this killing of women and children. Whether young or old, all people are dying.’Almost 9 months following the attack on Likuangole on 8 March 2009, there are still skeletons scattered along the road near the airstrip in Likuangole.
     
  
‘When I was shot, the bullet pushed me to the ground and I was convulsing. At the same time, my brothers and sisters heard the gunshots and stood up. Many of them died. When they were killed, I started running. I escaped. I was running and fell, and I ran and fell and ran and fell, until I ran into the river to hide. The only thing I can say is that this should not happen. People should live in peace.’Naser Wiw, 10 years old, was shot during an attack on his village, Torkej. His mother was killed, along with 56 others, during the 3am raid. Torkej, a small village on the Sobat River in Jikany Nuer territory, was attacked on 8 May by the larger Lol Nuer tribe. Torkej is vulnerable to repeated cattle raids and attacks because of their placement on the river and proximity to Lol Nuer lands. Wiw now lives with relatives in Hai Majak, an area of Nasir with many displaced from Torkej.
   
'Some of the patients had gunshot wounds in the head, in the chest, abdomen, and fractures in the leg and hand. The scene was very strong and we had a shortage of everything, but when IRC came they brought materials. When we received all the patients, the wards were very full and even the operating theater. We worked for three days, night and day. We received so many patients at one time. Adults, children, men and women. They were just sleeping.'MSF Anaesthesiologist Gatwech Lual restrains gunshot victim Rout Meet Makuach, 27, during surgery. Makuach was transferred by air from his village in Jonglei State, Lankien, to the MSF-H Nasir Hospital.
   
‘My son has Kala Azar, he has been here for 10 days. Slowly he is taking rest and getting better. What I want to say to other mothers… if your children raid cattle like ours do, tell them to stop. Our children going to raid are now getting Kala Azar from the Nuer areas. I see that the disease is very terrible and my son is sick. When he gets better I will tell him never to go on a cattle raid again. I am just praying for him.’Wera Rijo watches after her 24 year old son, Baba Dong Dong, who was infected with Kala Azar while on a cattle raid with 80 other young men in Nyirol County, Jonglei State. An outbreak of Kala Azar in Nuer land might be the last hope to reduce the attacks, as people are fearful to move to neighboring areas.
     
  
‘Seven of my wives were killed and I remain with three. When they were killed, we buried them in Wechlita Cattle Camp after the Lol Nuer left. Not only one person was buried in one hole. Three people were buried in one hole, or 4 or 5, even 7, because the strong men were not there to dig the graves. The relatives who came to visit buried the dead people.'Reath Tongyik, 75, the oldest survivor of the Torkej attack returns during daylight to dismantle his tukul. Seven of Reath's ten wives were killed and he is terrified to resettle in Torkej for fear of another violent attack.
   
‘Lol Nuer came at night when we were sleeping. People were sleeping under the bed nets; and some were in the tukuls. They killed many people. All of my seven children were killed, and my husband. I will not stay here. I still fear for my life, and what spirit I have left is going away. I am just waiting to die because I have no way to get more cows or feed myself, and I am alone.’Nyaluak Kuer, from Torkej, cooks fish in a tukul for cattle, where she and her sisters are squatting while they dismantle their homes to sell the wood and grass for food in Nasir. Nyaluak's seven children and husband were all killed in the nighttime raid, and her sisters all lost their husbands and children as well. They are terrified to return home for fear of another violent attack.
   
‘We are not crying out to Sudan alone, we are crying to the world. Our country is not able to help us, so we are crying as human beings who have the same blood as others. We are living here like wild animals because we don’t have a home. We are living as displaced people and no one is taking care of us here.’Nyakong Nyuon was shot in the arm and leg during a 3am raid on her village, Torkej, and is caring for her niece's orphaned children. Along the Sobat River in Jikany Nuer territory, Torkej was attacked on 8 May by the larger Lol Nuer tribe, and is is vulnerable to repeated cattle raids because of their placement on the river and proximity to Lol Nuer lands. Nyakong now lives with relatives in Hai Majak, an area of Nasir with many displaced families.
     
  
‘When I was shot, I was sleeping in the mosquito net and I didn’t know that I had been shot. I tried to run three times. When I got enough power, I ran into the river and hid there. When the attackers killed the remaining people and took the cattle, they left, and then I came back into the village. The bleeding still continued for two days. I am still not as strong as I used to be. For now I am still in pain and just sitting idle in the tukul.’Torkej Kuach was shot during a 3am raid on his village, Torkej. Kuach now lives with relatives in Hai Majak, an area of Nasir with many displaced.
   
‘When the attack happened I was very sad. When I heard what happened to my niece, I wanted to kill myself. I started thinking about the youngest child because I know that his mother has died. When I looked to him, I was still so sad. I had to change because I am the one to take care of him. I had to forget everything and just take care of the children.’Tibisa Chol Gach's sister in Hai Majak, an area of Nasir with many displaced from Torkej. Tibisa's daughter was killed in the attack, leaving her and her sister to care for the children.
   
‘I was rolling in the blood in my tukul because I was not able to walk. When the sun rose in the morning, all the neighboring villages came to Torkej to see what happened. I have many children who were killed. When we were discharged from the hospital, we came to stay at a relative’s home. This tukul doesn’t belong to us and I don’t have any permanent sleeping arrangement. We are sleeping outside. This situation is not for only my family, it is the story of all the people of Torkej.’Nyachuol Gatbel (L) was shot in the leg during a 3am raid on her village, Torkej. Tibisa Chol Gach (R) lost her daughter in the attack and now cares for the orphaned children with her sister. Along the Sobat River in Jikany Nuer territory, Torkej was attacked on 8 May by the larger Lol Nuer tribe, and is vulnerable to repeated cattle raids because of their placement on the river and proximity to Lol Nuer lands. The family now lives with relatives in Hai Majak, an area of Nasir with many displaced. Tribal violence overall in Southern Sudan has dramatically increased in 2009, with over 2000 deaths, more people than have been killed in Darfur.