FOREVER WARS – Part 5: Sudan

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Sudan may no longer be the biggest country in Africa, but it’s certainly one of the poorest.

Due, in no small part, to decades of civil wars stemming from centuries-old divisions between the largely Islamic Arabic North and the predominately traditional and Christian African South.

That’s part of it.

But there’s another plausible reason for the endless bloody conflicts that have raged in that country over the past seventy years …

IT BEGAN (LIKE MANY TIMES BEFORE) WITH THE OIL

Like many countries before it, Sudan’s post-colonial troubles and “modern wars” began in 1956 when the West first started excavating for oil in that country and discovered it in the ’70s.

Something else happened in 1956 – on 1 January: Sudan gained their “independence“.

THE FIRST CIVIL WAR (1955 – 1972)

Strangely… in 1955, merely months before attaining independence, civil war broke out in Sudan – and continued for a decade and a half.

Curious, don’t you think?

That civil war should break out just before independence day and the hunt for oil began – and persisted until just after oil was discovered.

You would think that gaining independence would be reason enough to pause the civil war and negotiate a political solution?

Yeah, you would think…

After 16 years of fighting and over a million dead, the first civil war ended in 1972.

For a while, around 10 years, Sudan enjoyed relative peace.

Then, in 1981, the Chevron Corporation discovered the Adar Yale oilfield in South Sudan estimated to contain about 276 million barrels.

Guess what happened less than two years later …

THE SECOND CIVIL WAR (1983 – 2005)

Sudan’s second civil war erupted in 1983 when the rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) led by Dr. John Garang rose up against Islamist-ruled Khartoum to bring about a “new” secular, democratic Sudan.

By now, the country was Sub-Saharan Africa’s third largest oil producer, and that new oil discovery in the South arguably contributed to igniting the second war.

AL-BASHIR SEIZES POWER IN A COUP (1989)

On 30 June 1989, an Islamist brigadier general in the Sudanese Army, Omar al-Bashir, led a military coup against the democratically elected Prime Minister, Sadiq al-Mahdi.

Bashir replaced President Ahmed al-Mirghani as head of state and immediately cracked down on the southern rebellion.

It is estimated as many as two million people were killed and another four million displaced in the 22-year war.

It ended on 9 January 2005, when Garang signed a peace accord with Bashir’s government.

Garang was killed a few months later on 30 July in a “mysterious” helicopter crash.

DARFUR WAR (2003-2020)

Two years before the end of Sudan’s second civil war, West Darfur was plunged into a war in February 2003 when mostly non-Arab armed groups rose up against the government in Khartoum, accusing them of racial discrimination and oppression.

Khartoum responded by unleashing the Janjaweed (“devils on horseback“) on Darfuri villagers.

On 29 May 2007, in order to force the regime in Darfur to step down, President GW Bush (in typical US fashion) approved sanctions against the Sudanese people.

Despite criticising Bush’s dealings with Khartoum, after Obama came to power in January 2009, he merely continued Bush’s policy in Sudan.

According to the UN, in the first five years alone the Darfur war claimed 300 000 lives from violence, disease and malnutrition, and around 2.5 million people were displaced.

ICC ARREST WARRANT FOR AL-BASHIR (2009)

In March 2009 the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Of course, the US, which has a bipolar relationship with the ICC, endorsed that particular warrant – like they did the warrant for Putin (but not the warrant for Netanyahu).

SOUTH SUDAN SPLITS FROM THE NORTH (2011)

After more than 20 years of fighting, and more than 2 million lives lost, on 9 July 2011, South Sudan split off from the north.

With most of Sudan’s oil being in the south, guess who the US recognised “as a sovereign, independent state” and backed with funding and aid.

One month prior to South Sudan’s day of independence, fighting again broke out in South Kordofan on 5 June and spread to the neighbouring Blue Nile state in September.

The conflict was intertwined with the War in Darfur since November 2011 and gave rise to the Sudan Revolutionary Front (SRF).

THE NUER MASSACRE (2013)

On 15 December 2013, a power struggle between South Sudan’s president, Salva Mayardit, and his former VP, Dr Riek Machar culminated in another civil war.

This one was kicked off by the Nuer massacre between 15 and 18 December where more than 47 000 civilians were slaughtered in four days by Dinka SPLA soldiers, the Presidential Guard and the Mathiang Anyoor militia – supported by Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).

At the centre of the conflict between Mayardit and Machar was a disagreement over how to divide the country’s wealth and resources – particularly profits from the oil.

SA DEFIES ICC ARREST WARRANT FOR AL-BASHIR (2015)

In June 2015, Al-Bashir attended an AU Summit held in South Africa.

Despite SA being a signatory to the Rome Statute, the SA government famously defied the ICC’s arrest warrant for Bashir and failed to arrest him.

Instead, they allowed him to fly freely out of the country on 15 June.

In their explanation to the ICC, the SA government cited international law that grants immunity to visiting heads of state.

AL-BASHIR DEPOSED (2019)

In April 2019, al-Bashir’s 30-year reign ended when he was overthrown by nationwide protests and arrested, ironically, in a military coup.

Sudan underwent a “revolution” but the sense of hope and promise of a new democracy in the country was soon derailed when the military generals refused to cede power and the revolution turned violent.

On 31 August 2020, the government and most rebel groups agreed on a landmark peace deal, but sporadic clashes continued.

YET ANOTHER CIVIL WAR: SAF VS RSF (2022 – PRESENT)

In 2022, the rivalry between two men (who were once allies and promised to save Sudan) erupted into a new civil war.

On one side is General Abdel al-Burhan, leader of SAF (Sudanese Armed Forces), and on the other side is General Mohamed ‘Hemedti’ Dagalo who leads the paramilitary RSF (Rapid Support Forces) – which evolved from the dreaded Janjaweed.

Early in 2023, Sudan was on the verge of a breakthrough agreement that would transition the country from military dictatorship to democracy, fulfilling the promise of the country’s euphoric 2019 revolution.

However, on 23 April SAF and RSF began a vicious struggle for power and plunged the country back into civil war – which continues to this day.

SUDAN, TODAY: MILLIONS DEAD, DISPLACED AND STARVING

After more than a year of renewed civil war, Sudan is facing one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

Thousands have been killed, with millions displaced and dying of hunger.

According to the UN Refugee Agency, in December 2024 alone, 80 000 people were driven into South Sudan in less than three weeks.

As of 25 December 2024, Sudan’s humanitarian crisis showed no sign of easing, with thousands of refugees still fleeing into the South – per day.

Despite the violent conflict and humanitarian crisis, Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum announced that crude oil production would resume on 30 December 2024.

Never mind the genocide… keep the oil flowing.