Sudan, home to 572 tribes and 114 recognized languages, has long battled its infamous “identity crisis:” is it Arab or is it African? These two are not exclusive, but in the Sudans they became opposition.
As OkayAfrica marks our 15th anniversary, we're taking a look back at 15 defining African moments of the past 15 years that deserve to be remembered, and the impact they've had. In chronological order, here's Moment No. 4.
When most people hear the word slavery, they think of the translatlantic slave trade; few have heard of the Arab slave trade. As a result, when South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan on July 9, 2011, breaking Africa’s largest country in two after decades of civil war, most people lacked the context to understand why the South Sudanese wanted to secede.
Gaining independence was a long and complex process, but the underlying reasons are simple: Sudan has a horrific, mostly undiscussed history of slavery and racism. The afterlives of this violence continue to fuel stigma, conflict, and genocide today.
Sudan, home to 572 tribes and 114 recognized languages, has long battled its infamous “identity crisis:” is it Arab or is it African? These two are not exclusive, but in the Sudans they became opposition. There were Arab Muslim tribes, historically favored by the country’s various colonizers, and there were African Christians or followers of indigenous religions. The latter were hunted by slavers for centuries.
The British formally abolished slavery under the Anglo-Egyptian Condominium that ruled Sudan from 1899 to 1956. However, their policies paved the way for a post-colonial state of mistrust and inequality, dominated by Arab Muslim elites that did not grant rural areas and the so-called African tribes sufficient resources, infrastructure, or political participation.
The First Sudanese Civil War (1955 - 1972)
In 1954, a newly elected transitional government began the “Sudanization” of the army, police, and administration, filling positions that had been left by the British with 794 northerners and six southerners. As southerners protested, a mutiny by the Southern Corps triggered the first Sudanese Civil War months before the country’s independence. The government’s brutal crackdown on dissent led many educated southerners to flee into exile where they formed the Sudan African National Union (SANU) in 1962, advocating for complete independence.
On the ground, violence escalated between the guerrilla movement Anya-nya (“snake venom”) and the central government throughout the 1960s. Civilians bore the brunt of atrocities that claimed an estimated 500,000 lives. The war was ended by the Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972, granting limited autonomy to the south and temporarily quelling hostilities. In 1978, oil was discovered in the southern region, eventually becoming the main objective of war.
The Second Sudanese Civil War (1983 - 2005)
Trying to force a monolithic Arab Islamic identity on Sudan’s diverse population, President Jaafar Nimeiry annulled the autonomy of the south and imposed nationwide Islamic law in 1983. One of the longest civil wars in modern history ensued, and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) emerged as a key player in the conflict.
Led by John Garang, the SPLA disrupted river and rail movement between the north and south, and construction on the oil pipeline to Port Sudan. However, Garang favored his fellow Dinka tribesmen, complicating the unity between southerners. Fighting with the central government as well as amongst various rebel groups displaced over four million southern Sudanese to neighboring countries, and drafted tens of thousands of children into the insurgency.
The conflict, which claimed over two million lives, many of whom were civilians who died from drought or famine-related causes, was ended by a comprehensive peace agreement that culminated in a referendum in 2011.
After the referendum
“I had two emotions: I was sad that Sudan would break into two. But when I saw the people of South Sudan celebrating, I was happy for my people.” - Stella Gaitano, Author.
Illustration by Kaushik Kalidindi for OkayAfrica.
99 percent of South Sudanese voted for independence. “I had two emotions: I was sad that Sudan would break into two,” author Stella Gaitano tells OkayAfrica. “But when I saw the people of South Sudan celebrating, I was happy for my people.”
Gaitano was born and raised in Khartoum, capital of Sudan, and had just given birth to her second child. After the referendum, she was effectively stateless. “We lost everything”, she remembers. “There was no transition for people to manage the situation. South Sudanese were just foreigners now.” She relocated to Juba, capital of South Sudan, in 2012. “They blocked the borders while people were moving,” she says. “I took a plane to Kenya and then South Sudan, which took one day. From Sudan it’s less than two hours.”
Nationalism soared as the new nation celebrated its freedom. “We moved to South Sudan with high expectations and worked hard to build it,” says Gaitano. Still, she was concerned about people ignoring signs of corruption and misuse of political power. “Criticizing anything at that time was like doubting independence itself,” she says. “I got into trouble for saying that bad politicians will get us trapped in the same situation that we got independence from.”
In 2013, South Sudan fell into a civil war between the government and opposition forces. In 2015, Gaitano had to return to Khartoum, because she was being harassed and threatened for questioning the government’s involvement in the war.An ongoing struggle
“[We seceded] without solving the root problem,” says Gaitano. “We have this bloody history and strong relationship; we’re supposed to reconcile and hold the people who committed the atrocities accountable. But we didn’t learn from the past and that’s why in the end, we dropped back to war.”
South Sudan seceded over a lack of fair resource allocation, political representation, and respect for its people. These are all symptoms of a history of enslavement and injustice that are also prevalent in regions like Darfur, South Kordofan, and Blue Nile State in Sudan; the lines delineating who is marginalized and who holds power are still drawn along the lines of slaver vs. enslaved.
“There is a wound inside the South Sudanese until now,” says Gaitano. “And because we just jump over it, there will always be a wall separating our countries. Nobody apologized and people are traumatized, carrying this bad history inside them. But we can’t run from it.” Whenever violence breaks out between South Sudanese and Sudanese, they justify it in the context of this lingering history.
Sudanese artists have tried to understand the South Sudanese, and by extension, the non-Arab experience with Sudan’s oppressive central governments and biased society. Films like Mohamed Kordofani’s Goodbye Julia or novels like Fatin Abbas’ Ghost Season and Reem Gaafar’s A Mouth Full of Salt are beginning the important work of uncovering a history of bigotry and unimaginable violence, as well as solidarity, friendship and love.
“I think art is the only way to bring justice to victims in Sudan, and to judge the people who were responsible," says Gaitano. She is working on a history novel and already faces criticism. “People say ‘if you bring back the past, people start to hate each other and fight again,’” she says. “But it’s happening already. Genocide is just around the corner anytime in Sudan. We are all victims, but we are also perpetrators.”
“The separation didn’t solve our problems,” says Gaitano as Sudan marks two years of war and South Sudan tethers on the brink of another civil war. “Now the two countries are at war inside themselves. Citizens are still looking for peace.”
