"We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing" By Konstantin Josef Jireček, a Czech historian, diplomat and slavist.
Press Statement
The National Congress Party uses of the Iranian Rocket missiles (Chihab) against civilians.
The National Congress Party (NCP) launched poisonous Iranian-made rockets (Chihab) from a launching pad in the town of Kadugli, targeting the towns of Kauda and Alburam and surrounding villages, which caused death and injuries among civilians while in sanctuary of their homes, and caused a lot panic among them.1 – on 4/12/2011 at nine o’clock in the evening, three rockets missiles were launched into Kauda causing the injury of five civilians.2 – on 5/12/2011 at 12 noon, two rocket missiles were launched against Krendy village and caused the death of two civilian and injured another two other.
3 – on 5/12/2011 at four pm, two rocket missiles were launched into the town of Alburam and no injury or death reported.
The SPLMN is not surprised by either the existence and use of the Iranian poisonous rocket missiles (Chehab), or by the presence of Iranian military technical expertise, which is attributed to the close cooperation between the Iranian Regime and the Government of the NCP in Sudan. This is evident by the last State visit by the Iranian President to the Sudan, after the fall of the Libyan regime, and the use of Iranian military experts in supervising and training the NCP security units on how to use and deal with internationally prohibited weapons which was recently smuggled into the Sudanfrom Iran and from Libya with the help of the Iranians.
The NCP use of various types of lethal weapons, including poisonous ones, either through the air force or heavy artillery against the civilians, confirms beyond doubts, the desire and determination of the NCP to affect it genocide drive. The SPLMN medical units are providing
advice and guidance to the civilian population on the necessary protection methods against the Iranian lethal weapons.The International Community need to break its long silence regarding the crimes committed by Omar al-Bashir and Ahmed Haroun, who are wanted by International Justice, against the Sudanese people and in particular the people of the State of Southern Kordofan / Nuba Mountains . It seems that the NCP government is not satisfied only with denying access to food and medicine to the displaced, but also deliberately launched a campaign of terror and killing of civilians according to its systematic strategy of genocide.
The march of the NCP troops and Militias towards the town Jau in the Republic of Southern Sudan, were in fact targeting the Yida Refugee Camp which is in close proximity to the Jau town. The SPLMN renew its call for the International Community to break its long silence and force the NCP and its leaders to accept opening humanitarian assistance corridors and to hold off its aggression and aerial and artillery bombardment against civilians. The SPLMN would like to remind the International Community that it is the second time and again, in less than twenty years, that the NCP government is committing war crimes against civilians in South Kordofan / Nuba Mountain.
Arnu Ngtullu Loddi
Spokesperson of SPLMN
Date: 5/12/2011
Statement of the Spokesperson on the militias of the National Congress Party summer offensive in the state of South Kordofan
The summer offensive of the forces and the militias of the National Congress party (NCP) in the State of South Kordofan have started in four different fronts and all were blocked and/or destroyed by the SPLA North.
1 / The front of Talodi – Aldar. Started on 30/11/2011 and has been destroyed and the NCP militias and forces were dispersed.
2 / The front of Eleirey – Troge. Started on 2/12/2011, the NCP militias and forces are completely surrounded and not able to evacuate their own injured and they are under ongoing intensive attacks.
3 / The front of Khersana – Jao . Began on 3/12/2011. One tank and 2 loaded Land Cruisers that belong to the NCP Forces have been destroyed . Their forces incurred a large number of dead and wounded and their morale is very low under the persisitent pressure of the SPLA North who maintains high morale.
4 / The front of Alhamra – Abuhasheim . Started on 4/12/2011 and the battle is continuing.
The Forces and the militias of the NCP, backed by a relentless aerial bombardment, which targeted civilians’ sites, are resulting in a large numbers of displaced citizens. The most alarming element of these NCP military operations is its timing which marked the end of the rainy season when most of the water natural reservoirs are dried and food is scant, a fact that put the lives of thousands at risk.
The indiscriminate aerial bombardment of the civilians and its timing is obviously a deliberate strategy intended to destroy the morale of the SPLM fighters who came from the same civilian population as well as it is part of the NCP scorched earth policy repeatedly espoused for years. The Governor Ahmed Haroun was not chosen for his current position as the Governor of South Kordofan State haphazardly, but was picked for his experience and history of implementing the same strategies and the committing same crimes in Darfur. Ahmed Haroun is not discharging his duties as a governor by supervising the constitutional and political organs of the State; instead, he is charged to command the military and security apparatus and was seen on Sudan TV (NCP TV) in a military uniform overseeing the military operations targeting the civilian population of the State in its name he governs.
The NCP Air Force and the militias are committing wide range of war crimes in South Kordofan. The SPLMN is not concerned with the summer offensive since it possesses the ability and the capability to repulse it as it has destroyed previous military dispatches before. What concern the SPLMN are the atrocious war crimes against the civilian population and that raises the following:
First, the urgent necessity to deliver food and other humanitarian assistance, including medicine, for the tens of thousands displaced citizens and it is needless to mention, these are the most populated areas in the State of South Kordofan.
Second, the protection of civilians; what is happening now in South Kordofan is certainly worse than what has happened in Libya and other areas that prompted the international community to move to protect the civilians.
The SPLMN demands an independent investigation into the war crimes taking place in the State of South Kordofan. Silence and impunity encourages war criminals, such as Ahmed Haroun, to commit more war crimes.
Arnu Ngtullu Loddi
Spokesperson – SPLMN
4/12/2011
An appeal from the SPLM-N Secretary General to the friends of Sudan, South Kordofan and the Nuba people
Since last week, December 1, 2011, the National Congress Government in Sudan has started a wider summer offensive (the dry season offensive against the Nuba peoples of South Kordofan and indeed it is an offensive against the entire Sudanese people and humanity). The offensive did not target the Sudan People’s Liberation Army positions only. It is targeting indiscriminately the civilian populations in rural towns and villages, which are war crimes, and it is part of a systematic genocide for the following reasons:
1) The dry season offensive came after five months since the war started last June in which the National Congress Government in Sudan deliberately used food and humanitarian assistance as a weapon by denying access for humanitarian assistance for civilian populations. More than 200,000 from the Nuba civilian populations were displaced through aerial bombardment, which resulted in many casualties among women, children and other civilians who were killed or wounded and displaced. Thousands of them are refugees in Yida refugee camp in South Sudan, which has been bombarded by the Sudan Air Force inside the Republic of South Sudan.
2) In the present offensive, new armament and equipment were used for the first time including long range Iranian artillery [Shaab] and other weapons that were brought from Libya after the fall of Gaddafi, and all was under the technical supervision of an Iranian expert team.
3) Throughout the last five months and more extensively in this offensive, South Kordofan / Nuba Mountains witnessed heavy aerial bombardment that targeted civilian populations and civilian installations (water places, etc.)
4) In the areas controlled by the National Congress Government, the SPLM members and the Nuba peoples have been targeted on the basis of political affiliation, ethnicity, and religion. Mass graves were found and admitted to by the National Congress authorities. Ahmed Haroun explained that he buried the victims in mass graves out of “mercy and concern”. A lot of this information has been reported by human rights organizations and to the United Nations forums and organizations. Until now, it has never been investigated by the United Nations and the international bodies concerned. If all of the above does not constitute a war crime, what then would constitute a war crime?
The Nuba people are experiencing a second genocide by the National Congress in the last two decades. The first was that which ended with the signing of the CPA in 2005. The second started last June. Ironically both of them are under the direct involvement of General Omar al-Bashir and Ahmed Haroun. Given the world’s silence about both genocides, the SPLM-N leadership appeals to its members, Sudan Revolutionary Front members, the Sudanese people, the friends of Sudan and humanity at large to use all forms of protest to reach out to governments and international organizations to stop genocide against the Nuba people; to open the corridors for humanitarian assistance to Blue Nile and South Kordofan; and to form an international independent committee to investigate war crimes and to end impunity.
Once the world said and was repeated by all of us, “never again” after Rwanda. What is taking place in South Kordofan is indeed another Rwanda that will be a stigma on the conscious of humanity in the 3rd millennium.
PaanLuel Wël is the founder and editor-in-chief of PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd, a news website that covers news, opinions, analysis, history, culture and literature of South Sudan and the world. Founded in July 2011 by PaanLuel Wël to create a platform for free expression and constructive dialogue, the website features articles from various contributors, including columnists, commentators, poets, authors, activists and academics. PaanLuel Wël believes that media can play a vital role in informing, educating and empowering the people to participate in nation-building and social transformation. He also believes that media can foster a culture of dialogue, tolerance and diversity among different communities and groups, and hopes to inspire and mentor the next generation of South Sudanese writers and journalists.
