IS SOUTH SUDAN FIGHTING WAR OR MAKING PEACE THROUGH WAR?
COUNTER – INSURGENCY THROUGH ARMY MILITIAS / LOCAL DEFENCE FORCES: IS SOUTH SUDAN FIGHTING WAR OR MAKING PEACE THROUGH WAR?
By Amer Mayen Dhieu, Brisbane
Since the last election, South Sudan government, local state, legal and illegal authorities such as David Yau-Yau have all armed local defense forces and militias to fight insurgency, political corruption, insecurities and minorities’ freedom in the country. However, from December 15, there has been a renewed interested in counter-insurgency practice with many defense forces emerging from government and South Sudan’s local communities. The recently formed Tiger/Gelweng, Bor and Shilluk community Defence Forces, established by ‘coalition of the willing’ in the names of protecting their communities, appears to be waging small wars among South Sudanese ethnic communities. It is not clear to me how fighting such wars can help unravel the danger of the failed state scenario in the country.
Like the insurgency itself, counter-insurgency as security strategy has a long history of theoretical approaches built on best practices. Such practices has already been applied by other world superpowers like the United State in the case of Afghanistan as part of their security strategy which rarely meet its intended goal. However, are these recently formed militias in South Sudan going to apply this strategy in a professional way as administer by the School of thought in international relations? Personally, I doubt it and think that it may actually do more than the good we all desperately need.
First, these militias are basically being formed to defend their villages, strategic or administrative towns such as “Tonga”, the town claim to be in the process of forming the Shilluk Defense Force. They are also being formed to protect lives of helpless people in the villages. But besides all these positive reasons, the imperative question is whether or not this is what South Sudan want to achieve the already dying peace? In my opinion, the answer is no. Formation of local defense forces is a fomentation of ethnic tension that can develop into inter-ethnic civil wars and later genocide.
For instance, the Shilluk Defence Forces are waging war against their fellow Nuer Militias, the so-called White army. The concept of these community-based wars is that whoever is ethnically Nuer (Dinka/Shilluk) is defined by Shilluk (Nuer/Dinka) militias as the Nuer (Dinka/Shilluk) Militia and vice versa. This is why these tribal militias often end up massacring children, women, unarmed civilians etc. indiscriminately, because at the back of their minds, they are simply killing the “militias” from the other community. The Nuer white army that devastated Bor, probably, was thinking along that line. Otherwise, it is just hard to understand why they would kill helpless patients in hospital or youth mama and pastors in the churches.
This concept is also applied in the case of “Gelweng” and Yau-Yau militias. These two militias are difference from Bor and Shilluk Defence Forces. Their perceive goal is to tackle power struggle and political corruption whether at the state or federal level. Nonetheless, for them to achieve these goals, both militias do end up killing civilians either to make their point or just to terrorize them in the believe that it would induce the government to attend to their political agenda. Civilians are therefore targeted based on their perceived political leanings and allegiance, not for any particular crimes they might have committed. It is mostly based on who is supporting who and whose political figure is supporting which political figure. Such dividing and old school strategies in my view are pushing country backward to the point that one can expect civil war or ethnic genocide in the near future.
Not to bore you with interpretation of the already obvious practice, the burning question is that what are these militias bringing to the table of nation integration and peace building process? To me the growth of tribal insurgency, failure to tackle it by national army and the influence of counter-insurgency security strategy use by both side explain nothing but proliferation of tribal armed militias, a serious development that may send our country the Somali way. The exponential growth of these ethnic based militias is contributing to the reluctance by the rebels and the government to embrace serious negotiations for peace and reconciliation in Addis Ababa. The two warring sides are the direct beneficiaries and instigators of these armed groups, each of which is hoping to win an outright military victory over the other using tribal militias.
Another point is that these local militias form in the name of protecting villages, the strategic town and people do often time engage in destructive violence against the citizens of South Sudan regardless of where they belong. Most small wars they fought have already resulted in Juba, Malakal, Bentiu and Bor Massacre. This shows that if counter-insurgency or Insurgency is the security strategies chosen by both the rebels and the government or their illegal supporters, then it is time for government and rebel top figures to immediately cease violence. They should never misconceive it as the best way forward to achieve military victory nor peace and reconciliation in the country.
In conclusion, government and rebels officials are seen celebrating the horrendous handiwork of these local militias. Reported by Sudan Tribune, information minister Philip Jiben Ogal proudly congratulated his Shilluk Defence Forces for playing a role of recapturing Tonga Town, the administrative headquarter of Panyikang country. One puzzle that I have failed to understand is: are these government and rebel figures supporting peace through war or an immediate cessation of hostilities. There is no military victory without loss in lives and property, and these government and rebel leaders must know that if indeed they are fighting for a position to serve the best interest of the general public of South Sudan. They must take charge of protecting civilians, instead of using civilians’ lives a shield to fight their heinous wars.
With these misplaced strategies, it is fundamentally clear to me that both the rebel and government are attempting to build fake peace while fighting war through local defense forces. The increase of local defense forces “exemplifies the deleterious effect of exogenous, militarized state that undermined international legal process of peacebuilding and state-building in all levels”. This is not the quick way to bring peace to the country.
AMER@2014.
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Hi Ms. Amer, I think you are making a good point here, but remember, it was the split of Riek Machar of 1991 which justified the armament of the Dinka civilian in order for them to protect their territories from brutal and indiscriminate killings carried out by Riek forces against the Dinka populations, especially in Bor. now history is repeating itself my dear sister, there is no any other option rather than to arm the civil population to protect themselves, as you know the SPLA was almost made up of 70% of the Nuer ethnicity (the absorbed Militias into the army) and most of them have now defected to the rebel groups, this has created a big gap in the forces balances and checks.
Any way it is not an ideal solution but for now it be the option up to when peace and reconciliation is brought back to the Country.