A lesson For Somaliland - South Sudane the world's newest country in a civil war

[malistar2012]

 

 

 

 

NAIROBI, Kenya -- Amid the eruption of violence along ethnic lines in South Sudan, U.N. investigators discovered a mass grave in a rebel-held city, the United Nations said Tuesday as a possible opening occurred for negotiations to avert civil war in the world's newest country.

The bodies were found in Bentiu: one grave with 14 bodies and a site nearby with 20 bodies, said U.N. human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani.

The government minister of information Michael Makuei Lueth said Bentiu is under the control of rebels loyal to the country's former vice-president, Riek Machar, indicating they were responsible for the killings.

The dead reportedly were ethnic Dinka who belonged to the Sudan People's Liberation Army, said Shamdasani, referring to government military forces. South Sudan President Salva Kiir is Dinka while Machar is Nuer.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke on the phone Tuesday with Machar, who said he told Kerry he is ready for talks with Kiir, likely to take place in Ethiopia.

"I will form a high-level delegation, to which I will give full power to negotiate an accord," Machar told Radio France Internationale. "We want Salva Kiir to quit power. We want a democratic nation and free and fair elections."

Violence began spreading across South Sudan after a fight among Kiir's presidential guards late Dec. 15, pitting Nuer against Dinka.

Some 20,000 people seeking safety have crowded round the U.N. base in Juba, the capital, where at least two other mass graves are reported to have been found, U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote later Tuesday on a resolution to increase the number of U.N. troops in South Sudan from 7,000 to 12,500 following a call by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for more U.N. force.

U.N. staff visited the mass grave in Bentiu on Monday. Originally the U.N. said 75 bodies had been seen but later corrected that statement to 34 bodies seen and 75 people missing and feared dead.

The United States, Norway and Ethiopia are leading efforts to open peace talks on the 10-day-old crisis. Officials say Kiir and Machar have agreed to meet but specifics including the status of Machar's imprisoned compatriots are holding up talks.

South Sudanese troops, meanwhile, are advancing on Bor in order to take it back from troops loyal to Machar, said military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer. The military said armed elements have entered a U.N. refugee camp in Bor, a frightening situation for the 17,000 civilians seeking refuge there.

Government troops will also soon advance on Bentiu, in oil-rich Unity state, he said.

The U.N. has staff in the country investigating mass killings, said Pillay. It is unclear who is responsible for the deaths, she said. Two other mass graves were reportedly found in Jebel-Kujur and Newside, near Eden, she said.

The country's top U.N. humanitarian official said Monday that he believes the death toll from 10 days of violence has surpassed 1,000 but added that there are no firm counts. The official, Toby Lanzer, estimated that there are more than 100,000 internal refugees across the country seeking shelter from the violence.

A top European Union official, Catherine Ashton, said political dialogue must include all groups, including those whose leaders are currently imprisoned. The use of force, she said, will achieve nothing.

"I am extremely concerned that South Sudan risks spiraling into a disaster for both its own people and the region. Such a situation can, and must, be avoided," Ashton said, adding: "The people of South Sudan have suffered war for too long to be plunged once more into an avoidable conflict."

South Sudan, the world's newest country, peacefully broke away from Sudan in 2011 following a 2005 peace deal. Before that, the south fought decades of war with Sudan. The country, one of the world's least developed, still has pockets of rebel resistance and sees cyclical, tribal clashes that result in hundreds of deaths.

[YoniZ]

Saxiib waxa fiicnaan lahey in aad ku gaabsatid Xidigta October's kind of the reporting you have been up to lately.

[Odey]

interesting read

[malistar2012]

YoniZ;992239 wrote:

Saxiib waxa fiicnaan lahey in aad ku gaabsatid Xidigta October's kind of the reporting you have been up to lately.

a lot of my Hargeysa friends use South Sudan and Eritrea as on example and hope for secessionist dream , we now know that statues of both country today . Breaking Somalia into two is not the answer for a better future .

[burahadeer]

How is Somalia immune drifting back with the long history of violence in modern times.

[YoniZ]

What are the similarities in the three cases?

 

You are comparing apples to oranges here. Both Eritrea and S Sudan have been in bad shape comparing to Ethiopia and Sudan even before they become countries.

 

Tell me about the mental framework of a young 20 years old police recruit grown-up in Mogadishu? Compare that to a young police recruit in Hargeisa. Considering just not the dress they wear, but the two different experiences they have gone through in their childhood life.

 

Do you see the differences?

[Tallaabo]

malistar2012;992247 wrote:

a lot of my Hargeysa friends use South Sudan and Eritrea as on example and hope for secessionist dream , we now know that statues of both country today . Breaking Somalia into two is not the answer for a better future .

You are comparing apples and oranges indeed;) The difference between South Sudan and Eritrea on one hand and Somaliland on the other is that unlike those two failed new states Somaliland is already a lot more democratic, peaceful, stable, and prosperous than many long established and recognised counties. The Africa democracy map proves my point.

[Wiil Cusub]

Dawlad kasta oo gacan-ku-rimis ah ayaa dhaako-dhaako ah!. Haddii aad fahmaysid waxaan ka hadlay;)

[Che -Guevara]

Any African country stricken with poverty, high unemployment, and finite resources are susceptible to the inevitable Add bad leadership and ignorant masses who are loyal to the only institution [tribe] they know, it is recipe for disaster. What is so amazing about South Sudanis is the efficiency in which they kill each other in such short time. If we are to believe news outlets, there are already mass graves and the casualties are in tens of thousands.

[Guje]

Che -Guevara;992260 wrote:

Any African country stricken with poverty, high unemployment, and finite resources are susceptible to the inevitable Add bad leadership and ignorant masses

who are loyal to the only institution [tribe] they know, it is recipe for disaster. What is so amazing about South Sudanis is the efficiency in which they kill each other in such short time. If we are to believe news outlets, there are already mass graves and the casualties are in tens of thousands.

I disagree with you, the problem is different tribes inhabiting one country. Remember each tribe is a nation unto itself with its identity, language, and so on and will not accept a rule by another tribe. Catalans and Basques don't accept Spanish rule, Scots in the UK want to be independent, Quebecers in Canada as well - all are affluent developed societies without the problems you mentioned.

 

Unless each tribe is given its own state, most African nation states can't be viable going into the future, they will be endless strife, instability and when there is no conflict an uneasy fragile peace. The other option is far reaching autonomy for the tribes who decide on everything on their behalf, basically a confederation of tribes in one country.

[Saalax]

South Sudan is a country of different ethnic groups not just tribes. Dinka and Nuer rivalry goes way back to when

the British were in Sudan.

[Homunculus]

I don't think there will be a civil war in Somaliland if they separated but there will be some skirmishes for resources. It could turn into a civil war if they went full Somali mode and the sub clan multiparty democracy went out of control.

[Hawdian]

The republic of Somaliland will

Never turn the same way as South Sudan or Somaliya. Somaliland is a free democratic country compared to those people .

[Guje]

Which ethnic groups ?? i thought all were black

[Saalax]

Black is just a colour it doesn't determine your ethnicity at least in Africa.