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Bombardment of Civilian & Humanitarian Targets
The Government of Sudan (GOS) has used aerial bombardments and helicopter gunships to attack the southern Sudanese civilian population for years. In 1999, there were 65 confirmed aerial bombings of civilians in southern Sudan, however, the number of such attacks more than doubled in 2000 to 132 and tripled in 2001 to 195 confirmed bombings. Most of these attacks occurred in the Bahr el Ghazal, Eastern Equatoria, Southern Blue Nile, and Upper Nile regions.
In addition to the direct threat to non-combatants from these aerial bombings, there are addition humanitarian issues associated with the Government's tactic of bombarding civilian and humanitarian targets. There is a direct relationship between GOS aerial bombardment and GOS flight denials of U.N. Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) humanitarian operations and evacuating staff. Furthermore, GOS aerial bombardments raise significant security concerns with OLS officials that often lead to the UN suspending operations to an insecure area. In addition, the abduction of humanitarian staff and killing of relief workers has a direct relationship to the GOS bombardment of civilian and humanitarian targets because GOS bombardment appears to be part of an overall Government policy on restricting humanitarian access.
Chronology Since the Appointment of the Special Envoy: Since the appointment of the U.S. Special Envoy for Peace in September 2001, several key incidents have occurred. These bombings have significantly stressed the delivery of humanitarian assistance, as well as affected the safety of the southern Sudanese population and relief workers. Some of the most significant events are outlined below:
- On October 5, 7, and 8, GOS Antonov military aircraft bombed the village of Mangayat, western Bahr el Ghazal, at the same time as WFP emergency food airdrops were taking place to a population of more than 20,000 displaced civilians from Raga, western Bahr el Ghazal. These airdrops had been cleared by GOS.
- On November 2, GOS and Murajaleen militia attacked Nyamliel, Bahr el Ghazal, detaining one Kenyan and two Sudanese relief workers.
- In November, December, and January, separate US delegations, including SE Danforth, engaged GOS and SPLA leadership on the need to cease attacks on civilian and humanitarian targets.
- On January 11, the U.N. reported two GOS aerial bombings approximately 11 miles outside of the eastern Equatoria town of Ikotos.
- On February 10, a GOS Antonov military aircraft dropped six bombs, killing two people, on the town of Akuem, Bahr el Ghazal just as WFP had finished distributing emergency food to more than 18,000 drought and war-affected people.
- Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) reported on February 15 that a Sudanese health worker and four other civilians were killed when a GOS aircraft dropped at least three bombs on the village of Nimne, western Upper Nile.
- On February 20, a GOS military helicopter fired several rockets into a WFP food distribution center in the village of Bieh, Western Upper Nile, killing 24 people and wounding many others. As mandated by OLS operations, the food distribution in this location at this time was cleared by GOS.
- On March 1, 14 NGOs signed an open letter calling upon all members of the international and humanitarian communities to condemn the February 20 attack. The NGOs went on the claim that attacks such as this are intolerable and demonstrate a disregard of the Geneva Convention to which the Government of Sudan is a signatory.
- The GOS denied humanitarian access to more than 45 locations on the March OLS flight schedule. The GOS denied access to 18 new locations including the entire western Upper Nile region, as well as to areas in Bahr el Ghazal and Jonglei. The UN reported that the flight denials could affect more than 345,000 vulnerable people in southern Sudan. The UN subsequently got GOS to issue a modified clearance list for the remainder of March that cleared locations in Western Upper Nile - the current focus of humanitarian needs because of conflict around the oil fields.
- In late March, the GOS agreed to protect civilians and civilian objects from military attack and establish an international verification mechanism. SPLM later also signed this agreement.
- In early April, the GOS released a flight denial list containing 43 sites, including Rumbek. Once again, the UN was able to reverse the Rumbek denial. Nevertheless, the increase in flight denials for April is cause for serious concern.
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