Slavery in Sudan

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The slavery in Sudan affected at different times, different areas of present-day Sudan and South Sudan . Since the 19th century, South Sudan in particular served as a slave-hunting area for traders from North Sudan.

In the wake of the second civil war in South Sudan (1983-2005), paramilitary militias from North Sudan who fought on the side of the Sudanese government against South Sudanese rebels enslaved mainly women and children of the Dinka and Nuba ethnic groups .

The persistence of slavery in Sudan became internationally known through reports from former slaves such as Mende Nazer and Francis Bok . It is not known exactly how many people have been enslaved or continue to live in slavery; estimates range from a few tens of thousands to 100,000.

history

Historical sources document the slave trade in the area of ​​today's Sudan as early as Pharaonic times. The slaves came from Nubia , the Nuba Mountains and areas further south at different times . Today's South Sudan became accessible to slave hunters from the north in the course of the conquest by Ottoman Egypt from 1821.

Among the slave hunters were both “ Arab ” northern Sudanese and members of other ethnic groups such as the Fur from Darfur . The Fur referred to the non-Muslim ethnic groups south of the Sultanate of Darfur who were considered "slavable" as Fertit .

The height of the slave trade lies between 1750 and 1850. The neighboring Islamic societies practically exercised a monopoly over the slave hunt in sub-Saharan Africa . Reports from missionaries and researchers from this period describe the abduction of people from peaceful villages and torture for amusement. Khartoum became a major hub for slaves from the south. After 1850 the slave trade in Sudan increased - contrary to the global trend. In the province of Bahr al-Ghazal in particular , a systematic slave hunt was carried out under the Egyptian governor Zobair Pasha , who was appointed there. Between 1875 and 1879 the number of people displaced into slavery in Sudan was given by the British Governor Gordon as 100,000.

Even during the Mahdi Empire (1885–1898), South Sudanese continued to be enslaved. Only the export of slaves was forbidden. Since many slaves fought in the Mahdist army, the main reason for the export ban was to prevent the army from weakening. The Anglo-Egyptian colonial power prohibited exports, but partially tolerated domestic slavery, contrary to official prohibitions, because it also benefited from (former) slaves in the army and did not want to anger the northern Sudanese elites.

Slavery today

The civil wars in South Sudan that followed Sudan's independence in 1956 led to a resurgence of slavery. Increasingly in the second civil war (1983-2005), militias from Northern Sudan, which were equipped by the Sudanese government as paramilitaries against the rebels of the SPLA , took southern Sudanese civilians and sold them there into slavery. The government that introduced Sharia law in 1983 tolerated or supported this. She denies the existence of slavery and officially speaks of "kidnappings" in the context of local tribal feuds over which she has little control.

The Northern Bahr el-Ghazal area , which is mainly inhabited by Dinka and lies on the border with the north, was particularly hard hit by slave hunts . Many militiamen were on duty here to secure the supply trains to the garrison town of Aweil . There was also enslavement in the Nuba Mountains.

The peace agreement between the government and the rebels in 2005 ended the war in South Sudan and thus largely ended the slave hunts.

According to some reports, civilians were abducted by Janjawid militias in the ongoing conflict in Darfur , although this happens less often than in the south. The main reason given for this is that the black African residents of Darfur, like the fairer-skinned Arab northern Sudanese, are Muslims and should therefore theoretically not be enslaved by other Muslims.

Slave purchases

When slavery in Sudan was reported in the western press in the early 1990s, numerous evangelical sects in the US and Canada began to raise funds to buy slaves out. From 1995 onwards, Christian Solidarity International (CSI) from Switzerland took part on a large scale in the "liberation of slaves". Other international organizations such as the British Christian Solidarity International Worldwide and the US Anti Slavery Group operated or operate free purchase programs for slaves. These programs have helped tens of thousands to freedom and return to South Sudan, according to CSI. Other organizations such as UNICEF and the Dinka Committee criticize them as morally questionable and counterproductive, as they reward slave traders for their crimes and could create additional financial incentives for further slave hunts. Child slaves from South Sudan have been sold for as little as 15 US dollars, and a buyback for 50 to 100 US dollars to foreign buyers developed, according to the criticism, an economic dynamic and was more profitable than the actual slave trade. Dinka in affected areas and human rights organizations observed an increase in abductions in some cases. The slave buyers reached the south of the country via the Kenyan airport Lokichoggio during the civil war in connection with Operation Lifeline Sudan . Nyamlell was one of the places that were the hub for the slave trade and where ransom took place .

CSI, on the other hand, believes that slavery in Sudan is primarily a consequence of the war and, in some cases, the targeted use of “weapons of war” and less due to economic motives. This view corresponds to the language used by the Sudanese government, which, without condemning the practice of slave raids and ransom campaigns, mentions the terms “slavery” and “slave liberation” only in quotation marks and instead speaks of “kidnappings due to tribal wars”.

Abolition measures

Under international pressure, the Sudanese government in 1999 established a Committee for the abolition of the abduction of women and children ( English Committee for the Eradication of the Abduction of Women and Children , short CEAWC), which led back to South Sudan claims to 6,000 Dinka slaves. In August 2006 it had to stop working due to financial problems. At the beginning of 2008 she took it up again, now financed by the South Sudanese autonomous government.

The Dinka Committee , led by James Aguer Alic , is committed to the liberation of slaves - especially the Dinka people - and by 2003 was able to achieve the liberation of an estimated 2,200 slaves. In doing so, it works in part with Northern Sudanese.

The subject in art and culture

Slavery in Sudan is a central theme in several oriental novels by the German writer Karl May . The manhunt and the slave trade play an essential role in the three volumes of the Mahdi trilogy .

See also

Known Individuals Affected by Slavery in Sudan:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ BBC News : BBC News: Probe of Darfur 'slavery' starts
  2. ↑ Sudan: The False Promise of Slave Redemption. The Atlantic Monthly, July 1, 1999 ( Memento of the original from August 3, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.richardminiter.com
  3. ^ "Slave Redemption" in Sudan. Independent Evidence Reveals Systematic Fraud and SPLA Complicity in the Fraudulent Presentation of "Slaves" in Sudan. The European-Sudanese Public Affairs Council, London, around 1999 (PDF; 197 kB) Position close to the government, accuses the SPLA of involvement
  4. ↑ Francis M. Deng, p. 45 ( Memento of the original from October 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 270 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.yale.edu
  5. ↑ Sudan Tribune: August 22, 2006 - Ghosts haunt forgotten former Sudan slave
  6. ↑ World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child 2003: James Aguer Alic

literature

Scientific literature:

  • Jok Madut Jok : War and Slavery in Sudan , University of Pennsylvania Press 2001, ISBN 978-0812217629
  • Elimar von Fürstengerg, Helmut Ruppert: The South Sudan in slave chains , Regensburg 1969

Testimonials from former slaves:

Web links