A few months ago I wondered
what would it take for South Sudan’s current leadership to learn the bitter
lessons of their kin to the north? It now appears that it would take a great
deal more suffering, destruction, and waste.
Kiir and Machar had an
incredible opportunity to model what it means to be the world’s youngest country
in 2011. They had the lessons of history from Sudan and across the continent.
They inherited substantial oil wealth. Yes, it is a depletable resource; but in
the short term, it could be mobilized to benefit the current generation and,
with prudent planning, to build a solid diverse economic base for the future. Kiir
and Machar had all the dreams and aspirations of a people who have endured
decades of oppression, war, and displacement. They had good will and support from
the UN and the international development industry. If Kiir and Machar had begun
with only the desire to avoid the devastating national example from which South
Sudan wished to secede, the results would have been much better.
Instead, the lesson that Kiir
and Machar learned from the regime to the north is extremely selfish struggle for
power, and deafness to the suffering of thousands of people. What they learned is
Al Bashir’s example of repression, malfeasance, disdain for citizens, and resolve
to obliterate all that is wholesome in Sudan’s past and present. Indeed, the
results of their brief reign – mass killing, rape, torture, looting, and
destruction -- have matched him well in brutal criminality.
Northern Sudanese people with
conscience and a platform must speak and press for action. Not from a position
of patronage, but of deep empathy and solidarity. If we have not done so before
for Darfur or southern Kordofan, we must now. This is a time to call for the
brutality and devastation to stop – by demilitarization, arms embargo, a peace
keeping mission, or any of the instruments available to the African Union, with
help from the UN. In an ideal scenario this intervention would not be necessary,
but nothing will be achieved in South Sudan without ending mass violence and restoring
security. Debates about the complexity and historical depth of the situation and
the search for durable solutions can continue in the meantime.
