URGENT STATEMENT - Nuba Mountains

["Yunan" <yunan@tiscalinet.it>]

Prego diffondere.
Giovanni

GOVERNMENT CONTINUES ITS UNCHECKED OFFENSIVE ON THE CIVILIAN POPULATION
IN THE NUBA MOUNTAINS

The following urgent statement is issued by the Nuba Relief
Rehabilitation and Development Organisation
(Contact address: nrrdo@maf.org)

The continued denial of humanitarian access and protection for civilians
in the SPLM controlled areas of the Nuba Mountains, means only one thing
for the civilians population residing there: that the military forces
from the Khartoum regime continue to target, abduct and kill ordinary
people and do everything within their power to violently displace them
from their productive land and means of livelihood and survival.

Despite a limited number of visits by the UN in 2000, the GoS has
finally refused to concede access to the SPLM areas while appealing for
an increase in humanitarian assistance in the GoS controlled areas.
While the United Nations was negotiating humanitarian access to the SPLM
controlled areas of the Nuba Mountains (2000), the war against the
civilians of Nuba continued. The intentions of the most recent attacks
(December) by the forces of the Khartoum government were, once again,
unambiguosly aimed at the innocent children, women and men in the areas.
The major attacks on civilians (2000/1) have been:


   * January to December  Continuous aerial bombardment of civilians
   * March,    GoS attack on the people in Tabanya Payam
   * May    GoS attack on the people in Fama, Shatt Safiya and Lodo
     payams
   * May to December  Shelling of civilians displaced after the attacks
   * December to present  GoS attack on the people in Kululu Payam and
     Korongo (in Western Kadugli)

The impact on the civilians has been devastating: death; forced seizure
to GoS garrison towns (often being used as forced labour by the
military); forced displacement causing people to move to either
neighboring communities for shelter or, out of desperation, to GoS
controlled towns in search of becoming exhausted. Because of a recent
poor harvest, the region is reporting no surplus areas and because of
widespread insecurity, there is minimal to no access to grain markets.
As a result, the host communities are unable to support the recently
displaced. With no available local solution, the burden of support
should turn to humanitarian relief, however the GoS has blockaded this
last resort.

The fact that these attacks have been going on while the UN negotiations
were taking place, reflects both the true intentions of the Khartoum
government towards the people of Nuba, and the fact that these
atrocities can continue with impunity. NRRDO, on behalf of the people of
Nuba residing in SPLM administered areas, calls on all those who profess
to uphold humanitarian and human  rights principles, to speak with one
unequivocal voice against these transgressions and act in solidarity
with the suffering people of Sudan to see their human rights protected.


   * By making sure the call for humanitarian access does not fade, and
     is vigorously resuscitated and acted upon;
   * By demanding an immediate halt of GoS violence against civilians;
   * By being clear about, and keeping a moral distance from, any
     unintentional actions of the humanitarian community that might
     reinforce the Khartoum government's policies to destroy the
     culture, dignity and human rights of the people of Nuba.
   *  By materially supporting the insufficient efforts that are being
     made to address the needs of the war affected communities in the
     area.

A more detailed report of the impact of the recent attacks on the
civilian population is available from NRRDO and ECOTERRA on request.

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Emergency Appeal
Nuba Relief, Rehabilitation and Development Organisation NRRDO
Contact: Telefax 254 2 448540/442717 e-mail: nrrdo@maf.org

Since March 2000, the government of Khartoum started a ruthless military
campaign targeting the civilian population in the SPLM controlled areas
of the Nuba Mountains. The Khartoum government's military offensives was
aimed at displacing the civilian population from their productive land
and deprive them from their means of livelihood. Today there are about
40,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) within the SPLM controlled
areas of the Nuba Mountains as a result of these offensives.

On March 17th, 2000 the Khartoum government forces attacked Tabanya Payam
displacing an estimated 15,000 people within SPLM controlled areas of the
Nuba Mountains. On May 2000, the regime's forces attacked Fama, Shatt
Safiya and Lado Payams displacing an estimated 14,000 people. In December
2000 and January 2001, the government forces increased the intensity of
their military offensives on Kululu and Daloka Payams in Buram County and
Korongo Payam in Werstern Kadugli County.

The impact of these two recent military offensives on the people was
devastating. There are many people who are dead, many captured and
thousands were internally displaced, some for a second or third time. As
a result of the December/January attacks there are more than 11,000
internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Buram and Western Kadugli
Counties into the neighbouring Ngurban County and further into Western
Kadugli. The local civil authorities have registered 9,000 IDPs in
Ngurban County and another 2,000 further into Western Kadugli. These
11,000 IDPs are presently organised and accessible in Jegeiba, Kurchi,
Tangal and Kadro villages and their representatives are awaiting relief
supplies at the airstrip.

Although all the IDPs (around 40,000 ) need emergency relief, this
urgent appeal targets only the 11,000 recently displaced people in
Ngurban County. The need of these 11,000 displaced Nuba people is
considered as an urgent priority. These people are left destitute
without food or shelter. The capacity of the host communities to
continue supporting them is very weak and diminishing due the poor rain
and disruption of the harvest season by the December offensives. They
need an immediate relief support to support them until the next harvest
season.

Apart from one flight load of non-food items provided by NRRDO on
January 17th, there is no emergency response to the plight of these
displaced people from other NGOs, despite our recent appeal on January
25th, 2001. This flight load is insufficient in scope and degree. As the
Khartoum government continues to blockade the UN humanitarian relief to
SPLM controlled areas, the burden of support turns to other
international NGOs for an immediate emergency intervention to rescue the
situation in the Nuba Mountains.

NRRDO, on behalf of the Nuba people residing in the SPLM administered
areas, appeal to all humanitarian organisations to provide material
support for the displaced Nuba people in the SPLM administered areas,
including food and non-food items, as well as agricultural inputs.

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