Genocide in South Kordofan Unchecked by US Diplomats

Back in October, Eric Reeves, professor at Smith College, posted a transcript of a meeting of members of the Sudanese military on August 31^st. The transcript, obtained from a source within the Sudanese government, was a bombshell indictment of the Sudanese government and plans for genocide to be conducted in the Nuba Mountains and South Sudan. Reeves stated that the August meeting of the Sudanese government was akin to the Wannsee conference. He cites that Khartoum has always viewed the sub-Saharan African population of Sudan to be fit only as slaves, and that the campaign of massacres, including indiscriminate air strikes, and gang-rapes is designed specifically to exterminate the Nuba people of southern Sudan.

The transcript notes a Lt. General Siddiq Aamir, the Director of Military Intelligence and Security, saying:

This year the Sudan People’s Army (SPLA-N) managed to cultivate large areas in South Kordofan State. We must not allow them to harvest these crops. We should prevent them. Good harvest means supplies to the war effort. We must starve them…

There is no ambiguity over the plans of the Sudanese government towards the Nuba people of South Sudan. Khartoum is known to have ties to Islamist terrorism and uses it as an instrument of foreign policy. Lt. General Hashim Abdalla Mohammed, Chief of Joint General Staff, stated in the meeting that: “We can create them a problem with the Islamic radicals, but we are not going to use this card now.” The United States has maintained a tenuous relationship with the Sudanese government in order to obtain regional information about terrorism. It is clear that Sudan is not deterred from genocide and is protective of its relationship with Iran. Khartoum’s partnership with the United States is one of convenience at best.

During the week of November 21^st, the Sudanese Air Force started a bombing campaign in South Kordofan prior to sending in ground troops and further air strikes to burn farms. November and December is right in the middle of harvest season for sorghum, and the main targets of the bombing campaign are food storage sites. Worse still is the deliberate targeting of hospitals by the Sudanese Air Force. On May 1^st, 2014, a Su-24 attack aircraft bombed the Mother of Mercy Hospital in Gidel in an attempt to assassinate American surgeon Dr. Tom Catena, the only doctor in the region capable of treating grievous injuries. Six weeks later, the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Frandala was bombed.

The food situation in South Kordofan has become increasingly dire. The US State Department/FEWS NET has noted that nearly 20% of displaced people in the SPLM-N controlled areas will experience Crisis levels of food insecurity. Khartoum refuses to allow UN humanitarian agencies into the areas of southern Sudan controlled by the SPLM-N, thus preventing more accurate assessments from being made.