A CRY FOR HELP OVER CHILD ABDUCTIONS IN SOUTH SUDAN
by Ruth Kangongoi,

extracted from page 20,
Sudan Mirror, Nairobi, Kenya,
14th-24th Febuary 2008



Children have been the most traumatized group among the internally displaced groups in the Sudan. But they are also victims of another emerging challenge- abduction. By many accounts child abduction is widespread and endemic in Southern Sudan.


At the centre of the storm are present initiatives to seek the freedom of two young girls abducted late last year by gunwielding tribesmen in Bor County. This is the story of two young girls: Yar Achiek Mading, was born in April 2004 and her younger sister Ajak, who were abducted in October 3 last year from Liliir, Bor County by gunmen believed to be from the Murle tribe.


Gabriel Kon Solomon is the uncle of two girls. He is in St Paul’s, Minnesota in the United States and is at the forefront campaigning against child abduction in South Sudan. Minnesota students and officials gathered on January 14 this year to commemorate the second birthday of Ajak who is still missing more than three months after she and her sister were abducted in South Sudan.


‘ Armed men burst into the house and demanded the children. When the grand-mother refused, they shot her dead. While running to a neighbor’s house, Solomon’s stepmother was shot in the leg. It’s since been amputated’, Solomon solemnly recounted.


The kidnappers were from a neighboring tribe know as the Murle.


It is not known why they took the girls. Solomon suspects it is because grirls are valuable and can be exchanged for cattle when they are old enough to be married. So far he has not heard any information about his nieces since their abduction.


The group praised the Government of South Sudan for placing a priority on recovering an estimated 400 abducted children through military operations. But amid reports that the abducting bandits have largely retreated, taking the children with them, the Minnesota group urged South Sudan officials to negotiate for their release.


The Save Yar Campaign is a coalition of student and community organizations committed to ending child abductions in South Sudan and returning abducted children to their families. They support only non-violent means to end this. They are guided by international human rights standards, in particular those set forth in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.


They oppose racial and ethnic stereotyping, and support reconciliation between communities as a cornerstone of security and the protection of human rights in South Sudan. Recognizing that child abductions are motivated in part by economic and social

conditions, we are committed to researching and working to address these issues.

Reports from the Sudan Tribune indicated that the new governor of Jonglei State, Kuol Manyang Juuk, spoke directly to prominent Murle official Sultan Ismail Konyi and that Sultan Konyi ‘accepted’ the concept that Murle groups disarm.


A writer for the Sudan Tribune, Deng-Athoi Galuak, told the Save Yar and Ajak Campaign group that armed groups in Jonglei’s Pibor County have disarmed or fled before the advance of SPLA troops in the last two weeks, and that the SPLA now occupies Pibor. Deng-Athoi said Sultan Konyi has been a constructive participant in these developments; ‘ Sultan Konyi is part of the disarmament unit and

everything is going well…Konyi is taking a personal role’.


The Murle communities are cattle nomads that move from one place to another without having a permanent place to live. The Murle’s use of firearms has spread fear amongst neighbouring communities.


The Murle do marry kidnapped girls from Dinka and Anyuak, Azuak and Toposa ethnicities, whereas men from these ethnicities do not marry Murle girls. The Murle used to attack the Nuer, fleeing with their cows only. But when attacking the Dinka, they would raid their cattle, kill their men and take away their children and property.


Sudan is the worst country in Africa on child kidnapping, abduction and abuse. The facts

about child abduction in Sudan remain least widespread because of north Sudan’s Islamic culture of secrecy and cover-up systems that involve family members. Incest, pedophilia, homosexuality and all forms of child’s sexual exploitation are so widespread that the situation is treated in northern Sudanese courts as ‘normal’ and only a few lashes are administered to those found guilty.


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