Date: Mon, 23 Sep 2002 10:11:04 EDT

Subject: Press Release: S. Sudan: Five Dead, Ten Injured in Fresh Aerial Assaults



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CSI Press Release
September 23, 2002

Southern Sudan:
Five Dead, Ten Injured in Fresh Aerial Assaults

On September 20-21, the Islamist Government of Sudan (GOS) killed at least five Black, non-Muslims and wounded ten others during aerial assaults on villages in Twic County, Southern Sudan, according to the Civil Commissioner of Twic County James Achii. On Saturday, high altitude Antonov aircraft bombed villages including Moun, Wunrok and Panlit, while on Friday a helicopter gunship fired at civilians along the banks of the Bahr El Arab River. Among the dead are two children (aged 3 and 13) and three women. Five of the most seriously wounded have been evacuated by the International Committee of the Red Cross for emergency treatment. Personnel of the Irish medical aid organization Goal were also evacuated to Kenya.

The murder of civilians in Twic County comes less than three weeks after Sudan's President, Gen. Omer Hassan al-Bashir pulled out of peace negotiations with the SPLA in Machakos, Kenya, and declared at a mass mobilization rally that his government would press ahead with "jihad" until peace is achieved. (Reuters, Khartoum, September 5, 2002.) Twic County is adjacent to the western Upper Nile oil fields where the armed forces of the Sudanese government displaced, killed and enslaved over 100,000 civilians during a series of military offensives in July and August. Many of the survivors sought refuge in Twic County.

On Saturday, Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismael claimed that since his government signed the Machakos agreement on July 20, the Sudanese forces have not fired "one single bullet." (Arabic News.com, September 21.) This week, Ismael is due to meet with the US Secretary of State Colin Powell in New York. The last personal encounter between an American Secretary of State and a Sudanese Foreign Minister took place 14 years ago.

Today, two political commentators, the conservative Curtis Sliwa of MSNBC and the liberal radio and television broadcaster Joe Madison, condemned these latest aerial attacks against Black civilians in Twic County. Madison declared: "The atrocities committed against civilians in Southern Sudan are equivalent to those committed in the Middle East. We can no longer allow the victims to suffer alone." Sliwa urged the UN "to put pressure on Bashir the same way they are starting to put pressure on Saddam Hussein in Iraq." Neither the U.S. State Department nor the White House have issued statements condemning these latest aerial attacks against civilians in Twic County.

Following talks on the 11th of July with the Sudanese Foreign Minister, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan predicted a peace agreement between the Government of Sudan and the SPLA within ten days. (UN Wire, July 12, 2002.)

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