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SUDAN, Landmine Monitor Report 2001
 
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SUDAN

Key developments since May 2000: There are strong indications that both government and rebel forces in Sudan continued to use antipersonnel mines. The government continues to deny use. The first meeting of the Sudan Mine Network, established to coordinate mine action, was held in April 2001. Between September 1997 and March 2001 clearance teams have removed 2,816 antipersonnel mines, 411 antitank mines, and 88,019 UXO. Sudan has recovered 2,972,024 square meters of land, along with 676 miles of road.

Mine Ban Policy

Sudan signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997, but has not ratified it. The government has been vocal about its intention to ratify the treaty. In November 2000, Sudan said that it “has so far taken up advance steps to reach the stage of ratification of the treaty.”[1] In May 2001, Sudan stated that “the departmental discussion on ratification and implementation of the Convention has passed the most critical areas and reached the most significant stages. The sectors involved will hold a conference during August 2001 to finally exchange views and formulate a strategy for the implementation. The proposals will then be passed to the higher authorities for fine-tuning and tabling the convention for ratification by the National Parliament.”[2]

In September 2000, Sudan noted that it “had earnestly and consciously” signed the Mine Ban Treaty, and “is therefore committed to the letter and the spirit of this important instrument and of its provisions.”[3] Sudan has said, “War in the country is the main obstacle” to joining and implementing the Mine Ban Treaty, “because rebels have not yet given up this dangerous practice of random laying of landmines. Poor control on some border areas in the conflict zones makes anti-personnel landmine trafficking to the rebels very easy and the situation very difficult for the Government to achieve success in fulfilling its obligations under the Ottawa Convention.”[4]

Sudan has participated in regional and international conferences on landmines, where it has made a number of statements. At the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in September 2000, the Sudanese delegation stated, “The unfounded allegations that Sudan is producing or using mines will not detract the country from fulfilling its obligations and honouring its commitments under this instrument.”[5] Sudan participated in the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing Committee meetings in December 2000 and May 2001. In November 2000, Sudan attended a regional conference on landmines in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden held in Djibouti. Sudan also participated in the Bamako Seminar on Universalization and Implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty in Mali in February 2001.

The August 2001 workshop (mentioned above) is intended to bring together all concerned parties in Sudan for an open discussion on the Mine Ban Treaty.[6] The recommendations that result from the workshop will be submitted to the Council of Ministers for further action.[7] The Foreign Minister of Sudan, who signed the treaty in Ottawa in December 1999, is now the First Vice President of Sudan.[8]

Sudan voted in favor of the November 2000 UN General Assembly resolution calling for universalization of the Mine Ban Treaty, as it has done in previous years on similar resolutions. Sudan is not a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Rebel Groups Mine Ban Policy

The main armed opposition group is the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), whose armed forces are known as the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA). The SPLM/A controls significant areas of southern and eastern Sudan. On 27 March 2000, SPLM/A representative Edward Lino Abyei orally committed to the Deed of Commitment for adherence to a total ban on antipersonnel mines with Geneva Call, a Swiss-registered non-governmental body. The SPLM/A committed to not using antipersonnel mines under any circumstances.

An SPLA commander expressed this view: “If we are going to move forward with coping with the problem, landmines need to be depoliticized. It shouldn’t be left to governments who merely sign agreements and don’t implement anything. Khartoum agrees to many things, but hardly ever does anything about them.”[9]

Another rebel group, the Sudan People’s Democratic Front (SPDF), told Landmine Monitor in January 2001 that it would be willing to sign a similar declaration. Landmine Monitor was told that SPDF forces already have orders to refrain from using mines in any areas subject to humanitarian relief.[10]

Production, Transfer and Stockpiling

Representatives of the Sudanese government have repeatedly stated that Sudan has not produced antipersonnel landmines.[11] Government forces are reported to have considerable experience in manufacturing Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), which are also prohibited by the Mine Ban Treaty.[12] The SPLM/A and other rebel groups are not known to be producers of antipersonnel mines, but have the capacity to make IEDs.

In the past there have been allegations that Sudan was supplying arms including landmines to Islamic militant groups in neighboring countries. In 1999, Sudan and Uganda signed a reconciliation agreement in which they reestablished diplomatic relations and agreed to stop supporting rebel forces based in their territory. Despite these initiatives, the governments in Khartoum and Kampala continue to fund each other’s proxy wars. The Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a Ugandan rebel group, appears to still be receiving Sudanese military assistance. It continues to operate out of Government of Sudan (GOS) garrison towns in Eastern Equatoria and has recently used mines. Roads on both sides of the Sudanese-Ugandan border have been continually mined.[13]

The Sudanese government maintains that it has never “acquired meaningful quantities of antipersonnel mines.”[14] It states that it only has a small stock of mines for training and demonstration purposes.[15] A July 2001 letter to Landmine Monitor claimed there were no stocks of antipersonnel mines.[16] According to the government, all mines collected during demining and those taken from the rebel forces are destroyed.[17] The ongoing allegations and evidence of use of antipersonnel mines would indicate that operational stockpiles of mines exist.

Landmine Monitor received credible information that in July 2000, SPLA forces captured a GOS mine stockpile when they overan the town of Boing on the Blue Nile/Upper Nile border. Eyewitness accounts described a warehouse with over 100 cases of mines as well as many individual mines just lying around.[18] When the town was recaptured in September, exactly what had happened to the stockpile is unclear. Photographs provided to Landmine Monitor show antipersonnel mines of Belgian, Israeli/Iranian,[19] and Chinese manufacture.

Use

There are strong indications that both government and SPLA forces continued to use antipersonnel mines during this reporting period (since May 2000). Both sides deny use, and accuse each other of ongoing use. New mines are being planted even though it seems that both sides would like to discontinue the use of antipersonnel mines and are taking measures to reduce the landmine problem.

It would appear that for both the government and the SPLA, the decision to use mines is being made by military commanders at the local level. These commanders may often be unaware of the commitment not to use antipersonnel mines. SPLA commanders told Landmine Monitor in January 2001 that they “recently interviewed a captured colonel who hadn’t even heard of Ottawa [the Mine Ban Treaty].”[20] However, the Commander of the Sudanese Army Engineering Corps said that he feels certain that the army engineers know about their responsibility not to lay antipersonnel mines, and noted that there is a conference once a year to explain these obligations to the engineers and instruct them not to use antipersonnel mines.[21]

Another problem is that militias and proxy forces, whose use of mines has apparently increased as the war has progressed, may not feel obligated to abide by the formal agreements signed by Khartoum or the SPLA.[22]

Government and Government Supported Militia Use

During a meeting with the ICBL in August 2000, Sudanese diplomats and military officials repeatedly denied any government use of antipersonnel mines and placed the blame on the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and SPLA. One diplomat stated that Sudan does not use landmines because “they do not want to injure or kill their own soldiers or their families.”[23] This denial followed a letter to Landmine Monitor from the Sudanese Permanent Mission to the UN in New York in which Sudan denied using landmines.[24] The Sudanese delegation at the Second Meeting of States Parties also directly denied the allegations of antipersonnel mine use by Sudanese forces contained in the Landmine Monitor Report 2000.[25]

After Landmine Monitor provided a draft of the Landmine Monitor report, the government responded, “This allegation [of continued use] is totally unaccepted and untrue. The Sudan armed forces stopped using antipersonnel landmines since Sudan signed the Ottawa treaty and we are totally committed to that. The Sudan armed forces have no stock of antipersonnel landmines.”[26]

However, based on observations and data collected during a Landmine Monitor field mission to South Sudan in early 2001, government forces and pro-government militias continued to use mines. Information regarding ongoing use of antipersonnel mines by government forces and pro-government militias was received from a former GOS engineering officer, local relief workers, local mine action practitioners, local church organizations, other non-governmental organizations, SPLA engineers and officers, SPDF military, journalists and filmmakers.[27]

In contested areas of the country, such as the Nuba Mountains, the government controls certain towns, known as garrison towns, which are located in the middle of the rebel-controlled countryside. The government has used mines to prevent SPLA attacks on the garrisons, but also to forcibly contain the population of these “protected villages.”[28] Mines have been used to prevent the local population within these fortified villages from returning to their own villages to salvage their property after government raids. Numerous amputees tell stories similar to 55-year-old Osman Luma Kodwar from Uru village in Heiban district: “I was returning to my house after the army had attacked from the garrison in Heiban. It was still smoldering, but it wasn't too badly damaged, so I went inside to find what I could save. There was a huge bang. When I woke up my leg was missing.”[29]

SPLA sources provided Landmine Monitor with a list of the names of garrison and unit commanders of the 5th Division, stationed in the Nuba Mountains, associated with the use of mines. It includes commanding officers of the 4th Brigade (Lagowa); 89th Battalion (Telodi); unnamed Brigade (Abu Gebeia); 18th Brigade (Kadugli); unnamed Battalion (Delabye); 19th Brigade (Dilling); 127th Battalion (Telodi); Mendi Garrison Company; and El Esaret Garrison Company.[30]

Soldiers of the 5th Division have also used mines in ambushes along civilian routes, including paths to water holes, markets, and orchards. Mines have been used to prevent pursuit following raids. According to the SPLA, captured government military engineers who laid mines were not aware that their government had signed an international treaty prohibiting their use.[31]

According to the SPLA, in December 2000, an attack by GOS forces on Kululu in the Nuba Mountains included the use of mines. The SPLA Nuba mine action team estimated that 200 mines were planted, resulting so far in the death of 50 civilians and injuring an additional 51.[32]

In 2000, UNICEF discovered landmines mines in Rumbek, once a GOS garrison town.[33]

Relief workers reported that GOS militias from Nasir looted Latjor in May 2000. Landmines were planted in NGO compounds, latrines, and other sites. The militia’s supplier is thought to be the GOS.[34] The Didinga and Toposa militias who are based in GOS garrison towns in the South receive assistance from the Sudanese military and have allegedly used antipersonnel mines.[35] Forces of Major General Paulino Matip, now head of the South Sudan Defense Force under the government, allegedly laid mines aroud Turkwei killing three and wounding six. A similar incident occured in Maybun in August.[36]

The US Department of State’s annual human rights report for 2000 said that “in the early part of the year, a government militia raided a relief center at Mading and placed landmines in an NGO compound forcing the permanent evacuation of the center.  Injuries continued to occur during the year from landmines previously laid by the Government to protect garrison towns and from landmines laid by the SPLA and its allies during the course of the war.”[37]

Rebel Use

In October 2000, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Sudan quoted “credible” reports that the SPLA was planting mines around villages in Eastern Equatoria. He stated that he was told by the SPLA that they were only replanting mines used by the GOS in other locations.[38] That same month, Leonardo Franco, the UN Commissioner on Human Rights’ special investigator on Sudan, criticized the SPLA for using landmines.[39] On 6 February 2001, a local SPLA Commander attacked rival SPDF positions near Kush and allegedly planted a large number of mines. Reports from military and humanitarian agencies indicate that GOS towns captured by SPLA have subsequently been mined.[40]

In Chukadum, a 24-year-old pregnant mother of two, was evacuated to the ICRC Lopiding hospital on 18 February 2001 with an injured left leg.[41]

According to the US Department of State, in the year 2000, insurgent rebel forces (SPLA/SPDF) in Sudan “laid landmines indiscriminately on roads and paths that killed maimed both soldiers and civilians.”[42]

The Sudanese government has repeatedly claimed that various rebel groups have used antipersonnel mines. At a conference in Djibouti, the Sudanese delegation highlighted rebel use of mines in “South Sudan, Nuba Mountains, and East of Sudan.”[43] A Sudanese diplomat stated that the use of the butterfly mine by the NDA is “causing a huge problem in Eastern Sudan.”[44]

Landmine Problem/Survey and Assessment

The southern regions of Equatoria, Bahr El Ghazal, and Upper Nile, the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan in central Sudan, the Jonglei and Blue Nile regions and Bhar El Arab in the Safaha area are mine-affected.[45] Eastern Equatoria is one of the most heavily mine-infested areas in Sudan.

There is a general lack of information on the number and deployment of landmines in Sudan. UNICEF, the lead agency, is working with Operation Lifeline Sudan (OLS) agencies in the field to collect comprehensive information on landmine-related incidents in order to compile statistics.[46] The UN is funding a project entitled the “Information Management and Coordination for Emergency Mine Action in Sudan.” UNOPS is executing the project which will be based on the development of two small mine action coordination cells focusing on emergency assistance in the most heavily afflicted areas of Sudan. In the rebel-held regions, local NGOs, particularly Operation Save Innocent Lives-Sudan (OSIL-S), will carry out the project.[47]

A comprehensive survey has not yet been done on the mine situation in Sudan. An IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority on Development) Forum Task Force led by consultant Rae McGrath carried out an assessment of landmine areas in Sudan in November and December 2000 with the assistance of the Sudanese government.[48] This project was funded by the European Community; a report is expected to be published in October 2001.

In January and February of 2001, Sudan Integrated Mine Action Service (SIMAS) conducted an emergency assessment and survey of mines in Chukudum, Eastern Equatoria. Funded by Cordaid through Pax Christi-Netherlands, the research team made a preliminary assessment of the town and surrounding area and mapped the location of mines, which are estimated to number 2,000-4,000. Biographical data on local landmine victims and the socio-economic effects of the mining were also noted in the report.[49] SIMAS deputy director Malik Ruben said, “The most important thing right now is a comprehensive survey of the entire South Sudan and the consolidation of the results. Up to now few international organisations have taken the situation seriously, but as the area becomes more peaceful it is clear it will become a greater priority.”[50]

Meanwhile in Kassala, the Sudan Campaign to Ban Landmines has started to collect data on mines.

Mine Action Coordination

The first meeting of the Sudan Mine Network was held in April 2001. The network, which consists of government institutions, UN agencies, and NGOs, was established to coordinate “all mine-action efforts in the country.”[51] Sudan has reported that the Humanitarian Aid Commission, which runs the mine awareness programs for the government, is “embarked on the process of national capacity building which includes data collection, training, development of policies and programs.”[52]

SIMAS deputy director Malik Ruben told Landmine Monitor, “What we really need is a Mine Action Center pooling all the data and mobilizing resources.”[53] On its own initiative, SIMAS plans to start a Mine Action Center to record regional landmine statistics.[54]

Mine Clearance

In the government-controlled areas, the Sudanese military is only conducting mine clearance projects to meet military objectives. An interview with General Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed who is head of the Military Engineering Department indicated the military’s willingness to cooperate with any future humanitarian demining activities.[55]

Several different NGOs have undertaken mine clearance projects in areas controlled by rebels. There are a large number of highly trained local mine staff with OSIL-S and SIMAS. Both groups are awaiting funding and political permission to begin more clearance projects.[56] The SPLA has given permission to SIMAS to begin mine clearance in Chukudum, an area the rebels along with National Islamic Front militia forces began mining three years ago.[57] OSIL-S has been demining the areas around Yei, Kajo Keji, and Nimule.[58]

The region of Kurmuk in Blue Nile has seen several demining projects. In March 2000, an emergency team from OSIL-S cleared 36 miles of road around Kurmuk, removing 762 antipersonnel mines, 12 antitank mines, and 42 UXO.[59] In June and July 2000, OSIL-S conducted an emergency demining in Kurmuk itself. Christian Aid, a British NGO, has been funding recent OSIL-S activities in Kurmuk. Several other NGOs also operate in Kurmuk and one group supplied eight metal detectors to SPLA.[60]

In 2000, with funding from the Basel Mission (Switzerland) the UK-based NGO Mines Advisory Group (MAG) provided development support to OSIL-S. A Community Liaison and a Technical Advisor were based in Yei and Nimule to train OSIL deminers and mine awareness staff. Training in mine clearance, EOD, mine awareness, and community liaison techniques was given to new and existing mine awareness and mine clearance teams, supervisors and other key staff. From April 2001 to March 2002, with funding from the government of Switzerland, MAG is supporting OSIL-S with 12 person-months of further technical mine action capacity development and 12 person-months quality assurance.

The opening of roads to relief deliveries, such as the road to Rumbek after the 1998/99 demining, is saving humanitarian organizations millions of dollars a year. Local escorts travel with food monitors to prevent them from straying onto mined roads.[61]

The following chart illustrates the efforts of the OSIL-S mine clearance teams for the period between September 1997 and March 2001. Clearance teams have removed 411 antitank mines, 2,816 antipersonnel mines, and 88,019 UXO. Sudan has recovered 2,972,024 square meters of land along with 676 miles of road. [62]

Month
Areas cleared (m2)
Roads cleared (miles)
Number of Landmines destroyed

AT AP

Type of Landmines destroyed

AT AP

Number of UXO destroyed
9/97 to 2/00
2,482,700
560
258
1,970
NA
NA
76,802
3/00
136,500
36
12
762
TM-46 PRBM-3
M-14

M-35

POMZ-2

Type 72

42
4/00
177,000
5
2
21
TM-46
POMZ-2

M-35

705
5/00
150,000
-
11
3
TM-46
M-16

POMZ-2

M-35

2,792
6/00
3,000
12
5
-
TM-46
-
36
7/00
9,000
-
-
-
-
-
107
8/00
-
10
5
-
TM-46 57
-
114
9/00 and 10/00
109
-
6
2
NA
NA
2,712
11/00 and 12/00
491
-
-
1
NA
NA
1,370
1/01
1,213
52
16
19
NA
NA
2,102
2/01
8,202
-
18
29
NA
NA
291
3/01
3,809
1
78
9
NA
NA
946
Total
2,972,024
676
411
2,816
-
-
88,019

Mine Awareness

A public awareness campaign has been initiated by the armed forces to educate “the public about the safe handling of war debris and dangerous elements.”[63] The Sudanese military participated in a landmine issues workshop held in Malakal during November 2000. The workshop was a forum to discuss solutions and to ask local organizations to be active in the campaign to ban landmines.

The Kassala landmine awareness education program is being extended for another year in order to evaluate its effects. UNICEF and UNHCR have not yet joined the other original partners, Oxfam GB, Swedish Save the Children and the Sudanese Red Crescent, in contributing financially to the extension phase. Oxfam GB and Swedish Save the Children have also begun a landmine awareness education project in the Malakal province.

SIMAS has established its headquarters in Southern Sudan and has obtained permission from the SPLM/A to promote mine awareness in Southern Sudan and to begin clearance work in Rumbek. In 2001, UNICEF switched its funding for mine awareness training from OSIL-S to SIMAS. SIMAS conducted a mine awareness “training of trainers” workshop in Loki in February 2001. Their seven-day educational workshop covered the causes of mine accidents, the identification and avoidance of landmines and minefields and solutions to the landmine problem.[64] Twelve trainers from the Relief Organization of Southern Sudan (RASS) areas in the Upper Nile completed the workshop along with a Nuba Relief Rehabilitation and Development Organization (NRRDO) cadre. Further training sessions were planned for Yambio in March 2001, Rumbek in April 2001 and in the Nuba Mountains.[65]

OSIL-S, along with its demining efforts, conducts mine awareness activities. Since March 2000, they have worked in the following counties: Yei, Kajo-Kaji, Kurmuk, Rumbek, Torit, Magwi, and Pageri. Their programs, which use video, posters, mine and UXO dummy shows, and presentations, educate both children and adults and serve as a means to gather statistical information. In the fall of 2000, Norwegian Church Aid began contributing to OSIL-S after the UNICEF funds stopped. Between April and July 2000, OSIL-S’s second team constructed a new compound for the organization in the Nimule corridor, and after recruiting new members, two additional teams became active in the fall of 2000.[66]

Landmine Casualties

There continues to be an underreporting of mine casualties in Sudan; official statistics do not reflect the actual situation.[67] Due to the scarcity of health care facilities, many victims die before they are able to receive the proper medical care. ICRC reporting from Lopiding hospital lists one victim for the first two months of 2001, 19 for 2000 and 14 for 1999.[68] From 1999 through February 2000, 210 mine victims were fitted for prostheses in Khartoum and Lokichoggio.

OSIL-S reported 31 deaths and 65 injuries due to mines in their monthly reports from March 2000-March 2001. In March 2000, OSIL-S suffered its first demining casualty. A deminer stepped on a plastic antipersonnel mine and lost his leg while working in the Kurmuk area of Southern Blue Nile.[69] Relief Organization of South Sudan figures indicate heavy casualties in Upper Nile. The RASS figures for Bieh county suggest 30 killed and 50 wounded by mines around Waat; 10 killed and 11 wounded around Lamkin, and 25 killed around Tanyan. In Western Upper Nile, the figures appear to be even higher, with RASS claiming over 300 deaths in recent years. In 2000, 11 people were killed and seven were wounded around Leer while 40 died and 37 were wounded around Bentiu.[70]

Nuba Relief Rehabilitation and Development Organization (NRRDO) mine awareness coordinator Mahmood Bedawi claims that landmines have injured 110 people (60 men, 25 women, and 25 children), in the Nuba Mountain region since September 1999. Of these, 75 people have been killed. The worst affected areas include Lazarak, Dera, Debi, and Umdorein.[71]

In Chukudum, 35 people have been killed including six SPLA military engineers engaged in mine action. The NPA hospital has 36 amputees, all the result of landmine accidents.[72] The Sudan Campaign to Ban Landmines reported 44 landmine casualties in Kassala State during 1999.

Civilians are dying from using landmines and UXO in unorthodox ways. OSIL-S reports that several people have been injured or killed while using explosives to fish.[73] Poachers are using landmines with deadly results. Two people died with an additional six injured while trying to recover the tusks from elephants that had strayed into a minefield in Nimule.[74] In November 2000, six poachers in Aswa Valley died after attempting to remove the tusks of three elephants that had been killed by landmines.[75]

Survivor Assistance

A Sudanese government report in May 2001 stated that “all landmine survivors receive free medical treatment in the public and NGOs hospitals in the country.”[76] A Presidential decision was issued to protect landmine victims who are government employees from losing their jobs because of “incapacitation or injuries.”[77] According to government officials, unless they voluntarily resign or terminate their service, these landmine victims will be considered on continuous service. While applicable only to government workers, the target group is the military and Popular Defense Forces employees.[78] Vocational Training Centers have been established to assess the qualifications and capabilities of landmine victims who are not employed by the government and to assist them with job placements.[79]

Southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains maintain only very basic health care facilities run by outside agencies including NPA, ICRC, MSF and German Emergency Doctors, who established a new facility in the Nuba Mountains following the destruction of their hospital in Kauda in a series of GoS air raids in 2000. NPA runs secondary hospitals in Nimule and Chukadum.

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[1] Statement of the Sudanese Delegation at the Horn of Africa and Gulf of Aden Conference on Antipersonnel Landmines, Djibouti, 16 November 2000.
[2] “Sudan Report to the Meeting of the Standing Committees of Experts on Mine Clearance, Victim Assistance, Socio-Economic Reintegration And Status, Operation of the Ottawa Convention on Banning Antipersonnel Land Mines,” Geneva, 7 May 2001, pp. 3-4. Hereinafter cited as “Sudan Report Geneva, 7 May 2001.”
[3] Statement by the Sudan Delegation to the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 12 September 2000.
[4] Sudan Report Geneva, 7 May 2001, p. 4.
[5] Statement by the Sudan Delegation to the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Geneva, 12 September 2000.
[6] Interview with Ambassador Abdelrahem Khalil and Mr. Ibrahim Bushra of Disarmament and International Organizations Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Khartoum, 3 February 2001.
[7] Interview with Mr. Abdelati Abdelkheir, Deputy Commissioner, Humanitarian Aid Commission (HAC), Khartoum, 5 February 2001.
[8] Meeting between ICBL and Mr. Mohamed Yousif Abdalla and Ambassador Omer M.A. Siddiq, Deputy Permanent Representative of Sudan to the UN in Geneva, 23 August 2000.
[9] Interview with SPLA Commander Edward Lino and Dr. Justin Yac, Nairobi, 30 January 2001.
[10] Meeting with Commander Kuol Danhier, Aide to SPDF chief Riek Machar, Nairobi, 26 January 2001.
[11] In November 1999, a report by the US Department of State stated that the Sudanese military was manufacturing landmines. No further information on this claim has emerged and Sudanese officials have strongly denied it. See Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 182 for the allegation and the denial.
[12] Operation Save Innocent Lives, “Landmine Information-Sudan,” 8 January 1999, p. 2.
[13] Accounts from local relief and church organizations and the SPLA.
[14] Sudan Report Geneva, 7 May 2001, p. 3.
[15] Sudan Report Geneva, 7 May 2001, p. 3; meeting with Major General Ibrahim Ahmed, Engineer in Chief, Corps of Engineers, Sudan Armed Forces, Geneva, 8 May 2001.
[16] Letter from Abdellati Abdelkheir, Deputy Commissioner Humanitarian Aid Commission-Sudan, to Mary Wareham, Coordinator, Landmine Monitor, 29 July 2001.
[17] Sudan Report Geneva, 7 May 2001, p. 3.
[18] Confidential interview with aid worker, Lokichokkio, 10 February 2001; interviews with SPLA officers and mine action personnel.
[19] Israel is the original producer of the mine but Iran copied it. Landmine Monitor was not able to determine which country’s production has surfaced in Sudan.
[20] Interview with SPLA Commander Edward Lino and Dr. Justin Yac, Nairobi, 30 January 2001.
[21] Meeting with Major General Ibrahim Ahmed, Engineer in Chief, Corps of Engineers, Sudan Armed Forces, Geneva, 8 May 2001.
[22] Interview with Telar Deng, New Sudan Council of Churches, Nairobi, 29 January 2001 and Aleu Ayieny Aleu, Director of Operation Save Innocent Lives (OSIL-S), Nairobi, 25 February 2001.
[23] Meeting between ICBL and Mr. Mohamed Yousif Abdalla and Ambassador Omer M.A. Siddiq, Deputy Permanent Representative of Sudan to the UN in Geneva, 23 August 2000.
[24] Letter to Landmine Monitor from Ambassador Mubarak H. Rahamtalla, Deputy Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Sudan to the UN in New York, Ref:SUGA/3-1/2, 31 July 2000.
[25] Statement by the Sudan Delegation to the Second Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 12 September 2000.
[26] Letter from Abdellati Abdelkheir, Deputy Commissioner Humanitarian Aid Commission-Sudan, to Mary Wareham, Coordinator, Landmine Monitor, 29 July 2001.
[27] Arthur Howes’ film “Nuba Conversations” and Tomo Kriznar’s film “Nuba: Pure People” have footage of mined Nuba villages.
[28] Interview with SPLA acting Cdr. Yousif Karra, Kauda, Nuba Mts, 10 February 2001, interview with former GOS engineering officer at SIMAS, Kauda, 5 February 2001, SPLA engineers and officers, NRRDO victim assistance coordinator, and NRRDO Mine Awareness trainer in Loki.
[29] Interview with Osman Luma Kodwar, Kaudu, Nuba Mts., 10 February 2001.
[30] Interview with SPLA Engineer Lt. Maluk Royer, ‘Abu Grenade’, Nuba Mts., 5 February 2001, based on SPLA intelligence in Nuba Mts.
[31] Interview with SPLA Engineer Lt. Maluk Royer, ‘Abu Grenade’, Nuba Mts., 5 February 2001.
[32] Ibid.
[33] UN Portfolio of Mine-related Projects, April 2001, p. 226.
[34] Eyewitness testimony of relief workers, May 2000.
[35] Accounts from local relief and church organizations and SPLA sources.
[36] Interview with anonymous NGOs and UN security personnel in Loki, February 2001.
[37] US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Sudan,” Section 1.G, February 2001.
[38] UN Portfolio of Mine-related Projects, April 2001, p. 226.
[39] “UN Rights Expert Says Sudan Systematically Bombed Civilians,” Associated Press, 18 October 2000.
[40] Confidential reports by military and humanitarian agencies.
[41] The Landmine Monitor researcher assisted with the evacuation.
[42] US Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Sudan,” Section 1.A, February 2001.
[43] Statement of the Sudanese Delegation at the Horn of Africa and Gulf of Aden Conference on Antipersonnel Landmines, Djibouti, 16 November 2000.
[44] Meeting between ICBL and Mr. Mohamed Yousif Abdalla and Ambassador Omer M.A. Siddiq, Deputy Permanent Representative of Sudan to the UN in Geneva, 23 August 2000.
[45] Updated list from Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 186.
[46] UN Portfolio of Mine-related Projects, April 2001.
[47] Ibid.
[48] Sudan Report Geneva, 7 May 2001, p. 3.
[49] SIMAS, “Report of an Emergency Assessment and a Survey of Mines Conducted between January - February 2001 in Budi, Chukudum County,” February 2001.
[50] Interview with Malik Ruben, SIMAS Deputy Director, Nairobi, 12 February 2001.
[51] Sudan Report Geneva, 7 May 2001.
[52] Statement by Sudan Delegation to the Second Meeting of States Parties, Geneva, 12 September 2000.
[53] Interview with Malik Ruben, SIMAS Deputy Director, Nairobi, 12 February 2001.
[54] Interview with Gregory Vasily, SIMAS Director, Nairobi, 22 February 2001.
[55] Interview with General Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed, Head of Engineering Department, 4 February 2001.
[56] Interviews with personnel from Nuba Relief Rehabilitation and Development Organization (NRRDO), Operation Save Innocent Lives (OSIL-S), Relief Organization of South Sudan (RASS), Sudan Integrated Mine Action Service (SIMAS), Sudan People’s Democratic Front (SPDF), Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), and Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association (SRRA).
[57] SIMAS, “Report of an Emergency Assessment and a Survey of Mines Conducted between January - February 2001 in Chukudum, Budi County,” February 2001.
[58] Draft OSIL-S Annual Report 2000-2001.
[59] OSIL-S Annual Report 1999-2000.
[60] Confidential interview, Hillcrest Hotel, Nairobi, 22 February 2001; interview with SPLA Commander Kuol Manyang, Nairobi, 23 February 2001.
[61] Interview with Brenda Barton, WFP Information Officer, Nairobi, 25 February 2001.
[62] Compiled from OSIL-S monthly reports March 2000-2001.
[63] Sudan Report Geneva, 7 May 2001.
[64] Mine Awareness Education Workshop Manual (draft), SIMAS, January 2001.
[65] Information provided by Peter Moszynski, an advisor for the SIMAS sponsored Mine Awareness Training of Trainers Workshop, Loki, February 2001.
[66] Monthly report of OSIL-S, April 2000.
[67] Meetings with Fashoda Relief and Rehabilitation Association (FRRA), Nuba Relief Rehabilitation and Development Organization (NRRDO), Operation Save Innocent Lives (OSIL-S), Relief Organization of South Sudan (RASS), Sudan Integrated Mine Action Service (SIMAS), Sudan People’s Democratic Front (SPDF), Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association (SRRA) and MAG, Kenya and Sudan, January–February 2001.
[68] Interview with ICRC Medical officer, February 2001; interview with mine victim in Lopiding.
[69] Monthly Report of OSIL-S, March 2000.
[70] Meeting with RASS mine awareness trainers and victim assistance coordinator, SIMAS workshop, Loki, 12-18 February 2001; interview with Cdr. Kuol Danhier, Aide to SPDF Chief Riek Machar, 17 February 2001.
[71] Meeting with Mahmood Bedawi, mine awareness coordinator for Nuba Relief Rehabilitation and Development Organization (NRRDO), Loki, 20 February 2001.
[72] SIMAS, “Report of an Emergency Assessment and a Survey of Mines Conducted between January - February 2001 in Budi, Chukudum County,” February 2001.
[73] OSIL-S, Monthly Reports for April, November, and December 2000.
[74] OSIL-S, Monthly Report June 2000.
[75] Interview with Aleu Ayieny Aleu, Director of OSIL-Sudan, February 2001.
[76] Sudan Report Geneva, 7 May 2001.
[77] Ibid.
[78] Interview with General Ibrahim Mohamed Ahmed, Head of Engineering Department, 4 February 2001.
[79] Sudan Report Geneva, 7 May 2001.