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| June 13, 2008 |  Email to a friend  Permalink |
Faces of Sudan
Sudan is a land in conflict. Warfare has been the norm since the start of its civil war in 1983. Ongoing hostilities in the regions of Darfur, Durfan, neighboring Chad and Eritrea, between many multiple parties have cost the lives of hundreds of thousands, and made life unbearable for millions more - Sudan has been in a state of humanitarian emergency since 2003. Just the general facts about the conflicts are overwhelming - drought, desertification, overpopulation, ethnic tensions (ethnic Arab vs. ethnic African), religious conflict (Islamic north vs. Christian south), political clashes (Islamic sharia rule vs. authoritarian government), border issues, multinational interests (Chinese economic interests, US interests) - and - the fairly recent discovery of a half-billion dollars worth of oil reserves, and there's no end to the ongoing causes of conflict.
The authoritarian government of Sudan has been actively and passively supporting Arab militias (known as the Janjaweed), using them to quell tribal disputes, and turning a blind eye to their brutal tactics. The Sudanese government now has to contend with dozens of armed rebel groups, some of which were still attacking the capital, Khartoum, as recently as May 11, 2008. The UN has stated in 2005 that the situation does not constitute genocide, because, despite the mass murders and rapes, "genocidal intent appears to be missing". Nearly 10,000 UN forces are now deployed throughout the region, with the mission of protecting civilians and humanitarian operations.
News coverage often tries to explain the causes, the groups involved, the political and military solutions. What isn't seen as often are the faces of those involved - the displaced, the antagonists, the survivors, the leaders, and the followers. These are some of the faces of Darfur and Abyei, Sudan, photographed where they are today, some very far from home. (More links and information below the photos) (18 photos total)
Kartoula, 14, a refugee from Sudan's western Darfur region, enters a distribution centre to receive monthly food rations at Djabal camp near Gos Beida in eastern Chad, June 5, 2008. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)
People displaced from Abyei wait for emergency food rations distributed by the World Food Programme in Agok, south Sudan in this picture made available by the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on June 3, 2008. (REUTERS/Tim McKulka/UNMIS/Handout)
Nyakum Bakony Chan, a frail 50-year old Sudanese resident of the village of Abyei in sudan who had to hide for two days under her bed while the fighting between the Sudan armed forces and the army of the former southerner rebels last week raged in her village, looks on Friday May 23, 2008 after she fled, on her son's shoulders to the nearby village of Agok. Looters roamed the village of Abyei which is contested by north and south Sudan for its oil resources and grazing fields. (AP Photo/Sarah El Deeb)
An aerial view showing fire at the village of Abyei, Sudan, which is seen mostly burned down Friday, May 23, 2008, and looters roamed the village freely, after days of fighting last week. The town, contested by north and south Sudan for its oil resources and grazing fields, has been deserted after fighting raged for days between Sudan armed forces and the army of former southern rebels last week. (AP Photo/Sarah El Deeb)
A general view of the ruins of burnt-out Abyei town in Southern Sudan in this handout released by the United Nations Mission In Sudan May 22, 2008. Twenty-one Sudanese army soldiers have been killed in fierce fighting with southern forces in the contested oil-rich town of Abyei, army sources said on Wednesday. (REUTERS/UNMIS/Handout)
People displaced from Abyei wait for emergency food rations distributed by WFP in Agok, south Sudan in this picture made available by the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on June 3, 2008. (REUTERS/Tim McKulka/UNMIS/Handout)
A Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) soldier stands guard at a U.N. base in Abyei May 16, 2008. Talks took place between the southern SPLA and commanders from the northern Sudanese Armed Forces after two days of fighting between the former foes in the oil-rich town of Abyei. (REUTERS/David Lewis)
An 18 October 2007 photo by the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), a fighter of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) escorts General Martin Luther Agwai (3rd from Left) Force Commander of ther African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS), as he walks with Khalil Ibrahim (2L), the movement's leader and another commander (L), the day before at an unknown location on the Sudan-Chad border in north west Darfur. The rebel movement said they were advancing on the Sudanese capital on May 10, 2008 as clashes flared with the army across the river Nile immediately to the north and the government slapped a curfew on Khartoum. But a senior member of the ruling National Congress Party said the attack by the Darfur rebels has failed, accusing Chad of being behind the unprecedented rebel assault on Khartoum. (STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images)
A picture made available by Albany Associates shows fighters from the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) riding in the back of an armoured vehicle following a meeting between JEM's leader Khalil Ibrahim and special envoys of the United Nations and African Union for Darfur at an undisclosed location in Sudan's western Darfur region on April 18, 2008. (STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images)
Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), shown on April 18, 2008, sitting with his field commanders during a meeting with United Nations and African Union special envoys at an undisclosed location in Sudan's western Darfur region. Ibrahim is included in a list of 20 Darfur rebel leaders that Sudan is to ask Interpol to arrest over their alleged involvement in an unprecedented attack on Khartoum last month, the official SUNA news agency reported on June 10, 2008. (STUART PRICE/AFP/Getty Images)
An ethnic Arab girl spends the heat of the day in a grass shelter with other women at the makeshift village of Taiba, where ethnic Arabs displaced by insecurity and tribal tensions have set up shelters some 40 kilometers (30 miles) north of the eastern Chadian town of Gos Beida, June 9, 2008. The village receives no support from aid agencies. Reflecting the violence in Darfur that has swept in both directions across the Chad-Sudan border, there are 250,000 Sudanese refugees scattered in a dozen camps in eastern Chad and 180,000 internally displaced Chadians, U.N. officials say. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)
A young Sudanese refugee standing in the door-way at a way-house in Juba, south Sudan on April 16, 2008. Refugees returning from Uganda, Central Africa Republic, Congo and other countries are cared for here, before being repatriated to their respective homes. Tens of thousands of people have yet again been displaced from their homes at Abyei following an outbreak of violence between north Sudan's army and southern ex-rebels over the oil-rich region whos administration is bitterly contested between north and south Sudan. 'We have reports of tens of thousands of people moving east, south and west scattered in the bush', according to a UN source. (TONY KARUMBA/AFP/Getty Images)
A boy uses a stick to wheel the lid of a cooking pot for entertainment at Gassire, a camp for displaced Chadians who have fled fighting around the eastern town of Gos Beida near the Sudanese border, June 7, 2008. Reflecting the violence in Darfur that has swept in both directions across the Chad-Sudan border, there are 250,000 Sudanese refugees scattered in a dozen camps in eastern Chad and 180,000 internally displaced Chadians, U.N. officials say. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)
Refugees from Sudan's western Darfur region look on as a delegation from the U.N. Security Council visits Djabal camp near Gos Beida in eastern Chad, June 6, 2008. Refugees from conflict in Sudan's Darfur and Chad appealed to visiting U.N. Security Council envoys on Friday for more international protection so they can return to their homes. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)
Irish Comdt. Stephen Morgan keeps civilians at a distance as the European Union Force (EUFOR) bomb disposal experts dig a hole to dispose of a rocket propelled grenade found by the roadside near the eastern Chadian town of Gos Beida June 8, 2008. EUFOR has deployed a force of about 3,000 troops in Chad to help secure the lawless border region near Sudan, where cross-border violence from Darfur has uprooted nearly 400,000 Chadians and Sudanese living in the area. EUFOR says it has destroyed some 80 unexploded ordanance in the past month near Gos Beida alone. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)
An Arab nomad woman awaits consultation at a health clinic run by the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Holland in Kerfi, a site for thousands of displaced Chadians some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the eastern town of Gos Beida, June 10, 2008. Reflecting the violence in Darfur that has swept in both directions across the Chad-Sudan border, there are 250,000 Sudanese refugees scattered in a dozen camps in eastern Chad and 180,000 internally displaced Chadians, U.N. officials say. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)
Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir (C) waves his walking stick in the air as he addresses the crowd during a rally in Khartoum on May 14, 2008, during a demonstration against attacks by Darfur's Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels on the western Khartoum suburb of Omdurman. Tens of thousands of Sudanese descended on the streets of Khartoum on Wednesday, shouting nationalist slogans to denounce the Darfur rebel attack on the capital which killed more than 200 people. Dressed in military fatigues, Bashir led the crowd in chants against the rebels and their leader, Khalil Ibrahim. (REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdalla)
A displaced woman recovers from an overnight attack and beating by armed bandits, at a health clinic run by the medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) Holland in Kerfi, a site for thousands of displaced Chadians some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the eastern town of Gos Beida, June 10, 2008. Reflecting the violence in Darfur that has swept in both directions across the Chad-Sudan border, there are 250,000 Sudanese refugees scattered in a dozen camps in eastern Chad and 180,000 internally displaced Chadians, U.N. officials say. (REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly)
More links and information:
Sudan rivals agree to settle differences on oil-rich region of Abyei - International Herald Trubune, June 8th
Fighting continues in Sudan's Abyei region Youtube video from English AlJazeera, May 21.
Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict BBC summary from Nov, 2007
Sudan Wikipedia entry
War in darfur Wikipedia entry
Sudan NYTimes Topic page
Save Darfur Advocacy group calling for international intervention in the Darfur conflict
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This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
these pictures definitely say more than a thousand words. thank you!
Having worked in Somalia / Sudan in the '80s I recognise both the arrogance of the military and the tragic helplessness of the civilians .
Thank you so much for this blog! Each entry is such an eye opener and the pictures tell so much more than any article could.
I can't get over how great this site is -- no words! Bravo!
I just learned about your blog today, through Liquid Treat. Your pictures help me understand the stories I half-ignore when I hear them on the radio. Thank you for a wonderful and important job.
Great article and very powerful images.
Thanks for putting the spotlight back on Sudan. Sadly it zips in and out of the mainstream media interest.
I also can't get over on how great this site is... if you put 300 posts a day, I would see them all. Bravo!
While attending Worcester State College, I took a Genocide and Human Rights class. A group of my peers and I did a presentation for the school about the Darfur situation. We had called for action and argued at that point, in 2004, that it was a genocide. It is sad to see these images and to know this has been going on for years.
Wonderful, powerful images. Thank you.
Africa is probably doomed to suffer from the madness of tribal war until the end of days.
Just phenomenal. The power of these images is incredible.
I love this web site. The pictures are great! Thanks for doing this.
If only history classes could be taught in this fashion-students of any age or gender would all find it a lot more interesting--
I certainly find this a fascinating & preferable way to take in current events.
This blog will do well and is obviously doing just that.
Why? Because people are lazy and would rather look at big pictures than read lots of text. The captions are great, don't get me wrong.
Keep up the great work.
The photo of the young woman staring directly into the camera struck me as powerfully as the similar iconic National Geographic cover photo.
Superb photos, conveying a huge amount about the country and the people - many thanks for posting.
A sad subject, but sure superb photography, which will hopefully arouse interest and more public awareness.
Dear Macaca-
The tribal people of Africa are peaceful. Many are farmers of livestock and or crops. Some of the women are merchants selling teas and tie died garments. They live simple lives and want the same things as we do: education, career, family, a nice home to live it, food, peace and God. They are being violently forced out of their homes by the oil seeking Arabs. Some of the tribes have formed their own armies to try to defend themselves. They need help. We should not give up on God's children. Let us be led by God to help our brothers and sisters of Sudan and those around the world who are persecuted. In Jesus' Name, Lynn
After reading about this site on one of Seed Magazine's blogs, I have visited every day. I truly enjoy the images posted on this site.
So very, very moving. Beautiful photos of a sorrowful situation. Thank you for bringing news in this way to those of us interested in humanity and photography.
hello Lynn,
I dont know about god, but i do believe that we do not need god to be good, to be as humane as possible. If i knew of a way to help, i would not turn away.
sameer
beutifull picture
Great site.
Love this site - great to see photography given some space on the web. It's about time.
As all other comments. Great work. Please continue.
Interesting site, but whoever does the photo editing (especially of this Sudan one!) must work harder at getting the best images out there. Some just don't cut it at all - and, sincerely, really don't show repsect to the stories they try to tell!
For the photographers' sake who go out there in the field, you can do WAY more.
PS: and please put your "God" aside from all that - or you'd know better.
@ Lynn,
Keep your God to yourself thank you very much. We have had enough of you Americans in the region. No more. Stay home for the love of God and stop interfering with everybody else's business.
And this matter is far more complicated than you make it seem. This isn't another one of your 'good vs evil' mickey mouse scenarios that you people love so much
first of all: "@ Lynn, Keep your God to yourself thank you very much." by alwe7da,
i agree 100%, however i would have chosen much harsher words..........
and now to the point; the so called "first world" nations have created a superb mess and havoc throughout africa, that it may never be resolved. greed and cold war as well as good meant donations have transformed africa into a black hole where poor fights the poorer and everybody awaits something to be given to him. they even do not produce their traditional clothes anymore cause its cheaper to buy a donated t-shirt from reseller than to make own. its a mess. and they should compete on the international market? with what? aids infected children?
they should just die quickly and get off my screen. bigotery of the west is incredible.
I don't see god anywhere, just evil and those who pretend not to be. America
pretends to be trying to help the world but all we're doing is trying to keep our
place at the top (of what I'm not sure).
A brilliant and emotive set of pictures - thank you so much for having the courage to put such a spread of images on the web.
God forgot about Sudan a very long time ago.
You know, a small group of my friends are on the way to the Uganda right now to spend time with an orphanage for former Sudanese child soldiers. I think God has not forgotten Sudan and the pain twists him as much or more so than anyone.
The question we need to ask is not "how can we do the least amount of harm?" (which is I think the underlying sentiment behind "Westerners keep out!") but rather "how can we do the most good?" I think the answer is "individually." Government action seems to do little but breed anger and destruction and contempt on both sides. The only fix I see is a whole lot of individual people who are willing to spend themselves on behalf of people who can't.
If you've got a better idea, and action to back it up, I'm all ears.
Yes, Josh, agreed that it is now up to individuals (us) to act on behalf of our brothers and sisters in need.
We can count on neither our gov'ts nor UN to enforce peace agreements or to provide interventions. tentsofhope.org is one such grass-roots activity I am doing
answer: Do whatever you can, wherever you are
AFRICA IS EXPLOITED BY MERCENARIES SENT BY WHITES SUCH AS THE SON OF MARGARET TACT HER MARK THATCHER WHO TRIED TO OVER THROUGH AN OIL RICH SMALL WEST AFRICAN COUNTRY WITH THE HELP OF CONVICTED BRITISH CONSERVATIVE PARTY MEMBER JEFFERY ARCHER AND MANY BANKERS( SPONSORS OF THE POSSIBLE MILITARY TAKE OVER AND REPLACE THE PRESENT REGIME BY PUPPET REGIME LIKE IN NIGERIA). THE PRESENT SUDAN CONFLICT STARTED WHEN RICH OIL WAS FOUND - THE MAN BEHIND WAS AN AMERICAN RUN AWAY AND GOT SHELTER IN LONDON ENGLAND TO FACILITATE HIS OPERATION THE OIL RICH REGION OF SUDAN.
MASSACRER IN Rwanda WAS ORCHESTRATED BY FRANCE AND BELGIUM TO WIPE OUT ENGLISH SPEAKERS FROM THAT REGION. did you know how France blocked UN investigation about this genocide?
The pain doesn't twist "Him" enough for "Him" to do anything about it.
Thanks a lot..Very good attempt to make people understand about the life of Darfur and whole Sudan.
May Almighty God...Helps everybody.
Photographs are intensely powerful - bringing home the tragedy and sadness of man's inhumanity to one another. America and other wealthy countries and peoples, are partly to blame. The climate, the environment is also partly to blame. Overpopulation is partly to blame. Blaming does no good and does not heal - the problems are very complex, the solutions elusive.
Can anyone turn the desert into a fertile land for agriculture, a place to raise cows and goats for milk, a place to plant crops that will grow and be able to feed thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands? Do customs allow for birth control? Is there adequate medical care?
Can humans join together for a better world, or are we destined to destroy ourselves, our environment, our earth?
Do you have the answers?
Thank you for these great pictures. They tell a story we are not privy too otherwise due to the filtering of what the media would want us to know or feel compassion for by keeping one centered on self. God will be glorified through this, somehow. He is not a western "god" for he created the world and everything in it, including all peoples. His word says in Phillipians 2:10-11"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father". His name WILL be glorified and it's up to his people, all around the world, to glorify his name through praise, worship and live according to Matthew 22: 37-39 "Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself." If we followed these last commandments given by Jesus, all this suffering would end. This is not an opinion, but truth.
The Sudan is obviously being exploited for it's oil, as well as most of Africa for its wealth of natural resources. All the tension going on is a smokescreen for the so called 'superpowers' to use to take what they want and blame it on the people of Sudan. Where do all these guns come from I wonder? For those waiting/praying for a 'God' to do something... there just is no such thing.
P.S. Thank you Alan for this wonderful blog.
Definitivamente el lente de una cámara tiene mas poder de convencimiento que la pluma que escribe en el papel.
Magnifica exposicion en imagenes y comentarios. Enhorabuena
the pictures r fully spoken
put did u cover all speaking pictures in area?
i am asudanese student however it is my first time seeing pictures like these
Incredible site, bookmarked for later.
Chollo
owww
A good weep
hey my name is Alex and im very pleased with this site im 14 and in year 8 and my acessment is to make a presentation and with this cool pics and information it gave me a leading edge.
p.s ty=thank you =)
such poverty - such nothing and they bomb - they bomb a defenceless group of hard working - know nothing else kind people, who have to work like that if they want food, for the then after destruction their refugee's needing food donations - prior attack being slef sufficient - perpetrator their only after the resource...having researched frrom 1982 onwards... not unknown statements...
they sold to countries like this - $63 billion+ of military equipement 1970's - 1980's and 'donated back $500 million area in food'... they took 126 times more then they gave...
many many thank's. Improved.