Conflict and Protection Note on Lakes State
South Sudan Protection Cluster
Updated October 2014
1. Summary
Over the past few months Lakes State has experienced a serious upsurge in violent conflict and generalized insecurity, that is having a deleterious humanitarian impact on the population including forced displacement into remote or flood prone areas, and the threat of physical violence against particularly vulnerable sections of the population (including rape, killings, beatings and torture), and destruction of property. The introduction of a “civilian disarmament” campaign in October by the Governor is adding fuel to the fire, exacerbating fissures between the SPLA and cattle camp youth, and communities at large, leading to a spate of violent clashes in several counties and the capital Rumbek. The humanitarian situation in the state is already tenuous with thousands of displaced people being hosted in Awerial County, high levels of food insecurity, and now with the recent violence new displacements of women, children and elderly into difficult to access areas without access to essential services and goods.
Whilst tempting to isolate events in Lakes State to a simplistic issue of seasonal resource competition or parochial clan violence, the causal attributes mirror those at a national level: a crisis of governance, militarisation of political leadership, mobilisation of armed groups, instability caused by violent cattle raiding, and increased sense of marginalisation and injustices amongst an increasingly disaffected youth population with easy access to arms. Lakes State also lies at a strategic juncture – geographically and politically- to the rest of the conflict and has been a thoroughfare for deserting SPLA troops.
This note serves the purpose of raising awareness about the situation in Lakes State and raising its profile within the humanitarian community and with UNMISS. It also calls for better thinking about how to deal with the grave impacts of violence on communities that are outside the main centre of the armed conflict.
2. Background
Lakes is primary comprised of members of the Dinka ethnic grouping, which is made up of different sections and clans, except Wulu County that is predominated by Jur-Bel and Bongo people. A significant proportion of the population is reliant on cattle rearing and herding as their main economic activity and highly prone to cross-state and internal cattle raiding.
In recent months Inter- and intra- Dinka clan violence has spiraled out of control into revenge style (tit for tat) killings, deliberate attacks against women and children (including widespread rape) has been commonplace, and the destruction and looting of critical community livelihoods assets a means to exact maximum damage on rival communities. The recent assassination of Chief Apareer Chut, an elder relative of the Governor, has sparked a renewed cycle of violence against civilians with rival DInka clans (Gony and Thiyic) inciting sexual violence and attacks on women and children. In one inter-clan conflict alone this year over 300 people were killed between the period February to July. An open conflict between Governor Matur Chol Dhoul, the state SPLM apparatus, and citizens has also led to a spate of arbitrary arrests of local chiefs, the violent repression of a highly mobilized youth and reprisal communal attacks. Significant concentration of violence has taken place around the counties of Cueibet, Rumbek North, Rumbek Centre, Rumbek East and Yirol West including in the capital Rumbek. The violence to date has resulted in several hundreds of people killed.
Communities are heavily armed across the state. The proliferation of civilian militias in part is due to the deliberate arming of selected cattle camp youth (Gelweng/Titweng) by influential political leaders (Governor, commissioner and others) for the purposes of building their own protection forces and creating an overall home guard. This is taking place in the context of pervasive inter-communal violence across the state in which neighbouring clans and sections have mobilized and armed themselves The State Government has publicly justified much of this mobilisation as part and parcel of “community policing” and “civilian disarmament” initiatives that have been put in place to combat deepening cycles of retaliatory killings. The combination of using armed youth, SPLA and national police to disarm communities, as well as the employing strategies such as confiscation of cattle for arms, has led to severe clashes between the SPLA and youth. In October alone hundreds of people have been killed and injured as SPLA and others have attempted to disarm vulnerable communities. In a context of deep suspicion and conflict the State Government’s initiative is not viewed as neutral, consultative, comprehensive or aimed at protecting civilians. The use of any armed group that is engaged in the overall armed violence or conflict, or seen as an antagonist, has the effect of perpetuating cycles of violence and embedding resentment and fear amongst communities.
Lakes State is no stranger to large-scale insecurity or violence and by and large has faced significant security challenges since the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). However, violence this year is interlinked with broader conflict dynamics in the country and being exacerbated by political
3. Understanding the Key Triggers for Conflict and Violence Against Civilians
3.1 Inter communal violence
Seasonal cattle raiding in which fights over cattle, land, access to water, dowry competition and sometimes revenge for past grievance are not uncommon in Lakes State and has plagued the area since 2005. Likewise, raids into and from Warrap, Unity, and parts of the Equatorias also take place over contest for key resources. Past grievances and justice seeking behaviour amongst communities is finding new expression through more brutal forms of violence. Each new cycle of violence is also aiding and abetting a more vicious retaliation. The lack of state accountability for past attacks continues to feed retaliatory cycles as communities take matters into their own hands. Disarming youth has hitherto been failed and led to more violence. In a context of insecurity, resource scarcity and competition, and a broader conflict, disarmaments can exacerbate community vulnerabilities.
To illustrate the point above the following section briefly describes some of the main conflicts currently taking place in Lakes and posing a threat to people’s lives and livelihoods.
· Gony and Thiyic sections of Athoi clan of the Dinka Agar have been most recently engaged in large- scale attacks. The violence between these groups is politically linked. Governor Dhuoll is Gony and the recent murder of his relative (Chief Apareer Chut) by Thiyic has ignited a cycle of revenge killings that can be traced back to 1997 and calls for the commission of rape. In September additional family members of Chief Chut including a son and son in law were targeted by Dinka Gok clans in a brutal attack on a convoy. There are reports that key clans such as the Thiyic and Gok may be working in unison to exact revenge against the much larger group of Dinka Agar (of which the Gony belong to). Thiyic chiefs have also been arrested in connection to this violence but no Gony leader or youth have been held to account. Currently, this widening inter-clan violence is engulfing large parts of Lakes State.
· Rup and Kuei clans of the Dinka Agar of Rumbek Centre and East have been fighting since January 2013 and in one single incident of week long fighting caused the deaths of 100 people and displacement of hundreds. In recent conflagration of violence reports of women being abducted and raped have been frequently reported. Over 300 people were killed as a result of this clan violence from February to July, it is likely number now exceed this as fighting has continued.
· Dinka Aliab conflicts within Awerial County. In October 2013 the humanitarian community responded to the displacement of 115 households, razing of tukuls and local market places, as fighting broke out over access to grazing sites.
· In Yirol East and West civilians were forcibly displaced as SPLA-IO and deserters moved through the area looting cattle and grain stores.
· Conflicts within host and IDP populations of Awerial have so far been contained but spreading food insecurity, increased conflict displacement within Lakes could exacerbate these tensions and stoke perceptions that the international community is favouring one community over another. In October clashes between Dor and Panhyiar cattle camos in and around Dor caused serious injury and death of civilians. The clashes, which are in proximity to Mingkaman have been attributed to personal differences between high ranking county and state authorities.
· Cross border conflicts between Dinka Agar and Nuer from Panyijar in Unity have not taken place as expected this year. Nuer have been freely moving across the border to access functioning markets and this has maintained productive links between these two communities and is emblematic of local protective mechanisms and cross community cooperation. Movement for trade is critical for maintaining local stability and arresting potential draw into the wider conflict.
3.2 State Government Responses to Insecurity Fuelling Conflict
The current Governor was appointed as a “caretaker” by President Salva Kiir in January 2013, replacing Chol Tong Mayay (who was subsequently arrested in December 2013 accused of instigating a coup with Riek Machar and is from a rival clan to Dhoul) following the latter’s failure to address vicious Rumbek’s conflicts between Dinka Rup and Kuei clans raging in 2012. Governor Dhuol was tasked with bringing stability but his leadership has been seriously questioned. On 25 August 2014, the state level national assembly overwhelmingly voted for the Governor to be removed from office. This breakdown in trust has also played out with communities across conflict-affected areas of Lakes.
In the face of mounting instability across the state the Governor and senior officials have called for a “civilian disarmament” and community based policing. Though few can argue at a conceptual need for initiatives such as these to promote security, raise the confidence of communities, and arrest widening cycles of violence, the reality of how it is implemented can be a driver of conflict in and of itself. Community policing in Lakes State has entailed the limited buy in of community leaders and arming of youth groups, many who have been active in inter-clan violence for the past months. Likewise, the recent disarmament campaign is being implemented with a mix of state level police, SPLA officials from Lakes and outside, and in large numbers groups of armed youth who have been given titles and uniforms. This has been massively antagonizing for communities now facing a disarmament, which is being implemented with force, entails the confiscation of cattle and therefore the depletion of critical assets, and reports of attacks on unarmed civilians.
In recent weeks the Governor has attempted to forcibly disarm armed youth from certain clans and communities igniting tensions between rival communities and mobilizing youth to fiercely resist the SPLA and chiefs leading the process. This process of arming and then disarming youth groups is a common practice for the SPLA, who flood locations with weapons and then retrieve them once they perceive the situation to have abated or that it has spiraled out of control. Disarmament campaigns have a negative history in South Sudan, with the SPLA often being heavy handed, violent and lacking discipline, such as in Jonglei in 2013 which saw over 100,000 people displaced and up to 90% of some villages destroyed by the SPLA.
With the recent bout of violence the Governor has been taking measures to attempt to arrest violence which includes appealing to chiefs for calm, and making public arrests of perpetrators of violence (this includes his own daughter). However, these overtures have done little to calm tensions, or address the brutality with which the revenge attacks are occurring. The introduction of community policing and civilian disarmament initiatives instead of arresting the fighting has stoked violence further.
A bitter taste also lingers from the Governor’s January 2013 decision to order the arbitrary arrests and illegal detention (under harsh conditions) of over 130 civilians in response to armed violence and inter-communal fighting. Families of those arrested were also detained, mistreated and in some case reports of torture being used by state forces against women and elderly.
The situation in Lakes also evidences another phenomena. While there is assumption of affiliation with Kiir, many communities will also be attempting to ‘keep themselves out’ of the conflict. Many populations will be attempting to avoid getting drawn into the conflict between SPLA and SPLA/IO but this in itself creates localised conflict dynamics. The discussions around Greater Equatoria’s and federalism are a protective mechanism from one conflict that can fuel another.
Perceived or actual threats from the SPLM/A in Opposition or deserting forces is likely to cause pre-emptive displacement of populations as it recently did with the news that Peter Gadet moving south out of Unity State. Reports of cattle looting and sexual violence has also been reported as deserting troops and the SPLA move through different parts of the state. Lakes will likely remain a transit point for different armed groups in months to come and if inter-communal violence continues will pose new risks of civilians caught in the middle.