Country Report: Sudan

Amidst Sudan's on-going civil war, Arab militias armed by the Sudanese government raid black African villages and abduct civilians as chattel slaves.

A Victim's Story

When Francis Bok was seven years old, his mother sent him to the local market to sell eggs and beans. Suddenly, government militia forces attacked, shooting adults and rounding up children. Francis saw one girl who would not stop crying get shot in the head. When her sister burst out crying, the soldiers chopped off her foot. Strapped to a donkey and taken north, Francis was given as a slave to one of the soldiers. The man's entire family came out to greet Francis - by beating him. Every day he was forced to tend cattle and was beaten every morning. At age 17, he ran away. "I would rather die than be a slave," says Francis.

Sudan's on-going civil war and inter-ethnic conflict has seen a revival of black chattel slavery, where southern women and children are abducted as slaves by government-armed Arab militia forces. Over 100,000 remain in bondage today, serving as domestics and concubines.

Country Background

Sudan is the largest country in Africa, covering 2.5 million square kilometers. Sudan means "land of the blacks" in Arabic, and for centuries black Africans were abducted in Sudan as part of the Arabian slave trade. Sudan's borders - drawn by the British during colonialism - encompass a predominantly Arab-Islamic north and a black African south of various faiths. Inter-ethnic conflict and civil war have plagued Sudan since its independence in 1956. A growing radical Islamic movement pressured the government to impose Sharia, or Islamic law, on all of Sudan in 1983 - at which time slave raids were reintroduced against black African villages in the south and Nuba Mountains. A 1989 military coup by radical Islamist General Omar el-Bashir spurred a dramatic increase in slave raids by Arab militia forces armed by the government.

Causes of Slavery

Slavery has deep roots in Sudan, and black southerners have been targeted by northern slave raiders for centuries. Located just below Egypt, Sudan offered a sizable population of potential black slaves for Arabian trade routes. Today's slave raids are a revival of that ancient practice, with Arab tribesman exhorted by the government to attack southern "infidels" in a self-declared "holy war."

Slave raids are used by the government to terrorize civilian populations in southern Sudan and the Nuba Mountains. Militia are armed by the government but not paid. Militiamen destroy villages and take their pay in booty: livestock, grain, and women and children. Men are shot because they pose a great physical threat. But women and children are considered easily coercible and thus constitute the marauders' prize reward.

The Process of Enslavement

Women and children abducted in slave raids are roped by the neck or strapped to animals and then marched north. Along the way, many women and girls are repeatedly gang-raped. Children who will not be silent are shot on the spot.

In the north, slaves are either kept by individual militia soldiers or sold in markets. Boys work as livestock herders, forced to sleep with the animals they care for. Some who try to escape have their Achilles tendons cut to hamper their ability to run. Masters typically use women and girls as domestics and concubines, cleaning by day and serving the master sexually by night.

Survivors report being called abeed ("black slave"), enduring daily beatings, and receiving awful food. Masters also strip slaves of their religious and cultural identities, giving them Arabic names and forcing them to pray as Muslims. Slaves often live alone with the master's family - ripped from their parents and separated from other southerners. As one survivor recalls, "For ten years, I had no one to laugh with."

Some slaves manage to escape. But the most common form of redemption is provided by Arab rescuers who conduct a Sudanese version of the Underground Railroad. These retrievers help slaves escape or pose as buyers and purchase slaves from masters. The retrievers lead slaves back to the south through a network of safe houses and night routes. Back in their home villages, the slaves are redeemed by local leaders with support from Western humanitarian groups. Wives and children are reunited with their spouses and parents or are taken in by their extended families.

Response on the Ground

Fighting the government is a coalition of opposition forces led by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), a black African rebel force. The SPLA has shored up its defenses in areas most targeted by slave raiders, which has helped reduce the number of successful slave raids.

Though initiated by local Arab and African tribes who formed a peace treaty, the slave redemption program today enjoys considerable support from Christian Solidarity International (CSI), a Swiss-based humanitarian organization. Prominent civil rights leaders - most notably Rev. Al Sharpton, Congressman Walter Fauntroy, and NAACP activist Joe Madison - have recently assisted CSI's missions.

In addition, a coalition of humanitarian organizations, including the American Anti-Slavery Group and the Salvation Army, has formed the Sudan Campaign - a movement to stop genocide and slavery in Sudan.

More Information

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