Daily Darfur: Child Soldiers, 2008 Displacements, and Tensions in Kordofan

What happens when two human rights catastrophes cross paths?

Some 30,000 children abducted by Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army, which has waged war against the Ugandan government for decades and is prone to terrorizing civilians and abducting children throughout north and central African, were reportedly sold to the Sudanese in the Darfur region:

"Some of these children are in Darfur being used as child soldiers, porters and others sold as sex slaves to the Sudanese," Dr Stephen Kagoda, the permanent secretary at the [Ugandan] Ministry of Internal Affairs told the Parliamentary Defence Committee. "In fact, that's why (LRA leader Joseph] Kony fears to come out of the bush because we shall ask him to show us our children."

No details were given on exactly who the children were sold to--the government, or the rebels. (Neither would surprise me.)

Child trafficking by the LRA is a serious problem, but it's difficult to say how accurate these numbers are, especially since Dr. Kagoda reserved a large amount of evidence as being "classified." UNICEF estimates that the LRA has abducted an estimated 25,000 children in its two-decade insurgency, so unless the LRA either 1. abducted far, far more, or 2. is unloading its entire ranks in Sudan, 30,000 seems improbable to me. It seems entirely possible that promoting inflated numbers could be a political calculation on the part of the Ugandan government.

For more information on child soldiers, check out the aptly-named Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers.

The UN reported that an estimated 230,000 people were displaced in Darfur in 2008--a massive number, especially considering the government's insistence that it's committed to peace. For an overview of the humanitarian situation and the current challenges faced by UNAMID, check out this post by Change.org Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman. And for an insightful analysis of Khartoum's efforts to derail in the international justice process, check out Time Magazine.

And in yet another indication that Sudan is entering a downward spiral of escalating violence--that encompasses the entire country, not just Darfur--the International Crisis Group warns that the disputed and region of South Kordofan could turn into another Darfur-scale conflict.

"South Kordofan is a Sudan in miniature, with heavily armed African and Arab tribes living side by side," ICG's Fouad Hikmat told the BBC.

The oil-rich region was heavily disputed in the North/South Civil War and 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and has been insecure ever since.

I wrote yesterday that IDP camp residents in Darfur were staging protests over their exclusion in Sudan's "people's initiative"--now they claim the camp was "infiltrated" and the protesters were attacked, resultin in the death of at least one man:

"The IDP’s spokesperson Hussein Abu Sharati told Sudan Tribune today that a number people infiltrated the Humedia camp at 8 pm last night and assaulted those who took part in yesterday’s demonstrations.

"'They murdered one man by the name of Mohamed Adam. It is for those reasons we reject peace talks before security.' Sharati said."

I couldn't find any independent verification. (You can't really take anything at face value.)