War and Genocide in South Sudan

327 Pages·2021·8.734 MB·English

by  Clémence Pinaud

WAR AND GENOCIDE
IN SOUTH SUDAN

WAR AND
GENOCIDE IN
SOUTH SUDAN
Clémence Pinaud
CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS ITHACA AND LONDON
This work was partially funded by the Office of the Vice Provost of Research and
the IU Libraries.
Publication of this open monograph was the result of Indiana University’s
participation in TOME (Toward an Open Monograph Ecosystem), a collaboration
of the Association of American Universities, the Association of University Presses,
and the Association of Research Libraries. TOME aims to expand the reach of
long-form humanities and social science scholarship including digital scholarship.
Additionally, the program looks to ensure the sustainability of university press
monograph publishing by supporting the highest-quality scholarship and
promoting a new ecology of scholarly publishing in which the authors’ institutions
bear the publication costs.
Funding from Indiana University made it possible to open this publication to the
world.
Copyright © 2021 by Clémence Pinaud
The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial 4.0 International: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/
4.0/legalcode. To use this book, or parts of this book, in any way not covered by the
license, please contact Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street,
Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.
First published 2021 by Cornell University Press
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Pinaud, Clémence, 1985– author.
Title: War and genocide in South Sudan / Clémence Pinaud.
Description: Ithaca [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2021. | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020012518 (print) | LCCN 2020012519 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781501753008 (paperback) | ISBN 9781501753022 (pdf) |
ISBN 9781501753015 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Sudan People’s Liberation Army. | Genocide—South Sudan—
History—21st century. | Civil war—South Sudan. | Ethnic conflict—South
Sudan. | Civilians—Violence against—South Sudan. | Minorities—Abuse of—
South Sudan. | Political violence—South Sudan. | South Sudan—Politics and
government—2005–2011. | South Sudan—Politics and government—2011– |
Sudan—History—Civil War, 1983–2005.
Classification: LCC DT159.9295. P56 2021 (print) | LCC DT159.9295 (ebook) |
DDC 962.9/04—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012518
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020012519
Cover illustration: SPLA car, Unity state, 2016. Art courtesy of the author.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
List of Abbreviations ix
From Predation to Genocide 1
1. From the Turkiyya to the Second Civil War: 1820–1983 17
2. The SPLA and the Making of an Ethnic Dinka Army:
1983–2005 42
3. War Economy and State-Making in SPLA Areas:
1983–2005 63
4. SPLA Violence, Group-Making, and Expansion:
1983–2005 86
5. Nationalism, Predation, and Ethnic Ranking: 2005–13 105
6. The Making of a Violent Ethnocracy: 2005–13 126
7. Civil War and the First Genocidal Phase: December 2013 145
8. The Second Phase of the Genocide in Unity State: 2014–15 161
9. The Third Phase of the Genocide in Equatoria: 2015–17 187
Ethnic Supremacy and Genocidal Conquest 215
Appendix: List of Interview Locations 225
Notes 227
Bibliography 295
Index 309

Acknowledgments
I am indebted to the many South Sudanese who shared with me very personal and
difficult stories. I hope I did them justice. My South Sudanese friends encouraged
me throughout. They shall remain nameless for their safety. I owe another debt to
my international friends who supported my work in multiple ways, from South
Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia to the U.S., Switzerland, the Netherlands,
and France. Most of them shall also remain nameless for their safety.
I wish to thank Roger Haydon, my editor, for supporting this project, trusting
me, and offering sharp, invaluable feedback from the start. I also am very grate-
ful to the anonymous reviewers and to William Reno and Geoffrey Robinson,
who commented on a first draft during a book conference organized and funded
by Indiana University in 2017. At Indiana University, a team of wonderfully
engaging colleagues and friends supported this project: Purnima Bose, Gard-
ner Bovingdon, Emma Gilligan, Michelle Moyd, John Hanson, Mike McGinnis,
Jessica O’Reilly, David Bosco, Padraic Kenney, Jessica Steinberg, Amali Ibrahim,
Keera Allendorf, Mark Roseman, and Barbara Breitung. Jordan Blekking patiently
worked with me to create maps. I also benefited from Indiana University’s fund-
ing for field work in 2017, through an Emerging Areas of Research grant directed
by P.I. Elizabeth Dunn, and through a Research Travel Grant from the College of
Arts and Humanities Institute.
Outside Bloomington, I am indebted to Gérard Prunier, whose intellectual
mentoring helped me to develop as an independent scholar. At UC Berkeley,
where I was a Fulbright fellow, Martha Saavedra, Leo Arriola, John and Peggy
Cummins, and Robert Price also provided invaluable support. Nic Cheeseman
and Pierre Englebert played a key role in introducing me to new scholarship.
Douglas H. Johnson, Cherry Leonardi, Maria Eriksson Baaz, Henri Médard, and
Marc Lavergne offered critical feedback I used throughout this book.
From Shanghai to Princeton, Nicola Di Cosmo offered me his advice, men-
toring, and friendship. I am grateful to Jeffrey Lehman and NYU Shanghai for
funding my fieldwork in 2014. I thank Zachariah Mampilly, Catharine MacKin-
non, and Thomas Kühne for their comments on earlier drafts, and Scott Straus
for his suggestions on the final manuscript. Gratitude also goes to Dirk Moses for
introducing me to a new field of social inquiry, and to Christopher Cramer and
Maayan Armelin for discussions on ethnic supremacy, command, and control.
vii
viii ACknowledgments
Brian Da Silva, Kate Almquist, Payton Knopf, Alex De Waal, Lotje De Vries,
and Rens Twijnstra also helped me throughout the years in multiple ways. I found
comfort and useful feedback in the network formed with Kerry Crawford, Nicole
Gerring, and Chloe Lewis on sexual violence in armed conflict. Sareta Ashraph
also answered my questions on international criminal law.
This book would not have been possible without the support of my longtime
friends. I am beholden to Jennifer and the Brownings for making me an honorary
member of their family, to V. for the safe havens, kindness, stimulation, and enter-
tainment across the world, to S. for always helping me out. Bloomington friends
made life better while writing: Susan and Catherine Seizer, Taha Hameduddin,
Seema Golestaneh, Margaret Graves, Tracy Templeton, and Amanda Vreden-
burgh. I found a second family in the Adolphe-Estrades of Paris, and I thank Akil,
Angeline, the B. Team, Noémie, Anne-Claire and Angelica for their kindness and
humor. Finally, I credit my parents for bearing with me through the hardships.
Dr. Marie Jaspard, the team from the Croix Rousse hospital, Marcy l’Etoile, and
Dr Kristin Sheikh also kept me alive and sane to write this book.
I dedicate this book to my father, to the victims of these wars, to my South
Sudanese friends and their children, and to Adam.
Abbreviations
ARCSS Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan
CPA Comprehensive Peace Agreement
DDR Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration
HEC High Executive Council
ICC International Criminal Court
ICTR International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
IDP Internally displaced person
IO In-Opposition (refers to the SPLA-In-Opposition, Riek Machar’s
rebel group)
JCE Jieng Council of Elders
JEM Justice and Equality Movement
MI Military intelligence
NCP National Congress Party
NLC National Liberation Council
NSS National Security Services
SAF Sudanese Armed Forces
SANU Sudan African Nationalist Union
SPLA Sudan People’s Liberation Army
SPLM Sudan People’s Liberation Movement
SRRA Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association
SSDF South Sudanese Defense Forces
UN United Nations
UNMISS United Nations Mission in South Sudan
UNOCHA United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
UN POC Protection of civilian (refers to the UN protection of civilians
camps at UNMISS bases)
UPDF Uganda’s Popular Defense Forces
ix