In February 2002, in an unprecedented international focus,
four newspapers of record, 'The Irish Times', London's 'Independent
on Sunday', 'The Washington Post' and 'International Herald
Tribune', chose to publish, or republish, articles exposing
the deep fraud and corruption at the heart of claims of
"slave redemption" in Sudan. (1) These articles are the
culmination of deep, long-standing concerns about the activities
of several organisations involved in what has become a Western-financed
"redemption" industry in parts of Sudan. The claims by organisations
and people such as John Eibner and the Swiss-based Christian
Solidarity International (CSI) and Baroness Cox's Christian
Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) to have "redeemed" more than
65,000 Sudanese "slaves" have also been sharply called into
question. 'The Washington Post' reported that in numerous
documented instances "the slaves weren't slaves at all,
but people gathered locally and instructed to pretend they
were returning from bondage". (2) 'The Independent on Sunday'
reported that it was able to "reveal that 'redemption' has
often been a carefully orchestrated fraud". (3)
'The Irish Times' set the stage for how "slave redemptions"
had hitherto been presented:
"The slave redemption makes for powerful human drama. A
line of women and children emerges from the African bush.
A slave trader in front, wrapped in the white robes of an
Arab. And before them, waiting with a bag of money at his
feet, is a white, Christian, man. The procession halts under
the shade of a tree. There is discussion, then money changes
hands. Suddenly the trader gives a nod, the slaves walk
free and there are cries of joy as families are re-united.
Freedom at last. Who could fail to be stirred by this emotional
sight?...The highly publicised redemptions have touched
millions of hearts - and wallets - across the world but
particularly in the US. Celebrities and politicians have
chained themselves to railings in protest. Pop stars have
given free concerts. Little girls have given their lunch
money."
The newspaper's investigation reported, however, that: "[T]here
is another side to the redemption story. According to aid
workers, missionaries, and even the rebel movement that
facilitates it, slave redemption in Sudan is often an elaborate
scam." 'The Irish Times' article also stated that in many
cases "the process is nothing more than a careful deceit,
stage-managed by corrupt officials".
"In reality, many of the 'slaves' are fakes. Rebel officials
round up local villagers to pose for the cameras. They recruit
fake slavers - a light skinned soldier, or a passing trader,
to 'sell' them. The children are coached in stories of abduction
and abuse for when the redeemer, or a journalist, asks questions.
Interpreters may be instructed to twist their answers. The
money, however, is very real. CSI can spend more than $300,000
during a week of redemptions at various bush locations.
After their plane takes off, the profits are divvied up
- a small cut to the "slaves" and the "trader" but the lion's
share to local administrators and SPLA figures."
The newspaper further made clear that:
"[T]he warning signs have been there for years. Within the
SPLA, whispers of suspicion have swelled into a chorus of
criticism in recent years. Acrimonious rows have broken
out and accusations profiteering levelled at individuals.
Outside the rebel ranks, aid workers have been puzzled.
It seems almost incredible that tens of thousands of abducted
civilians could cross a dangerous frontline undetected by
government forces. Moreover, aid workers north of the line
saw no evidence of large movements south, and their colleagues
in the south saw no sudden demand for extra food or medicines
by redeemed salves. Put simply, the numbers didn't add up.
And yet no questions were asked. The dollars rolled in and
the redemptions continued."
As the newspaper observed: "[O]utside observers of redemption
do not, and cannot, see everything. The entire operation
is controlled by the SPLA, which provides communications,
transport and interpreters, and it is conducted in great
secrecy." The newspaper further noted that "this makes it
extremely difficult for outsiders to drop in unannounced
on a redemption." One accidental exception was Father Mario
Riva, an Italian Roman Catholic missionary, who proved to
be a devastating witness. Father Riva, who had spent several
decades in the area said to have been subjected to "slave"
raiding and "slave redeemers", and who was fluent in the
local tribal languages, said that he had personally witnessed
rebel interpreters misleading John Eibner with regard to
"slaves" and "slave redemption".
Father Riva said that the incident happened near the village
of Mariel Bei in the late 1990s. He saw Eibner standing
under a tree with a group of "slaves", some of whom Father
Riva recognised as his own parishioners. Father Riva stated
that: "The people told me they had been collected to get
money. It was a kind of business." Riva also overheard what
was being said during the "redemption". He reported that
Eibner would ask if a slave had been held in captivity.
The official interpreter would translate the question as
"have you suffered in the war?" The villager would emphatically
reply in the positive. The translator would then tell Eibner
that the man had been abducted by Arabs, treated inhumanely
and was grateful to CSI for saving his life. (4)
'The Irish Times' also questioned the involvement of Baroness
Cox and Christian Solidarity Worldwide in "slave redemption".
CSW was said to have redeemed three thousand "slaves". The
newspaper reported Cox as having admitted that the process
was open to corruption but that she remained convinced that
every redeemed "slave" was genuine. The newspaper went on
to report that "[o]n the ground, however, aid workers were
seeing things differently. One nurse with a European aid
agency witnessed a first-time redemption by a small American
Christian group - not CSI - in late 1999. The nurse stated:
"They brought the kids to be redeemed to a clearing under
the trees. I knew two of them by name. They were wearing
our [feeding centre] bracelets. And the logistician recognised
the Arab guy as someone from the district who worked with
the SRRA [the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Association,
the rebels' relief-coordination wing]." (5)
In an open letter in 2000 senior SPLA commander Aleu Ayieny
Aleu stated that "slave redemption" had become a "racket
of mafia dimensions". He also revealed, as an example, that
one of his lighter-skinned relatives, SPLA captain Akec
Tong Aleu, had been "forced several times to pretend as
an Arab and simulate the sale of free children to CSI on
camera". (6) Aleu declared: "It was a hoax. This thing has
been going on for no less than six years". (7) Doctoral
candidate Annette Weber, a human rights activist, while
researching her thesis in 1999, reported that she came across
evidence that rebel officials were instructing parents to
"lend" their children to pose as abductees to inflate the
numbers of "slaves" for visitors to "redeem". (8) This account,
'The Washington Post' stated, "coincides with descriptions
of the scam offered by Sudanese officials and Western aid
workers, who said the sheer volume of money flowing into
the south made corruption inevitable." (9) The newspaper
also reported that "prevalent fraud is acknowledged by senior
rebel officials". The newspaper stated: "By many accounts,
individual rebel commanders are deeply involved in redemption
scams". 'The Irish Times' observed that one SPLA commander
has earned enough from the scam to acquire forty wives.
(10) Other SPLA figures were said to have built houses or
financed businesses with their cuts. (11)
Senior SPLA official Dr Justin Yaac has admitted that the
SPLA has purchased thousands of gallons of fuel, 27 Land
Cruisers and ten thousand uniforms with some of their proceeds
from the "slave redemption" fraud. (12) It is worth noting
that all this would have supported the activities of an
organisation described by 'The Economist' as "little more
than an armed gang of Dinkas...killing, looting and raping.
Its indifference, almost animosity, towards the people it
was supposed to be "liberating" was all too clear. (13)
'The New York Times' has also gone on record to observe
that the SPLA: "[H]ave behaved like an occupying army, killing,
raping and pillaging" and was led by one of Sudan's "pre-eminent
war criminals" (14).
In December 1999 "slave redemption" fraud was focused upon
during a meeting of SPLA leaders. The issue was raised by
the then deputy commander of the Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation
Association (the SPLA's "aid" wing), Mario Muor Muor. Interviewed
in October 2001, Muor stated that a number of the southern
Sudanese accompanying CSI's John Eibner into southern Sudan
- mostly SPLA officials - were selling donated medicines
as well being involved in redemption frauds: "redemption
is just a scandalous act". (15)
There are clear questions about the role taken by John Eibner
and Baroness Cox in these "slave redemptions". Despite numerous
concerns about CSI's activities, 'The Washington Post' confirmed
that CSI continued with the practice "even after other humanitarian
groups have ceased the practice, citing concerns about corruption."
(16) While CSI's John Eibner claims "[w]e have our own mechanisms
in place to ensure there is no fraud", 'The Irish Times'
reported that "members of the SPLA, which plays a key role
in every redemption trip, say otherwise", quoting SPLA spokesman
Samson Kwaje: "The racket is there, right from the top".
'The Washington Post' noted that CSI had accepted a $100,000
check from the National Association of Basketball Coaches
in March 2001, and quoted SPLA spokesman Samson Kwaje as
saying: "The money comes from those American kids, [but]
who gets the check? These people give $100,000 to John Eibner,
I don't know how much of that gets to Twic County...Ten
thousand? Fifty thousand?...Who gets what?". (17)
In any instance Eibner's defence was spectacularly disingenuous:
"Sure, wherever there is money there is the possibility
of fraud. What I find most odd is that they journalists
and independent researchers that came with us did not find
the same." (18) The somewhat obvious response to that question
is that, in common with John Eibner, Baroness Cox and other
"slave redeemers", these foreign and overwhelmingly Western
"journalists and independent researchers", many of whom
eager for sensationalistic "scoops", do not speak Dinka,
or any other tribal language or dialect or even Arabic.
They were just as reliant on local "interpreters" "provided"
by the rebel movement. As the Catholic priest quoted in
'The Independent on Sunday''s article stated: "Interpretation
was key to the deception."
Baroness Cox's assertions have also been called into question.
In a very disturbing development, the veteran southern Sudanese
politician Bona Malwal, a man described by Baroness Cox
herself as "one of the well-respected elders of the Dinka
tribe" (19), directly challenged Cox's claims to have "redeemed
slaves". In a letter to her Malwal stated that:
"On at least three different occasions, you have come into
Twic County without the permission of the local leadership,
using Messrs Stephen Wondu and Martin Okeruk [SPLA officials]
as your license to do so. You then say each time that your
mission was to redeem slaves and that indeed you have done
so, when in each instance this had not been the case. The
latest episode was in October [1999] when you landed at
Mayen Abun without even the courtesy of informing the local
area representative....I know that you have put out for
propaganda, and maybe for fundraising purposes as well,
that you redeemed slaves at Mayen Abun in October when nothing
of the sort happened. I sincerely hope that this type of
game stops...I sincerely hope that you do see the harm that
could be caused and that you will refrain from this activity
in the future." (20)
Malwal's standing within the southern Sudanese community
is unassailable. He is the publisher of the anti-Khartoum
'Sudan Democratic Gazette'. He is a former Minister of Information
and Culture and was the editor of the 'Sudan Times', the
largest English-language newspaper in Sudan before 1989.
Malwal went into exile when the present government in Sudan
came to power a decade ago and teaches international affairs
at Oxford University.
The deeply disturbing questions that come out of the articles
published in 'The Washington Post', 'International Herald
Tribune', 'The Irish Times' and 'The Independent on Sunday'
have not been in any way adequately addressed by John Eibner
or Cox or the organisations they are associated with. The
most benign reading of the situation is that these people
and organisations have been amazingly naïve, and out
of their depth in what is an incredibly intricate situation,
and that this meddling has aggravated circumstances. There
are also, of course, the questions raised by veteran southern
Sudanese figures such as Bona Malwal and SPLA figures such
as Dr Samson Kwaje. It is for the reader, and those who
have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to groups
such as CSI and CSW, to draw his or her own conclusions
about the implications of Bona Malwal's letter to Baroness
Cox and John Eibner's activities.
Notes
1 "The Great Slave Scam", 'The Irish Times', 23 February
2002; "Scam in Sudan - An Elaborate Hoax Involving Fake
African Slaves and Less-than-Honest Interpreters is Duping
Concerned Westerners", 'The Independent on Sunday', 24 February
2002; "Ripping Off Slave 'Redeemers': Rebels Exploit Westerners'
Efforts to Buy Emancipation for Sudanese", 'The Washington
Post', 26 February 2002; "Sudan Rip-Offs Over Phony Slaves",
'International Herald Tribune', 27 February 2002. "Slave
Redemption" has also been extensively questioned. See, for
example, Richard Miniter, "The False Promise of Slave Redemption",
'The Atlantic Monthly', July 1999; 'The Reality of Slave
Redemption', European-Sudanese Public Affairs Council, London,
March 2001; 'The Use of
Intertribal Raiding as "Slavery" Propaganda in Sudan: A
Statement of Concern to Mrs Mary Robinson: The United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights', European-Sudanese Public
Affairs Council, London, March
200, all available at http://www.espac.org.
Christian Solidarity International's Sudan activities have
long been seriously questioned.
See, for example, 'Time to Speak out on Christian Solidarity
International and Sudan: An Open Letter to Anti-Slavery
International', European-Sudanese Public Affairs Council,
London, June 2001; 'Prejudiced and Discredited: Christian
Solidarity International and Sudan', European-Sudanese Public
Affairs Council, London, 2000, available at http://www.espac.org;
David Hoile, 'Sudan, Propaganda and Distortion: Allegations
of Slavery and Slavery-Related Practices', The Sudan Foundation,
London, March 1997.
2 "Ripping Off Slave 'Redeemers': Rebels Exploit Westerners'
Efforts to Buy Emancipation for Sudanese", 'The Washington
Post', 26 February 2002.
3 "Scam in Sudan - An Elaborate Hoax Involving Fake African
Slaves and Less-than-Honest Interpreters is Duping Concerned
Westerners", 'The Independent on Sunday', 24 February 2002
4 "The Great Slave Scam", 'The Irish Times', 23 February
2002.
5 "The Great Slave Scam", 'The Irish Times', 23 February
2002.
6 "The Great Slave Scam", 'The Irish Times', 23 February
2002.
7 "Ripping Off Slave 'Redeemers'", 'The Washington Post',
26 February 2002.
8 "Ripping Off Slave 'Redeemers'", 'The Washington Post',
26 February 2002.
9 "Ripping Off Slave 'Redeemers'", 'The Washington Post'
26 February 2002.
10 "The Great Slave Scam", 'The Irish Times', 23 February
2002.
11 "Scam in Sudan - An Elaborate Hoax Involving Fake African
Slaves and Less-than-Honest Interpreters is Duping Concerned
Westerners", 'The Independent on Sunday', 24 February 2002.
12 "The Great Slave Scam", 'The Irish Times', 23 February
2002.
13 'The Economist', March 1998.
14 'Misguided Relief to Sudan', Editorial, 'The New York
Times', 6 December, 1999.
15 "Ripping Off Slave 'Redeemers'", 'The Washington Post',
26 February 2002.
16 "Ripping Off Slave 'Redeemers'", 'The Washington Post',
26 February 2002.
17 "Ripping Off Slave 'Redeemers'", 'The Washington Post',
26 February 2002.
19 'A Response to the Sudan Foundation' s "Questions" and Criticisms of CSI's Work in Sudan', CSI Magazine, Issue 90, December 1997 available at http://home.clara.co.uk/csiuk/90page4.html.
20 Letter from Bona Malwal to Baroness Cox, 23 January 2000 posted on South Sudan Net
.