Third World Behaviour for a Third World Country

I had a meeting last week with the State

Commissioner of the SSPS and the soon to be appointed County Commissioner. Things did not go so well. What had sparked the meeting was that he demanded that some of the UNPOL officers stop conducting their duties telling them they he did not want them asking questions about detention lists and ongoing investigations anymore. He accused them of being spies as well.

I tried my best to negotiate with him to no avail. The State Commissioner basically told me that he has evidence that the UN is providing information to the media in Khartoum. He also stated that the UN has no right to be looking at ongoing cases, reports, or detention lists. In fact it is part of our mandate to do this as part of our duties. I explained this to him and he stated simply that if we continued this, that we would not be allowed near the Yambio County Headquarters or any Police Posts and that we might as well just go home.

There are definitely changes that are happening here that can not just be mere coincidence. Since my arrival, all of the high ranking SSPS officers that we had good relationships have been transferred and replaced with strictly arabic speaking Muslims. While this has been happening over the course of several months, the State Commissioner especially, has been consistently making it difficult for us to do our job.

At this time, our UNPOLS show up for their duties, shake a few hands, provide a simple lecture and then leave so as to not create any further resistance until the matter is resolved. Yesterday I showed up to have some routine forms filled out. The State Commissioner’s armed guards drove by and saw me there so they drove up, jumped out, and started asking me what I was doing there. I told them and they left.

To help resolve this problem we have a legal advisor coming to Yambio and I have arranged a meeting with the Minister of Local Government and Law Enforcement and the SSPS State Commissioner to attempt to resolve this problem. Bottom line there is a clearly stated agreement with the UN and we have a mandate to fulfill. It should be interesting. The SSPS State Commissioner and I still have a good relationship which I hope to continue, we just have very different views on what the UN should be doing here in Southern Sudan.

The LRA are around, but quiet. The belief is that they are organizing themselves and that there will be another attack in the future. Right now in Nabia Pai (21 miles from Yambio) there are approximately 1000 refugees from the Congo camped out there. Many of them are family of the several children that were abducted from a school in Nduro on the Congo side of the border after the attack on Sakure.

We are still relatively safe in Yambio. The last time they attacked the UNMIS team site was in 2006 and they lost. Two Bangladesh Battalion soldiers (our force protection) received minor injuries. We are pretty well protected and the likelihood of them coming into Yambio is minimal.

Peace from Yambio,

Rory

(Photos from top to bottom: 1) To my left former SSPS County Commisioner, Lt/Col. Light ELINAMA, and to his left the newly appointed SSPS County Commissioner, Cpt. Ismael MAHDI, 2) Cell at the Masia Police Post, 3) Yambio Town roundabout, 4) On patrol with Banbat (Bangladesh Battalion)