Disarmament of the Lou Nuer
The disarmament of the Lou Nuer was a forcible disarmament campaign undertaken by the SPLA in Southern Sudan in December 2005. While other groups had been peacefully disarmed, the Lou section of the Nuer in Northern Jonglei State refused to comply. The SPLA organized a force under Peter Bol Kong to forcibly disarm the Lou Nuer, whose White Army resisted until a defeat in the battle of Motot, after which they fled the area.
Background[edit]
While the Comprehensive Peace Agreement that ended the Second Sudanese Civil War in January 2005 called for the disarmament of other armed groups, it had little guidance on disarming civilians.[2] However, the SPLM, the major political party in Southern Sudan, decided to disarm civilians in order to reduce ethnic violence, reserve the right to bear arms for the party, eliminate armed groups backed by Sudan, and ensure the security of its territory before challenging Sudan on border issues.[3] Disarmament started in Western Jonglei State and moved east, with the lightly armed Dinka and later the Jikan Nuer disarming relatively peacefully.[4][5] In late 2005, the SPLA assigned Gen. Peter Bol Kong, a Lou Nuer with an ethnically mixed force, to disarm the Lou Nuer.
In December, the pastoral Lou and Gawaar Nuer asked the Dinka in Duk County permission to graze on their lands.[6] However, unlike previous years, the Dinka insisted that the Lou and Gawaar disarm before coming in their territories. A series of meetings began in Khorfulus County where the Jonglei State government said that the groups needed to either join the SPLA or turn their weapons in, or else they would be forcibly disarmed. The Jonglei governor also promised compensation for the weapons, but it was unclear were the funding would come from or who it would go to. The meetings were long, and the mediators consumed approximately 1,300 of the Lou Nuer's cattle.[3] The Lou Nuer refused to disarm, saying they needed their weapons for protection from the Murle, who had not been disarmed. Skirmishes began between the Lou Nuer and the SPLA.[2]
Aftermath[edit]
On May 20 Peter Bol Kong called together local authorities, and disarmament began and lasted for two months. The disarmament collected more than 3,000 weapons and was claimed to be 95 percent effective.[3] In the next place in line for disarmament, Akobo, Akobo Commissioner Doyak Choal, shocked by the violence to the east, quickly organized a disarmament led by traditional leaders without the involvement of the SPLA. The Akobo disarmament was successful and turned out 1,400 weapons.[2]
About 400 SPLA soldiers and 1,200 White Army fighters died in the disarmament of the Lou Nuer.[3][6] The SPLA burned the huts of White Army members, so about 1,000 huts were burned.[4] The violence made it so the locals could not plant and the SPLA was not supplied with food so it had to live off the locals' animals, creating serious food shortages after the conflict.[3] The White Army was defeated, but it would later be reformed and again challenge the SPLA.
Meanwhile, SPLA commander George Athor used many of the guns confiscated from the Lou Nuer to arm his own private army, launching his own uprising in 2010.[1]