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Riek Machar

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File:Jospeh Kony in Yambio.jpg
May 2006 initial meeting between Joseph Kony (left) and Riek Machar, Vice President of Southern Sudan (center).

Riek Machar Teny (b. 1952), a Dok Nuer, is the current vice-president of the autonomous Government of Southern Sudan.[1]

Biography

He was one of the earliest members of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLM) under John Garang (1984).[2] Then the leader of the South Sudan Independence Movement (SSIM) (1994 - 2000) after splitting from (SPLA/M) in 1991 with Lam Akol and Gordon Kong Chuol to form SPLA-Nasir with the intent of overthrowing leader John Garang.

It was during that time when genocide took place in Bor, in June of 1991, that Riek married Emma McCune, a British aid worker, whose life with the SPLM/A leader is described in the books"Till The Sun Grows Cold" written by Maggie McCune (Emma's Mother) and "Emma's War" by Deborah Scroggins[3]. The marriage caused controversy both among Riek's SPLA colleagues and the NGO community in Sudan. McCune died in a car crash in Nairobi in 1993.

Riek signed the Khartoum Peace Agreement in 1997, forcing the National Islamic Front to adopt a democratic constitution. The agreement was a "soft landing" for Riek and his team who decided to join the Islamists in Khratoum.[4] After the signing, he was the leader of South Sudan Defense Forces (SSDF, the newly named SSIM) (1997 - 2002) The Khartoum Peace Agreement offered the South self-determination on paper and made Machar the Assistant to the President of the Republic of the Sudan and the President of the Southern Sudan Coordinating Council (August 7, 1997 - January 31, 2000). At the same time, it was that agreement signed by Riek that gave the National Islamic Front (Khartoum government) the signal to start drilling oil in the South even today.

Machar received a Doctor of Science in robotic engineering from the University of Bradford.[5]

Controversy and criticism

War crimes and human rights abuses

According to a 1992 report by Amnesty International,[6] Riek Machar was in command of the SPLM-Nasir troops who carried out the 1991 "Bor Genocide", in which more than 85,000 civilians died in Bor. The same report alleges that Machar's forces have more recently conscripted children into their ranks, and that thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their homes by fighting between Machar's militia and rival groups. Machar has not to date been arrested or charged with any of these alleged crimes.

Mediation with the Lord's Resistance Army

In June 2006, Riek Machar was filmed meeting the leadership of the Ugandan Lords Resistance Army[7] - a rebel group proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the US State Department in December 2001,[8] and whose leaders were indicted as war criminals by the International Criminal Court in October 2005.[9] The film shows Machar handing over bundles of cash to the LRA leadership.[10] Machar is the lead negotiator of the Juba talks between the LRA and government of Uganda.

References

  1. ^ "Riek Machar, What a leader: Records Of Corruption, Manipulation, and Scandals". Sudan Tribune. 2006-05-08. Retrieved 2006-10-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement
  3. ^ Scroggins, Deborah (2003). Emma's war: love, betrayal and death in the Sudan. Harper Perennial. p. 389. ISBN 0-00-655147-5. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ Riek Machar
  5. ^ Rachel M. Gisselquist, WPF Report 26: Sudan: Policy Options Amid Civil War, World Peace Foundation, 2000, , p. 7. Note that some sources, notably Manyang, Mayom (2005-12-26). "Sudan SPLM leadership Bio-data and profiled". Sudan Tribune. Retrieved 2006-10-18. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) erroneously list the university as diploma mill University of Bedford.
  6. ^ "Sudan: Who will answer for the crimes?". Amnesty International. 2006-01-18. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ Kony, Joseph (2006-05-25). "UGANDA: LRA rebels ready to talk peace". Integrated Regional Information Networks. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (2002-11-15). "Terrorist Exclusion List". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Ugandan top rebel leader indicted". BBC News. 2007-10-07. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ Hartley, Mick (2006-06-04). "Bundles of Cash". Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Further reading

  • Douglas H. Johnson (2003) The Root Causes of Sudan's Civil Wars (African Issues), Indiana University Press, ISBN 0-253-21584-6
  • Deborah Scroggins (2004) Emma's War Vintage Books USA - Academi, ISBN 0-375-70377-2
  • Maggie McCune (1999) Till The Sun Grows Cold Headline Book Publishing Ltd, ISBN 0-7472-7539-4
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