INTRODUCTION

TREATMENT OF SLAVES

EARLY HISTORY

BEFORE INDEPENDENCE - 1900-1956

AFTER INDEPENDENCE - 1956-1986

ARMING THE MILITIAS

NATIONAL ISLAMIC FRONT 1989-97

WHOSE RESPONSIBILITY?

FREEING SLAVES

 TESTIMONIES

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

SUDAN GOVERNMENT RESPONSE

CONCLUSION

TOWARDS ELIMINATING SLAVERY

REFERENCES and FURTHER READING

INTERNATIONAL LAW ON SLAVERY

THIS SUDAN! A POEM

Allegations of a resurgence of slavery in Sudan have stirred international attention, but has the controversy brought better understanding of Africa's largest country, and is it justified?

Can the Sudan government, already treated as a pariah state, be held responsible for this most fundamental abuse of human rights, or is it genuinely unable to control the actions of "tribal" forces it has armed in the country's long-running civil war? Top

Is slavery a central aim of the war, or a by-product?

This report, published jointly by Anti-Slavery International and Sudan Update in 1997, gives an outline of the history of slavery in Sudan and its re-emergence in the late 20th century.   Peter Verney, editor of Sudan Update, puts the slavery issue into context and examines the pitfalls of attributing responsibility solely to the present Government.   He underlines the importance of racial prejudice in Sudan's conflict. Top