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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Sudan
Index
The Sudanese armed forces have not been the source of any
strain on the nation's manpower resources. In 1990, there were an
estimated 5,600,000 males between the ages of 15 and 49, of whom
3,400,000 were fit for military service. The number reaching the
military age of eighteen annually was approximately 273,000. The
United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA)
estimated that, as of 1989, only 2.5 persons per 1,000 of
population were in the armed forces. Among Sudan's neighbors,
corresponding figures were Egypt 8.7 per 1,000, Ethiopia 5.0 per
1,000, and Libya 21.0 per 1,000.
In the first years after independence, recruitment notices
reportedly attracted ten applicants for each vacancy. Poorer
Sudanese, particularly westerners and southerners, were attracted
to the armed forces in great numbers. Not all could be
accommodated, so that selection of enlisted men was fairly
strict, based on physical condition, education, and character of
the applicant. Although the adult literacy rate in Sudan was then
estimated to be no more than 20 percent, enlisted personnel were
required to have some ability to read and write. The recruit
enlisted for three years, and if his record remained good, he
could reenlist for further three-year periods until he had served
a total of twenty years, at which time he was retired with the
highest rank he had attained. Soldiers who received technical
training could be obliged to sign an understanding that they
would remain on active duty for nine years.
There were reports as of the late 1980s that the morale of
the army had suffered because soldiers from other areas of Sudan
disliked assignment to the south, where they faced an
interminable war in which they had no personal interest and in
which a military victory seemed unattainable. Newer recruits,
many from the west, felt isolated and threatened in the besieged
garrison towns. Large numbers of government troops whose homes
were in the south had reportedly deserted to the SPLA, their
motivation for continuing the struggle against the insurgency
drained by food shortages and lack of needed supplies. Both under
the Sadiq al Mahdi government and immediately after the June 1989
coup, the leadership announced that conscription would be
introduced to permit an expansion of the government's efforts in
the south, but the rate of enlistments had apparently remained
high enough so that it had not been necessary to impose a draft.
It was possible that, in the light of widespread economic
distress, the army was still regarded as a means of escape from
poverty.
Pay rates of both officers and noncommissioned officers
generally have been equal to or better than those of civilians of
comparable status. Base pay was extremely low by United States
standards; a colonel received the equivalent of about US$150 a
month in 1990. Military personnel were, however, entitled to
extensive additional benefits. Housing was provided for senior
personnel commensurate with their office and rank, and generous
housing allowances were provided for others. Free medical care
was provided to all armed forces personnel and their families.
Although the country was suffering from a food scarcity,
essential goods were available at commissaries at subsidized
prices. Items severely rationed in the civilian economy, such as
tea, coffee, sugar, and soap, as well as bread produced by
military bakeries, could be purchased at low prices and resold at
a considerable profit. This trade offered a welcome supplement to
the incomes of the junior ranks. Officers outside Khartoum
usually held second jobs. Enlisted personnel were likely to set
themselves up as small farmers or traders with profits from the
resale of rationed goods. Officers of field grade and above could
purchase imported automobiles free of duty; higher-ranking
officers were assigned full-time cars and drivers. Gasoline was
also available at low prices. In addition, senior officers had
numerous opportunities to travel abroad at government expense.
Retirement income was virtually as high as the active duty
salary, and most of the privileges of military service continued.
The behavior of government soldiers in the south and in the
areas where the SPLA was active was the subject of critical
reports by Amnesty International, Africa Watch, and other
international human rights groups. Amnesty International
described numerous incidents in which the army was responsible
for the deliberate killing or mistreatment of civilians from
ethnic groups suspected of supporting the SPLA. Very few SPLA
prisoners of war were held by the government; many cases were
documented of captured SPLA fighters, including wounded, being
executed without trial.
Few if any prosecutions resulted in connection with the
alleged violations. The United States Department of State has
confirmed Amnesty International's conclusion that the Sadiq al
Mahdi government appeared to condone human rights abuses by the
military, citing the cases of generals who received promotions
after service in areas where atrocities occurred. There was
limited evidence of a shift in attitude by the Bashir government
after it assumed power in 1989. Two of the implicated generals
were forced to retire from government service, and some soldiers
were relieved, although not disciplined, after a series of
revenge killings and other violations against civilians in Waw.
Although the Bashir government had announced its intention of
purging the armed services of women after it came to power in
1989, large-scale dismissals did not take place. As of 1991, it
was reported that about 2,000 women were in uniform, 200 of them
officers through the rank of lieutenant colonel. The women were
assigned to a range of military duties in the medical service as
nurses, dietitians, and physical therapists, and in
administration, translation, military intelligence,
communications, and public affairs.
Data as of June 1991
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