Last year Dr Kari Eloranta, a photographer and mathematician from Finland, travelled across North East Africa recording conditions for ordinary people throughout the region. The result is Year Zero Ground Zero, a captivating book of extraordinary photographs and perceptive commentary . The following is an extract from a chapter on the Nuba (written before the cease-fire came into effect)
The Nuba Mountain Students Union has demanded the government and the SPLA to include the right of self-determination for the Nuba people in any final peace deal that they might reach in the current talks in Machakos, Kenya.
Letters to the Editor
Dear Sir,
As someone who used to live and work in Kadugli in the early eighties I am an avid reader of the Vision. I am glad to see that the forgotten persecution of the Nuba is finally being addressed after being ignored for so many years.
Following the suspension of Machakos peace talks IGAD decided to use the break in negotiation to address the issues of marginalised areas (Abyei, Nuba Mountains and Southern Blue Nile). In mid-September the three main IGAD partners: USA, UK and Norway held their first meeting in London to discussed the future of the three areas adjacent to the south. At the same time another meeting took place in Khartoum where a number of Nuba politicians and intellectuals were invited by the Swiss Ambassador for peace and Maria from Joint Military Commission, to discuss how Cease-fire Agreement can be translated into peace in the Nuba Mountains. The two main recommendations made by the participants are: