The Child Soldiers of Africa's Red Army


Book Description

This book examines the role of social process and routinised violence in the use of underaged soldiers in the country now known as South Sudan during the twenty-one-year civil war between Sudan’s northern and southern regions. Drawing on accounts of South Sudanese who as children and teenagers were part of the Red Army—the youth wing of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA)—the book sheds light on the organised nature of the exploitation of children and youth by senior adult figures within the movement. The book also includes interviews with several of the original Red Army commanders, all of whom went on to hold senior positions within the military and government of South Sudan. The author chronicles the cultural transformation experienced by members of the Red Army and considers whether an analysis of the processes involved in what was then Africa’s longest civil war can aid our understanding of South Sudan’s more recent descent into ethnicised conflict. As such, it will appeal to scholars of sociology, anthropology, and political science with interests in ethnography, conflict, and the military exploitation of children.




The Odyssey of South Sudan Red Army


Book Description

This book contains numbers of features to enhance your learning, understanding and knowledge about South Sudan former and current red army situation as well as the oldies former red army (The lost-boys) and general child soldiers particular in Africa. Putting pieces together in narrative of the epical history, there are core elements in defining meaning in each red army regiment, battalions, batch and sectional group. The elements are group size, interdependence of original tribe, mean of recruitment, militarization, social life, SPLA support, NGOs involvement and red army's groups' structure. These elements are introduced, described and narrated in each chapter as special feature, so that you become more aware, familiar and understand each sectional group of red army battalion, regiment and militarized batch. The knowledge grounded in a solid child soldering narrative is based in the witness life experience and advice from those experienced the same lifestyle as former child soldier and this explain epical life history in the odyssey where survival life is grounded in the skill of a soldier regardless of a soldier's age. The author is one of the four thousand South Sudanese lost boys and girls resettled in the United States and Australia between 1999-2005. After my village was burned down in Yirol (Burdit vicinity) district in 1985 -87. It separated from my family as SPLA soldiers attacked the town of Yirol early in the morning of 1986, and General Marial Chanoug Yol, the commander of the SPLA led us to flee early as children of ages 6-25 years in the jungle trek fleeing to Western Ethiopia. Due to a hostile civil war between SPLA/M revolutionaries and the Sudan military regime, which killed two million people, the author had no choice as many thousands of other children than to trek barefooted from various villages across troubled South Sudan to Western Ethiopia where the mainstream of the SPLA/M trained it soldiers. Many children were forcibly conscripted into SPLA/M forces and he became a child rebel in the uprising against the Khartoum government from 1987 to 1992. I was among 10,000 child soldiers and refugees in organized refugee camps to stay in Panyido, Sarapam, Itang, Dimma, and Bilpam (1987-1991) I trekked with the Red Army of Panyido refugee camp during the downfall of the Ethiopian government in 1991 to Pachalla and cross to Kenya through the border town of Lokichioggio with 16,000 red army's 1992, and with other red armies disarmed by UNICEF for children and sent to school in Kenya at the same time from Polataka. We were stationed in the Kakuma refugee camp as unaccompanied minors in 17 groups of minors by UNHCR for 10 years before 4000 thousands of unaccompanied minors got resettled to the United States of America and Australia (1999-2005). I joined the United States Army in 2010 after completing of my bachelor's degree in Computer science (2008). Military trained in Fort Leonard Wood, MO, and did Advance Instruction Training in Fort Lee Virginia (2010). Stationed in South Korea under command 194th Support Bridge in South Korea, and brought back to the mainland under command serving in the US Army 36th Combat Engineers Brigade station in Fort Hood, Texas. Served under command 36th infantry of Texas National Guards at Camp Mabry Austin and Weslaco Texas as a commissioned 2nd Lieutenant officer after completion of Reserved Officers Training Courses at the University of Texas at Austin Texas. The author is a bachelor's degree holder in computer science from Herzing University (2004-2008); an MA in intelligence operations from American Military University (2011-2012); and an MS in Computer Science at the University of Texas, Austin (2013-2015); MPA at Arizona States University (2015-2017).




The Red Army of South Sudan


Book Description

Odyssey of the South Sudan Red Army: The Lost Boys and Girls - 1986-NOW, Series II" is an epic narrative that delves into the historical journey of the Red Army of South Sudan during the 3rd Ire and their subsequent exodus from South Sudan to Kenya from 1991 to 1995. This book, rich in features, provides insights into the lives of former child soldiers, particularly the lost boys, and general child soldiers in Africa. Each chapter highlights key elements such as group size, tribal interdependence, recruitment methods, militarization, social life, SPLA support, NGO involvement, and group structure, offering a comprehensive understanding of the red army's composition. Drawing on firsthand experiences and advice from those who lived the life of former child soldiers, the narrative skillfully weaves together the tragic tales and exodus of the Red Army as they transformed into unaccompanied minors during their journey from Pachalla, South Sudan, to Kenya's Lokichioggio-Kakuma region. The three chapters within the book provide a detailed account of the challenges faced by the Red Army during their 3rd Exodus, the 4th Peaceful Transits, and the transformation into unaccompanied minors living in Kakuma Refugee Camp. Readers will gain valuable insights into the unaccompanied minors' struggles, including their transition to life as refugees, challenges in Kakuma Refugee Camp, sanitation issues, food distribution, shelters, and the dynamics of social life. The narrative also explores the foster care refugee programs and the unique stories of unaccompanied minors, creating a vivid portrayal of their lives in Series II of the Odyssey of the Red Army of South Sudan




Southern Sudan's Red Army


Book Description

This thesis examines the role of social process and routinised violence in the use of underaged soldiers in southern Sudan from the early 1980s to the present day. It draws on accounts of southern Sudanese who as children and teenagers were part of the Red Army, the youth wing of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA). They received training and/or participated in warfare as part of the organised guerrilla force during a 21- year civil war. By compiling a broad spectrum of recollections and providing a geographical and political context, this thesis endeavours to show the role of social process and routinised violence in the deployment of underaged soldiers by the SPLA. The exploitation of children and youth by senior adult figures within the movement was highly organised and reflected both the gravity, or desperation, of the military situation (Sudan's northern regime used a scorched earth policy and proxies) and cultural mores. I approach the question of the use of youth for military purposes from a socio-cultural perspective, illustrating the ways in which the dominant social mores of southern Sudan contributed towards the marginalisation of youth. They were seen as 'other, ' in part through the complex representation of relatedness and hierarchy within the majority Nilotic-speaking peoples of southern Sudan. Within this larger group, strategic interpretation of kinship ties enabled the privileging of some and the disadvantaging of others. The former group is represented, in part, by those who were sent to Cuba in the early years of the war, many of whom were related to senior members of the' SPLA. The latter group, the disadvantaged, either remained within southern Sudan or did not survive the war. A second focus of the thesis is the intended and unintended cultural transformation experienced by members of the Red Army, both those who remained in Sudan and those who were dispatched to Cuba.




The Odyssey Of The South Sudan RED ARMY


Book Description

In "Journey to the First Promised Land," we step into a world woven from the threads of hope, resilience, and the undying spirit of youth. This story, set against the backdrop of Ethiopia's Panyido refugee camp, tells the tale of the Red Army-children who, in the face of adversity, find strength in each other and the dreams they dare to dream. Within these pages, the camp transforms from a place of refuge into a vibrant community where education flourishes under the canopy of trees and laughter fills the air, a testament to the children's indomitable will to make the best of their circumstances. The makeshift classrooms become arenas of learning, not just academically but lessons in life, friendship, and the power of collective effort. As we follow their journey, we're reminded of the capacity for joy and innovation in even the most challenging conditions. These young souls, with their boundless creativity and unwavering hope, build a microcosm of what humanity can achieve when united by a common goal. Their story is a beacon of light, proving that from the depths of hardship can emerge the most beautiful tales of resilience, unity, and the unbreakable human spirit. "Journey to the First Promised Land" is more than just a narrative; it's an invitation to witness the strength found in the bonds of friendship and the incredible capacity of the human heart to find happiness and hope in the most unexpected places. This book is a powerful reminder that even in the darkest times, there's a light that can be kindled by hope, perseverance, and the love shared among friends turned family. Through their eyes, we learn that every place, no matter how desolate it may seem, can become a promised land with the right amount of love, laughter, and shared dreams of a brighter future.




South Sudan Red Army


Book Description

This book narrates my turbulent journey, from northern Bhar el Gazel, in the then Southern Sudan, across the Nile River to Ethiopia, from Ethiopia back to Southern Sudan, from Southern Sudan to Kenya and then finally to the United States. I have endeavored to recount the significant events that I faced, and the lessons learned. My hope is that you, the reader, will not only find the tragic side of humanity in these pages, but also the redemptive. Amidst the strife, evidence of the goodness of humanity is laid bare in these tragedies. This is a story of war and peace, of tragedy and hope.




The Red Army and the Second World War


Book Description

In a definitive new account of the Soviet Union at war, Alexander Hill charts the development, successes and failures of the Red Army from the industrialisation of the Soviet Union in the late 1920s through to the end of the Great Patriotic War in May 1945. Setting military strategy and operations within a broader context that includes national mobilisation on a staggering scale, the book presents a comprehensive account of the origins and course of the war from the perspective of this key Allied power. Drawing on the latest archival research and a wealth of eyewitness testimony, Hill portrays the Red Army at war from the perspective of senior leaders and men and women at the front line to reveal how the Red Army triumphed over the forces of Nazi Germany and her allies on the Eastern Front, and why it did so at such great cost.




SPLM/SPLA


Book Description




The Bolsheviks and the Red Army 1918-1921


Book Description

The emergence of the military agency of the Soviet state is a crucial but neglected aspect of inter-war Soviet history, and in this pioneering study Francesco Benvenuti provides a detailed analysis of the politics (as opposed to the operational activities) of the Red Army during the Civil War. Several historians have suggested that the roots of Stalinism may be found in the Bolshevik experience during the Civil War, and Benvenuti shows that the military opposition inside the party was much stronger than conventionally supposed: Trotsky's subsequent political weakness owed much to his ruthless pursuit of military goals not always in direct harmony with party interests, as did his technocratic attempts to extend the role of specialist advisers at the expense of party officials.




War and Genocide in South Sudan


Book Description

Using more than a decade's worth of fieldwork in South Sudan, Clémence Pinaud here explores the relationship between predatory wealth accumulation, state formation, and a form of racism—extreme ethnic group entitlement—that has the potential to result in genocide. War and Genocide in South Sudan traces the rise of a predatory state during civil war in southern Sudan and its transformation into a violent Dinka ethnocracy after the region's formal independence. That new state, Pinaud argues, waged genocide against non-Dinka civilians in 2013-2017. During a civil war that wrecked the region between 1983 and 2005, the predominantly Dinka Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) practiced ethnically exclusive and predatory wealth accumulation. Its actions fostered extreme group entitlement and profoundly shaped the rebel state. Ethnic group entitlement eventually grew into an ideology of ethnic supremacy. After that war ended, the semi-autonomous state turned into a violent and predatory ethnocracy—a process accelerated by independence in 2011. The rise of exclusionary nationalism, a new security landscape, and inter-ethnic political competition contributed to the start of a new round of civil war in 2013, in which the recently founded state unleashed violence against nearly all non-Dinka ethnic groups. Pinaud investigates three campaigns waged by the South Sudan government in 2013–2017 and concludes they were genocidal—they sought to destroy non-Dinka target groups. She demonstrates how the perpetrators' sense of group entitlement culminated in land-grabs that amounted to a genocidal conquest echoing the imperialist origins of modern genocides. Thanks to generous funding from TOME, the ebook editions of this book are available as Open Access volumes from Cornell Open (cornellpress.cornell.edu/cornell-open) and other repositories.