ABSTRACT
The people of the Nuba Mountains were among the greatest victims of the failure of the 2005 Sudan peace process to meet its repeatedly stated objectives of sustainable peace, democratic transformation, and-in the event of southern secession-viable successor states. As a mixed population of Moslems, Christians, and animist Africans, the Nuba joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) in large numbers to fight for a united Sudan that respected the rights of all peoples. When the movement they supported turned its back on them and opted for southern independence, the Nuba pressed for self-determination. In the end, they got neither. Instead, they were granted “popular consultations” that were to take place after state elections and were eventually held in 2011. Although two observation missions-the domestic Sudanese Group for Democracy and Elections (SuGDE) and the international Carter Center (TCC)—endorsed the NCP election victory, the SPLM claimed it was a victim of fraud and this set the Nuba Mountains on a course of war that precluded the holding of the popular consultations.
