| Country: | Sudan |
| Details of Formation: | The SSUM/A was formed by Paulino Matiep in March 1998 and was recognized by the military that same year. Paulino Matiep had connections to the Sudanese army and became a Major General of the army in or before 1998; it is not clear whether he was a Major General upon foundation of the PGM (Human Rights Watch 2003). There is no evidence that suggests that Paulino Matiep formed the SSUM/A by orders of the military; rather, it seems that this was a personal militia that he himself formed. |
| Details of Termination: | In 1999, most fighters deserted the SSUM/A for being discontent with the Nuer-Nuer fighting. Those who deserted were under the command of SSUM/A’s zonal commander Peter Gatdet, who decided to fight the government. The SSUM/A, led by Paulino Matiep, remained an active PGM (Human Rights Watch 2003). In 2005, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed and the SSUM/A was formally incorporated into the Sudanese Armed Forces (Human Rights Watch 2008). News sources report that Paulino Matiep signed the Juba Declaration on 9 January 2006, with the SSUM/A formally joining the SPLA. Paulino Matiep became deputy chief of staff of the SPLA forces. The SPLA is not considered a PGM after the CPA. It is not clear, whether Human Rights Watch and news sources contradict each other, or whether they refer to different sections joining either the army or the SPLA. |
| Purpose: | The SSUM/A's main purpose was to protect oilfields. This implied acting as a surrogate force to keep the SPLM/A presence at a minimum and to protect and escort the Sudanese military in the oilfields. Moreover, the use of the SSUM/A as PGM was part of the Sudanese government’s policy of divide, displace and destroy, by dividing the Nuer ethnic group and thereby undermining their potential to unite against the Sudanese state. (Human Rights Watch 2003) |
| Organisation: | The leader of the SSUM/A was Paulino Matieb, who had previously been deputy commander of the Anyanya II in 1987. In 1991, he had joined Riek Machar’s SPLM/A-Nasir faction. In or before 1998, Paulino Matieb became a major-general in the Sudanese national army, but the government gave him a special status allowing him to own a private army, the SSUM/A. In 2002, Paulino Matieb additionally became the leader of the SSDF. Peter Gatdet and Tito Biel were also important commanders in the SSUM/A but defected and became anti-government in 1999. The SSUM/A protected the oilfields and in return the government provided them with substantial material benefits. |
| Weapons and Training: | The government directly provided the SSUM/A with arms and ammunition, including with 2,000 AK 47 rifles and nine 12.7 mm AAAs (heavy machine guns) in 1998. In 1999, the government gave the SSUM/A 3,000 AK 47s and 60 PKMs (machine guns) and corresponding ammunition. New recruits were trained by Paulino Matiep in training centers in Nhialdiu and Koch. (Human Rights Watch 2003) |
| Size: | The overall troop size was estimated to be as high as 10,000 fighters. In the early 2000s, Paulino Matiep did, however, only fight with 1,000 fighters. It is unclear whether this was the complete SSUM/A force or only the part which he took with him for fighting on that occasion. (Human Rights Watch 2003) |
| Reason for Membership: | Members were both forced and voluntarily recruited Bul Nuer boys and men from Paulino Matiep’s own area. |
| Treatment of Civilians: | Together with the Sudanese military, the SSUM/A forcibly displaced civilians. The SSUM/A looted villages and burned civilian infrastructure, such as clinics. They killed civilians, abducted women and children and forced boys, as young as the age of nine, to work as porters of heavy loads. Underage civilians were sometimes forcibly recruited as soldiers. The SSUM/A is reported to have sexually abused women, as well as to have tortured and beat civilians (Human Rights Watch 2003). A news source says that Paulino Matiep was able to kill and displace civilians with impunity. |
| Other Information: | SSUM/A was primarily active in oil-rich Unity State. Most members were Bul Nuer. SSUM/A was part of the SSDF umbrella PGM (UCDP); there are abundant reports of the SSUM/A fighting against the SSDF in the late 1990s and early 2000s (before SSUM/A commander Matiep became also commander of the SSDF). They fought primarily against the SSDF factions of Riek Machar and Tito Biel (Human Rights Watch 2003). SSDF in-fighting was common, as the SSDF was only very loosely organized (cf. separate PGM entry for the SSDF) Many sources mention the SSDF and the SSUM/A as two different groups, indicating a large degree of SSUM/A independence from the SSDF. In 1999, SSUM/A joined the Upper Nile Provisional United Military Command Council (UMCC) together with Riek Machar’s SSDF, other PGMs and the SPLM/A for a unified military command (Human Rights Watch 2003). As there is no further mentions of the UMCC, it can be assumed that its effect on cooperation and command structure was in practice negligible. |
| References: |
Human Rights Watch. 2003. “Sudan, Oil and Human Rights.” ISBN: 1564322912 Human Rights Watch. 2008. “Abandoning Abyei. Destruction and Displacement, May 2008.” July. ISBN: 1564323641 Uppsala Conflict Data Program. 2019. “SSUM/A.” https://www.ucdp.uu.se/actor/1037 Information was taken from news sources listed in the PGMD |