Simon Deng

Last updated
Simon Aban Deng
Born1959 (age 64–65)
Sudan
Occupation(s)Human rights activist
Author
Abolitionist
Years active1993-present
Known for Sudan Freedom Walk, Anti Slavery Campaign, human rights in Sudan
AwardsADL’s Heroes Against Hate (2006) and U.N. Watch’s Freedom Award (2011)

Simon Aban Deng is a South Sudanese-American human rights activist living in the United States. A victim of child slavery, Deng's activism primarily focuses on slavery in Sudan and on South Sudanese self-determination. [1]

Contents

Biography

Deng was born in a Shilluk village [1] in southern Sudan. In 1969, [2] at the age of nine, his village was "raided by Arab troops in the pay of Khartoum". [3] Deng and his family escaped and relocated to a refugee camp in Makkal. [4] There, he was abducted by a neighbor and brought north alongside three other children. In the north, he was "given to an Arab family as a 'gift'". [3] [4]

During his time as a slave, Deng was responsible for domestic chores, such as fetching water. [4] He remembers being punished for not responding loudly enough, [4] beaten by groups of other children, and having nothing but "patience... and my faith" as friends. He was forced to say yes to everything, [4] including torture, and remembers times when "the only thing I could do was ask for mercy... and mercy was not always there".[ citation needed ] Deng was told he would be treated more humanely if he converted to Islam, took an Arab name, and agreed to become the family's son; he refused on all three counts. [5]

In 1972, [2] after three and a half years of enslavement, Deng saw three men at a market in Kosti, one of whom had traditional Shilluk scarification. [4] [5] He approached the group and told them his story. The men knew someone from Deng's village, and agreed to help him plan his escape. [4] [5] After a few weeks, Deng boarded a steamer and returned home to his family. After escaping slavery, he underwent traditional Shilluk scarification to ensure he would always have his identity. [5]

Deng and his family later moved to Khartoum, where his house was 50 yards from the Nile. Deng learned to swim in the river, after being rejected from local pools. He eventually became a long-distance swimmer. [4]

Deng traveled to the United States on a tourist visa in 1990, [2] [6] and was able to successfully apply for political asylum. [6] He now travels the country as a speaker, focusing on education and the anti-slavery movement. He works as a lifeguard at Coney Island. [1]

Activism

In 1993, after settling in the United States, Deng worked as an activist to raise awareness for slavery in Sudan. [5] [7] Through his efforts, he began a partnership with Charles Jacobs to help assist Christian Solidarity International in freeing Sudanese slaves. [7] In 1998, he began telling his own personal story of enslavement. [2]

In the early 2000s, Deng became known for his outspoken criticisms of the then-Omar al-Bashir government in Khartoum. He organized protests in New York and Washington, D.C. against the civil war in southern Sudan, particularly the kidnappings of men, women and children by militia groups allied to the Khartoum government. He also denounced human rights violations against the war victims.

He continued his advocacy when the war in Darfur began in 2003, linking the conflict with the earlier South Sudanese conflict and drawing parallels between them despite their different origins and motives. After the signing of the 2005 CPA agreements between the SPLA and Khartoum government, Deng became an advocate for South Sudanese independence, seeing it as an outcome to the decades long South Sudanese struggle for peace, human rights and self determination.

His anti-war protests shifted to anti-slavery campaigns, as he spent the next decade sharing his story of being a child slave in the 1960s. He and fellow activist, abolitionist and author Francis Bok toured the United States and Europe, sharing their stories of slavery and calling for an end to war in Sudan.

Deng became a prominent speaker with the American Anti Slavery Group and testified at the Geneva Summit for Human Rights and Democracy in 2010.

In 2012, Deng visited Israel to speak out against proposed decorations of South Sudanese asylum seekers. [8]

In December 2023, Deng led a solidarity walk from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to "illustrate the solidarity of the South Sudanese and many Africans with the Jewish people and the State of Israel". He also referenced Israel's assistance of South Sudanese rebels during the first Sudanese Civil War. While in Israel, he also met with families of the hostages taken on October 7, 2023. [7] [9]

Sudan Freedom Walk

The Sudan Freedom Walk can refer to one of several such events organized by Simon Deng used to raise awareness of human rights issues in Sudan.

Personal life

Deng is a Christian. As of 2012, he was living in New York City. [8] He had become an American citizen by 2006. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudan</span> Country in East Africa

Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Egypt to the north, Eritrea to the northeast, Ethiopia to the southeast, Libya to the northwest, South Sudan to the south, and the Red Sea. It has a population of 45.7 million people as of 2022 and occupies 1,886,068 square kilometres, making it Africa's third-largest country by area and the third-largest by area in the Arab League. It was the largest country by area in Africa and the Arab League until the secession of South Sudan in 2011; since then both titles have been held by Algeria. Its capital and most populous city is Khartoum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights in Sudan</span>

Sudan's human rights record has been widely condemned. Some human rights organizations have documented a variety of abuses and atrocities carried out by the Sudanese government over the past several years under the rule of Omar al-Bashir. The 2009 Human Rights Report by the United States Department of State noted serious concerns over human rights violations by the government and militia groups. Capital punishment, including crucifixion, is used for many crimes. In September, 2019, the government of Sudan signed an agreement with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to open a UN Human Rights Office in Khartoum and field offices in Darfur, Blue Nile, Southern Kordofan and East Sudan. In July 2020, during the 2019–2021 Sudanese transition to democracy, Justice Minister Nasredeen Abdulbari stated that "all the laws violating the human rights in Sudan" were to be scrapped, and for this reason, Parliament passed a series of laws in early July 2020.

Francis Piol Bol Bok, a Dinka tribesman and citizen of South Sudan, was a slave for ten years and later became an abolitionist and author living in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Sudanese Civil War</span> Conflict from 1983 to 2005 for South Sudanese independence

The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and the Blue Nile. It lasted for almost 22 years and is one of the longest civil wars on record. The war resulted in the independence of South Sudan 6 years after the war ended.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slavery in Sudan</span> History of the slave trade and practice in Sudan

Slavery in Sudan began in ancient times, and had a resurgence during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983–2005). During the Trans-Saharan slave trade, many Nilotic peoples from the lower Nile Valley were purchased as slaves and brought to work elsewhere in North Africa and the Orient by Nubians, Egyptians, Berbers and Arabs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turco-Egyptian Sudan</span> 1820–1885 period in Sudanese history

Turco-Egyptian Sudan, also known as Turkiyya or Turkish Sudan, describes the rule of the Eyalet and later Khedivate of Egypt over what is now Sudan and South Sudan. It lasted from 1820, when Muhammad Ali Pasha started his conquest of Sudan, to the fall of Khartoum in 1885 to Muhammad Ahmad, the self-proclaimed Mahdi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War in Darfur</span> Genocidal conflict in Southwestern Sudan

The War in Darfur, also nicknamed the Land Cruiser War, was a major armed conflict in the Darfur region of Sudan that began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebel groups began fighting against the government of Sudan, which they accused of oppressing Darfur's non-Arab population. The government responded to attacks by carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Darfur's non-Arabs. This resulted in the death of hundreds of thousands of civilians and the indictment of Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International response to the War in Darfur</span>

While there is a consensus in the international community that ethnic groups have been targeted in Darfur and that crimes against humanity have therefore occurred, there has been debate in some quarters about whether genocide has taken place there. In May 2006, the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur organized by United Nations "concluded that the Government of the Sudan has not pursued a policy of genocide ... [though] international offences such as the crimes against humanity and war crimes that have been committed in Darfur may be more serious and heinous than genocide." Eric Reeves, a researcher and frequent commentator on Darfur, has questioned the methodology of the commission's report.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Deng</span> South Sudanese politician and diplomat

Francis Mading Deng is a politician and diplomat from South Sudan who served as the newly independent country's first ambassador to the United Nations from 2012 to July 2016.

On April 5, 2006 Sudan activist and former slave Simon Deng and a band of supporters completed an arduous 300-mile trek on foot from New York City to Washington, D.C. as part of the historic Sudan Freedom Walk. The three-week-long event was Deng's personal protest against the ongoing genocide and slave trade in Sudan, most notably in the nation's western Darfur region, where more than 300,000 civilians had been slaughtered and over 2 million displaced since 2003 alone.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racism in Sudan</span>

Racism in Sudan is a complex matter due to the racial mixture of various populations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sudan–United States relations</span> Bilateral relations

Sudan–United States relations are the bilateral relations between Sudan and the United States. The United States government has been critical of Sudan's human rights record and has dispatched a strong UN Peacekeeping force to Darfur. Relations between both countries in recent years have greatly improved, with Sudan's post-revolutionary government compensating American victims of al-Qaeda terror attacks, the removal of Sudan from the State Department's blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism and the United States Congress having reinstated Sudan's sovereign immunity in December 2020.

Sudan has a conflict in the Darfur area of western Sudan. The Khartoum government had, in the past, given sanctuary to trans-national Islamic terrorists, but, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, ousted al-Qaeda and cooperated with the US against such groups while simultaneously involving itself in human rights abuses in Darfur. There are also transborder issues between Chad and Darfur, and, to a lesser extent, with the Central African Republic.

Sudan Sunrise, Inc. is an American nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization based out of Fairfax, Virginia. According to their mission statement, Sudan Sunrise strives for grassroots reconciliation, education and community building in order to lift up examples of peace and forgiveness between former enemies as alternatives to the history of violence in Sudan and South Sudan. Sudan Sunrise also facilitates local efforts in Southern Sudan to provide education, health care and community development.

In the Arab world, racism targets non-Arabs and the expat majority of the Arab states of the Persian Gulf coming from South Asian groups as well as Black, European, and Asian groups that are Muslim; non-Arab ethnic minorities such as Armenians, Africans, the Saqaliba, Southeast Asians, Jews, Kurds, and Coptic Christians, Assyrians, Persians, Turks, and other Turkic peoples, and South Asians living in Arab countries of the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011–2013 Sudanese protests</span> Part of the Arab Spring

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Solidarity International</span> Christian human rights NGO

Christian Solidarity International (CSI) is a Christian human rights NGO that is "committed to defending religious liberty, helping victims of religious repression, victimized children, and victims of disaster." It is based in Switzerland, with affiliates in the United States, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, and South Korea.

The history of South Sudan comprises the history of the territory of present-day South Sudan and the peoples inhabiting the region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Eibner</span>

John Eibner is an American Christian human rights activist. He served as the CEO of Christian Solidarity International-USA until 2021. He has also served on the board of the American Anti-Slavery Group, and was a member of the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019–2022 Sudanese protests</span> Protests against the military of Sudan

The 2019–2022 Sudanese protests were street protests in Sudan which began in mid-September 2019, during Sudan's transition to democracy, about issues which included the nomination of a new Chief Justice and Attorney General, the killing of civilians by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the toxic effects of cyanide and mercury from gold mining in Northern state and South Kordofan, opposition to a state governor in el-Gadarif and to show trials of Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA) coordinators, and advocating the dismissal of previous-government officials in Red Sea, White Nile, and South Darfur. The protests follow the Sudanese Revolution's street protests and civil disobedience of the early September 2019 transfer of executive power to the country's Sovereignty Council, civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, and his cabinet of ministers. Hamdok described the 39-month transition period as defined by the aims of the revolution.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Simon Deng". Speaking Matters. 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Biggs, Marcia (2010-09-15). "Former Sudan slave, others marching to D.C. in support of homeland". CNN. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  3. 1 2 "Simon Deng, Former Sudanese Slave, Human Rights Activist". International Humanist and Ethical Union. June 21, 2005. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Guarding Life: Interview with Simon Deng". Satya. March 2006. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Van Schie, Kristen. "'How I escaped child slavery in Sudan'". IOL.
  6. 1 2 Lemire, Jonathan (2006-07-16). "CONEY LIFEGUARD IS LIFELINE TO BUSH. Ex-slave from Sudan sets up confab between Prez & freedom fighter". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
  7. 1 2 3 "Former African slave leads solidarity march to Jerusalem". The Jerusalem Post. 2023-12-31. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  8. 1 2 Ahren, Raphael (2012-03-28). "Deporting the South Sudanese? 'You don't do that to a friend'". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  9. ↑ "Former African slave leads solidarity march, meets with hostage families in Israel". JNS. 2023-12-21. Retrieved 2024-04-01.
  10. ↑ Archive copy of the official website, Sudan Freedom Walk of April 2006, archive date October 7, 2006. Retrieved August 5, 2008.
  11. ↑ Goffe, Leslie, Walking to end Darfur's conflict, BBC News . March 15, 2006. Retrieved August 4, 2007.
  12. ↑ Robinson, Heather, Breaking the chains: Former slave Simon Deng marches for freedom, New York Daily News , March 21, 2007. Retrieved August 5, 2007.
  13. ↑ Official website, Second Sudan Freedom Walk, December 2006. Retrieved August 5, 2007.
  14. ↑ Bahar, Rikki, NYU students walk 117 miles to protest Darfur Genocide Archived 2007-12-12 at the Wayback Machine , Washington Square News , January 23, 2007. Retrieved August 5, 2007.
  15. ↑ Official website Archived 2007-08-10 at the Wayback Machine , Freedom Walk Chicago, May 2007. Retrieved August 5, 2007.
  16. ↑ Freedom walk for Sudan Archived 2007-09-30 at the Wayback Machine , Northwestern News Network, July 5, 2007. Retrieved August 5, 2007.
  17. ↑ Briggs, Marcia. "Former Sudan slave, others marching to D.C. in support of homeland". I Abolish Slavery. American Anti Slavery Group.
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