Today, the 9th July 2011, marks the official birth of a new country, The Republic of South Sudan. A landlocked country in East Africa, its capital and largest city is Juba. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the east; Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the south; the Central African Republic to the west; and Sudan to the north. South Sudan includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd formed by the White Nile.
The Interim Constitution of Southern Sudan of 2005 is the supreme law of South Sudan. The constitution establishes a presidential system of government headed by a President who is Head of State, Head of Government, and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. Legislative power is vested in the government and the unicameral South Sudan Legislative Assembly. The Constitution also provides for an independent judiciary, the highest organ being the Supreme Court. A Defence Paper on defence processes declared that Southern Sudan would eventually maintain land, air, and riverine forces.
The first elected President of The Republic of South Sudan is Salva Kiir Mayardit. The Vice-President is Riek Machar.
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| President Kiir |
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| Vice President Machar |
This new country emerges out of a difficult and disturbing history; however, it now exists in its own right. We must all hope that it will prosper and develop in a peaceful manner; although, I am not at all confident that it will do so. President Kiir once told Radio Netherlands Worldwide that homosexuality is not in the "character" of Southern Sudanese people. "It is not even something that anybody can talk about here in southern Sudan in particular. It is not there and if anybody wants to import or to export it to Sudan, it will not get the support and it will always be condemned by everybody," he said. He then went on the refer to homosexuality as a "mental disease" and a "bastion of Western immorality" These remarks do not lead one to expect any form of enlightened or forward thinking government. The Vice-President Dr. Riek Machar has been accused of corruption and manipulation, and has been involved, allegedly, in a number of scandals. Any good working relationship between the two men is apparently doubtful. Yet we must hope that the country will succeed in developing into a free democracy wherein all citizens are subject to the rule of law and that its institutions of government will support and serve equally all those citizens of the Republic. One hopes they will “remember their humanity and forget the rest.”
That last is a revised quotation from the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, which was issued 56 years ago today on the 9th July 1955 by Bertrand Russell in the midst of the Cold War. It highlighted the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and called for world leaders to seek peaceful resolutions to international conflict. The signatories included:
Max Born
, Percy W. Bridgman
, Albert Einstein
, Leopold Infeld, Frederic Joliot-Curie
, Herman J. Muller,
Linus Pauling,
Cecil F. Powell
, Joseph Rotblat,
Bertrand Russell
and Hideki Yukawa.
The manifesto was released during a press conference at Caxton, London. Rotblat, who chaired the meeting, describes it as follows:
"... It was thought that only a few of the Press would turn up and a small room was booked in Caxton Hall for the Press Conference. But it soon became clear that interest was increasing and the next larger room was booked. In the end the largest room was taken and on the day of the Conference this was packed to capacity with representatives of the press, radio and television from all over the world. After reading the Manifesto, Russell answered a barrage of questions from members of the press, some of whom were initially openly hostile to the ideas contained in the Manifesto. Gradually, however, they became convinced by the forcefulness of his arguments, as was evident in the excellent reporting in the Press, which in many cases gave front page coverage."
Russell had begun the conference by stating:
"I am bringing the warning pronounced by the signatories to the notice of all the powerful Governments of the world in the earnest hope that they may agree to allow their citizens to survive."
The manifesto called for a conference where scientists would assess the dangers posed to the survival of humanity by weapons of mass destruction (then only considered to be nuclear weapons). Emphasis was placed on the meeting being politically neutral. It extended the question of nuclear weapons to all people and governments. One particular phrase is quoted often, including by Rotblat upon receipt of the Nobel Pece Prize in 1995:
"Remember your humanity, and forget the rest."
The penultimate paragraph of the manifesto reads: “There lies before us, if we choose, continual progress in happiness, knowledge, and wisdom. Shall we, instead, choose death, because we cannot forget our quarrels? We appeal as human beings to human beings: Remember your humanity, and forget the rest. If you can do so, the way lies open to a new Paradise; if you cannot, there lies before you the risk of universal death.”
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