Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

644 • SUDAN PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMYafter which it was observed that the former hostages had developedaffection and protective attitudes toward their former captors.Psychologists have also termed it “protective affiliation” and“traumatic bonding,” and have explained it as a reaction to feelingsof helplessness and total dependence on one’s captors and as anemotional transference that makes the captives view their ownwell-being as depending on the happiness and well-being of theircaptors, whom they begin to love as well as to fear. Although thisphenomenon was observed in the case of the Stockholm hostagesand in the case of the Iranian hostages of the Arab terrorists whooccupied the Iranian embassy in London in 1980, it has been longunderstood by students and practitioners of brainwashing and interrogationtechniques. One of the dangers of this syndrome is thatformer hostages will find themselves unable or unwilling to providepolice with information needed to arrest former captors or toprovide testimony needed to prosecute apprehended hostage takers.See also SYMBIONESE LIBERATION ARMY.SUDAN PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY (SPLA). The SPLA isa guerrilla group and political party comprising non-Muslim tribalpeoples living in the southern parts of Sudan who opposed the policiesof the central government, which promoted the use of Arabic at theexpense of native languages and imposed an Islamic fundamentalistregime upon the nation. Christians and animists, who make up aboutone-third of Sudan’s population, have repeatedly accused the Sudanesegovernment of deliberate discrimination and genocidal policies againstthem. They had already fought an insurgency from 1954 until 1972, atwhich time regional autonomy had been granted to them. Fightingresumed in 1983 when the SPLA was formed in reaction to the centralgovernment’s attempt to impose Islamic law on the entire nation.The SPLA began its career during the rule of Ja’far Nimeiry(1969–1985), a pro-Western president who began to implementIslamic law to build support among Islamic fundamentalists and tooffset criticism of his pro-Western stance. During this time the SPLAfound support from Muammar Qaddafi, one of Nimeiry’s enemies.Under President General Omar Hasan al Bashir, the National IslamicFront, a group affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, intensifiedthe government’s Islamic fundamentalist policies. During the periodfrom 1983 to 2001, the SPLA committed 14 noteworthy terrorist