Rumbek protestors call for UN not to side with Khartoum

April 16, 2012 (JUBA) – Thousands of demonstrators in Rumbek the capital of Lakes State took to the streets on Monday to protest against international calls for South Sudan’s president to withdraw the young nation’s army (SPLA) from a disputed oil area on the border with Sudan.

The peaceful protest follows similar events in Juba and Jonglei State where South Sudanese citizens expressed support for Salva Kiir’s insistence that he would only move SPLA forces out of Heglig if United Nations peacekeepers were deployed; or if it was guaranteed the area would no longer be used to launch attacks by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF).

Addressing South Sudan’s parliament on 12 April Kiir said that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had given him an “order” to withdraw. The SPLA has held the area for almost a week and stopped Heglig’s oil production, causing much embarrassment to the northern military and the loss of half Sudan’s 110,000 barrels per day of oil production.

The move has met condemnation from the international community, who have also called on SAF to stop bombing South Sudanese territory.

Addressing thousand of demonstrators in Rumbek’s Freedom Square the chairman of the Lakes State youth union, Manyiel Dut Kok, said that his members backed Kiir’s stance.

The group handed a petition to the representative of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Lakes State. The letter, Kok said, asked that Ban Ki-moon be “fair” and “to approach the political situation in South Sudan and Sudan with carefulness”.

Kiir “is the president of the Republic, so he doesn’t have to take order from anywhere”, he said.

The youth leader echoed sentiments of many South Sudanese officials who have been unhappy at the level of criticism they have received for occupying Heglig, pointing to the fact that SAF have not withdrawn from Abyei, another disputed oil area, which it took control of in May last year.

A recent UN Security Council report said that both sides had unauthorised forces in the area but South Sudan has accused the international community of moral equivalence over the issue.

Last week the deputy speaker of the South Sudan’s National Assembly Daniel Awet Akot said: “This practice of apportioning blames even when those responsible for their acts are known is not helping. This is what is making Khartoum believes that they have a right on Abyei.”

The senior member of the country’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) said not holding Khartoum to account for its actions over Abyei had emboldened the northern government to the extent that it believes it can carryout attacks inside South Sudan with impunity.

Abyei was supposed to have held a referendum 16 months ago to decide whether it would join South Sudan or remain in Sudan but political differences over voting rights of the two main ethnic groups in the area scuppered the plebiscite.

When Abyei was captured by the Sudanese military the UN’s protestations were ignored by President Bashir, Kok said, arguing that therefore Kiir was under no obligation to listen to Ban’s calls over Heglig.

Kiir said in the wake of the SPLA taking Heglig that if SAF did not withdraw from Abyei he would send troops there as well. In 2009 Heglig was placed outside Abyei by a court of arbitration in The Hague and is recognised by the international community to be in South Kordofan but Juba refutes this.

South Sudan calls the area Pathou and does not agree that the 2009 Abyei ruling placed Heglig in Sudan. The border clashes, which are by far the worst since Sudan’s independence in July last year have raised fears that a full scale war is in the offing.

On Monday the Sudanese parliament declared South Sudan an ‘enemy’ state and nationwide recruitment and mobilisation campaigns have been launched to swell the ranks of Khartoum’s armed forces and paramilitaries.

Juba has also ordered mobilisation campaigns in the states bordering Sudan.

Kok vowed that Lakes State citizens were “ready” to defend South Sudan’s borders including Abyei and beyond.

During the march Lakes State youth chanted and held placards denouncing African Union (AU) and UN Security Council calls for the SPLA’s withdrawal from Heglig/Panthou. They also condemned the continued bombardment of South Sudanese territory by SAF planes.

(ST)