SPLM-IO protests against non-invitation to AU’s PSC meeting on report of atrocities
July 24, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – The armed opposition faction of the ruling Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) under the leadership of former vice president, Riek Machar, has protested against the African Union’s (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC) for not inviting the movement to an important meeting on atrocities committed by warring parties in the country.
While the government of president Salva Kiir was invited to the meeting and served with copy of the final report, the opposition faction led by Machar was not invited and was not served with copy of the report on the atrocities despite earlier assurance that they would attend the meeting.
In a press statement issued on Friday from the office of the chairman of the rebel group, the leadership criticized the AU’s PSC for what they said was lack of transparency on the part of the African continental body in handling the matter.
“This is a serious act of dishonesty and lack of transparency on the part of the PSC. We therefore ask the PSC to equally serve the SPLM/SPLA with the copy of the report and to attend any further discussions on the matter,” said Machar’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, in a statement, dated 24 July.
He said a meeting on 15 July between his chairman, Machar, and the chairperson of the AU Commission, Dlamini Zuma, they discussed the importance of the two parties attending the meeting in the process of releasing the report.
Dak said the non-invitation came as a surprise when the meeting at the level of foreign ministers took place without the participation of the armed opposition faction.
“The government was invited to the meeting and served with copy of the long awaited report. But the SPLM/SPLA was not invited,” he said.
The rebel group since last year has been calling on the AU to release and publish the report on the atrocities committed in the country, adding the government was the perpetrator in the conflict.
The war erupted in mid-December 2013 when internal political debates over reforms within the ruling SPLM turned violent, pitting president Kiir’s supporters, mainly from his Dinka ethnic group, against Machar’s Nuer community.
Tens of thousands of people have died and millions others displaced internally and to the neighbouring countries of Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda.
World’s leading countries and international bodies including the United States (US) and European Union (EU) have been calling on the AU to release the report so that perpetrators could be brought to account for the crimes committed.
(ST)