Bring all Jonglei attackers to justice
By Zechariah Manyok Biar
August 5, 2009 — On July 29, 2009 armed youth from Uror County of Jonglei State attacked Twich East County of the same State, killing 6 people and wounding 8 others. Even though the evidence is clear based on the information coming from those who fought the attackers from Dachuek community of Twich East and the information coming from those who are related to Uror community from both Duk and Twich East, clearly implicating Uror community in Twich East attack, the MPs from Uror tried to deny the involvement of their community in Twich East attack.
The only thing the government of South Sudan (GoSS) has done about Twich East attack is to send GoSS Minister of Commerce Dr. Marial Benjamin and Deputy Governor of Jonglei State, Mr. Mar to Uror County to talk to Uror community about the attack on Twich East County. No sign of bringing the culprits to justice.
On August 2, 2009 Murle armed men attacked Akobo, killing 185 people, including SPLA soldiers, and wounding more than 30 people. Now there is a tough talk about it from the Vice President of South Sudan Dr. Riek Machar.
Dr. Machar was quoted as saying, “The government of Southern Sudan will not tolerate this careless act that claimed innocence lives of 173 women and children in Akoba County while more innocent people were also killed by foreign culprits in Western Equatoria. The government will do everything in its capacity to apprehend these criminals” (Sudan Tribune, August 4, 2009).
What is interesting is that Dr. Machar never mentioned the attack on Twich East County in his tough talk against the attack on Akobo. Twich East County is known to be a staunch supporter of GoSS of which Dr. Machar is Vice President. That could be the reason why the killing of its civilians is never taken seriously by Dr. Machar. Maybe Twich East County leaders and intellectuals will learn to lessen their support for GoSS in order to protect their innocent people.
People may look at this issue differently, but I think both the attack on Twich East County and the attack on Akobo are unacceptable. What is good about the attack on Akobo is that SPLA soldiers understood that it was part of their job to protect innocent civilians from the attackers. That never happened in Twich East.
Sometimes, the way our government operates in South Sudan baffles me. I hope GoSS will not turn everybody against it because of its vague policies.
The Vice President of South Sudan Dr. Machar and Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon are now calling for GoSS to bring the attackers of Akobo to justice. I agree with them. Bringing the killers of innocent civilians to justice is the only way GoSS can stop this unacceptable practice.
On May 7, 2009 New Sudan Vision published my article, entitled, “Should civilians be disarmed in South Sudan,” in which I gave the following recommendation:
“Those who stole other people’s cows would not only lose the cows they had stolen, they would also lose their own cows to the government as fine for their crimes. They would also pay compensations for people they killed in the tribe that they attacked, but nobody would pay for people lost on the attackers’ side.”
I still stand by this recommendation. It is good that Dr. Machar and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon are calling for the same justice. Human beings fear law when the law can hold them accountable for the wrong they commit. Forgiveness can come after a person is shown that what he or she has done is wrong.
In the above mentioned article, I also gave the following recommendation:
“The only way that GOSS will make criminals pay for their crimes is to know ways of putting the hands of law on the criminals. In addition to registration of all rifles with their numbers, all chiefs down to the level of clans must be registered. These chiefs must be accountable for anything that happens in their communities. The government should provide chiefs with phones or radios so that they report to police in their areas any criminal activities.” Chief Conference was held after that, and I am sure chiefs were given responsibility for their communities.
If GoSS had given chiefs the responsibility to control their communities, then I recommend now that GoSS arrest chiefs in Uror and in Murle areas that attackers of Twich East and Akobo came from. These chiefs must identify the attackers and those who collaborated with them. The attackers will have to pay compensations for the people they have killed in both Twich East and Akobo.
The Vice President Dr. Machar should not be like those who condemn the killings of civilians only if they belong to their communities. That would be a weird leadership. It would not make any sense to get on the necks of Murle and leave the killers of Twich East civilians free. Justice must be provided to all if GoSS is sincere in its impartial governance.
Zechariah Manyok Biar is a graduate student at Abilene Christian University, Texas, USA. He is pursuing a Master of Arts in Christian Ministry and a Master of Science in Social Work, specializing in Administration and Planning. He is a regular contributor to The New Sudan Vision website. For comments, contact him at email: [email protected]
Pandit
Bring all Jonglei attackers to justice
I like your reaction. I like to see more attack on your people because they have been traitors, gossip and blaming other people when they trying to go after criminals.
John Mou
Bring all Jonglei attackers to justice
Dear Manyok,
Thank you for bringing up this issue. The killing of 185 people in Akobo has alarmed not only the South Sudanese people but the international community as well.
Anyway, the only solution to these barbaric killings is the justice. Michael Makuei, Goss Minister for Juctice and Constitutional Development has done nothing to push the parliament approve the laws that deal with the people accused of such crimes.
You may be aware that since 2005, no criminal has been sentenced to death under the laws of Southern Sudan. Many officials have been accused of cruption but no one has faced justice up to this very hour.
Take such people to face justice and keep them in prison till they finish their term without any intervention from any relative in Goss is the only way of bringing such crimes to an end.
Thank you.
Akurjok
Bring all Jonglei attackers to justice
Your article is very commendation. Something you did not mention though about the way this Riak Machar(Black Disaster) reacted to the two events – one in Baping and the other in Akobo is that the man takes delight in any and everything bad that befalls Greater Bor. This should not surprise anybody bearing in mind the fact that this is a continuaion of his scheme to finish off the entire community. Take, for example, his last or so visit to Pibor saw the release of some Equatorian children who had been abducted by the Murles. One cannot help wondering why Riak did not enquire about thousands of children abducted from Bor. He must have told his fellow abducters that as long as they confine their evil to Bor his government would not interfere. But the attack on Akobo is a different story in the sense that it touched his power base i.e people whom he has been using to achieve his own goals.
thieleling
Bring all Jonglei attackers to justice
The bad, the worst and the ugliest Zechariah Manyok Biar needs to seriously look at his own pretending. He is the worst pretender I have ever seen. How can he shuttle between a preacher, a tribalist, an intellectual and back & forth. Any critical analyst can see Zechariah is the tribalist of the first order.
His Bor civilization of lies gets the best of him. But who he thinks he is fooling? Of course himself. We all just need to agree that any traumatized Bor lost kids hate the Nuers to the core. It is the Psychological trauma that the Bor suffered. Let the traumatized lost boy roars. Pretending to sounds intellectual and almost believe his own illusion and Bor civilization of lies is a shameful act. The Bor gov’t in Bor as many Bors see it…..kinda give Bors a false perception of “Born to Rule”, a false pretend. But if they only see beyond their noses, they can see an ugly chapter in Borland shooting up.
It is through Bombs, Missiles, Artillery and so forth that we will bring peace to Jonglei & the South. Any realistic, sound-minded person with cool diplomacy and vision in mind can see real peace after real war in Jonglei. This was how American understand each others after their own civil war. American is at peace with itself now. Bors hate Nuers, and probably the Nuers don’t like Bors. And a boastful Bors who always put their feet in their ugly mouth before everything get ugly for them are doing that right now through Kuol Nyang, boastful Bors lost-kids such as Zechariah & the co. They think it is being clever. But this is what Garang thought was clever then when he was busy killing and divided & rule innocents Southerners before the chicken come home to roast in Bor.
Riek Machar is the only Best Nuer who loves Bor People. The rest of Nuers are tired of Bor stupidity. Only Riek who blocks their action. Riek Machar is your only God. Look at criminal Kuol ruling the Nuers? Kuol loves the death of every Nuer child & woman everyday. He will do anything to kill Nuers. Any intelligent Nuers know that. But Riek Machar is the Nuer problem when it comes to him protecting ugly & Criminal Bors. Forget about visionary leadership Zechariah. Riek’s vision is to protect Bors or South Sudan Independence, not Nuers. The SPLA is tribally divided a long ethnic lines. It is a matter of time when the Nuers will fight in Jonglei, not ABYIE as it is the case now. Yes, Riek is not going to be a Bor Leader, but that of South Sudan. But who says a Bor will ever accepts a Nuer, let alone Machar who is Bor’s Godfather? Forget it! The Bor-Nuer relations will never work as long as hypocrites like you are there.
We just have to agree that Bors hate Nuers and that is why there was Bor tribalism in SPLA against the Nuers that ended up voilently in Mading-Bor. Your Boasting is unbearable. It is always bad when a Nuer is silence. You don’t see so many Nuers dancing up and down against your tribal sound-bite, you think you are really winning on the internet? Of course not.
I was in Dallas, TX not so long a go and went to your school campus. I can only say that school is really teaching & preaching peace unlike you who preach tribalism on the internet. May be it is too late for that beautiful Christian School to reform you at this late hour. You are forever an ugly tribalist product. You are too deformed to be reformed by an American peacemaking school.