The killing of kids is not only a crime but a sin

By Zechariah Manyok Biar

October 12, 2009 — I have been waiting to hear how people from Dinka Bor would react to the killing of seven Kuku children by armed Bor civilians in their ongoing fight against armed Mundari civilians. To my delight, many people from Bor community who commented about the incident condemned the killing of these innocent children. One comment that really caught my attention and even compelled me to write this article was from Gai Kuol Deng who is also from Bor. Although Gai mentioned a killing of children in Pariak by Mundari few months ago, he condemned the killing of the innocent seven children in Gemeiza in the strongest term he could think of. Gai said under the article published by Sudan Tribune, entiled, “7 children killed in Dinka Bor fresh attack at Gemeiza,” “The killing of kids is not only a crime but a sin.”

I cannot add more to Gai’s use of terms in condemning the killing of these innocent children. Killing is only justified if it is between the armed people. In our culture in the South, in almost all our communities, the killing of children, women, and old people is unacceptable. We did not need human rights laws to understand that these groups of people were no threat to anybody during any fighting because they could not attack anybody. Why would one kill them?

I thought our people in Bor were going to be blindfolded by their tribal loyalty at the expense of what our community upholds as the right thing to do—not killing innocent people. But I am happy that many people from Bor still know that it is unacceptable to kill children however much one is provoked.

I am also happy to hear that the Governor of Jonglei State Gen. Kuol Manyang Juuk has visited the scene of the fighting in Mundari areas where the recent fighting destroyed Mundari villages and displaced its people.

I am further happy that Governor Kuol “has ordered the commander in charge of the Dinka Bor cattle camps to move all the camps into Jonglei state within seven days,” as reported by Sudan Tribune on October 11, 2009, whatever that means. Commander in charge or the chief of cattle camps? I don’t know.

We want to see if the armed youth from Bor will disregard Governor Kuol’s orders the same way Lou-Nuer youth disrespected Deputy Governor of Jonglei State Mar’s advice last month and still attacked Duk Padiet. We will wait and hear what happens within seven days that Gov. Kuol has given as the deadline for moving out of Bor cattle camps from Gemeiza areas. It doesn’t matter whether Gov. Kuol is not in direct control of youth chiefs in cattle camps, our people still understand that Gov. Kuol is the Governor of Jonglei State and has direct authority to order any local leader in Jonglei State to move away from any place deemed problematic. This is what we expect our leaders to do. Leaders who side with their tribes against other tribes do not deserve to be our leaders. Our message as citizens of South Sudan must be clear in this area.

We know that sometimes people are provoked to act, but we must maintain our values in any situation. We must respect the lives of innocent people even when their fathers and their husbands were the ones who provoked us. Two wrongs do not make right. We cannot justify the killing of innocent people in any community simply because their people killed our innocent people in the near past.

I would conclude by saying that I am proud about the comments many people from Bor gave against the killing of the seven innocent children from Kuku. We must add to this maturity and teach our people what it means to respect the lives of innocent people in any situation. Not only the lives of children, women, or old men that we regard as innocent in our culture, but we must also teach our people to respect the lives of captured people during the war because captured people are always helpless and they become no threat to anybody when they are in the hands of their enemies. South Sudanese are not enemies among themselves. We must know that our disagreements always are at the level of brothers and sisters even if these disagreements lead to loss of lives.

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. For comments, contact him at email: [email protected]