Duk Padiet Massacre: a result of South Sudan disarmament imperfection?

By Martin Garang Aher

January 21, 2012 — It is extremelyappalling to continually see the killing going on unabated in Duk Padiet for twoconsecutive weeks. The media puts death toll at 89. All these deaths are due toorchestrated violence by human action. It seems there is no immediate governmentgangbuster amelioration in sight for the people of Dukein who have beenrendered defenceless through the disarmament process that took place in thearea prior to independence. One thought such a bold move by the government todispossess ever-feuding communities of guns would be accompanied by a certain‘decree’ or measures aimed at thwarting attacks on the people deliberately madedefenceless by the state. Since disarmament was done for the sake of nationalsecurity and peace, it would have been wise if security apparatus wereinstalled prior to taking the guns away from the people.

Behold government‘decrees’ in South Sudan apply only to some things and not others. The resultsare now the shocking images and figures of dead women; young children, elderly andeven able bodied men who could only run around unable to ward off thecatastrophe befalling their people. Where is the peace and security upon whichdisarmament was based upon? The roaming-and-raiding gangs of Murle arepersistently and callously butchering civilians in the entire Duk counties. Whereare the swarms of police of Jonglee and RSS, which we always see proudly,displayed on the SSTV?

When disarmamentstarted in the area in 2006, nearly all the communities in Jonglee: Dinka,Murle and Nuer nagged the government over the possibility of the latter torenege on the promises of protection made to the people. They were aware thatthey would be left alone once they have handed in their weapons. Judging fromwhat had happened today, they were right! The security the government promisedat the time has now turned into a created disaster.

Across the country,civilians condemned disarmament and the way it was approached. The people ofCueibet complained about the repercussions but were ignored. Nearly 3700 gunswere collected in Lakes state, under governorship of Daniel Awet Akot. It didnot take long before we witnessed attacks by the rival communities whosedisarmament process treated with caution. It did not worked well too with thepeople of Rumbek and Yirol. In Warrap, hundreds of people were massacred afterthe disarmament, and unto this day, killing keeps recurring. Governmentresponses in all these cases had never made anyone contented that statesecurity was guaranteed for them.

But what happened inDukein was astonishingly baffling. The government disarmed Duk first, leavingthe entire community defenceless. And then later, Ayod, Twic East, Bor Nyiroland Uror were subsequently disarmed. Pibor, Pochalla, Akobo, Fangak and Pigiwere left behind with these latter areas ‘presumed’ ‘less aggressive’ based ontribal attacks. This was total madness! It neither rang a bell even to MayenNgor, the commissioner at the time, nor has it nudged Kuol Manyang to have asecond thought over it. Law abiding status had been taken as aggressiveness inthe case of Duk. And if this heeding by the people of Dukein were awarded withappropriate measures of protection to the civilians, it would have sounded an authentic imperfection on the side ofthe government. But no protection was provided!

In 2010, a peaceconference was organised by Upper Nile Youth Mobilisation for peace at LibertyHotel. It was funded by PACT Sudanand UNMIS. In the discussions of that conference, youth leaders warned ofrearmament if the government failed to provide security once they weredisarmed. Of course the youth, who came from various counties including Pibor,were sceptical. Today areas that were deemed less aggressive in attackingothers are the very ones massacring their neighbours, abducting children andtaking livestock. The government, which thinks that South Sudan is anInternational Province of the West, sits and watch, sometimes shouting over theshoulder to the UN and the International Community, or in the crudest thinkingof all, demands more disarmament. One couldn’t stand the Minister of Interior comingto Bor and began trumpeting about disarmament again to Kuol Manyang while thegovernment’s past mistake still has its nasty results underway in Duk Padiet.

There is no muchfortitude left for the people of Duk. The government must bring protection tothe people of Duk Padiet. Though it forgot to set forth this as theprecondition for disarming the county during the 2006 disarmament process, it willstill be welcome. The same courage the government has in shutting down the oilpipeline is the same courage needed to provide protection to civilians. Peoplefirst! The government must be a people’s government, not oil government.

For any future disarmamentto be successful, it must begin in the desert, not at home. And government mustmake clear to the people the measures it has taken to protect them beforeshifting the balance of protection. Security is exchanged with security and forthe government to fear not to take head-on the marauding youth on a killingspree, what it fears for will surely come to pass.

Martin Garang Aher is a South Sudanese living in Western Australia. He can be reached at [email protected]