Senior FBI official arrives South Sudan to investigate assassination of Isaiah Abraham
December 19, 2012 (JUBA) – US government has dispatched its first official of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in order to organize the ground for an investigation of killing of a South Sudanese political commentator, Isaiah Abraham aka Diing Chan Awuol.
The first unnamed FBI official arrived Juba on Thursday and was received at Juba international airport by the officials of the US embassy in Juba.
Diing was killed in front of his house in Gudele area west of Juba main town. The government’s cabinet released an official statement a week ago suspecting that the murder was an assassination by 70% while the other 30% was related to some sort of revenge killing.
However, no culprits have been arrested despite President Kiir’s order to the security organs to bring the culprits to justice. These security organs include the national security which is under the Office of the President, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), a department in the ministry of Interior and possibly the Military Intelligence (MI) which is a department in the ministry of defense.
In a meeting this week with the US ambassador to South Sudan, Susan Page, Kiir agreed to the request by the ambassador to invite the US FBI agents to help trace the murderers of Isaiah Abraham.
The arrival of the FBI’s senior official was announced on Wednesday by the US Charge d’affaires, Michael Mclain, who further explained that the agency will help the government of South Sudan trace the criminals, particularly those who killed Isaiah Abraham.
The intervention of the FBI in the internal security of South Sudan indicates lack of capacity by the new country’s security organs to deal with such issues coupled with mistrust.
Security organs are widely suspected by the people for involvement in the disappearance and killing of people in the region, particularly in the capital, Juba. Heads of civil society organizations and the government’s human rights commission have called on the security ministers to resign for failure to secure the lives of the people.
The minister for national security, Oyai Deng Ajak, told the gathering at the funeral of Isaiah Abraham two days ago that he willing to resign from office if the investigations find that his organization is implicated in the murder.
Ajak who became the third senior official of intelligence after the incumbent President Salva Kiir in 1983 after the SPLM/A was formed said he would not want to see people killed again under his intelligence service. He lamented that the situation should not repeat itself as it used to be during the liberation struggle when a lot of people were murdered without their knowledge.
Late Isaiah Abraham was a leading political commentator and critic of the government and the leadership. Weeks before his demise late Isaiah Abraham called for the resignation of President Salva Kiir in a widely circulated article. He also cautioned the government to study its relationship with the SPLM-N and avoid risking South Sudan’s relations with the neighboring Sudan.
(ST)