Rights group challenges government to come clean over assassination of Isaiah Abraham

June 8, 2013 (JUBA) – A South Sudan’s leading human rights advocacy group has challenged the government to publicly come clean over the assassination of the late opinion writer, Isaiah Diing Abraham Chan Awuol, warning that such a deliberate silence may lead the public to hold the government directly responsible for his murder.

Known by his pen-name as Isaiah Abraham, the famous writer was assassinated by unknown assailants in front of his house on 5th December 2012 in the national capital, Juba.

The opinion writer was known for his consistent constructive criticisms of the government particularly its top leadership.

Two weeks before his assassination, Isaiah Abraham, in widely circulated article called on the incumbent president Salva Kiir Mayardit to resign, criticizing him for mismanaging the affairs of the country.

A report on a preliminary investigation by the government on the cause of his death, which was also presented to the Council of Ministers in December last year and announced to the public by the minister of information, clearly suggested that 75% pointed to an act of assassination while 25% looked at other possible causes such as revenge killing.

Information minister, Barnaba Marial Benjamin, announced to the public a month later that some culprits were arrested in connection to Isaiah’s demise, but fell short of revealing their identities, or the motives behind their action. It was not also established whether they acted alone or under an authority or group and the extent to which justice had been done.

Despite the immediate visible uproar by the government at the time, promising to thoroughly investigate the killing through the assistance of the US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and to bring the culprit(s) to swift justice, the matter has comfortably become silent for the last five months.

However, South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA) said it continues to “remember the painful departure” of Isaiah Abraham and challenged the government to reveal the suspects and bring them to justice.

While commemorating the life of Isaiah Abraham in Juba on 5th June, exactly five months from the date on which he was assassinated, SSHURSA, in a strongly worded two-page press release, dated 5th June 2013, and seen by the Sudan Tribune, said the government was a prime suspect unless it publicly came clean by bringing to justice those responsible.

“Who assassinated the late Isaiah Abraham; where are his assassins; when are they going to be brought to justice; and why is South Sudan government silent over the case?” are the questions asked by the executive of the human rights advocacy body in the press release and wanted the government to answer.

“In the interest of justice and due process of the law, it would be proper to have the government answered them in a clear and frank language, as soon as possible despite its failure to do so over the last five months and kept the family in a state of uncertainty,” it said.

The human rights organization however suspected that the government’s silence was a clue that it covered up the culprits responsible for the assassination.

“Silence of government confirms SHURSA’s argument that the state of South Sudan clearly knows who killed Isaiah Abraham and it bears the ultimate responsibility over the blood of the late, a man who was true to his conscience and killed for challenging evils meted on his fellow citizens”, it further reads.

It called on the government to publicly reveal the identities of the so-called arrested suspects and give them a speedy trial or else the government was implicated in the murder and wanted to silently deny justice.

“Government, without delay, should reveal the findings of the investigations of those it alleged it has arrested on the case and start prosecuting the accused persons. Silence means either the information got from those alleged detained has implicated the government and its agents, or the government did not arrest anybody in the first place but made the pronouncement to buy time and appease the public for whom Isaiah Abraham gave up his life.”

South Sudan, which gained its independence in July 2011, is the newest state on earth and became the 193rd member of the United Nations. The country however has a bad record on human rights as reported by various international organisations on human rights including the forums established under the United Nations.

(ST)