S. Sudan rebels deplore targeted killing of civilians in Malakal
By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
April 8, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – South Sudanese rebels led by former vice president Riek Machar have condemned the alleged killing of members of the Shilluk community by government forces.
Speaking at a press conference in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, rebel military spokesman Col Lony T. Ngundeng accused president Salva Kiir’s government of intensifying ethnic cleansing offensives against the Cholo (Shilluk) people in Upper Nile state capital Malakal.
The rebel official said the recent killing of Gen. James Bwogo Oliny and his 13 bodyguards was a typical example of the deliberate acts of murder being committed by Dinka forces.
Oliny, who was a major general in the South Sudanese army (SPLA) was killed on Sunday in an ambush in a government-controlled area around Akooka-Pinythiang locality.
Rebels told Sudan Tribune that the deceased were all ethnic Shilluk from Upper Nile state, the Nuer dominated rebel’s stronghold.
They said the Shilluk communities are being targeted by government forces as well as from foreign mercenaries over suspicions they are supporting the armed rebel movement.
Ngundeng said government forces were responsible for grave human rights abuses, including rape and extra-judicial killings, and were being supported by the Ugandan army (UPDF) Darfur rebels, SPLM/A-North and Congo’s M23.
He said Shilluk and Nuer people were the main targets, particularly in Malakal, Faloj oil fields and Akoka.
“This is in addition to the killing of Cholo chiefs whom they massacred between Kodok and Malakal miserably with impunity last year,” Ngundeng said.
This conspiracy the rebel military official claimed is backed by the SPLM/A led by the national governmental institutions such as the current parliament in Juba which failed to stand against the practice of extra-judicial killings people in greater Upper Nile state.
The rebel faction has appealed to the international community, including the African Union (AU), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), UN Security Council and the troika countries, to intervene to end the killings of innocent people.
At least 20,000 people have been killed and some two million displaced since South Sudan erupted in violence in December 2013.
The IGAD-brokered peace process aimed at ending the conflict and bringing national reconciliation collapsed last month after the two warring factions failed to bridge their differences on a number of contentious issues.
An IGAD Plus peace initiative guided by a new approach and an improved draft peace agreement is expected to resume the stalled peace talks soon.
The UN has threatened to impose tougher actions against individuals obstructing the peace process, although none have been implemented to date.
(ST)