South Sudanese opposition refutes “lack of patriotism” accusation

December 15, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – Responding to accusations from South Sudan’s government suggesting lack of patriotism on the side of the armed opposition faction of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-IO) for condemning the recent order by the government to shoot down planes which allegedly violate the airspace of the world’s youngest nation, officials of the opposition group dismissed the allegation, saying their criticism against the decision should not be misconstrued to be lack of patriotism.

Officials and supporters of the government under the leadership of president Salva Kiir have accused in the media the opposition faction, led by former vice-president, Riek Machar, of allegedly compromising the sovereignty of South Sudan when they criticized the Friday’s order by the government issued to the armed forces to shoot down any plane that flies over the airspace of the country or inside its territories without permission.

They said the criticism amounted to lack of patriotism on the side of SPLM-IO and a compromise to the security of the nation.

But media official of the opposition faction however said the accusation was baseless, saying the decision would instead put the nation in trouble and not safeguard its security.

“Making a bad decision which can put the country in big trouble is not patriotism,” opposition leader’s spokesman, James Gatdet Dak, told Sudan Tribune.

While the principle of controlling the airspace was good, he said, the lack of capability in order for the government to do it in the right way was lacking.

“The principle of exercising sovereignty over a nation’s airspace is understandable. However, the question is whether South Sudan has the technological capability to identify planes flying over its airspace and determine which one of them has violated the airspace. This is very important in order to avoid making terrible mistakes,” he said.

Another concern, he said, was about the bad intention of the government to discourage humanitarian planes from flying, saying these planes used by relief organizations have been delivering basic food and non-food items to the suffering displaced populations that could not be accessed by road across the country.

The government, he challenged, had no radar in order to accurately identify planes and their status in the air.

“Without the radar systems, the regime should not have ordered its undisciplined army to shoot down any flying plane which they see with their naked eyes and happens to head towards a direction they don’t like. This decision is dangerously unpatriotic in a way and will bring problems to the nation,” he said.

For instance, he said, incidents occurred in 2012 and 2014 in which helicopters belonging to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) were shot down. While the government admitted that its forces in Jonglei state brought down the helicopter with a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) as it was flying low, there was no declared responsibility for the downing of the helicopter in Unity state.

Dak said the 2012 incident in Jonglei state cost the government a bad reputation with diplomatic row and almost court case with Russian government which lost its pilots and the rest of the crew in the incident.

The government suspected that the helicopter was delivering weapons and ammunition to the former rebel group led by David Yauyau, who is currently with the government after signing a peace agreement two years later in 2014.

There was however no evidence presented by the government to prove that the UNMISS aircraft was in fact flying weapons into the rebel-held territory of Pibor county in Jonglei state.

(ST)