Allow me to write in response to the on-going political as well as military surge between the Republic of South Sudan and the Republic of Sudan. Much has been written and said about this which is why I shall not assume the possibility of drawing your attention in respect to what I am about to say in my writing. As a citizen of this nation, my responsibility under the constitution is simply to express an opinion which per se may not influence your Excellency to duly rely on especially when it comes to taking tough military decisions. But it is my justified view that our nation needs collective responsibility in safeguarding and protecting its sovereignty by all means including and not limited to advising your Excellency as a citizen filled with sense of patriotism!

A lot has happened since the capture of Panthou and I shall not dwell much on what we have handled with sensibility. Let me applaud your wise leadership for setting standards which the regimes in Khartoum have, over the decades, failed to set. Respecting international norms and customs with respect to humanitarian law is such a good thing that we shall always be proud of and manifests itself in the way we have so far handled the boiling military build-up of the ruling authoritarian regime in Khartoum. As I shall precisely point out, the world has moved away from the era of war which Sudan, and especially the National Congress Party (NCP), is so much interested in. During moments such as this, we cannot ignore the benefits of differing views on the way forward, and I believe your Excellency must have been confronted with much more than I should say; yet there is always an end to difficulty.

It is true that many citizens are unhappy with your decision of withdrawing SPLA troops from Panthou. This must have been a painful decision to take but I am not unaware of the motivating circumstances leading to the taking of the said decision. On one hand, we have an obligation to ensure the maintenance of international peace and security under Chapter VII of the UN Charter; and on the other hand we have a responsibility to protect or defend not only the citizens but also the sovereignty of our state in accordance with the provision of Article 2 read together with article 53 clauses 1 and 2 of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011. Choosing between these two important alternatives must have been too painful but your Excellency acted in a truly justiciable manner. As a matter of sincerity, I was taken aback and disappointed with your Excellency’s position when I first heard and read the council of Ministers’ resolution ordering the withdrawal of our troops from Panthou. However, my disappointment dissipated with reading and understanding our obligation under international law plus the manner in which we took Panthou from the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF). Although I was not supportive of your Excellency’s position along with the Council of Ministers’, I regretted my thoughts and so I understood your Excellency acted in a reasonable manner considering our pledge to respect and abide by human rights principles and the principles of international law as contained in the UN covenants. My regret is not in vain because it has been said, which I believe is true, that our gallant SPLA forces took Panthou as a result of recurrent attacks from SAF. Our taking it from them was not bad though, but taking it on the basis that it is part of South Sudan would:

Call into question our pledge to respect international norms and customs which bind nations together.

Have been a dangerous decision in terms of Khartoum reacting with swift force of a full scale war which, I think, we were not fully prepared to contain as a nation.
Make us loose our friends and, in my opinion, there would be possibility of sanctions being imposed on our state which, I think, we cannot withstand given our shaky economy because of oil shutdown!

As it is commonly known that Panthou is ours by history, there is no fear it will never be should we claim it before international tribunals such as the International Court of Arbitration at The Hague. I must say Moburuk Wa Moburukat Mr. President for the wise decision so taken!
Whereas it is my desire not to pin your Excellency down reading this lengthy letter, it is also crucial to understand the position of a concerned patriot who has sacrificed his valuable time writing to seek understanding from your Excellency. Mr. President, I shall implore you to take me as a patriot desiring to put an end to the war-mongering propaganda of Sudan and although my writing is not a binding thesis, since our learned patriots, having the foresight into world politics, have the constitutional mandate to advise your Excellency, I will add a non-binding piece of my mind.

In any given circumstances, the political idiocy of Khartoum cannot per se be taken for granted. Already Khartoum has declared war on our nation and to act in ignorance will be too dangerous especially to the legitimacy of your wise leadership. In moments like this all we need are allies having the goodwill and political interest in our affairs. I am not saying this as an answer to Khartoum military tone but I am saying it on the basis of defense with restrain should SAF step into our territory.  Before I sat down to write this letter, I had discussed a brief question with my learned colleague students who have the goodwill for this nation, and so I may be writing reflecting their shared views. The question I had asked them is: “which nation is most likely willing to help us with military aid during moments such as this?” Although there were no conclusive answers for this question, I gained courage and motivation to write this letter which I believe your Excellency will find relevant to read since it is from an ordinary citizen seeking the common good of our state.

Up to this moment of my letter Mr. President, I implore your patience to stay with me even though I seem not to point out what my letter intends to address. The point is we have a number of friendly states to look up to in terms of soliciting military aid especially when it comes to defense of our sovereignty from Khartoum’s aggression. I am obliged to think that your Excellency knows that most superpowers won’t be of help at this crucial moment when we need their help in terms of military aids as well as finances. This is based on political justifications which this letter cannot dwell on.

As far as the current political situation is concerned, Mr. President, I do not wish to puzzle your good office with, perhaps, insufficient political thoughts since I am not a politician. I have an idea which came out of a brainstorming discussion I had with my learned colleague students. My observation is based on the need to seek MILITARY AID FROM ISRAEL which I believe will be far more ready to LISTEN AND HELP US. The meeting point between our State [South Sudan] and Israel is: Israel is an enemy state number two (2) of the Republic of Sudan. Your Excellency knows that we are enemy state number (1) of the said Republic as passed by their national legislature following our occupation of Panthou.

Mr. President, we all need to recollect our memories regarding our friends that have been with us since the bush era and going through the list, I find it necessary-in my opinion, that we cannot afford to ignore mentioning the support Israel extended to us. All we need is to appreciate their support and ask for more especially in moments such as this.  As a general rule, we turn to our friends in moments of need and of excess just like a Christian does to God. This is no time to panic but it is time to think of what is best for this nation. I am undoubtful that our efforts will be in vain should we seek military aid from ISRAEL. ISRAEL has been our great friend and will continue to be! So why not exploit this opportunity while they may be willing to help us? Yes, WE can Mr. President because this is a better thing to do as we await the outcome and implementation of UN Security Council (UNSC) deliberation on adopting the African Union (AU) roadmap adopted [this week] by the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) aimed at resolving disputes between our Republic [South Sudan] and the Republic of Sudan.

May I remind your Excellency that, in a closed door meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, we need to apologise in respect to the statement your Excellency made during UN General Assembly meeting commending the giving of Palestinians their statehood. Mr. President, we all know that Israel does not and will never acknowledge or approve the statehood of Palestine because of their political as well as religious differences for decades. Approving that it is necessary to give Palestinians their state must have been a great disappointment to Israel and US alike. In this sense, our Apology will be a good move to further cement our relations and intended to solicit military aid in good faith.

Mr. President, I wish not to remind you that the superpowers are hiding their faces and expect us to seek military aid from a nation having goodwill and interest in our state of affairs. On the contrary, I have observed beyond doubt that there is something lacking within our armed forces which we cannot ask from anywhere but from ourselves. In my opinion, it is the moral our gallant armed forces had during the liberation struggle. The question is where is that moral with which, say two hundred (200), SPLA soldiers could defeat Sudan Armed forces (SAF) numbering, perhaps, a thousand (1000)?

Mr. President, this is an open question which I do not intend you to answer because the answer does not lie with you but with the army generals! The point is, during times such as this, we need to give our army at the battle-field some reasonable bonuses which, I believe, will arouse some lost moral. An increased salary during times of war, I think, is a good motivation for a soldier at the battle-field. Our army need this simple thing, Mr. President. We as a nation need to hold together facing challenges from authoritarian government of the Sudan. We can defeat them especially if we accept our weaknesses and improve on them alongside building on areas of our competences! We need to be supportive at all times: in moments of success and of defeat. And believing that ISRAEL shall give us military aid, may I ask your Excellency to direct the Chief of General Staff to ensure that Generals commanding war troops be together with them at the battle-field just as we commonly know it is an incentive for winning against an enemy and creates an element of moral necessary to cause success!

May it impress your Excellency what I shall say in curing the political disease in Khartoum. For sure, we are at times of political stress and so the mind thinks that way. I hold the view that if we need a comprehensive cure for that disease, then we must think of a regime change in Khartoum which I think we can manage given our ties with the SPLM-N and to solicit support form opposition parties may not be too difficult. Mr. President, May I remind you that the NCP is a cause of our souring relations with the Sudan. Yes I must say it is because the President of the Republic of Sudan, the Governor of Southern Kordofan and the Minister of Defense are all ICC indictees for crimes committed in relation to Darfur rebellion! Do we expect any good from this leadership having on it individuals who have records of criminal responsibility and who call us “mercenaries and Insects”? Of course not, Mr. President but I recommend your Excellency takes this as a long term comprehensive political solution. It is long term in the sense that we need to barter this idea with individual members of SPLM-N as well as unmentioned allies in the Republic of Sudan and get them on our side. We can better manage it with support from our allies but this is no time to think that way because there is a declared war on our state. So your Excellency may invest in this idea as a longer answer to the recurring political nuisance of the authoritarian regime in Khartoum!

I must apologise to your good office, Mr. President, in case I have erred in writing this letter but I am acting in my capacity as a patriotic citizen having the goodwill for our nation. May this letter give your Excellency the courage to face the current political surge with determination, confidence and motivation to invest in the democracy of our nation and to know that there are patriots who always think of this nation day and night.

Mr. President, allow me to say a big thank you for having read my letter as I have confidence in your administration as President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces.
 May God enrich your leadership with ideas necessary for the growth and flourishing of democracy and rule of law in our nation!
 God Bless South Sudan!
Kindly yours in patriotism,

 Magok Alier Akuot
The writer is a student of Law at Dr. John Garang Memorial University of Science and Technology, Jonglei State-Bor
He can be reached at Email: unclelouish@gmail.com

4/11/2012

"A society whose youth believe only in now is deceiving itself. It denies man's basic and oldest characteristics, that he is a creation of memory, a bride into the future, a time blinder" Loren Eilsely.

I don’t even know where to begin because many things had happened in our community over these two names. We have debated these names in our gatherings, but we still couldn’t come up with a solution. We still don’t have a name that unites the Duk, "Twic East", Gok, and Athoc. However, I have been contemplating to write this piece because maybe few individuals who can judge my argument from both sides rather than taking sides might find this piece useful. To irritate, Dr. John Garang de Mabior is known by his comrades as a patriot from Dinka Bor in the history of South Sudan. The question is did Dr. John Garang de Mabior secretly say to the so-called "Twic East" folks that they don’t belong to Dinka Bor? What is "Twic East" all over sudden? What is "East" in Dinka? All the counties from Cuei thon to Chuei-keer make up the Dinka Bor as per my understanding. This includes Duken, Litth, Ajuong, Pakeer, Gok, and Athoc. I hope no one is referring to "Twic Mayardit" from Dinka Bahr el Ghazal to make a reference. Some who know Ajuong’s clans believe "Twic" came from "atwiei" clan within Ajuong. The lingering question is when was this term coined anyway? Was this after the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005 or during the war? Don’t get me wrong, I come from both communities.

To begin with, I, the author, get pissed off, deceived, and frustrated about how our diaspora leaders from "Bor" or "Twic East" are handling development projects back home. I am not insinuating that they are bad leaders, but they are too blind to see how these names are affecting our communities in terms of development. Perhaps they noticed this, but they don’t have the guts to make this issue a part of their task.

I, the author, was brought up knowing that I am Dinka Bor from "Gok" region in Jonglei State. Within Gok, I have my own sub clan which I identify myself with. To go in depth, within ‘sub clan’ in Gok, I have a section that identifies me as well. As you can see, these categories paint the picture of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) because this can be confusing when politics takes its role. In addition, I was told that ‘there isn’t any single people call "Bor" other than those groups mentioned above. This name came about because the ‘land’ Bor gets flooded every season by the Nile River. Perhaps we shouldn’t worry about the name because the GoSS has a plan to drain the Sudd Wetlands so the water can easily run straight to Egypt.

The question is should I, the author, identify myself with my ‘sub clan’ within Gok or should i identify myself with the general name, Bor, which unites the aforementioned groups? This seems to be the problem with our diaspora communities particularly my community. I won’t speak about the diaspora in East Africa, but I will mention the killing of one student in a tribal brawl in Nakuru, Kenya last year. More importantly, I want to extend my late condolence to the families who lost their son because of this renaissance.

When we came aboard, our goals were to go to school, work, and help our people back home. We send money home regularly, but that’s not enough. Some of these dreams can be achieved by individuals, but bringing "cities to villages" as Dr. John Garang de Mabior said is not an easy task for one person or by a single clan. Perhaps the philanthropist, John Khok Alat is the only man who is capable of this since he already funded Makol-Cuei project. He inspired me to ask myself what the former President of the United States once said, "ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for you country". Khok Alat champions Kennedy’s figure of speech.

To generalize, we the so-called "Bor" or "Twic East" around the globe are divided simply because of the name Bor. I will limit my generalization to the United States and Australia because I live in both places.

In 2009, the Dinka "Bor" in America elected their President in Michigan State, of which I was one of the voters. His name is Abraham Deng Lueth. The acronym is Greater Bor Community-USA (http://www.gbc-usa.org). Some people from Australia and Canada came to cast their votes. There were disagreements, which let some people to leave the meeting because they didn’t like the "domination of Dinka Bor" name as an acronym. These individuals were half my age, and I was born sometimes in 1983 when Kerubino Kuanyin Bol surprised the Jalaba in Madingbor. Luckily enough, the meeting went on and we elected our leaders. There is no doubt that these leaders have been working day and night to help our communities here aboard or back home, but they are weak because we the community don’t have their full support because of this name. Some individuals might argue that they are doing well because they are raising funds. To offer my judgment, some of us just do it to be politically correct or to keep our constituents. 

For example, I, the author, know someone who nominated himself to be a Bor leader, but in the low, he denies the name and claimed that he’s not from Bor. He first identifies himself with his ‘sub clan’ over Bor. How absurd can this be! What progress do we expect from this individual? Is he a "political prostitute" or is he lost in the system.

The same year, I went to Australia and I was fortunate to meet my uncles, aunts, mothers, sisters, brothers, and friends during a Bor meeting. I felt like I was back in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. The meeting was well attended, but fights broke out over personal issues. However, what baffle me is what I later realized that the meeting didn’t include everyone except those from "Gok" and "Athoc". I wasn’t sure if these two sections were the ‘legitimate’ "Bor". Interestingly, the "Twic East" and Duken" were holding their meetings separately. I would assume their meeting pertain development in Jonglei State similar to the Bor Community.

My question is why are some people blindfolding the entire community to be part of "Bor" while in fact they don’t really embrace the name? Why are we raising funds in the name of "Bor" while in fact there are some people who want to serve their respective clans? How sustainable are these projects if we aren’t united to support them? Does anyone notice this trend or am I missing something?

Since "Bor" is denied by many people because it doesn’t represent them, we should go our separate ways in order to bring development in our villages. This doesn’t mean we hate each other, but to ease up these unresolved tensions in the meetings. Whether the legitimate "Bor" meet together in Australia, the "Twic East" and the Duken individually, it doesn’t matter as long as they are planning to help people back home. The Greater Bor Community in the United States on the other hand, is even more confused like a child brought up in a village and relocated to a cattle camp for the first time. There are a lot of ambiguities because people don’t know who to support. This attitude is one of many reasons why people are reluctant to be part of development. How do we avoid this?

In my opinion, we should not raise funds in the name of "Greater Bor Community" here in the U.S because this name offends others who believe they are marginalized under this name. This thinking prevents them from helping our communities. We hope this thinking will cease since we are getting ‘higher education’, but it is not happening. Perhaps the wise Dinka man who said "a horse can finish University, and he will finish as a horse" was right. This is a direct translation. We shouldn’t forget that when the Murle raiders attack the Dinka in Jonglei State, they don’t say let’s go and raid "Bor", "Twic East" and Duken for their children and cattle. In BOR POLITICALLY POOR POLITICIANS, Tearz Ayuen writes, "For how long will Bor people drink water straight from frog ponds? Even when the other South Sudanese middle-aged men are proudly developing pot-bellies as a result of Comprehensive Peace Agreement, Bor men still have flat stomachs. In case you spot a Bor male adult with a big belly in Bor town, he must be suffering from bilharzia or tapeworm that normally enlarges the belly. The dude still drinks dirty water!" Let’s keep Bor for political purpose, and let’s get down to business!

Recommendations:

Rebecca Barber, SMH/National Times

This time last year, the US-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network warned that the food security situation in the Horn of Africa was 'alarming', and that poor rains could lead to famine conditions in parts of Somalia.

As an international community, we failed to respond.  Four months later the worst was realised and the UN declared a famine in six regions in Southern Somalia. By November, 750,000 people were at risk of starvation.

It's now acknowledged that last year's food crisis in the Horn of Africa took no-one by surprise, and that we had the information needed to take cost-effective, preventive action to save lives.  An evaluation conducted late last year by the UK's Disasters Emergency Committee found that there was a 'failure of preventive action from late 2010', and a 'failure to respond with adequate relief from the time it was needed in early to mid-2011'.

“Giving an apology is the best way of bringing in peace. We don’t want to pass these painful things to our children. We want them to be living in a peaceful and democratic state in South Sudan…So those of us who have survived and who [have] seen painful things during the war, we need to kick off the process of national reconciliation,” said Dr. Machar in Bor on Tuesday (April 3^rd, 2012) during a peace workshop held to reconcile the warring ethnic groups in Jonglei state, as quoted by Sudan Tribune.

By PaanLuel Wël, Washington DC, USA, Planet Earth.

In the politically correct circles of the academic-left of the Western World, there is an understanding, called it a theory or an argument, that goes like this: some foreign cultural practices and beliefs—the caste system in India, killing of twins and albinos in some parts of Africa, witchcraft, polygamy and wife inheritance in Africa and the Islamic world and so forth—are obnoxious, despicable and barbarous. But because these are highly controversial subjects that may, and do indeed, insult those local people, it is better—politically correct—that the West should not talk about—condemn and eradicate—those cultural practices. Rather, it should be left upon the “enlightened” foreigners—the Indians, Africans, Arabs etc—to censure and exterminate their barbaric traditional customs and norms that are, or so they say, virtually anachronistic to the civilized world of the 21^st century.

When appropriately and timely applied though, Political Correctness—the avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult certain groups of people—can be an effective tool to broach, and perhaps solve, such sensitive issues as the Bor Massacre of 1991. To cut the long story short, none of the members of other South Sudanese communities—not even other sections of the Dinka society—would be prepared to come forward and urge the Bor Dinka Community to accept Dr. Machar’s apology and make peace with him for the fear that they may offend/insult Bor Dinka community—the victims of the 1991 Bor massacre.

Thus, I believe it is upon members of the Bor Dinka community, like myself, to break the silence over the taboo that Dr. Riek Machar, who masterminded the killing of unarmed, innocent civilians of the Greater Bor region, does not deserve to be forgiven, no matter how many apologies he is prepared to offer. To some, dare I say most, aggrieved members of the Bor Dinka community, it hardly makes any difference if and when those apologies are offered in Juba, Bortown, in each of the three counties of the Greater Bor region or even in each of the villages that constitute the Greater Bor community. To such a group of Bor Dinka members, an unequivocal acceptance of Dr. Machar’s apology and the prospect of a genuine reconciliation with him tantamount to the ultimate betrayal of their dead mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, relatives and colleagues killed by armed forces commanded by the very man they are making peace with.

But for how long will the Bor Dinka community gonna hold bitter grudge against a man who has come out—against all odds and intense pressure from tribal bigots within his Nuer community—to unconditionally accept his not-so-admirable past, offer unreserved apology and called for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission that would open a window of opportunity for the young Republic of South Sudan to come to term with its long troubled past? For how long will the two communities—the Dinkas and the Nuers—be continually defined by an ugly past that none of them had any overall control over? For how long will the Dinkas and the Nuers will the entire country hostage to their tribal enmity? When will the two communities understand that any war—any conflict—between themselves is an all-out war among South Sudanese and any reconciliation and peace between them is the definitive peace for the whole country? Arguably, because of their size and political influence, a war between the Dinkas and the Nuers will always be a war against South Sudan itself while peace and reconciliation between the two will invariably result in long lasting peace and social prosperity for the whole country.

When Dr. Machar offered his first public apology to the Bor Dinka Community on August 10, 2011, it was meant as an acknowledgement of his responsibility for the 1991 Bor Massacre—killing and mass displacement of the Bor Dinka civilians—following his defection on 28 August 1991 from the SPLM/A under the leadership of the late Dr. John Garang. The fact that the apology was given in a gathering organized and attended by senior leaders of the Bor Dinka community—including Rebecca Nyanding, the widow of Dr. John Garang that Dr. Machar rebelled against and fought a bitter war with—speak volume to the resolve and determination on the part of Dr. Machar to chart a new bright future for himself as a political leader and for South Sudan as a conflict-ridden nation.

Although Dr. Machar was categorical that his apology was solely aimed at bringing about some kind of a final closure on the dark past of the war era and, hopefully, to engender unity and harmonious relationship between the Dinkas and the Nuers, the apology was, unsurprisingly, received with mixed feelings from both quarters. On the one hand, some members of the Bor Dinka community such as the elders, Rebecca Nyandeng and Malaak Ayuen who were present during the gathering did “expressed their forgiveness to the vice president” and “commended [him] for accepting responsibility for the [Bor] incident.”  To them, the apology was the beginning of a long reconciliation process to come. In their reaction to the apology, the Bor Dinka Students from Uganda described Dr. Machar’s apology as the “beginning of a new era.” On the other hand, some members of the Bor Dinka community thought that the apology was not enough—chiefly because it was delivered in a small house in the distant land of Juba instead of in public gathering in the land of the victims.

The ethnic Nuer community among whom the Vice President hailed from did expressed mixed reactions too. While some welcomed Dr. Machar apology as a long overdue positive initiative to bring together the two estranged communities, others did worry that the Bor Dinka community would use the apology as “evidence of a crime” to arraign him before the ICC court for the 1991 Bor Massacre. Still, some members of the Nuer community like Deng Gatluak thought that the apology was premature:

Others though saw the bigger picture, especially given the fact that Dr. Machar, the current vice president of South Sudan, may aspire to the highest office in the future and may not wish to embark on that political quest with a lot of baggage. According to one Lul Gatkuoth Nguth from Canada, Dr. Machar’s apology was nothing less than a “politically astute move, to bring peace and harmony to the [two] communities:”

It was within, or because of, these not-so-clear reactions from the two disgruntled communities that I responded to Dr. Machar apology with an article “Dr. Machar’s Apology to the Dinka Bor Community: A Tradeoff between long lasting Peace and Social Justice.” In that article written on August 13, 2011, I argued that the Bor Dinka community must trade off deserved social justice for the victims of the Bor Massacre for a long lasting peace and societal harmony in the new republic of South Sudan. My argument was in formed by the recognition that Dr. Machar, the perpetrator of the alleged mayhems, has freely and willingly initiated the peace and reconciliation process and the Bor Dinka community must therefore meet him half-way and strike a compromise for the sake of the country.

The Israelis, in their conflict with the Palestinian Arabs, have a policy referred to as “Land for Peace” in which Israelis are prepared to give up their Biblically land to the Arabs in exchange for peaceful co-existence with them. My contention, therefore, was that the Bor Dinka community should also embrace the policy of “Peace for Justice” instead of the traditional policy of retributive justice—Justice for Peace in which a true peace must be accompanied by a severe punishment for the perpetrator of the crimes. If South Sudanese have made peace—yes, CPA—with President Al-Bashir of Sudan who murdered millions of South Sudanese, how could they not forgive their own son who have volunteered to have his apology accepted and be forgiven for the sins committed by his armed forces?

As I have previously mentioned, one key objection raised by various members of the Bor Dinka community against Dr. Machar’s first apology was that it was delivered in Juba instead of Bortown, and in small house, instead of in a public gathering where most members of the affected community would be present to witness and receive the apology from Dr. Machar. Well, it now appears that that complains from the Bor Dinka was not entirely lost on Guandit Machar. On Tuesday this week, April 3rd 2012, Dr. Machar offered his reaffirmation of the apology to the Bor Dinka community he had last year delivered in Juba. It was publicly delivered in Bortown where the massacre occurred and among those, whose family members were killed, maimed or displaced.

Will that be the end of the story? No, it is not. Not for Dr. Machar himself for he is calling for a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission and not for the Bor Dinka either for they still find issues with the apology itself.

For example, some members of the Bor Dinka community see the apology as a “window dressing” process, delivered in meetings and public gatherings not meant for the discussion of the 1991 atrocities. The allegation is that the first apology was delivered in a gathering meant to mark the anniversary of the death of Dr. John Garang in Rebecca Nyandeng’s home in Juba, while the second apology was given in Bor on an occasion designated to stop the ongoing inter-ethnic strife in Jonglei. Though the two incidences in Bor are related, in that both concern conflict resolution and peace building mechanisms, some members of the Bor Dinka Community do feel that holding his apology on that occasion tends to generalize and hence belittled the magnitude of the Bor Massacre—something they feel should be given its own special day and occasion to discuss it.

Taking advantage of anonymity provided by online websites, some comments on Dr. Machar’s second apology are even harsher. Typical of most tribal bigots in all South Sudanese communities, one commentator from the online, France-based Sudan Tribune went even further in his vehement rejection of Dr. Machar’s second apology in Bor:

The same antagonistic line of argument was echoed in these words from another online commentator:

Moreover, Some within the Bor Dinka Community maintain that the 1991 failed coup against the leadership of Dr. John Garang of the SPLM/A that resulted in the Bor Massacre and the mass displacement of the Bor civilians did not just affected the Bor community but also all the communities of South Sudan. This avowal is well captured below by Peter Nhiany on South Sudanese Bloggers’ blog. Because the comment can best be understood and appreciated in its entirety, I am going to quote the whole statement as it appears on the blog:

Peter Nhiany’s argument that the carnages of the 1991 split didn’t only affected the Bor Dinka community but the entire people of South Sudan is in place. It is true that Dinkas’ as well as Nuers’ civilians and soldiers were indiscriminately killed or maimed and so were other community members of South Sudanese society. But I also think that Dr Machar, as an individual and as a leader, has done enough of his part by leading from front instead of waiting to be pushed around or behind by others. He has initiated the process of national reconciliation and forgiveness. As members of the Bor Dinka community that was heavily affected by the 1991 split within the SPLM/A, we must give him a chance and hear him out before passing the next verdict on the man.

What remain to be done, as Dr. Machar has already proposed, is to organize and have a national conference of all South Sudanese people since all were affected as Mr. Nhiany has explicated, though to varying degree. We can borrow the very model used in South Africa after the demised of Apartheid, or in Rwanda after the genocide, to bring about national dialogue: South Sudan needs a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to deal with such deep-rooted and emotional issues such as the Bor Massacre. I think that is what Dr. Machar was calling for in his reaffirmation of his apology in Bortown. Remember how people reacted to his first statement offered in Juba? He was told to go to Bortown and made an apology. Well, now he has gone to Bortown, humbling himself to do as members of Bor Dinka community advised him to.

In fact, a call to establish a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission has a lot of support from South Sudanese citizens. Steve Paterno, a South Sudanese political pundit residing in the USA who authored a biography of Father Saturlino Ohure—the spiritual father of South Sudanese liberation struggle, thinks that:

Another South Sudanese from the USA, Agereb Leek Chol, a Master Student at Clark University in Massachusetts, also lends his support to the idea of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Sudan:

It was the same melody from Ayuen Awan. Commenting on a link article on Dr. Machar’s second apology on my Facebook page, Mr. Awan wrote thus:

Personally, I hold no grudge against Dr. Machar so long as he works—and he had been doing so since he rejoined the Movement in 2002—for the interest of all South Sudanese people. But if he had decided to offer an apology, I would accept it because it is human nature to apologize if one believes that they have unfairly or unintentionally wrong someone. Dr. Machar is under immense pressure from some diehard tribalists within his own community—yes, there are tribal chauvinists in every community—and the Bor Dinkas must appreciate his resolve to do and say what he is currently doing or saying. For the record, he is the only leader so far to own up to his sins in South Sudan and probably among very few across the African continent. The pride that comes with leadership, particularly in Africa where leaders can easily mobilized their tribes to defeat justice, make it simpler for the horse to pass through the eye of the needle than for the politician to own up to the crime he committed in broad daylight. Ask Kenyans about Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto and you would appreciate Dr. Machar’s overtures for peace in South Sudan.

No matter how much the agonies of the 1991 Bor Massacre may conspire to cloud our present judgment of the man, we the Bor Dinka community must see him not only as the “Riek Machar man col amook ci baai riook” of the past accused of masterminding the massacre of innocent unarmed civilians but also as the current vice president of South Sudan pleading to have his apologies accepted and calling for national reconciliation and healing. It is not a secret that the Bor Dinka Community prides itself as the most civilized, law-abiding, and peace-loving society in South Sudan. Whether or not that is a true reflection of who they are or just a mere self-aggrandizement does not matter; the challenge in front of the Bor Dinka community is whether they are prepared to make peace with the “enemy” who is publicly prepared and ready to make amend with them.

The Bor Dinka community have lost many leading sons—more than any other community relative to their size and the seniority of the victims—to the cause of South Sudan: Akuot Atem Mayen, Martin Majier Ghai, Arok Thon Arok and above all, Dr. John Garang himself. The victims of the 1991 Bor Massacre are more or less part of the costliest package paid to secure the independence of South Sudan. A peaceful and prosperous South Sudan—only attainable with harmonious co-existence of the Dinkas and the Nuers—is the highest gift that any member of the Bor Dinka community can ever bestow on the graves of their beloved lost ones and that all South Sudanese can ever dream to bequeath to their children and children’s children.

Before the Biblical Paul was Paul, he was Saul—a murderous madman targeting Christians in their dens. Who knows, the Saul who murdered the Bor Dinka people might one day be the Paul of the republic of South Sudan!! Like the Jews of Europe, the Bor Dinka community must forgive their tormentors but never forget the atrocities committed against them!!

PaanLuel Wël (paanluel2011@gmail.com) is the Managing Editor of PaanLuel Wël: South Sudanese Bloggers. He can be reached through his Facebook page, Twitter account or on the blog: http://paanluelwel2011.wordpress.com/

April 1, 2012 (Borglobe) --- very interestingly to see a progress in the World’s poorest nation of South Sudan, which legally separated from Islam dominated Old Sudan nine months ago after years of two consecutive brutalized civil wars of (1955-1972 & 1983-2005). Agreeably, John Khok has now become a business mogul who can definitely start the science of improving the humans’ conditions in our far-behind communities either in clinical settings or banking services – in health and finance to the locals.

One could describe him as an exemplar and a nabob in his community by serving others through his confident in ground-breaking approaches. Mr. Khok’s philanthropy has reached the highest point of giving and developments after he built physical beauty- buildings at Makol-Cuei of Baaidit Payam in Bor County, Jonglei State in South Sudan through the art of modern technology in our past-primitive community that had been dealing with traditional and nomadic ways of living standards since time memorial.

The reason for being appreciative to Khok Alat is not to invade his material-wealth, but to praise his act of generosity as a social climber, an upstart of his succession to encourage other few brothers and sisters of his business-standards to start the same competition at the state and national levels in our country. Mr. Alat has brought Makol-Cuei to the top of our all administrative centers in Jonglei State through his thoughts and might in a business industry.

Back to the history, Makol-Cuei once had served as a basic elementary school, where products of its graduates had made it to a national level in Old Sudan and quite interestingly, some are now serving in South Sudan Government as officials had their basic education at the very school. Won’t be a thankful achievement? Sure, it does touch the hearts of innocent poor seeking help medically and educationally.

Biong’s local chief, Malith Magok crediting his two village pioneers (Jok-Kuch Nhial and Agau Deng) during the church-clinic inauguration at Makol-Cuei according to the Sudan Tribune report was a wise saying.

They say "human is a selfish animal" and Mr. Alat should enjoy his business, but also to take extra security caution because it is not everybody who may appreciate Khok’s emergence to stand tall in our community for simply put – hatred!

“Wewe! Jinga hii. Unafanya nini hapa?!  Nakuuliza, what are you doing here?”.........That was a Kenyan administration police officer barking questions at me on May 19, 2009, the very day I arrived in Nairobi following my first field trip to South Sudan where I traveled to to cover a seven-day peace conference in Bor.
That day, I touched down at Kenyatta Airport at around 2 o’clock, boarded a taxi cab to the office as required by the organization policy. I greeted colleagues and worked out a few petty assignments. About an hour later, I rode home in another taxi. By then, I was staying at my Cousin Bullen Achiek Ngong’s house at Ngara, about 3 kilometers north of downtown.

I was so exhausted, so, I decided to take a shower in order to freshen myself up. It was after I stepped out of the bathroom I remembered I had no cologne. I had forgotten the only one I had in my hotel room at Juba’s Hamza Inn.
Being a great lover of perfumes, I couldn’t resist going for another one. Hence, I dashed back to town. At Tuskys Beba Beba supermarket, the queues were so long that I painfully spent about 30 minutes standing in the line. By the time I was done buying “Tattoo Junkie” spray, it was already late - that time of the day the light undresses for darkness.
It was on a week day, meaning the evening was characterized by deafening honking, crazy human and terrific traffic jams. I had to walk a few distances towards National Archives building along Tom Mboya Street, loaded with kilos of hopes that I would quickly find route 6 Mathree to drop me off near the house.

In addition to the normal human traffic, it was also that time of Nairobi when hawkers notoriously defiantly display their second and even third-hand wares on the pavements, a behavior that pisses off the city council management because - besides the by-law prohibiting unlicensed selling of goods on the streets - it increases the likelihood of accidents and it also makes it hard for a pedestrian to squeeze his or her way through. Being used to it, I was comfortable doing the squeezing and pushing when suddenly tom Mboya Street turned into a football pitch. Everyone started chasing a ball, an imaginary ball. All the pedestrians ran into different directions. I saw men and women fall down. Upon seeing people with bleeding knees and hands as a result of bad sudden falls, my fear button got turned on, automatically, forcing me to stay put at least to figure out what exactly was going on. I tried hard to catch a glimpse of what the people where running away from or running to, but to no avail.

To my surprise, some voice echoed from behind. Ni nini unafanya hapa? I turned around only to see this sinewy cop dressed up in khaki. He was dark, round-faced, with tainted teeth.  I replied: “Boss, natakana hii commotion i-clear ndio nipande matz…..” hardly had I finished answering him when he interrupted me. “hapana! This is idling!!” He landed his rungu on my left knee. “What have I done? I asked. He ignored my question and hit me again and again.  And within split seconds, his colleagues, about five, descended from nowhere and joined him. They practiced playing xylophone on my knees till my legs refused to carry me anymore. I hit the ground with my knees. One grabbed me by my jumper and pulled me up. “nimedo makosa gani? Ni nini nimefanya? Nimewakosea aje?” I fired one question in different ways as the other officer struggled to hold me by the belt. They dragged me towards their truck, parked in the middle of the road. A huge jam had begun to build up as the police truck showed no sign of giving way. It was like they found what they were looking for -Tears Ayuen.

Many more officers got drawn to the scene as I refused to climb up the truck, seriously demanding to know where I had gone wrong first. The level of my adrenalin shot up, strengthening me. I got wild. My muscles tightened up. It was like I just received a shot of heroin. Hence I resisted the three cops who tried to force me into the vehicle. Intimidated by my unruliness, their commandant, a two-star boss breathed fire. I saw him hand his Motorola 77 and his headgear to another officer in readiness to help his juniors. Armed with various skills of manhandling a criminal, this dude grabbed me by the belt and tried to pull me up hoping that I would, with uneasiness, stand on my toes, an attempt that produced no fruits because he was a dwarf, almost the size of Inspector Mwala. In fact, I mistook him for Mwala until we got to the station.

A few seconds later, I felt some hand fumbling between my legs. It was a huge, rough, semi-metallic, bowl-like hand. My instincts told me that it was searching for my young precious fertile balls to squash them, explode them. With balls being very significant to me, I acted swiftly and smartly by deploying a tactics. I was in strong moderately tight pants, and they were almost falling as usual. To counter the ball-squeezing hand, the hand of infertility, the hand of extra-judicial castration, the hand of permanent emotional agony, I stretched my legs a little bit, making it impossible for him to reach out my golden testicles. See? Sagging saved my balls, my baby- making laboratory.

As they roughed me off, I unknowingly kept singing the same question until it became a one-line chorus of a hardcore hip hop track; “what have I done? What I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? What have I done?”
They finally managed to fling me onto the truck and that was after some of the cops decisively climbed up the truck and pulled me up. They held me by my head, arms, collar while the ones on the ground prepared for a push. The force was so powerful that I fell on the floor chest first. “Korou korou”, my flat chest greeted the metallic floor.

Struggling to sit up, I quickly assumed the purpose of a footstool as the officers who were seated, guarding suspects, placed their dirty smelly old boots on my head, back.
One thing that amazed me after I gained humanity while still riding in the police vehicle was the devil that sent me to town, the spray that I bought. Despite all the rough experiences from the police; the pulling, hitting, pushing, yanking, it remained glued to my left hand, safe and intact.
After roaming the streets for about an hour, we arrived at the central police station where we marched into the registration office.

The police officers who arrested us threw a blanket charge: “hawa wote ni hawkers. They engaged in illegal trading. Na huyo kijana ni kichwa kibovu.” “But I’m not a hawker, sir. Mimi ni msu……….,” I objected. “Ati nini? And how did you get herrrr….” The commandant murmured the word “here” as his lips froze with confusion, and sticking his bloodshot eyes on my forehead. He whispered something to the registrar’s ear and walked out. That assured me they had finally discovered I wasn’t a hawker, not a native either. They finally read my number plate engraved on my face.
After they realized that I was a Sudanese, the whole thing took a different course. I wasn’t a hawker anymore, meaning new charges.

“Wee, Galang, iko wapi passport?” asked the registrar, a fat dude who could not pronounce Garang properly. His mother tongue fucked up roman alphabets, especially letters L and R. “Reta kitamburisho, he screwed up words again. “sina sahihi. Iko nyumbani”, I answered.
After I failed to produce my passport, this son of a bitch pressed two charges against me. One, that I was an illegal alien. And two, obstruction; that I obstructed the officers from carrying out their operation by resisting arrest.

“Remove your belt, your watch, cash and phone. Take off your shoe, left,” ordered a jailer. Bang! He slammed the door behind me. In the cell, the strong and the powerful were waiting for me; to frisk me, hoping to find anything valuable. They only got a silver finger ring.
I spent the night awake as the floor was cold, wet and stinking. In the morning, I heard some voice calling out, “Sudanese”. I got out only to recognize faces from my office. I had informed them of where I would spend the night shortly before the cops threw me in.

The United Nations says a new deal signed with South Sudan's army could lead to the newest country being delisted from nations which use and recruit child soldiers. Special Representative to the U.N. Secretary General for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, announced in Juba Friday that the deal signed this week could lead to 2,000 more children being released soon. The SPLA - a former guerrilla movement that fought Sudan for decades and secured South Sudan's independence in July - has released 3,000 children since a 2005 peace agreement ended the civil war. On Monday, South Sudan's army formally signed an agreement with the United Nations to release all children within its ranks. U.N. Special Representative Radjika Coomaraswamy says swift implementation is important as the army has many more children to release due to the military absorbing many child combatants from rebel groups who responded to a government amnesty offer. "If you're a violator that's been persistent, there's the possibility of sanctions against the party," said Coomaraswamy. "So the purpose of this visit was because the SPLA has been on this list since 2006. And it's very important that we delist them as soon as possible, and now they are a national army, it becomes extremely important."

Coomaraswamy toured South Sudan this week to assess the status of children and to discuss South Sudan's progress in freeing child combatants. But she was not able to visit the troubled Jonglei state, where more than 140,000 people have been affected by ethnic violence this year. She voiced concern that traditional cattle raiding between rival communities had become increasingly deadly, and that children were often targeted in the killings and large numbers were abducted along with women.

"It's our sense that this factor is really fueling the violence and giving it a little edge, making it more difficult to resolve this situation," Coomaraswamy added.  "So we want to ensure that in the future there will be no impunity for those who abduct, but also we want to ensure that any reconciliation process will have to have the return of women and children" Coomaraswamy also voiced concerns over areas in western South Sudan that are still terrorized by cross-border attacks by the infamous Joseph Kony and his Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). This fanatical rebel group - that has recruited children to commit atrocities in border areas of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, South Sudan and Uganda for years.
 
The plight of these so-called invisible children has taken on international attention this month after a U.S. group released an online video calling for LRA leader Joseph Kony to be brought to trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) by force. Coomaraswamy said that while awareness of the issue and mobilizing young people to act was always good, calling for military action could endanger the lives of children still trapped in the LRA. "The last thing we want, and I hope this will not happen, is vigilantism," Coomaraswamy explained.  "We have people in South Sudan picking up a gun and deciding to go and find Joseph Kony.  This kind of thing is crazy. We want national armies who are accountable to the Geneva Convention who are going to go and find Kony." She says while the United Nations is looking to delist South Sudan quickly, the U.N. Security Council is moving towards sanctions including arms and travel embargoes and a freeze on assets in countries like Ivory Coast, Somalia, and the DRC - where children are still used as soldiers.

Hannah McNeish writes for VOA, from where this article is adapted.

(Borglobe) -- Protecting civilians should be the primary job for the government. However, the Government of South Sudan (GoSS) has failed tremendously to stop massacres in Jonglei state. In Jonglei’s Tribal Conflicts: Countering Insecurity in South Sudan estimated that 2,500 people were killed in 2009. My research dating back from 2005 until 2012 finds that 7334 were killed in Jonglei state because of cattle raids, counter attacks, and rebels casualties. These killing were exacerbated by the 2006 ‘forcible disarmament’, which left the Nuer and the Dinka Bor vulnerable to Murle’s raiders? The GoSS failed to simultaneously disarm everyone in Jonglei state.

March 14, 2012, 5:43 p.m.

 

The latest fighting between Nuer and Murle cost lives and displaced many, raising the risk of a humanitarian disaster and exposing the state's shortcomings.

 

Reporting from Juba, South Sudan— The two wards are at opposite ends of the hospital. One ward is silent but for a baby boy, gurgling on a bed in a corridor. A toddler wanders around with a machete scar on his head. The boys' parents are dead.

In the other ward lies one of the men who attacked them. When Gai Nashir was a baby, his father was also killed, by members of the boys' tribe. Quick to anger, he grew up with an enemy.

"This war began before I was even born," says Nashir, who was wounded in December when he and other members of his Nuer tribe shot and hacked to death hundreds of men, women and children of the Murle tribe in the darkest episode in the short, troubled history of the world's newest country, South Sudan.

The ongoing tribal violence, which saw more than 200 people killed last week in the latest outbreak, poses a serious threat to a fragile state still recovering from a long war for independence from the Sudanese government. With memories of the bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region fresh, the displacement of 125,000 by the fighting in Jonglei state also raises the risk of yet another humanitarian disaster in a region ill-equipped to handle one.

The tribal tension is just one of the cascading problems that confront South Sudan, including a near-total lack of infrastructure and a war on its disputed border with Sudan that has caused 80,000 people to flee into South Sudan. There is mounting tension with Sudan over oil, most of which went to South Sudan with its independence; talks on the issue reportedly degenerated into a shouting match recently.

The December attacks exposed the government's failure to protect its citizens, and to offer services and jobs in a destitute region. Bitter young men whose tribes measure their wealth in cows are left reliant on cattle rustling and killing for their livelihood and marriage prospects.

"They're going to have to face up to national reconciliation," says a Western observer in Juba, the capital of South Sudan. "The issues for the Nuer and the Murle are basically the same. They feel completely abandoned by the government.

"They were saying: 'You have to come and help us. We need security, we need a buffer zone [between the tribal areas].' … The government's done nothing."

Bad blood between the Nuer and Murle tribes goes back generations, but a new wave of tribal killings exploded in Jonglei about a month after South Sudan's rapturous independence celebrations in July.

More than 1,000 have been killed since, according to the United Nations, although there is no definitive casualty figure in the vast, isolated region nearly the size of Iowa, with few roads or facilities such as schools and clinics.

The tribal violence has also seen the reemergence of an 8,000-strong Nuer militia called the White Army.

This week, South Sudan's government launched a new effort to disarm the White Army and Murle militias, by force if necessary, deploying 12,000 soldiers to carry out the campaign. A statement released by the White Army this month warned of a coup if the government tried to challenge it, vowing that any soldier who "will come to fight us will not go back alive."

Repeated peace efforts and disarmament of both sides in recent years have failed. Terrified of hated neighbors, with no government protection, people rearm themselves in a country awash withweapons.

The Murle minority of about 148,000 is often casually derided by other South Sudanese as "the problem" because of the tribe's history of trying to boost its numbers by abducting children of rival tribes.

But U.S. anthropologist Jon Arensen, who spent eight years living with the Murle in the 1970s and 1980s, says its members are often demonized in South Sudan.

"The Murle tribe is being portrayed as the aggressor," he wrote recently. "The Nuer tribe is being portrayed as noble warriors simply reacting to the attacks of the evil Murle people. Nothing is farther from the truth. Almost all the publicity being generated — both local and abroad — takes the position of the Nuer fighters."

The two sides fight differently: Murle men move like guerrillas in small bands, attacking, stealing cattle, abducting children and retreating. The Nuer move in huge, heavily armed columns of many thousands, pouring into enemy villages with devastating power.

Nuer militants presaged the December attacks on Pibor and surrounding villages with a statement announcing plans for genocide: "We have decided to invade Murleland and wipe out the entire Murle tribe on the face of the Earth."

Nashir, 35, married with five children, recounts the attacks on the Murle with grim pride. It was revenge, he says, for an earlier Murle attack on the Nuer town of Pieri. Six hundred were killed in that August attack, and up to 200 abducted, according to the U.N.

"When we saw that, the Nuer asked themselves, 'Why is this happening?' Then the Nuer organized themselves to go and attack. All the people from the area joined the fight," he says.

The August attack by the Murle followed similar attacks in 2010 and 2009, with each side blaming the other, each planning revenge.

As Nashir speaks, another young Nuer limps by on crutches, an ugly bullet wound in his foot.

At the opposite end of the hospital, the ward is crowded with victims. Nyarath Kolitok, who was shot in the arm and lost her 25-year-old daughter in one of the December attacks, takes the orphaned boys whom staff members have named Peter and Paul under her care, feeding them and chattering to them. She hopes someone in Jonglei will claim them as family.

Nearby, a woman shakes her head feverishly, whimpering, eyes shut. Her toddler wanders nearby, squalling.

A boy, about 6, lies motionless as his mother, Agot Korok, spoon-feeds him. When the attack happened, her husband grabbed the boy, Anyibee, and ran.

"They came early in the morning in a big column. They started to shoot people. They shot and killed my husband and they took my daughter."

The bullet that killed her husband shattered her son's leg.

Tirito Kudumoch, 25, a Murle shot in the chest during the December attack, says his people couldn't defend themselves against the huge Nuer column.

"They had big guns like RPGs and AK-47s. In our culture, when you're attacked, you have a right to fight to protect your things from being taken. But we were disarmed … and we were sitting without guns.

"The government promised they would protect us and protect our property."

Both sides have long memories, know each other's weak points and attack at moments of vulnerability, burning down clinics, leaving no one to treat the wounded.

When Nashir was a baby, his father was shot by Murle invaders, and, with no hospitals, died a week later. He grew up with his mother's story of the killing and of the desperate attempts to save his father with traditional medicine.

As a boy, he was haunted by the idea of an enemy forever on his horizon. As soon as he was old enough, in his teens, he got a gun and joined the fight.

"I was never happy. I was angry," he says. "My mother used to tell me I should always step forward to defend my brother and sisters. Now, I and my friends take guns, and we get our revenge."

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

 

Copyright © 2012, Los Angeles Times

The lips services offered by the Republic of South Sudan Government officials in response to cyclic tribal feuds will never yield any fruit to such ferocious tribal conflict, engulfing the state of Jonglei as witnessed across the globe. The official spokesperson of the Southern Sudan government Dr. Marial Benjamin listed a number of alleged solutions to the state’s detrimental conflicts after having pointed finger of blame to Khartoum as the sole body arming Lou-Nuer and Murle communities through rebel groups. What strategies are put in place by the Juba authority in an attempt to halt those alleged illegal arms infiltrations to wrong hands in the region? If nothing done so far then when? If nothing or little done, now is the time to act by all means possible!

"Among the most important things the government is doing to stabilize the situation include deployment of police forces, formation of investigative committee to trace the root cause of the problem, disarmament of the communities, engagement of both Murle and Lou Nuer youth in conferences, creation of buffer zones for police to monitor the violent movements of the communities and providing local chiefs with police to help them solve disputes", Dr. Marial said on 16th Jan. 2011.

Some of these suggested solutions by the government have been employed before by Jonglei State Government with no success; so far deeming them no solutions to such deleterious or prejudicial killings in the state. For instance, the Jonglei State Government have held number of communities conferences that brought together all feuding communities in the state, but worse of all, the conflict shifted from cattle rustling to mass killing as witnessed in Akobo, Uror, Bor, and Pibor. So youth conferences are not new and not the best solutions to this problem anymore if our government is serious about insecurity existence.

Deployment of police forces may make sense, but how equipped are the police forces to get ready for deployment based on existing South Sudan police armament that we all know. Yes, government has recently deployed police forces and SPLA unit in Pibor area, but does this stop Murle from attacking Uror, Akobo and Bor areas? I think the government must this time needs to come up with amicable solutions to this problem as it shifts from cattle rustling to mass killing, by inventing some viable solutions rather than lips services being released all the time when similar incident occurs.

The formation of investigative committee to trace stolen herds of cattle or mass killers instead of root cause to the problem would make a better solution if not best. For instance; if attackers are followed, found and investigated, they need to be brought to book to answer mass murder and gross of human abuse charges as deterrence to all criminals across the South. The root cause is obvious that tribal feuds in Jonglei State occur because of greed for wealth acquisition in form of cattle before it recently takes different essence of mass killing in revenge. The impressive questions are when is the government forming such committees since Dr. Marial talked of on 16th January 2012, but no strategy in place up to now? I strongly do believe this a viable solution, but is our government committed to execute this brilliant idea? I wonder!

Past disarmament of communities enormously made some communities most vulnerable to others in situation a civilian possesses more than two guns, making disarmament not one of the best methods to quell recurrent fighting in Jonglei at present. When I visited my birth place in Bor, Baidit district in January 2010, I coincidently made Bor County Commissioner Maker Lual Kuol, county army commander Col. Simon Ebon, county police chief Col. Chol Achiek and Baidit and Jale members of state parliament. They were for disarmament mission as they asked civilians to surrender their arms peacefully. I asked Baidit civil administrator to give me a chance as diaspora which he did ask commissioner who agreed. I reminded the commissioner of what we presented to him when he visited Sydney in 2007 regarding insecurity before made commissioner of Bor County. I clearly brought to these local authorities’ attention that in western world, arms are possessed by licensed peoples for certain reasons with the police championing security of every citizen at all cost under sophisticated equipment. If you are now disarming civil population knowing that some communities bear more arms than others and would not surrender them all as ordered by the government. Therefore, you need to commit to protecting those who fully comply with and obey the rule of law as demanded by their governments at state and federal levels.

Well! Creation of buffer zones across counties borders for police to monitor the movements of masqueraders combined with provision of local chiefs with police units at Bomas level will greatly improve insecurity situation in the state. The allocation of well-equipped police unit with pickups mounted with automatic machine guns at Bomas and Payams levels will scare the operation of this bunch of thugs. However, the buffer zones are also useless if there are no constructed roads to connect all eleven counties of the Jonglei state. Therefore, the priority rests upon road network construction by federal government in conjunction with state government if the amicable solution is really required.

The best compliment to investigative committee is immediate construction of road network across Jonglei state, a priority that effectively accelerates the work of the suggested investigative committee. I humbly call upon Minister of road and bridges Hon. Gier Chuang Aluong to immediately develop the Jonglei State road network action plan with real construction taking off from now and be completed before rainy season this year. We need to do away with overreaction lips services and start to let actions speak louder than mere words if we need to regain civil society’s confidence that we won during our struggle days. Or else masses may be forced to rebel against the government simply because they are fed up with mere lips services by the government for more than half a decade whether we believe or not.

The author is the concerned South Sudanese living in Sydney Australia and is reachable through

danieljook@rocketmail.com

It is extremely appalling to continually see the killing going on unabated in Duk Padiet for two consecutive weeks. The media puts death toll at 89. All these deaths are due to orchestrated violence by human action. It seems there is no immediate government gangbuster amelioration in sight for the people of Dukein who have been rendered defenceless through the disarmament process that took place in the area prior to independence. One thought such a bold move by the government to dispossess ever-feuding communities of guns would be accompanied by a certain ‘decree’ or measures aimed at thwarting attacks on the people deliberately made defenceless by the state. Since disarmament was done for the sake of national security and peace, it would have been wise if security apparatus were installed prior to taking the guns away from the people.  Behold government ‘decrees’ in South Sudan apply only to some things and not others.

The results are now the shocking images and figures of dead women; young children, elderly and even able bodied men who could only run around unable to ward off the catastrophe befalling their people. Where is the peace and security upon which disarmament was based upon? The roaming-and-raiding gangs of Murle are persistently and callously butchering civilians in the entire Duk counties. Where are the swarms of police of Jonglee and RSS, which we always see proudly, displayed on the SSTV? When disarmament started in the area in 2006, nearly all the communities in Jonglee: Dinka, Murle and Nuer nagged the government over the possibility of the latter to renege on the promises of protection made to the people. They were aware that they would be left alone once they have handed in their weapons. Judging from what had happened today, they were right! The security the government promised at the time has now turned into a created disaster. 

Across the country, civilians condemned disarmament and the way it was approached. The people of Cueibet complained about the repercussions but were ignored. Nearly 3700 guns were collected in Lakes state, under governorship of Daniel Awet Akot. It did not take long before we witnessed attacks by the rival communities whose disarmament process treated with caution. It did not worked well too with the people of Rumbek and Yirol.  In Warrap, hundreds of people were massacred after the disarmament, and unto this day, killing keeps recurring. Government responses in all these cases had never made anyone contented that state security was guaranteed for them. But what happened in Dukein was astonishingly baffling.

The government disarmed Duk first, leaving the entire community defenceless. And then later, Ayod, Twic East, Bor Nyirol and Uror were subsequently disarmed. Pibor, Pochalla, Akobo, Fangak and Pigi were left behind with these latter areas ‘presumed’ ‘less aggressive’ based on tribal attacks.  This was total madness! It neither rang a bell even to Mayen Ngor, the commissioner at the time, nor has it nudged Kuol Manyang to have a second thought over it.  Law abiding status had been taken as aggressiveness in the case of Duk.   And if this heeding by the people of Dukein were awarded with appropriate measures of protection to the civilians, it would have sounded an authentic imperfection on the side of the government. But no protection was provided!  In 2010, a peace conference was organised by Upper Nile Youth Mobilisation for peace at Liberty Hotel.  It was funded by PACT Sudan and UNMIS. In the discussions of that conference, youth leaders warned of rearmament if the government failed to provide security once they were disarmed. Of course the youth, who came from various counties including Pibor, were sceptical.

Today areas that were deemed less aggressive in attacking others are the very ones massacring their neighbours, abducting children and taking livestock. The government, which thinks that South Sudan is an International Province of the West, sits and watch, sometimes shouting over the shoulder to the UN and the International Community, or in the crudest thinking of all, demands more disarmament. One couldn’t stand the Minister of Interior coming to Bor and began trumpeting about disarmament again to Kuol Manyang while the government’s past mistake still has its nasty results underway in Duk Padiet. 

There is no much fortitude left for the people of Duk. The government must bring protection to the people of Duk Padiet. Though it forgot to set forth this as the precondition for disarming the county during the 2006 disarmament process, it will still be welcome. The same courage the government has in shutting down the oil pipeline is the same courage needed to provide protection to civilians. People first! The government must be a people’s government, not oil government.  For any future disarmament to be successful, it must begin in the desert, not at home. And government must make clear to the people the measures it has taken to protect them before shifting the balance of protection. Security is exchanged with security and for the government to fear not to take head-on the marauding youth on a killing spree, 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 garangaher@hotmail.com

"The whole night (Monday) they burned the town... 51 are confirmed dead and now we have 22 (injured) evacuated to Juba," said Jonglei governor Kuol Manyang.

Armed men stormed the village of Duk Padiet in northern Jonglei late Monday, with most of those killed "women, children and the elderly," Manyang told AFP.

"We are expecting more to be injured because they ran to the villages last night," he said, blaming gunmen from the Murle ethnic group for the attack.

Remote and impoverished Jonglei has seen a dramatic escalation of bloody tit-for-tat attacks between rival ethnic groups over cattle raids and abduction of people.

Newly-independent South Sudan has declared Jonglei a national "disaster area" while the United Nations has launched a "massive emergency" operation to help over 60,000 people affected by the violence.

Last month an 8,000-strong tribal militia of Lou Nuer youths marched on Pibor, to exact revenge on the Murle people there for alleged attacks, abductions and cattle raiding.

Now officials claim the latest violence is the Murle's response.

One attacker was killed, a suspected Murle man wearing military fatigues, Manyang said.

The village "was attacked by people positively identified as the Murle armed youth," said Philip Thon Leek Deng, the local MP.

Deng said that large herds of cattle had been stolen in a series of raids in the area last week, but the attack Monday targeted people.

"They did not take cattle... they are only coming for annihilation," he said.

The people of Duk Padiet are from the Dinka ethnic group, who are also traditional rivals of the Murle.

Minister of Information Barnaba Marial Benjamin said around 3,000 extra security forces had been deployed in Jonglei, mostly to Murle areas, but now attacks were happening in Nuer and Dinka areas.

"The forces we have taken in cannot cover every area," he said.

Jonglei, an isolated and swampy state about the size of Austria and Switzerland combined has limited mud roads often impassable for months during heavy rains.

Guns are common in the region devastated by two decades of war with northern Sudanese forces, a conflict that paved the way for the South's independence last July.

The UN says that last year, violence between the two tribes left around 1,100 people dead and tens of thousands displaced in a series of cattle raids involving abductions of women and children.

 Hon. Gai L Ngundeng, Grandson of Prophet Ngundeng and Chairman of Prophet Ngundeng’s Historical Society Association

Decree No: 001/1/12

January, 15, 2012 - Based on the authority bestowed upon me by the family of Prophet Ngundeng, and based upon the moral authority of Prophet Ngundeng upon Nuer tribe, I, Hon. Gai L Ngundeng, the grandson of Prophet Ngundeng and Chairman of Ngundeng’s Historical Society Association, do hereby issue a religious decree ordering all Nuer in the world to fight Murle tribe. This decree is issued as a result of Murle’s attack on Wec Deang (God City) on January, 14, 2012 in which 15 women and children were killed and 4,000 heads of cattle stolen.
 
Prophet Ngundeng’s city has never been attacked by any force since the beginning of 20th C. It was 1902 when British forces attempted to capture Wech Deang but Prophet Ngundeng acted as an emergency response to alien forces in order to protect Nuer values and killed all the British forces with his divine Rod. His divine Rod was returned to South Sudan in 2009 by Prof. Douglas Johnson from United Kingdom.
 
Since January, 6, 2012, 900 Murle members of the SPLA army in Nasir, Maiwut, Ulang, Malakal and Bor towns left their barracks and joined Murle Youth to attack Nuer villages. They first attacked Dengjok Payam and killed over 30 civilians and took over 20,000 heads of cattle. In few days, they attacked Uror County and massacred over 60 civilians and took over 6,000 heads of cattle. On January, 14, 2012, the Murle fighters attacked Prophet Ngundeng’s Bieh (Pyramid) and killed innocent civilians.
 
The people of South Sudan and international community should be made aware that no human being or force ever attacked Wech Deang even during the war. When the SPLM/A was fighting successive governments in Khartoum, no force had ever attempted to attack Ngundeng’s pyramid. Neither the forces of Sudan governments nor the SPLA ever attacked the holy place.
 
When Riek Machar and John Garang were fighting in 1990s, neither faction had ever attempted to go near Wech Deang. The holy city has been a place of refuge for people running away from any danger. When Riek Machar’s forces chased Garang’s forces in 1996, the forces of the latter took refuge at Wech Deang. The leader of Ngundeng’s Bieh ordered Riek Machar’s forces not to attack Garang’s forces who took refuge in holy city. Dr. Machar’s forces complied and returned without attacking the holy place. The elder of Bieh (pyramid) served Garang’s forces with food for one week until they left safely for Bor where they joined the forces of SPLM/A-Torit faction.
 
What the Murle did is similar to the attempt of colonial forces in 1902 who tried to attack the holy city. Therefore, Murle’s attack on January, 14, 2012 is an attack on Nuer religious values and dignity. All Nuer officials, politicians, students, soldiers, youth, doctors, lawyers and white army have to fight Murle youth and defectors to bring them to justice for attacking holy city of Wech Deang. All the Nuer in USA, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and Australia must come back to South Sudan to join the war against Murle who defiled Nuerland by attacking holy city.
 
 
For question:
Hon. Gai L Ngundeng
Grandson of Prophet Ngundeng
Chairman of Ngundeng’s Historical Society Association
Email: gngundeng@yahoo.ca Tel. +211 (or 249)956-155-671
Juba, South Sudan

Copyright 2012 Arizona Daily Star. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 

“There have been mass killings, a massacre,” said Joshua Konyi, commissioner for Pibor county in Jonglei state.

“We have been out counting the bodies, and we calculate so far that 2,182 women and children were killed and 959 men died.”

United Nations and South Sudanese army officials have yet to confirm the death tolls and the claims from the remote region could not be independently verified.

If confirmed, the killings would be the worst outbreak of ethnic violence ever seen in the fledgling nation, which split from Sudan in July.

A column of some 6,000 rampaging armed youths from the Lou Nuer tribe last week marched on the remote town of Pibor, home to the rival Murle people, whom they blame for cattle raiding and have vowed to exterminate.

The Lou Nuer gunmen attacked Pibor and only withdrew after government troops opened fire.
Over a thousand children are missing, feared abducted, while tens of thousands of cows were stolen, Konyi added, who comes from the Murle ethnic group.

The U.N. humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan, Lise Grande, said earlier this week that she feared “tens, perhaps hundreds” could have died.

“Yes, there have been casualties, but we don’t have the details, and can’t at present confirm what the commissioner reports,” said Jonglei state information minister Isaac Ajiba.

“We are awaiting reports from our (military) forces on the ground,” said South Sudan army spokesman Philip Aguer. “For the assessment to be credible they must have gone into the villages to count all the bodies.”

Ethnic violence, cattle raids and reprisal attacks in the vast eastern state left over 1,100 people dead and forced some 63,000 from their homes last year, according to U.N. reports based on local authorities and assessment teams.

© 2012 AFP

guardian.co.uk

Government declares disaster zone and calls for assistance as thousands flee from their homes to escape violence between ethnic groups in Jonglei state

South Sudan has declared Jonglei state a disaster zone and has appealed for international aid for thousands of people who have fled into the bush to escape fighting between rival ethnic groups.

South Sudan's council of ministers declared the disaster at a special meeting on Wednesday, South Sudan's media reported, and asked international relief agencies to rush aid to the area.

The latest round of fighting broke out in late December when 6,000 armed men from the Lou Nuer ethnic group attacked Pibor county, the home of the Murle community, in the latest clash between the two groups. 

UN officials estimate more than 20,000 people fled as the Lou Nuer moved on the remote town of Pibor in apparent retaliation for cattle raids by the Murle. Gunmen burned thatched huts and looted two medical facilities run by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) over the past week during fighting that has left more than 1,000 dead in recent months. The attacks threaten to destabilise the world's newest country.

Sarathy Rajendran, head of Médecins Sans Frontières in South Sudan, who was in Pibor on Thursday morning, said people were slowly coming back and MSF planned to start operating in the town by the end of the week.

"I was there this morning, which is an hour away by plane from Juba [the capital]. Parts of the town have been burnt, our facilities were completely looted, but people are coming back and are not afraid any more. It is stable now. There are enormous needs, some people need every single item. Our first priority will be medical care, but we are planning to provide non-food items as well so people can start rebuilding."

As the South Sudanese government appealed for emergency aid, the information minister, Benjamin Barnaba, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that he could guarantee the security of any aid workers who went to the area. "This area is under the complete control of the government," he told the BBC.

Minority Rights Group International, which focuses on indigenous peoples, called on the South Sudan government to take immediate steps to protect civilians from all ethnic groups. MRG said in the long-term the government must address the root causes of violence among minority communities through political representation, disarmament and equitable distribution of natural resources.

"Competition between ethnic groups over scarce resources has escalated in South Sudan. At the same time there is a security vacuum, leading to the formation of militia groups and a breakdown of traditional structures of authority," said Chris Chapman, MRG's head of conflict prevention. "This will continue to threaten the stability of the new nation, unless the government acts quickly to ensure security, inclusive representation for all communities, and equitable access to land and natural resources."

The clashes, which on the face of it appear to be cattle raids, have deeper causes to do with poverty, competition for scarce resources, the plethora of small arms left over from a decades-long war, and marginalisation of ethnic minorities, said MRG. Some minority groups felt that their interests are not being represented within the South Sudanese political system, and that resources have been diverted to more populous ethnic groups.

The fighting in the past week is the latest outbreak of violence that has lasted several months. In one incident last year, 600 Lou Nuer were killed by attackers from the Murle people, who also took away 38,000 cattle.

The UN says communal violence in Jonglei state, an isolated and swampy state with limited mud roads that are often impassable for months during heavy rains, left more than 1,100 people dead during 2011 and displaced more than 60,000 others. The clashes represent the latest challenge to the fledgling country, which became independent in July. It also faces cross-border tensions with its northern neighbour, Sudan.

The United Nations is sending troop reinforcements to the South Sudanese town of Pibor to prevent an attack by members of the Lou Nuer ethnic group.

Tens of thousands of people from the rival Murle group fled the town on Friday morning, fearing violence.

Inter-ethnic clashes in Jonglei state, initially triggered by cattle raids, have cost the lives of around 1,000 people in recent months.

The UN already has a battalion of troops in Pibor.

Most victims of the clashes have been women and children. Both communities have abducted children during the violence.

Correspondents say these attacks are one of the biggest challenges to the stability of South Sudan, the world's newest country, which only became an independent nation in July.

It is one of the world's poorest regions, inhabited by around 200 ethnic groups, each with its own languages and traditional beliefs.

About 6,000 armed men from the Lou Nuer community are marching through Jonglei state burning homes and seizing cattle along the way, says BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross.

Continue reading the main story

• Audio slideshow: Cattle country

Earlier this week the entire town of Lukangol was burnt to the ground by the Lou Nuer fighters. Around 20,000 civilians managed to flee the town before the attack, but dozens were killed on both sides.

The United Nations humanitarian co-ordinator in South Sudan, Lise Grande, told the BBC that the UN was reinforcing its troops in Pibor to assist the South Sudanese army in defending civilians.

"We are very concerned by the scale of this," she said.

"The UN is facing enormous logistical challenges - we still have no military aircraft, only civilian helicopters," she added.

South Sudan Vice-President Riek Machar has been shuttling between the rival communities in a push for peace. On Thursday night it seemed he had persuaded the Lou Nuer not to attack Pibor - but they then left in their thousands overnight heading towards that town.

Cattle plays a central role in the life of many South Sudanese communities - in the absence of banks, they are used to store wealth and to pay bride prices.

The violence between the two communities has been going on for years, but with modern weapons its scale is increasing.

Our correspondent says the clashes may have begun as cattle raids, but they have spiralled out of control into retaliatory attacks.

Following the recent mass killing that claimed loss of more than 45 lives, pillaging of property and hundreds herd of cattle, in Jalle and Maar Payam of Bor and Twich East respectively, Jonglei State, The state government blamed the whole episode on lack of road infrastructures and poor weather condition that does not allow timely interventions whereas, the SPLA spokesperson, Colonel Aguer Panyaang, squarely censured the government for lack of proper laws that deal with such vices. Perhaps, Col. Aguer was right in his attempt to turn away the flawed on the National army most probably; the whole episode ought to be blamed on legislators for an absence of an Act or rather a Law that allow tangible actions on criminals like timely prosecution and fire squad among others, in the administration of justice for civilian.

Members of the parliament go on recess every now and then with expectations to collect data on issues affecting their constituencies and bring them to the parliament for swift deliberations. It leaves one to marvel out on whether our MPs are doing their jobs as indicated in their political term of references and if so, why have they forsaken their communities by not legislating laws that protect their lives and property? As a nascent Country, South Sudan Republic needs tough policy-makers with strong laws that will term feral behaviours among the armed civilian as inflicted by the enemies of peace. For instance, most communities in South Sudan Republic are less touched by education, particularly in Jonglei State where cattle raiding, killing of innocent people and abduction of siblings has become the order of the day. South Sudanese still believe in “an eye for eye” as was practised in the old regimes of the Arab Republic of the Sudan. Cattle raiding, child abduction and mass butchery of innocent people in South Sudan Republic particularly in Jonglei State could be sorted out either with strong legislation or discipline as meted out in the local citizen where convicts are executed.

 Even if it mean firing squad for criminals, it has to happen to save innocent lives. This will not amount to human right violations because as a young country we want to inculcate and restore values that were lost by communities during civil war. I know human Right activists would want to believe that this was supposed to be a jungle law and could not be applied at the most up-to-date developments in South Sudan, but given the fact that criminal activities have exceedingly taken charge of innocent lives in States like Jonglei, Upper Nile and Unity, we cannot afford to witness lives of thousands of vulnerable people such as children, women, disabled persons and elderly persons being compromised equally at the expense of few criminals with foreign goals.

Integrated security sector reformed approach as in the police community policing, enactment of state Security acts, independence of judiciary to interpret laws and prosecute culprits without interference from politicians, peaceful civilian disarmament, recognition and support to the customary courts in the Counties, Payams and Boma,  could save more lives in Jonglei State if properly implemented. South Sudan legislative Assembly in the state and Juba should speedily legislate on cattle raiding and child abduction Act where convicts should be identified and exposed to fire squad before their communities. Of course, this will not happen involuntarily not until Paramount chiefs are involved to help identifying criminals in their communities and hand them over to the police. Besides, police could do more in community policing, mass campaigns on weapons ownership, by working closely with local communities, civil societies, youth and religion  leaders to create more awareness on the disadvantages of possessing illegal weapons and their legal implications. Thereafter, those community members who decided not to heed to the police-community weapon campaigns and legal advice could be identified and arrested immediately. If all other options fails, fire squad criminals as an authentication to minimizing crimes among the communities.