By Martin Garang Aher
It is extremely appalling to continually see
the killing going on unabated in Duk Padiet for two consecutive weeks. The
media puts the 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 Jonglei and RSS, which we always see proudly, displayed on the SSTV?
When disarmament started in the area in 2006,
nearly all the communities in Jonglei: 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 work 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, and 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 provide 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 an 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
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