August 6, 2020 (Nyamilepedia) – South Sudan’s main armed opposition group, SPLM-IO led by the country’s First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar Teny has condemned the harassment of its members in Lakes state by members of the country’s security forces.
In a statement extended to Nyamilepedia on Wednesday, the SPLM-IO members in Lakes state urged for the respect of the human and political rights of its members not only in Lakes but in all parts of Bahr el Ghazal region.
“The Lakes State members of the SPLM-IO in Juba call for the respect of the political rights of the members of SPLM-IO in different Parts of Bahr El Ghazal and of Lakes State in particular,” they said in a statement extended to Nyamilepedia.
The statement said that SPLM-IO members have been threatened recently by members of the ruling SPLM-IG and have been told to leave Lakes state which it said is against the peaceful implementation of the revitalized peace agreement.
“From the recent past, we did not take seriously different reports on the harassments of our members in the course of exercising their political rights in different parts of Lakes State but we are now prompted to make this press release by the recent utterances by different members of the SPLM-IG in threatening our members and asked them to leave Lakes State,” the statement said.
The statement accused SPLM-IG women league chairperson in Lakes as notable person who called for the departure of the SPLM-IO members in Lakes state adding that a prominent member of the Agar community who is a member of the notorious NSS threatened the SPLM-IO members.
“We therefore strongly condemned such hostile statements in the strongest term possible. The Statement amounts to the violation of the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (R-ARCSS), 2018,” the statement said.
