By Chuol Lul Ruot
Opinion
November 15th 2018 (Nyamilepedia) – We are left with few days in remembering and mourning our people who were massacred in Juba by the Salva Kiir regime in December 2013. We will never forget 15 December in our history. It was a dark day and we must all pay close attention to this very day because we never want it to repeat itself to any of the South Sudan tribe whatsoever.
To provide you with more about this day, let me put more briefing and what it mean to people of South Sudan and the world at large. I would say, it is one of the worse massacred in the world after Rwanda. And this can easily be verified because, putting 5 days together and more than 30, 000 people killed based on their identity of being Nuer, proceed madness and no amount of the scale of this madness can be put into paper for description.
To be more precise, Dec 15, 2013, is a day when ‘genocide’ was committed against innocents Nuer tribe of South Sudan. For those who may ask, who committed the ‘Genocide’ against Nuer ethnic group? The answer is, Salva Kiir the president of South Sudan who was voted on to the power by all tribes including Nuer carried out the genocide. Reason: The Nuer as the nation cannot comprehend such a brutal act against the people with more of them have no political affliction to either SPLM or have interest in participating in South Sudan politics.
WHY DO WE CALL IT A GENOCIDE?
The scale of the killing was massive and extrajudicial. Nuer were killed because they were born Nuer. This amount to the extermination of the group, tribe, or race, religion for a particular purpose of reducing their population of wiping them out of the map. As a result, 30,000 more lost their lives based on state policy. This means that Salva Kiir and his associates have a clear agenda of what they were doing and this thinking of extermination is called “genocide” act. The atrocities committed by the SPLA under Salva Kiir government excludes no one.
WHO WERE KILLED?
- Gatluak, Gach, Ran, Gatwech, Jal, Nyabora, Nyaduel, Nyatut, Nyaluak and etc.
- Door-to-Door searches
- the killing was based on their ethnicity
- elderly people were killed
- Women were killed
- children were killed
- Government officials were killed
- Church leaders were killed
- Everyone was killed.
HOW DID THEY KILLED THEM (what types of atrocities were committed)?
- Mass killings
- Individual killings
- Chopping body parts into pieces
- Forced a wife to eat her husband’s flesh
- Cut off a pregnant women’s belly, in order to kill her unborn baby simply because that baby is a Nuer even if it hasn’t been born.
- Throwing babies and their mother into a burning fire
- castrating boys
- Raping Women, girls and young girls (by using stick-wood and metals).
- One has killed his wife and children simply because his wife is Nuer.
WHO WERE INVOLVED IN THE KILLING; AND WHAT DO THEY USED TO KILLED THEM?
The so-called presidential guards (Tiger unit)who are a national army were involved, most the government officials, Army generals, and MPs were involved. They were using heavy machine guns including tanks and gunships. Also using a truck to buried Nuer dead bodies, throwing the dead bodies away into the river and located mass graves.
Thus, this particular day targetted Nuer as a tribe and I am calling upon the Nuer as a society to come together and share this sentimental memorial day. The above-mentioned atrocities committed by Salva Kiir and his JCE is very unique in this time of history and we should use it as an opportunity ti unites us and bring South Sudanese in the spirit of harmony and unity so such a thing should never repeat itself in future.
It is shocking that the president that we have voted on power did this to us. We are innocents who have done nothing wrong. And for those confused Nuer people who are singing their rubbish song that “Nuer were killed because of Dr. Riek Machar”, you are wrong and keep your rubbish away from the public. This is so embarrassing. Dr. Riek himself is an innocent person and also a victim of South Sudan’s struggles. Remember that, South Sudan is for all of us (64 tribes), and as long as you are a South Sudanese citizen you are eligible to contest for any position.
Salva Kiir cannot kill us because of Dr. Riek’s presidential declaration. Nuer as a tribe is an entity different from Dr. Riek Machar and Dr. Riek Machar just happened to be born in the Nuer tribe. In the strongest term possible I have condemned Salva Kiir in killing Nuer in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, and every month, every week, every day and every minute. Nevertheless, we must condemn him because “WE WILL NEVER FORGET DEC15 2013”.
Therefore, I am calling upon the International Community such as IGAD, UN, US and TROIKA to review the crimes against humanity which Salva Kiir has committed in South Sudan as now that peace is returning home to people of South Sudan. A Hybrid Court should immediately be set up to put into trial those who committed war atrocities against the people of South Sudan regardless of their tribes.
R.I.P my people
Chuol Lul Rut, the author, is the Chairperson of Nuer Youth Union in Sudan (NYU-Sudan) and can be reached via: chuollul21@gmail.com
