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April 8, 2014 (Nyamilepedia) — President Salva Kiir did the expected by recognising the Rwandan Genocide, and was in fact among regional and world leaders who had turned up to attend the 20th Anniversary in Kigali.
However, in a move that had clearly boggled the minds of the people of South Sudan and sharply contradicted international norms and practices. Kiir had failed to admit that genocide is currently taking place and intentionally refused to recognize that he had started December 15, 2013 Genocide and that he is the one personally presiding over a faltering regime that is continuously carrying out genocidal acts against the Nuer tribe.
The Rwandan Genocide of 1994 and the ongoing Genocide against the Nuer have many similarities in terms of causes and actors.
On the causes, tensions between Hutus and Tutsis were cited as one of the catalysts of the genocide. Similarly, tensions, rivalry and animosity between the Nuer and Dinka are widely believed to have been responsible for the outbreak of the conflict.
On actors and in the case of Rwanda, internal players like Interahamwe militias, elements from the national army directly participated in mass killings and indirectly aided acts of genocide. In South Sudan, President’s private and tribal militia known as “Doot or Kwony Bany” (literally meaning help/rescue/support the president in Dinka) a force purely recruited from President’s Dinka tribesmen in Warrap and Northern Bahr El Ghazal States supported by Dink dominated Presidential Guards and elements from other organized security forces were responsible for killing an estimated 20,000 innocent Nuer civilians in Juba and later on in Bentiu Malakal, and Bor.
Still on internal actors, President Kiir had sought and received the support of local SSDA/M and SSLA/M militias in Upper Nile and Unity States to help in the execution of ethnic cleansing policy against the Nuer.
The other similarity between the Rwandan Genocide and South Sudanese Genocide is that the members of Tutsis minority were killed by Hutus majority whose son had been in power shortly before the genocide and the government he had left behind after his demise had the ability and power to prevent the genocide.
In the context of South Sudan, members of the Nuer minority were and are still being killed by Dinka majority whose son was and still in power and had the power and ability to stop the genocide.
External actors; to quickly execute pre-planned extermination policy against the Nuer, President Kiir had pre-arranged and hired foreign mercenaries to fight alongside his forces and as result, UPDF units arrived Juba on December 13, 2013 two days before the genocide and were almost immediately joined by fighters from M23, JEM and SPLA-North.
Using these similarities and other benchmarks, it would be good, more sensible and logical for President Kiir to admit that genocide is taking place in his own backyard instead of living in self denial and failing to accept responsibility.
Kiir’s presence at the 20th Anniversary of Rwandan Genocide was an insult, mockery of genuine mourning and reflections on what the survivors and victims of the Genocide had gone through 20 years ago. His presence sadly reminded them of majority tyranny, ruthlessness, merciless and madness.
Brig. Gen. Lul Ruai Koang, Military Spokesperson for SPLA/M in Opposition
