Press Release for immediate publication
Arizona, December 21, 2013 (SSNA) -- We the sons and daughters of the Nuer community in Arizona, denounce in the strongest terms possible, the recent ongoing massacre of the Nuer civilians in Juba, the capital city of South Sudan, in the aftermath of the recent military clashes that have ensued on the night of December 15, 2013. We believe that President Salva Kiir's press announcement that the recent fighting among his Presidential Guards was an attempted coup, and his blaming of it on soldiers loyal to his former V.P., Dr. Riek Machar coupled with his utterances of a divisive and inflammatory rhetoric as well as his immediate declaration of curfew in the town and his unleashing of his tribal militia army to the streets, wreaking havoc in the town; killing and looting neighborhoods, have set the stage for a grisly massacre of helpless unarmed Nuer civilians in Juba.
According to reliable sources, a group of mainly Dinka soldiers from the Presidential Guards who are dubbed 'the president's tribal militia,'[for having been formed by the president himself exclusively from his Dinka tribe; without the knowledge and approval of the top army echelons] took advantage of the fighting in Juba, in what appeared to have been a well-orchestrated plan to settle old political and ethnic scores in the murky political environment in South Sudan, and began a door-to-door mopping operations in which they have engaged on a clear targeted-killings of Nuer residents of the town.
This militia army went on a witch hunt of unarmed Nuer civilians in their homes and they have summarily executed many children and women as well as men in cold blood simply because they happen to be from the Nuer tribe. These troops' modus operandi was to enter a house and ask its occupants if they are Nuer upon which they shoot them on the spot. As a result, many Nuer families have lost their dear ones in this heinous killing. According to some eye witnesses accounts, some Nuer men were ran over by tanks and there were instances in which tanks were rolled on houses reducing them to rubbles and killing innocent lives.
We believe that this systematic massacre of Nuer civilians in Juba were being committed under orders and directions of the President himself since his militia army operates under his direct command. These wanton killings of unarmed Nuer civilians began on the 15th of December 2013 and are continuing unabated until today. Contrary to Government figures, It's believed that the death toll from this ethnic cleansing have reached thousands of deaths. Those Nuer civilians who have escaped the wrath of death by this marauding Dinka militia, fled to the U.N. compound in Juba for safety; brazing harsh climatic conditions with hardly any provision of basic services such as water and food. In this juncture, we call on the UNMISS to ensure it implement its mandate to protect civilians in Juba and other flashpoint areas in the country.
In the light of the above mentioned facts and atrocities committed against innocent unarmed Nuers in Juba, we the concerned sons and daughters of the Nuer community in Arizona, hold president Kiir responsible for the gruesome acts of murder of our kith and kin in the aftermath of the fabricated coup attempt; in the hands of his tribal militia army. We believe that the president have clearly failed to show leadership by sanctioning and condoning such criminal and barbaric acts towards the Nuer civilians. Therefore, we request that the president be held responsible and to stand trial for his crimes of inciting and perpetuating violence and for crimes against humanity including sponsoring of ethnic cleansing through state machinery against innocent unarmed Nuer civilians.
Due to the lack of competent and creditable court system in South Sudan, we urge the United Nations Security Council, the EU, the AU, and the U.S. Govt. and Britain, to exert efforts to bring President Salva Kiir to trial in a neutral country preferably in the International Criminal Court [ICC] based in Hague.
We appeal to all the people of good will and all the friendly nations of the world as well as all the human rights organizations, to exert their efforts to ensure that president Kiir is brought to justice and to answer for his crimes.
President Kiir has failed to bring peace and democracy and good governance to the country and above all he has failed to unite the country as evidenced in his recent dictatorial tendencies. Therefore, we urge the U.N., EU, AU, and the U.S. and Britain, to bring pressure to bear on president kiir to resign from power in order to return the country back to normalcy, and for South Sudan to establish rule of law and democracy through transparent and fair elections.
Signed by: Nuer Community in Arizona
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