South Sudan's civil society-led project Remembering the Ones We Lost is calling on people celebrating “the end of the war” to also not forget those who perished in the violence and to honor their memory.
“Let us not forget where we are coming from: the indescribable violence resulting in death and disappearance for many loved ones,” reads a statement from the group on the occasion of collecting 5000 names of victims killed or missing, which they announced as a milestone.
According to the group, the victims should be honored by a commitment from the living “in all our hearts, to never repeat the violence that ripped through the nation, causing untold horror to victims and families so that their souls may rest in peace.”
Another way of honoring them, the statement urges, is to acknowledge the pain of their surviving family members and to remember them and the futures that they should have had.
Analysis of the 5000 names has found that about 92% are victims from the main civil conflict that started since December 2013, while others are victims of previous conflicts or communal conflict.
Most of the victim names collected so far were recorded in Juba and Bor. Many names have also been collected from Leer and Malakal.
Organizers of the effort are stressing that the list of 5000 names is significant but does not reflect in entirety the “colossal loss of lives” due to conflict. The group is still calling on citizens to submit names of any persons they may know who was killed or disappeared in conflict.
Names and information may be submitted at this website:
http://rememberingoneswelost.com/reports/submit
Photo by Jerome Tubiana: A child in Leer, South Sudan, 2014