BY KOKA LO’LADO
Imagine being woken up raucously by your otherwise pleasant neighbor and being ordered out only to find a group of feverish and menacing men armed to the teeth baying for the blood of your entire family only because you belong to another tribe. The villains, who just the other day were amiable chaps, then go ahead to mercilessly hack the children, their mother, and visiting relations, to death with machetes before executing the head of the house who they first forced to watch the extermination of his bloodline. This is not the synopsis of a horror movie, nor is it a sorrowful narrative from the Rwanda Genocide or Jewish Holocaust. This melancholic incident unfolded in a suburb of Juba at dawn on 16 December 2013 at the commencement of the massacre that conservative estimates indicate led to the calculated gruesome murder of 20,000 Nuer tribesmen and some people from other ethnicities in the South Sudanese capital.
The crisis which started as a political standoff between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Dr. Riek Machar, and their respective followers in mid-2013, quickly flared up and erupted in fighting at the headquarters of the presidential guard at about 10:30 p.m. on 15 December 2013 after a meeting of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) Party ended in deadlock. The meeting was characterized by acrimony between Kiir, a Dinka, and Machar a Nuer. Earlier in July, the president had summarily fired Machar, the number two man in the SPLM Party from the position of vice president and sacked the entire cabinet. This after Machar showed interest in the top seat in the land. What everybody treated casually as a simple political fallout was about to unravel into a real horror whose effects are still reverberating in and debilitating South Sudan and her citizens.
President Kiir insisted the fighting resulted from an attempted use of arms to topple his regime but his claims were quashed by his then head of Military Intelligence, Gen. Mac Paul, later in court when a group of senior army officers, former ministers, and officials were arraigned in court on trumped up charges for participating in an attempted coup. The African Union report about the crisis also rubbished the coup narrative. Those of us who were in Juba and keenly observed and monitored the goings on, deduced that the machinations by Kiir and his cronies were designed to purge his detractors. Kiir, Gen. Paul Malong, then governor of Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, and senior military officers allied to them had trained a militia from Northern Baher el Ghazal Warrap states and quietly moved these elements to Juba to buttress the presidential guard and other units loyal to the president in the planned purge of the Nuer.
After the clashes between Nuer soldiers and Dinka soldiers loyal to Kiir in Juba on the night of 15 December, forces loyal to Kiir undertook a vicious crackdown on Juba’s Nuer population characterized by targeted summary executions, mass arrests, torture, and illegal detention of hundreds of Nuer boys and men in deplorable conditions.
On 16 December 2013, the real horror was set to start for the inhabitants of Juba who had endured a whole night of gunshots, and the next morning, and for the next few days, Nuer soldiers, civilians, youth, women, and children were slaughtered arbitrarily. In one of the vilest incidents, Kiir’s soldiers arrested hundreds of Nuer males, even boys, and locked them up in Gudele Police Station west of Juba. Many died of asphyxia and others were trampled to death because the cells were too small and the windows too tiny to allow for sufficient flow of fresh air during the December heat of Juba that can reach 50 degrees Celsius. The next morning, they were mowed down by machine gun fire. In all, 652 Nuer men and boys were killed in the cells and only 13 survived.
Another group of soldiers set up roadblocks at the Lou Clinic junction in Gudele center and went ahead to slaughter Nuer who were fleeing to the UNMISS compound and drained their blood in containers. They would later force other Nuer victims to drink the blood if they wanted to live. Many of those who made it to the UN compound were so traumatized and narrated their despicable ordeals in tears. Others went mute and just stared blankly due to the trauma they went through.
In other parts of the city populated by Nuer, the soldiers now high on blood, simply locked Nuer tribesmen in their houses, doused them with fuel, and set them ablaze.
During the subsequent days of the massacre, new devilish perversions were knavishly added to the killings. Looting, rape, the murder of innocent Nuer children, and robbery took center stage. Vehicles owned by Nuer became the choice items appropriated, followed by household items, and then entire houses were eventually occupied by the now ‘triumphant’ Dinka soldier killing squads and their minders. Lackluster calls by Kiir that his soldiers vacate these houses and return them to their rightful owners have gone unheeded while owners languish in deplorable conditions in the UN Protection of Civilian sites in Juba and other towns.
Ambushes were also laid for the Nuer who were still fleeing on foot to the UNMISS compound in Juba and hundreds were mowed down by machinegun fire.
However, amid this carnage, many noble Dinka people exhibited humanity and shielded and protected the targeted Nuer tribesmen. One particular Dinka woman took in a Nuer family from her neighborhood in Gudele and stood firm against Dinka soldiers who besieged her house and wanted to kill them. Another person who exhibited magnanimity was President Kiir’s former private secretary and later, envoy, Akot Lual, who extracted hundreds of scared senior Nuer officials and politicians, including current Higher Education Minister Gabriel Changson Chang, and ordinary Nuer citizens from their homes and took them to safety away from the marauding bloodthirsty Dinka soldiers and militia.
There were many commendable cases of humankind like these with some Dinka even driving their Nuer friends in-laws, and neighbors to the safety of the UNMISS compound which instantly morphed into an overcrowded IDP camp and later a Protection of Civilians site. In a jiffy, people who were affluent or even just comfortable became destitute and were on the run in their own country from the very people who swore to protect them and their property. People of other tribes, including Dinka, hid Nuer with dual nationality in their cars and managed to drive them to Western embassies or to the airport when Western countries from which they held citizenship sent planes to evacuate their citizens.
Of course South Sudanese, mostly in Juba, who witnessed the atrocities know that it was orchestrated by Kiir and his close allies. The African Union report is clear on the horrific atrocities that were committed and even documents some of the leading perpetrators of these gruesome crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Nuer people and other victims. Also, in their report, the UN Panel of Experts categorically stated that Kiir bears “command responsibility” for forces that attacked civilians in Juba, Unity State, and elsewhere. Similarly, the African Union Commission of Inquiry concluded that the killings of unarmed Nuer civilians in Juba in December 2013 were carried out “under or in furtherance of a State policy.”
By the end of December 2013, the fighting which was now morphing into a civil war rapidly spread to Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Unity states. The town of Bor which is inhabited by the Dinka witnessed several battles for control and its buildings and infrastructure were badly destroyed. Widespread targeting and killing of civilians took place in Bor in the first two weeks of January by opposition forces under the control of Gen. Peter Gadet. In one incident 14 women were killed by opposition fighters in a church compound.
Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state, changed hands six times between December 2013 and April 2014. Forces on both sides conducted house-to-house searches, and arbitrary arrests, and killed many civilians, often based on their ethnicity. In a brutal attack in February, opposition forces killed civilians inside the Malakal hospital and attacked churches. In Bentiu, Unity State, government forces killed civilians during their recapture of the town in January, and in April, opposition forces attacking Bentiu slaughtered hundreds of civilians, including in appalling attacks on a mosque and hospital.
On 19 December 2013, in Jonglei State’s Akobo town, a group of armed Nuer civilians and security forces attacked and killed more than 20 Dinka men, as well as two peacekeepers at the UNMISS base. On 17 April, a large group of Dinka youth and armed men, including some in government police and military uniforms, attacked the UN base in Bor town, killing at least 53 people, mostly Nuer, and injuring scores of others.
Machar has severally admitted that war crimes and crimes against humanity were committed during the two years after the war and acknowledged that his forces also carried out war crimes and that he was willing to cooperate in the event of judicial trials. Verified reports by the African Union, the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and other organizations all faulted both sides for committing atrocities, ranging from ethnically targeted murders to mass rape. These must be the starting point for bringing the perpetrators to book so that such heinous crimes do not recur.
A group of astute and indefatigable South Sudanese and friends of South Sudan, informally operating as RSS Observatory, are documenting war crimes, crimes against humanity, murder, torture, sexual violence, enslavement, persecution, enforced disappearance, etc. for use in prosecuting war criminals under Universal Jurisdiction soon. South Sudanese and other people with information and evidence of crimes are encouraged to and must send them in confidence via email to reportsswarcrimes@proton.me.
Interestingly, if there was remorse, Kiir and his guilty party would have been contrite and sought forgiveness, even quietly, from the Nuer people, perhaps through their leaders and elders. This lack of remorse and failure to seek reconciliation speaks volumes and validates that there were heinous well well-calculated machinations to wipe out the particularly in Juba. The same applies to Machar and he should have apologized to the communities his forces targeted and killed, raped, and pillaged. If both protagonists were for genuine peace and reconciliation, they would have set up the Hybrid Court and embraced justice and accountability to move the country forward instead of circumventing justice by all means at their disposal. On frustrating justice, the two agree and are thick as thieves.
Indeed, like Rwanda has done with the genocide when just in 100 days in 1994, about 800,000 people were slaughtered by ethnic Hutu extremists, and the Jews did after the Holocaust which was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by the Nazi regime and its allies and collaborators between 1933 and 1945, the Nuer massacre in Juba and beyond must be incorporated in the school syllabi to remind future generations of the dangers of such nefarious actions as a lesson and deterrent.
After the 1994 Rwanda Genocide perpetrated against Tutsi, the educational system changed radically and the same educational system which had been used as a tool in perpetuating hatred and divisionism was transformed into a tool to promote reconciliation among Rwandan youth. In 1995, the Ministry of Education came up with a new policy that would produce citizens free from ethnic, regional, national, and religious prejudices and who are committed to human rights and society.
The role of the education sector was to contribute to national reconciliation by creating a culture of peace, emphasizing positive, non-violent national values, and promoting the universal values of justice, tolerance, respect for others, solidarity, and democracy.
Importantly, the formal education in post-genocide Rwanda now incorporates genocide-related subjects in primary and secondary education curricula. For instance, in primary schools, pupils learn about genocide in their civic education classes. The National University of Rwanda even boasts a Masters program in Genocide Studies and Prevention. To prevent future genocide, the Rwandan youth must understand the events that led to and during the 1994 genocide, the effects, and how to combat genocide ideology. This enables the public, especially the young generation, to participate in fighting against future human rights violations.
Landmarks, memorials, museums, and monuments have to also be built to constantly remind South Sudanese citizens about this diabolical phase in history that tore the country apart, so that it is never repeated, let alone contemplated by anyone.
Ultimately, the South Sudanese leaders who superintended over the massacre of the Nuer in Juba and the opposition who oversaw the killing of Dinkas and people from other ethnicities thereafter have to first acknowledge and be remorseful for their atrocious actions.
Finally, there must be Justice and Accountability, and after admission of guilt, genuine reconciliation.
Indeed the planners and perpetrators of the crimes against humanity and ensuing war crimes are known by the citizens as there are no rumors or conjecture in South Sudanese society because people speak truth-even if forced to muffle it.
Germany dealt with the horrors of the holocaust through trials and accountability and rose to be an industrial powerhouse and the biggest economy in Europe. We should look at Rwanda, not too far away from South Sudan, as an example and use their experience in tracking down, arresting, and bringing génocidaires to book and accountability to rise out of the ashes.
Wishing the crimes against humanity and war crimes away and sweeping them under the carpet will only make them fester and create a burning and everlasting desire in the victims, the ones who survived, and the relatives of the dead, to avenge their loved ones. As it is, Nuer and other peoples who have waited for justice to be served are now losing patience and it is now routine to hear individuals on myriad social media platforms calling for revenge and others for their lands to separate from Kiir’s South Sudan. This is not a viable solution and we must collectively, as citizens of the country, work for peace and justice. Already we have murders over mundane matters that can easily be amicably resolved and cyclic revenge killings across the country due to lack of rule of law and recourse to justice.
Without Justice and Accountability, South Sudan, a country already bursting at the seams due to unbridled violence, will implode sooner than later. South Sudanese and the international community should be steadfast in pushing for the formation of the Hybrid Court to try war crimes and crimes against humanity or embrace other ways, including Universal Jurisdiction where perpetrators can be tried in any country for international crimes, to bring perpetrators to book.
PS: For South Sudan to know peace, perpetrators, whoever they are, and whatever positions they hold, must be held accountable-preferably, before they die of natural and other causes and escape justice.
The writer is a journalist and can be reached via kokalolado@gmail.com
The views expressed in ‘opinion’ articles published by Radio Tamazuj are solely those of the writer. The veracity of any claims made is the author’s responsibility, not Radio Tamazuj’s.