The SPLM/A-IO, led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar, announced on Monday night that it has stopped participating in the Joint Defense Board (JDB), High-Level Political Committee (HLPC), Joint Military Ceasefire Committee (JMCC), and Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC) pending the release of all political detainees.
A press statement signed by Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, Deputy Chairman and Deputy Commander-In-Chief of the opposition outfit who is also the First Deputy Speaker of the National Legislature, said they decided due to the continued illegal detention of their ranking members, the deployment of Ugandan troops in South Sudan, and ethnic profiling of the Nuer Community.
On 7 March, several SSPDF soldiers, including their commander, Gen. Majur Dak, were killed in Nasir Town while being evacuated by a UN helicopter. This followed weeks of tensions and eventually fighting between the SSPDF and the White Army, a group of armed Nuer youths. After the fighting in Nasir, security agencies detained Petroleum Minister Puot Kang Chol who also doubles as the Deputy Chairman of High Level Political Committee, Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam, Deputy CDF and Co-Chair of JDB, Hon. Gatwech Lam Puoch (MP), Camilo Gatmai Kel and 19 other SPLM/A-IO senior military officers and officials. Deputy Speaker Oyet says their continuous detention is provocative and illegal and refers to them as political detainees.
“After a thorough assessment of the credibility and composition of the Mechanisms, Political and Security environment of the Peace Implementation Mechanisms, and after wide consultation, all the participation of the members of the said Security and Political mechanisms is hereby frozen with immediate effect until all the SPLM/SPLA-IO Political Detainees are unconditionally released,” the statement reads in part. “The Members of the said Mechanism shall only attend RJMEC Plenary Sessions to affirm the unconditional release of their colleagues. We hold the SPLM-IG and their security apparatus responsible for the safety and life of all detainees.”
According to Oyet, harassment, arrests, and detention of peacemakers, peace mediators, peace messengers, humanitarian workers, and journalists, have been a practice of brutal totalitarian regimes that have been banned internationally under customary international Humanitarian law.
“This act shall never be tolerated in South Sudan under any circumstance. The act of arresting and detaining a Signatory to the R-ARCSS and the ongoing political witch-hunts continue to threaten the very essence and the existence of the Revitalized Agreement,” Oyet charged. “We once again call for the immediate unconditional release of the political detainees and release of the First Vice President from any confinement.”
He highlighted that the failure of the government to protect the life and property of all citizens of South Sudan has resulted in the proliferation and establishment of community vigilantes including Tit-bai, Gel-weng, Agwelek, Abushok, White army, Monyamiji, Arrow Boys, etc. and that profiling the White Army and declaring war by mobilizing state political, military and diplomatic machinery is tantamount to further a “state policy of targeting members of a group.”
“We call upon the African Union, United Nations, Troika, European Union, IGAD Partners Forum, and the C5 Countries to protect civilians in South Sudan and reject the call by the government spokesperson to profile an ethnic group, and we also call upon you to visit the African Union Commission Report on South Sudan (The Obasanjo Report) and hold the government and individual committing atrocities and Human Rights Violations in South Sudan to account,” the statement said. “Last but not least, the invitation and the presence of Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) in the Country depicts a men’s rea (intention) and preparation for war. Their deployment around the country complicates the geopolitical situation of South Sudan and is tantamount to a declaration of War on the peace partners and the people of South Sudan by the two governments.”
“In light of the foregoing, South Sudan and Juba in particular are increasingly unsafe for the members of the opposition, and the Chairman and Commander In Chief of the SPLM/SPLA-IO, who has been placed under political witch-hunts and confinement and this is further raising tension and anxiety around the Country,” the statement concluded.