The Embassies of the United States of America and the United Kingdom in Juba on Tuesday renewed calls demanding that the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity (RTGoNU) investigate the 2017 killing of journalist Christopher Allen when he was embedded with the SPLA-IO in Kaya in Central Equatoria State.
“On World Press Freedom Day (3 May), the U.S. and U.K. Embassies in Juba renew their calls for the transitional Government of South Sudan to conduct a credible investigation into the death of Christopher Allen and to make the results public,” a joint statement from the two embassies read.
Allen was a dual American-British national who was killed while covering clashes between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-in Opposition (SPLA-IO) on 26 August 2017.
When contacted, however, Col. Lam Paul Gabriel, the SPLA-IO spokesperson, told Radio Tamazuj that his side has severally explained the circumstances of the slain journalist’s demise in the past.
“The SPLM-IO have in the past had a series of meetings with U.S. government officials in Juba and even in Uganda before that. After the incident (killing), we gave our side of the story to the U.S. government and his family about how he got inside and how exactly the incident happened regarding his Killing in South Sudan,” he said. From our side, we have answered enough questions and it is now for the government to respond. I believe what they (family) want is for the government to come clear on what happened.”
“I cannot speak on behalf of the government but on the side of SPLA-IO, we have answered enough and we are still open to answering and clarifying the events he entered South Sudan till the point he went to the frontline,” Col. Lam added.
He said the current government, RTGoNU, is an amalgamation of parties who signed the peace agreement and the Americans and British may want to get a detailed statement on Allen’s death from the unified government.
“When they are talking about the government, they mean everybody including the SPLM/A-IO because the government is a mixture of several parties,” Lam said. “Now, we have a government in place, and at the end of the day, it should come up and say something on the matter because all of us are now in one government. I think they want the top level of the government to answer.”