Belligerent communities in Tonj North County of Warrap State have agreed to reconcile after a community dialogue facilitated by The Origination of Children Harmony (TOCH) organization.
According to local authorities, the most recent conflict in Tonj North which started in May this year has left hundreds dead and thousands displaced.
The resolutions to end the conflict and embrace peaceful coexistence were deliberated and arrived at after a three-day conference convened at the county headquarters in Warrap last week.
Over a hundred representatives from the communities of cattle camp youth, women, and the chiefs attended the conference.
Cattle rustling, alcohol abuse, poor justice mechanisms, elopement, pregnancies outside wedlock, adultery, the proliferation of firearms among the civil population, and revenge killings were identified as conflict drivers that must be given redress if peace is to prevail in the area.
The communities resolved that camp youth leaders and local chiefs would handle cases of elopement and pregnancies outside wedlock.
James Manut Aguang, a youth representative, welcomed the recommendations saying that it will lessen conflict that permeates the community whenever such incidents occur.
“If a girl elopes, the chief or cattle camp leader is supposed to be the one following her and not youth who go and make trouble. Only those who know the law can go there and address the issue,” Aguang said. "Another thing is alcohol from towns, all alcohols except while stuff (local brew) should not be allowed.”
The conference resolved that cases of adultery will be settled using Wanhalel Customary laws and parties involved will be fined and jailed together and without favor or preference. More often the men involved in adultery are jailed and fined leaving the women free.
The participants further resolved that cattle raiders must always be apprehended and subjected to the law immediately.
Chief Aleu Aduot, one of the participants, said the conflict in Tonj North is aggravated by bandits and lawless members of the communities.
“The conflict in Tonj North has many root causes, one of them is that some people who don’t have cattle, once they see cattle of others they want to take them and others who owe others once they are asked to pay back they ran away with others people properties,” Chief Aduot said.
There were calls for massive and comprehensive arms disarmament and safekeeping of the firearms so that they do not find their way back to civilians.
Angelina Adut, one of the women who attended the conference, said disarmament is the only way forward to eliminate conflict in Greater Tonj North.
“If the fighting is to stop, then there is a need to remove guns from the hands of civilians and if there is any external threat government will handle because there is the army,” Adut said. “If there is an enemy from anywhere the army will intervene and the civilians should be in their homes. We don’t want alcohol like 'siko or aragi' (spirits) the other local brews like white stuff, asilia should continue.”
A total ban on harmful alcohol, avoidance of revenge killings, and seeking of justice instead of revenge was equally echoed by the participants of the conference.
There were also calls for the proper application of justice. The current conflict in Tonj North is blamed on poor justice mechanisms and applications.
Senior chiefs have as a result been identified and will be empowered to settle local cases in customary courts while those alleged to be accepting bribes were warned to desist from corruption.
Bol Kuol, who heads the security committee for Tonj North established by Warrap state governor in August this year, assured the proper implementation of the conference recommendations.
“The governor has formed a committee of senior chiefs from Tonj North composed of 9 members, this committee will be in charge of the implementation of the resolutions like cases that will require solutions unless it is criminal cases like killing,” Kuol said. “We also want to organize the gelweng (home guards) or cattle camp youth in form of community police. We will do this in near future, we will give them power so that when anything happens in the cattle camp or anywhere they will be the ones to arrest situation there.”
Ariceh Deng, the program coordinator for the TOCH organization described the dialogue as fruitful. He said the nine resolutions that the community agreed upon to end the conflict in Tonj North were reached after discussing the root causes of conflict among cattle camp youth.
“There are places where people do not move between Kuanthie and Akop. Of course, some people move there with their vehicles but there is still that fear,” Deng said. “Although women can move in those places men are not living in their houses that were burned so it is still an indicator that there is still fear but according to the commitment that they were saying and according to traditional rituals they were performing it shows that they are going to come together.”
The dialogue was attended by 120 participants drawn from the nine payams of Tonj North County. The resolutions to end the conflict were signed by nine youth, nine women, and nine chiefs representing nine Payams.