South Sudan’s Yei River State member of parliament representing Tore County is urging the opposition forces loyal to rebel leader Riek Machar to release 40 civilians abducted in July.
According to Matatias Nemaya, the civilians mostly women, youth and the elderly were abducted on 24th of July while working on their farms in the outskirts of Yei town by SPLA-IO force commander Emmanuel Gadi and are being detained at Madile Village, about 4 miles from Yei Town.
He told Radio Tamazuj that family members have lost contact with the abductees and denied claims that they were government spies.
“I am calling on Brigadier Emmanuel Gadi that these people are old, women and youth and they should be released safely and unconditionally. We as people in Tore are innocent and we have no problem with anybody. What he has done is very bad, some of my people have been killed and we are not able to go to the area to bring their bodies for burial,” he said.
The legislator also called the warring parties to observe the Khartoum declaration on permanent ceasefire and allow free civilian movement within the state.
For his part, Lam Paul Gabriel SPLA-IO deputy military spokesman acknowledged that their commander Gadi detained the civilians but said the detention was an individual’s decision and not sanctioned by the armed movement. However, he said commander Gadi has been instructed to immediately release those in his custody.
He added that the SPLA-IO is committed to the peace agreement and will ensure the release of all political prisoners.
A civilian who fled Gadi’s detention cell told Radio Tamazuj on condition of anonymity that they were subjected to hard manual labor and inhuman treatment.
“They used to slash us, we were forced to dig large acres of land, harvest crops, cook, wash clothes, fetch water throughout the day and forced to sleep on the floor in small rooms” she added.