Please read the below finest By Dr.Jok Madut Jok We are once again at that disastrous juncture of moral equivalency, where both parties to the conflict in South Sudan are thinking of civilian deaths as some sort of competition to assign the most ignominious position in rights abuses to ones opponent. In the wake of the recent Human Rights Watch report that documented the killings of civilians by both sides in the conflict, SPLM- in Opposition says that yes, civilians were hurt in areas under our control, but not to a level comparable to what the government did in Juba. SPLM - in Government says that yes, civilians were killed in Juba through actions of some indisciplined soldiers but not as many as it is being claimed. Of course this may be correct, but I feel really sad that the only thing our leaders can say is that oh, i killed people but not as many as the other guy did. In my view, the number of deaths, small or large is not the point, but the fact that an innocent civilian has been killed for reasons they have nothing to do with. A single South Sudanese who dies because they happened to be from a particular ethnic group is enough to send the culprits to a court. So, to our leaders and their footmen who did the killing, i say that you will all be held responsible, whether you have killed one person or 500 people. But this accountability cannot happen if we, the ordinary folks, continue to throw this ethnic divide in each others face. We can only get justice for our poor civilians who have been killed in cold blood if we start speaking with one voice, organize and press for such accountability to be part of the on-going peace process. I may not know what will work in the end, but i know what will not get us anywhere. So long as the Nuer and the Dinka continue to throw 1991 in each others face as some kind of justification for what happened in Juba in 2013 or the Nuer using the Juba killings as some kind of justifications for revenge in Akobo, Malakal and Bentiu, we will have allowed the criminals to get away with their crimes. This idea that we are even, you killed my people and i killed yours and we should call it a day, is immoral and illegal in my view, so there is no escaping judgement.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 07:37:53 +0000