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Ayual Community: Wrongful Dissemination of Peace and the Withdrawal of Court Case

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Ayual Community Welfare Association-Bor Town
                                                                                                                                   Date: 2nd Sep, 2014
To Whom It May Concern

Ref: Wrongful dissemination of peace and the withdrawal of Court Case

Dear Sir;

Peace is everybody’s duty, we would have embraced the above cited peace initiative had it come through robust procedures. The conflict between Ayual & Dachuek continued for almost 11 years and the number of deceased during this period has reached an imaginable point which we don’t want it to proceed anymore, for the procedure through which this so called peace between Ayual and Dachuek came has never been a right channel. It is too exclusive to the extent that Ayual members who are residing in Bor Town have been bypassed by the said committee, we have never been incorporated into peace process something which has baffled us outright.
Peace and Reconciliation Initiative:

We the Ayual Community residents in Bor Town hereby expressing our sincere concerns on the aforementioned subject that the currently underway peace initiative being initiated by the Twic East Authority & Church leaders  is unilateral & unsuccessful, for it has never  addressed the root causes of the trouble. What so called priests and Twic East Authority have swiftly jumped into peace leaving an acute problems untouched, on top of them the pending court case which is up to now on the table of Chief Justice has not yet been tried. The issue of deceased between two warring parties is yet to be tried,

Furthermore; the cause of the conflict blew up in the Churches and then spread throughout to be the problem of the community and now are pretending to be well-wishers to bring the stability and tranquility which they caused. We are unanimously rejecting this useless and unilateral peace. We are the brothers, sisters, Mothers and Fathers of the deceased hereby sending our full dislike to this peace.

Another puzzling issue is that the first trial was tried by the Kongoor Head Chief Duot Ajang Duot and the verdict then was not favorable to either side and consequently the warring communities fought, leaving three persons dead as a result of his verdict. To our dismay as a community the above mentioned chief is now the one spearheading the process of withdrawing the court case back to Twic County’s Court while he was the main cause of the first death. We were expecting the paramount Chief of Twic East in Collaboration with Twic East Authority to be the one having a right to disseminate & initiate the process instead of the first failed chief; he” Paramount Chief” has now refused to comply with the so called committee comprising of Twic East Authority, Priests and Chiefs, for the hidden agenda which is behind the scene will hamper the efforts and may result into another unfortunate.

Following Duot Ajang’s verdict another committee comprising of Greater Bor Chiefs was formed headed by Duk County’s Paramount Chief Cueei Leek Deng, his decision was seen to be the optimal solution to the problem according to many people. Now his verdict has been nullified and criticized by the initiators of this invaluable peace and reconciliation while Duot Ajang is not a Paramount Chief to criticize whatever Greater Bor decided.

Well-wishers and those who are so much concerned of our problem, we the Ayual Community in Bor Town would like to assure you that our beloved brothers or foes that we lost as a result of this conflict are so valuable to us. Therefore, we are very keen enough not to forfeit other lives and this is a reason why we condemned this wrongful procedure being followed by this partial committee. The currently peace initiative will not achieve any success other than to claim other lives, it has been tried twice in Twic East in their presence and eventually lives were lost. Therefore; we are unanimously dismissing the so called peace which is being initiated by these interest groups, for they have no notion of solving it.

Withdrawal of the Court Case on the Table of his Majesty Chief of Justice:

The Committee went beyond its capacity to the extent that they proposed the above mentioned without making some deliberations and consultations with plaintiff such that the case is withdrew with their consent. Hence; Ayual Community in its General Assembly’s meeting in Bor Town has hysterically denounced a move by disgruntled Authorities of Twic East and its Cohorts to withdraw the court case which is currently on the table of Chief Justice.

The meeting of the community described the proposal as “RED LINE & UNEXPLODED BOMB” should it happen, For; this case was referred to High Court because of its complexity, three cases were referred to High Court in Juba during by then namely: KOCH & DEER of Makuach Payam, LITH & KUAI of Baidit Payam and AYUAL/DACHUEK of Nyuak Payam the above mentioned two cases were exhausted through Special Court that was formed by the high Court leaving our case pending. We expect fairness in special court; for we have been anticipating unfairness in the withdrawal of our case back to Twic East should you allow these Chiefs and Twic East Authority to deceive you in their own peace, neglecting the concerned warring parties. Court Case is a personal affair it is our own affair as a community to decide who will try our Case and cannot be imposed on us, therefore we need not to be dragged into what we have never planned for,

It is so imperative that the initiators of the said peace are group of opportunists and bad-wishers of our conflict since its inception. We urge all concerned members of Twic East wherever they are, Jonglei Government and the Judiciary not to comply with them, for we have never been convinced beyond reasonable doubt such that we join what they are disseminating.

On the 31st Sep 2014 General Assembly’s meeting held in Bor Town concerning the ongoing peace initiative, the community recommended the following for the success of the reconciliation:

•    Peace initiative must address the root causes of the conflict
•    Court Case must be exhausted first before any peace process made
•    Withdrawal of the Court Case must not be used as a pretext to achieve peace and reconciliation
•    Our Case must be tried at the level of high court for its complexity
•    Wanglei Land must remain as Ayual property in accordance with Greater Bor Committee’s decision.
•    The current committee must go back and start the process afresh should they meant peace in reality

We are not against any peace process, but against wrong procedures being initiated by the committee.

And thanks

Jok Chol Deng.
Ayual Community Chairperson in Bor Town

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