Written by Mading Ngor, The New Sudan Vision (NSV), newsudanvision.com

Thursday, 11 August 2011 11:53

Hon. Malek Alier, MP for Anyidi, Kolnyang, Bor South (left) and Hon. Deng Dau, MP for Twic East, on Wednesday waded into Dr. Riek Machar’s apology to the Dinka Bor community on Sunday for crimes committed in 1991 under Nasir Faction ( Juba  NSV) – Two Dinka Bor MPs from the National Assembly on Wednesday waded into Dr. Riek Machar’s Sunday apology to members of the Bor community for the gruesome killing of thousands of its citizens by the Nasir Faction’ forces in 1991, then commanded by Dr. Riek Machar Teny. In the same year, the community also saw its property looted and livelihood put into disrepair by the faction. At a gathering held at the home of the late Dr. John Garang to commemorate the sixth anniversary of his death on Sunday, Dr. Riek Machar, South Sudan’s Vice President stunned those who attended, when he unexpectedly owned up to the heinous crimes of the Nasir Faction in 1991. The apology came nearly twenty years after the massacre. On August 28, 1991, Riek Machar and his comrades declared a coup against the late leader of the SPLM/SPLA, Dr. John Garang, called ‘Nasir Declaration.’ On Sunday, Dr. Riek explained the aim of his movement, which was initially supported by many southerners from different tribes, was to restore democracy and human rights in the mainstream SPLM, whose late leader was allegedly autocratic. However, the Nasir Movement went on to commit human rights abuses, culminating in the ‘Bor Massacre.’ The Sunday occasion was organized by Garang’s widow, Madam Rebecca Nyandeng, and supported by the committee, which was charged with organizing Martyrs Day, The New Sudan Vision has learned. Madam Nyandeng invited MPs, government officials, the Speaker of South Sudan parliament, religious leaders, the President, the Vice President, and members of the public. The event was announced at Emannuel Jieng church in  Juba , and through SSTV. President Kiir did not attend the prayers, but the Vice President, Dr. Riek was one of the invited dignitaries who turned up. “The family [of the late Dr. John] took the opportunity to remember Dr. John in a bigger way because the vision and the legacy of what he fought for is now achieved,” Hon. Deng Dau Malek, MP for  Twic   East   County , explained to The New Sudan Vision on Wednesday. Hon. Deng, who also spoke at the event in his capacity as representative for Twic East, where the late Garang hailed from, said most of the speeches at the occasion, bordered on memory of South Sudan’s fallen heroes and heroines, in light of last month’s historic achievement of independence for South Sudan, and what awaited its future. Apology for 1991 massacre ‘“Dr Riek, when he stood, and talked about the painful event of 1991,”’ narrated Hon. Deng, ‘“His statements were that whatever that happened in 1991 should not be associated to other people, namely people like Dr. Lam who was his deputy, and person like Gordon Kong, who was also member of the Political High Command during that time.”’ The lawmaker went on further:   ‘“He said I should take squarely the responsibility of the events of 1991. And he said the people that have suffered were people of the Greater Bor, and the entire Jonglei. ‘“He took that day to express his apology to the people who are affected by the events of 1991”’, he concluded. When he was narrating the events of 1991, Dr. Riek broke down and wept, to the point where he nearly collapsed, several witnesses confirmed to The New Sudan Vision. The Vice President was then joined by his wife, Dr. Anjelina Teny, who was also reportedly in tears. The dramatic scene provoked a moment of raw emotions, where some of the victims started wailing in memory of their loved ones who had died in the massacre or its aftermath, while others were bewildered by the apology, The New Sudan Vision understood from various accounts from witnesses. In response to the apology, Caretaker Gov. of the Central Bank of  South Sudan , Elijah Malok, as elder in the Bor community and immediate relative of the late Dr. John Garang, took the microphone. He was said to have expressed his bitter feelings about 1991, before concluding that he would personally forgive Riek, but that he would refer the case to the larger Bor community for deliberation on the next step. Madam Nyandeng, on the other hand, spoke the last words. She blamed Riek for setting the South backward with his 1991 move, when SPLM/SPLA was on the verge of victory at the time. She reasoned the  Republic  of  South Sudan  would have been achieved a decade earlier were it not because of the defection, The New Sudan Vision was told. On her own behalf and that of her children, the Former First Lady said she forgave Riek Machar for his crimes. On Monday, the Dinka Bor community called an emergency meeting, also held at late Dr. Garang’s home, and attended by representatives of the Bor community, intellectuals, citizens, and politicians to agree on how to handle the issue. Although those who attended said no consensus emerged from the meeting, the predominant ideas can be broken up to about three, according to Hon. Malek Alier, MP for Const. 15, Anyidi, Kolnyang, Bor South: (1) those who are asking for Dr. Riek to apologize to the grassroots in Bor and other S. Sudanese communities (2) those who are willing to forgive Dr. Riek but without any political strings attached (3) and those who are saying Dr. Riek’s apology will fall short if it comes from him alone and not from fellow perpetrators. In the meeting, a committee made up of Bor representatives to follow up on how genuine was Dr. Riek’s confession, was formed. Its members are waiting to meet with the Vice President to sought whether he stood by his apology, and to agree on how to best proceed with the issue. ‘Truth and Reconciliation’ For Hon. Deng, Dr. Riek’s apology on Sunday was a welcome development.  “As members of parliament, we say this is a good gesture for general reconciliation, and this is what we call Truth and Reconciliation. People must talk about the bitter things that had happened,” he told The New Sudan Vision, in an interview. On the timing of Dr. Riek’s apology, he said it “could be political” but also “reality” because reconciliation will be nonexistent if the people of Bor do not express their feelings about the horrific memory of the massacre. He carried on: “People of Bor have been uprooted by 1991. And we are saying we cannot do it alone here in  Juba because Greater Bor people, who are affected, are at the grassroots. It may not be understood by people who are at home in the villages. “We encourage Dr. Riek to extend this gesture to the people who are really affected, and we’re talking about people who are in the rural areas,” he added. Ready to forgive… Hon. Malek held similar sentiments with his counterpart. “Generally, people are ready to forgive but they think that, this thing should be said in another bigger gathering, where people who have been affected or victimized, who have lost many [relatives], should be heard first,” he told The New Sudan Vision on Wednesday. “It should not be done at the political level. It has to be extended to the grassroots, so that those who are bitter, those who have lost their dear people, they have to air out themselves, and if that forgiveness comes out from them, then all are going to be healed,” he said. Dr. Riek’s belated apology has triggered all kinds of speculations about his intentions. Others wondered whether his apology was meant to solicit Dinka Bor support in his leadership ambitions. “This apology should not be misunderstood, as if we have something we’re cooking,” said Hon. Deng, when The New Sudan Vision asked him about the political implications of any resultant forgiveness from the community. “It’s from him, and he knows why he has said this at this time,” he said. “As a people of Bor, we’re firm behind the leadership of the SPLM, led by comrade Salva Kiir Mayardit. And so whatever reconciliation that is done, is done within the context of the existing structures,” he concluded. What’s more, Hon. Malek stressed the importance of having a uniform apology from the perpetrators. “What we want to know, is that, is this idea, the idea of Riek Machar alone, or the idea shared by those with whom he was doing this together. Riek alone, even if he’s forgiven and others are still maintaining that bitterness, it will not help. So I want this thing to be extended and we hear from others who were with Riek Machar, whether they are ready, what Riek has said, is what they have, then it would be good for us,” he told The New Sudan Vision. “We’re convinced that [the apology] is a good initiative, it’s really a national initiative, because we want Southerners to forget all the bitterness. We want Southerners to forget the past. We want to begin anew so that we build our nation,” he added

 Machar: Appology And Reactions

 http://sosanews.com/2011/08/11/machar-appology-and-reactions/

Machar has apologised to Dinka Bor community – army official

Sudan Tribune: August 10, 2011 (JUBA) – South Sudan’s vice president, Riek Machar, has apologised to the Dinka Bor community by acknowledging his responsibility for an incident in 1991 which resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives in the community, announced a deputy spokesperson of the South Sudan army, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA).

The officer in charge of the SPLA information department, Malak Ayuen Ajok, revealed on the official South Sudan TV that Machar acknowledged his responsibility of the 1991 incidence in Bor following his defection on 28 August 1991 from late John Garang’s leadership.

At a gathering organised by the Dinka Bor community in Juba, reportedly attended by Machar, the army officer told the TV viewers that a number of Dinka Bor community elders including Rebecca Nyandeng de Mabior, the widow of late John Garang, expressed their forgiveness to the vice president.

Malaak, who did not or quote Machar, explained that the apology was the beginning of a reconciliation process and commended the vice president for accepting responsibility of the incident.

The apology has received with mixed reactions by individuals among the Nuer community in Juba and abroad.

Some told Sudan Tribune that the apology was premature and incorrect, calling it a tactic by the Dinka Bor community in order to use the apology against him in the future.

Others welcomed Maxhar’s reconciliatory tone but said it should have been reciprocated with a similar apology by the most senior leader of the Dinka Bor community or Nyandeng, on behalf of the late John Garang for similar incidences that resulted to loss of hundreds of lives in the Jikany Nuer community.

“I don’t believe Riek Machar apologised just like that to the Dinka Bor community. If it is true and aimed to reconcile with the Bor community, then that reconciliation should have been a two-way process. Who among the Dinka Bor’s top leaders apologized on behalf of late Garang for the killing of Jikany Nuer unarmed civilians in 1985?” asked Deng Gatluak.

“Yes, I heard Malaak Ayuen revealing the apology on television. I think they have set him [Machar] up and recorded his confession if it was true so that they can use it against him as evidence of crime. I have been hearing ordinary Dinka boys and girls talking of wanting to take him to the ICC [International Criminal Court] or any other court over the 1991 incident. They may use his apology as an evidence to present to court or to blackmail him with it as a leader,” said another who asked for anonymity.

He went on to question why the apology did not come directly from the source.

Gordon Buay, the former Secretary General of the South Sudan Democratic Party said he was shocked by the apology.

“I was completely shocked that a man like Riek Machar could apologise for 1991 Nasir Declaration which brought the right to self-determination to fore. It is very sad indeed that Riek Machar should reduce himself to the level of Peter Gatdet,” Buay said, referring to another Nuer rebel who recently rejoined the government.

Lul Gatkuoth Nguth, a member of the South Sudanese diaspora in Canada, welcomed the apology, saying it is a politically astute move, to bring peace and harmony to the communities.

“In my opinion, it is not shame that Riek Machar Teny apologized to Dinka Bor community. This is how the politics work. If you go through peace and conciliation process, this term ’apology’ has to apply if you are a real good politician who has a big mind,” he said.

In 1991 the vice president, Riek Machar, split from the SPLM/A under the leadership of late John Garang, calling for self-determination for the people of South Sudan to be the main objective of the movement. He and the current leader of the SPLM-DC, Lam Akol, also cited a lack of democratic principles and human rights abuses as factors that prompted their split.

Machar however rejoined the SPLM/A in 2002 with his forces and has been the party’s deputy chairman as well as the vice president of South Sudan for the last six years.

(ST)

By Gordon Buay: 

According to Brig. Gen. Malaak Ayuen on SSTV on Monday and Tuestday, Dr. Riek Machar apologised to SPLM leadership for 1991 Nasir Declaration and said he took full responsibility for the killing in Bor. I think there are people who watched what Malaak Ayuen said on SSTV on Monday and Tuestday.

I was completely shocked that a man like Riek Machar could apologize for 1991 Nasir Declaration which brought the right to self-determination to fore. What kind of a politician is Riek Machar now? I believe those who originally think that Riek Machar is somebody worthy of consideration should now evaluate their positions. What he did has no difference with what Peter Gatdet did on August, 03, 2011.

To me, August is a very shameful month for the Nuer in particular and South Sudanese who supported 1991 Nasir Declaration in general. It is very sad indeed that Riek Machar should reduce himself to the level of Peter Gatdet.

From now on, we have to attribute 1991 Declaration to Dr. Lam Akol without mentioning the name of Riek Machar. We should even write in the books that the leader of 1991 was Dr. Lam Akol. Riek Machar’s name should be eliminated entirely from historical books.

Gordon Buay

About Post Author

PaanLuel Wël

administrator

PaanLuel Wël is the founder and editor-in-chief of PaanLuel Wël Media Ltd, a news website that covers news, opinions, analysis, history, culture and literature of South Sudan and the world. Founded in July 2011 by PaanLuel Wël to create a platform for free expression and constructive dialogue, the website features articles from various contributors, including columnists, commentators, poets, authors, activists and academics. PaanLuel Wël believes that media can play a vital role in informing, educating and empowering the people to participate in nation-building and social transformation. He also believes that media can foster a culture of dialogue, tolerance and diversity among different communities and groups, and hopes to inspire and mentor the next generation of South Sudanese writers and journalists.

See author's posts