SPLM Statement on the Human Rights Day
5 min readDear Cde James Deng Angok
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Cde Bol
10th December 2011
SPLM Statement on the Human Rights Day
People of South Sudan, today we are celebrating the Human Rights Day to remind ourselves of those martyrs who paid with their lives so as to deliver for those of us who are still living the fundamental human rights which are based on the premise that “All men and women are created Equal” with all human beings being born free and equal in dignity and rights and that they are endowed with reason, conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood.
This day is a significant one in our Country’s historical foundation and is relevant to us all for we can be assured that the human rights and fundamental rights and freedoms enjoyed by many around the world belong to us too.
Today’s celebration of the Human Rights Day is the first of its kind in an independent Republic of South Sudan. Our country has become the 193rd sovereign nation and we signed up as members of the United Nations community. In other words, we subscribe to the Fundamental Rights and Freedoms such as the right to life, liberty, security of person and the protection of the law; freedom of conscience, of expression, of assembly, association and movement; protection of person, protection for private and family life; protection against arbitrary arrest and irrational discrimination; protection of the right to education and protection from inhumane treatment. These are all guaranteed by the South Sudan Transitional Constitution.
The SPLM Secretariat for Popular and Syndicated Organisations has supported establishment and training of many civil society organizations as enshrined in the SPLM Constitution. Our free media educates the people of South Sudan without fabricating negative information intended for agitation and disharmony.
The Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement (SPLM) has laid down the foundation for Human Rights as delineated by the orientation to its members and the military (SPLA). It is both educative and an encouragement to note this chronology regarding the SPLM’s records of commitment to Human Rights.
· SPLM’s liberation war objective was about freedom, justice and equality. It was and is still about elimination of all forms of discrimination. The late SPLM Chairman, Dr. John Garang, instructed the military (SPLA) not to attack the Sudan government garrisons, but to establish contacts and dialogue with Sudan government soldiers. This was successful in some cases and where the government soldiers were aggressive, it led into confrontation.
· In December 1984, the SPLA soldiers of the Rhino battalion peacefully engaged government soldiers in a streamer/ship on the River Nile near Bor town. The government soldiers refused to negotiate peacefully with the SPLA soldiers. This led to military fight and government soldiers were captured. These prisoners of war were later on handed over to Sudan government in Wau in 1985. The SPLA late captain Bagat Aguek handed over the captured government soldiers to the then Governor of Bhar el Ghazal, General Albino Akol Akol. This was a major implementation of the Geveva Convention on Human Rights (treatment of the prisoners of war) by the SPLA that was still a rebel army.
· In 1997, the SPLA captured thousands of soldiers from the government garrisons. These prisoners of war were released to the Red Cross by the late SPLM Chairman, Dr. John Garang.
· In 1999/2000, the then SPLA Deputy Commander in Chief and Deputy SPLM Chairman, Cde Salva Kiir Mayardit, launched disarming of child soldiers in conformity with the United Nations Child Rights. Thousands of children who escaped enslavement by the National Islamic and National Congress Party (NIF/NCP) army and sought arms to protect themselves were disarmed and put to schools.
· In line with the SPLM Constitution, the SPLM led government has appointed 25% of women into various constitutional and professional positions.
While the SPLM up-holds and puts into practice the principles of human rights, the Sudan government still presents a threat to peace, stability and harmony between the two countries: the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan. The NCP hostile activities include:
· Child recruitment, training and sponsoring mercenaries and terrorists to fight South Sudanese at the border towns between the two countries.
· NCP’s failure to respect cultural, racial, religious, gender and political rights and using these as reasons for discrimination and victimization.
· Force recruitment of South Sudanese who are still in Khartoum to fight against the people of Southern Kordofan, Darfur, Southern Blue Nile and South Sudan.
· Imposing economic downturn by interfering in the South Sudan oil export and creating insecurity at the oil fields in South Sudan.
· Violating South Sudan air space and bombardment of people of South Sudan and destruction of properties. It is an economic crime.
· Waging genocidal war against the peoples of South Sudan, Darfur, Southern Kordofan and Southern Blue Nile while the international community remains indifferent.
These NCP’s acts constitute a major threat to peace and stability of the region if left unchecked. It is on this basis that the SPLM repeats the call for the international community to impose a no-fly zone between the Republic of Sudan and South Sudan along the latitude 13° parallel north of the equator.
Bol Makueng
SPLM Secretary for Information, Culture and Communication
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