Press Statement: Rally for Peace and Democracy
Rally for Peace and Democracy
(South Sudan)
REF: RPD/PR-17/14
PRESS RELEASE
Government of South Sudan’s Denial of ‘Other Political Leaders’ from Participating the Ongoing Peace Talks
The Rally for Peace and Democracy (RPD) is gravely perturbed in learning that the Government of the Republic of South Sudan is adamantly continuing to dishonor the Principles of the ongoing Peace Negotiations as set out in the May 9th, 2014 document, signed by the two sides to the raging conflict in South Sudan. The document clearly and unreservedly includes the Principle of Inclusivity. In a clear breech of this principle, the Government of the Republic of South Sudan has decided to clandestinely bar some leaders of ‘other political parties’ from attending the next round of peace talks. The entire delegation of ‘other political parties’, including their leader Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, were denied boarding the plane to Addis Ababa at the Juba International Airport on Saturday 13 September 2014.
The two warring parties had agreed that the search for peaceful settlement to the current crisis in South Sudan will involve all stakeholders. It has also been reflected in the June 10th, 2014 document, which the IGAD Heads of States endorsed, that the South Sudan IGAD-led peace talks will be inclusive. As a result, six different groups representing a broad spectrum of the informed South Sudanese society were identified and invited to participant in roundtable peace talks in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All delegates are expected to express their views without fear of intimidation on how best the conflict could be brought to an end; to halt further loss of lives and property. However, this has not been the case particularly to those delegates coming from Juba.
We have observed with grave concern the tactics being employed by the government agents to threaten, harass and intimidate participants coming from Juba who express different views from those of the government. Furthermore, during the roundtable sessions in Addis Ababa in July and August 2014, delegates seen interacting particularly with the SPLM-IO, were warned to be exhibiting rebellious attitude against the government. Noncompliant politicians were being cautioned that they would be locked up or barred from traveling abroad again if they continued to contradict the government’s adopted position. It is in the confines of this contemptuous and hostile environment that the regime unleashed its security agents to prohibit the delegation of ‘other political parties’ led by Dr. Lam Akol, from boarding a plane to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
It would be recalled by the peace loving people of the world that this is not the first time that the regime in Juba has embargoed credible delegates from attending the current Peace Talks in Ethiopia. Honorable Peter Abdurahaman Sule, the Leader of the United Democratic Front and a well-known critic of the government, was bundled out of an Addis Ababa-bound plane and his passport confiscated. In late July 2014, Mr. Deng Athowai, the leader of the Association of Civil Society Organizations, was Page 2 of 2
almost fatally wounded assassin style, just as he was about to travel out of Juba. As a result, he could not travel to Addis Ababa to participate in the inclusive peace dialogue. For how long can we continue in this way if we are genuine about attaining sustainable peace in our country? This tendency of suppression and intolerance of diverse views is what provoked the current crisis in the first place.
In this regard, we in the Rally for Peace and Democracy (RPD) urge the IGAD Special Peace Envoys to exert more pressure on the Juba regime to permit all the political party delegates, including Honorable Peter Abdurahaman Sule, to immediately travel to Addis Ababa under the leadership of Dr. Lam Akol Ajawin, and to respect divergent views on how to resolve the conflict. Furthermore, we call on friends of the people of South Sudan to support this appeal. The Government of the Republic of South Sudan should not be condoned by way of inaction to intimidate and bully delegates, especially those coming from Juba, who express different opinions. If IGAD countries and the International Community fail to take decisive steps on these draconian measures by the Juba regime, they are exposing potential delegates to further bullying and banning from participating in comprehensive and inclusive peace dialogue, which our nation desperately needs. Indeed any inaction by the International Community is tantamount to abetting the regime’s known undemocratic excesses. The least thing South Sudan needs right now is disenfranchisement of some its intellectuals from participating in drawing a roadmap for peace, unity and prosperity.
The RPD Interim Secretariat
September 16, 2014
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