The 2nd Anniversary: LETTER TO ISAIAH ABRAHAM
By Amer Mayen Dhieu, Brisbane, Australia
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Dear Isaiah Abraham
This letter is to inform you about certain near-tragic events that have happened to your comrades on the “War on Blind Leadership.” And just like your tragic death, no justice has been served, YET.
For instance, your Comrade Dengdit Ayok nearly got his leg chopped off in Egypt by certain hired goons. After he thought he had left the country where civilian advocates are threatened, he continued to express his views on government’s failures with no fear. However, South Sudanese criminal gang in the language of South Sudan’s government attacked him, fractured his two legs and neck resulting in raw wound that I cannot give appropriate name because of the severity of the wound. With God’s grace Dengdit Ayok is currently on his way to recovery. No one has been brought to justice, YET.
There is also the near-tragic case of Activist Deng Athuai Mawiir, the head of South Sudan Civil society. He was brutally shot in the leg, but with God’s power he survived the brutal shooting. He was admitted in the hospital, went through the pain but recover after weeks. Deng Athuai has recently been fired by his fellow members of the Civil Society, notwithstanding the danger he had exposed himself to in the name of South Sudan. After his recovery from gun-shot, Deng resumed his advocacy work. I had thought he would get out of the hospital and run to neighboring country to save his dear life from more dangers, yet he didn’t. Your comrade, Deng Athuai, recovered from his gunshot wound, went back to the office and resumed his job, advocating for more changes in the government and calling desperately for peace. His final call that earned him the wrath of the government (and his coward fellow members of the Civil Society that replaced him) was when he called upon President Kiir to choose the kind of legacy he want to bequeath to the nation of South Sudan: between being Mandela of South Africa or the Gadhafi of Libya. He was fired.
You might not be aware of what happened after they killed you. The war has erupted between President Kiir and his vice president, Riek Machar. As I speak, the two powerful men are fighting. For this reason, Deng Athuai, in an effort to end the senseless war, gave a speech urging Kiir and Riek to stop the war. Deng used the language of activism in front of President Salva Kiir accusing him and Riek of using South Sudanese Youth to fight their wars while they have exempted their sons from the war. Few days ago it is reported that Deng Athuai has lost his job and is currently receiving death threats. He might get kill like you; we still don’t know his fate.
I am telling you all of these because you went up there for the same cause. Apparently you were the first to be killed for speaking up about government’s failure. You got all the information but you are sharing them with no one. Should God allow us to communicate through letters, we will be sending you all the information on this day, December 5th, of every year. The very first agenda would always be freedom of speech which is yet to be allowed in South Sudan. People who try to follow your footprint are being threatened. They are still receiving death threats. Civil society advocates are still being warned not to express what is on their minds but what others want to hear. Journalists are still being warned to stop reporting some sensitive issues that general public should be aware of. Radio stations are still under siege and some shut down. Daily News papers are being taken off the market. No one is allowed to criticize the government. Is that freedom of speech you were fighting for? We want more and our activists are trying their best regardless of the death threats. Some are still being held at gunpoint but continue to speak out regardless. We might get there: success.
Before I conclude this letter, I want to touch on December FIVE.
December FIVE.
Should we call it a day? it was dark
Should we call it a night? It was not sleepy
Should we call it a evening? It was blinding
On December FIVE, you were called out by your country men and mercilessly killed because you stood up for what you believe in: speaking the truth when no one else does. Speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves. You have done that. I call it what you were call to do before your genuine time come. After so many attempts of many careers including bible’s preaching, you realize there were callings that need you more than talking to God’s flocks. You got your professional job like everyone else but the cries of poor civilians could not let you enjoy your salaries. You knew there were more to do and you started writing about them. You wrote many articles, said many words, but all in vain your calls fall on deaf ears.
Before December FIVE, you were insulted, maimed with demeaning insults, harassed like a sinner and threatened like a robber but you never stopped calling for change. Till the day some men decided to dismember you. Had they knew that government critics would never stop after you are gone they would have spare you sometime to live, sometime to teach people what it means to be a voice, what it means to stand up for others. We have seen a bit of you. We call it a bit because much of it was still with you. It is that little of you gave us that is why we still remember December five today. It is the day we were robbed with a man who stood up for his people by his word. A legend whom his bravery has inspired the unborn.
I have no sympathetic word to tell you for hero deserve a hero talk. See you with another letter this time next year.
Kind regards
Voiceless Citizen
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