Shame on the people of South Sudan for disowning “Abyei and its people”
By Garang Biar, Juba, South Sudan
March 22, 2016 (SSB) —- I am reacting to the statement released by the Minister of Foreign affairs, Dr Banaba Marial Benjamin on date 9th March 2016, referring Dr Luka Biong Deng as Sudanese national in his letter addressed to United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right Assessment Mission to Improve Human Rights, Accountability, Reconciliation and Capacity in South Sudan as a response of alleged human right abuses and violation committed by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLA).
Government of South Sudan has a right to response to such an embarrassing unconfirmed report that aimed at tarnishing the image of our national army. This is our sovereign right to justify the falsity of the report to the world body. I personally condemned that report and we must continue to advocate for verification of the methodology used to collect the information that fed the report. However, questioning the validity and reliability of the report should not be made at the expenses of betraying our own brothers and sisters from Abyei. There is no correlation between the report and the citizenship of Abyei people.
This statement denying Dr. Luka Biong Deng as a citizen of South Sudan implies that we have given Abyei and its people to Sudan and I personally condemn for the following reasons;
Abyei people are socially, cultural, historically and politically south Sudanese hundred percent that is why they fought bitterly in the two wars against Sudanese oppressive regimes that have been marginalizing all the Sudanese people. For this reason, it is so naïve to refer without shame that Dr Luka Biong Deng is a Sudanese national because of holding different opinion with some element in government. If holding different political opinion risk one being call a foreigner, then we must start with Dr Riek Machar and all the other militias who have been going against the country for many years but not Abyei people who have sacrificed enough for this country. I see no reason to cheaply sell our own brothers for a short term political gain.
Status of Abyei as per Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) is to remain autonomous with special administration until they decide to join either South Sudan or Sudan in a referendum. This has not happened as per the agreement due to Khartoum intransigent to allow the peaceful conduct of the exercise. No country not even a minister in either Sudanese nation has a right to reject the choice of Abyei people if they decide to belong to either of the two Sudanese states.
Even if they chose to be Sudanese, each individual member of Abyei has a right to remain in South Sudan should he/she wish to do so? Why do we allow Amin Akasha and his family to be South Sudanese if we can’t allow Dinka Ngok people? The delay of the referendum does not justify that people of Abyei are Sudanese. The Abyei people unilaterally conducted their referendum and they chose joining south Sudan 99 percent in 2013. Here no doubt that Dinka Ngok people of Abyei are south Sudanese as per their choice, it is a mind boggling to call them Sudanese again when they have decided already. Denying your own people who have chosen to live with you is a serious betrayal to your own selves.
If government knew that Abyei is a Sudanese land, why do they go to court in Huge to demarcate the exact Abyei territory? Why do they allow our sons and daughters to dies in Abyei in 2008 and 2011 wars defending that area? If this is a new government position, then government must compensate the families of the martyred and the wounded heroes during those two wars because it was an aggression in the foreign land. The current political struggle within SPLM Party should not blindfold people to alter the facts. This is just a short term issue that cannot be used to compromise the national issues.
The civil society organizations and the entire people of South Sudan should come out clearly against the statement of Dr. Barnaba Marial Benjamin. Marial must be removed from the ministerial position and he must equally apologize to people of the South Sudan and of Abyei because no citizen is allowed to call a fellow citizen as a foreigner. This statement is not a mere misquoted word that can be denied as usual. It is documented in a seal of the republic which is being address to united nation body, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Assessment Mission to Improve Human Rights, Accountability, Reconciliation and Capacity in South Sudan.
This quote is clearly documented in point 5 of the release that is titled as “Response to allegation of violation of Freedom of Opinion and Expression and Assembly” the statement read in quote “In case of Dr. Luka Biong, the University of Juba is an Independent academic institution which employs national and non-national, like Dr. Luka Biong Deng who is a citizen of the republic of the Sudan. The termination of service is based on the terms of contract. Therefore, the president cannot order the University to dismiss any of its staff including Dr. Luka Biong Deng” This statement confirms government reluctance to recognize the results of Abyei unilateral referendum and this amount to betrayal of Abyei people.
We usually claims that there are those who have been bought by Khartoum government but this statement if supported by government is a clear indication of who are the true agency of Khartoum in South Sudan. For government to distant its self away from this statement requires an immediate action against the minister, otherwise I will not trust our government if this is their new position toward Abyei People. The interest of the few political elites could not be used to sell something that will last for generations to come.
The writer is a concern South Sudanese who lived in South Sudan. He can be reached at garangbiar@yahoo.com
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