An Open Letter to President Salva Kiir on the Continued Detention of Kerbino Wol
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Saturday, October 27, 2018 (PW) — It was six months ago today, on Friday the 27th of April 2018 when Kerbino Wol Agok was summoned to the premises of the National Security Service and arbitrarily detained upon arrival.
Now six months later, we as concerned citizens feel it is necessary to humbly address Your Excellency on this public platform after unsuccessful attempts to seek answers from the concerned authorities. Wol is a hardworking and dedicated citizen who, like many of his peers, was trying to support those that he can and contribute to national development through his business. Although we have faith in the leadership of the detaining authorities, Wol’s family, friends and colleagues have unsettling concerns about the fact that they have not had access to Wol and that he continues to be detained without charge after six months.
Before his arrest, Wol was doing his national duty by employing thousands of South Sudanese citizens and supporting youth empowerment through entrepreneurship, education, and sports. He was working to share his knowledge and business skills with the youth of South Sudan by organizing sporting events, youth activities, and professional courses in keeping with the laws of the Republic.
Wol’s love of his country and patriotism in supporting the government is demonstrated by his hard work and service to this country. Wol served in the SPLA for most of his youthhood and continued to serve in Your Excellency’s close and trusted protection service until only a few years ago. Wol was continuing his service to South Sudan through business and youth development until his efforts were cut short by his detention. Now, his businesses and NGO have been closed and thousands of citizens have lost their jobs and support.
Your Excellency, the liberation struggle for the independence of South Sudan was a cruel and vicious journey which saw most of Your compatriots sacrificing their precious lives with the noble conviction of creating a country where we can thrive with freedom, pride, and dignity. Many generations dedicated their formative years to the SPLM/A cause against Northern injustice and oppression for South Sudanese to live in a peaceful, prosperous South Sudan.
Your Excellency fought with this same spirit relentlessly and passionately to lead his people toward the glorious independence of our great Republic. Your Excellency continues this spirit to this day in striving to bring a lasting peace to our country. We are grateful that the Revitalized Peace Agreement was signed on 12th September 2018 and we wish to celebrate alongside You its successful and full implementation. Indeed, Your wise leadership has proved time and again that country comes first.
The incident on Sunday 7th October 2018 at the National Security’s Blue House was unfortunate. It took place out of frustration with long, arbitrary detentions and the prisoners believed that a non-violent demonstration was the only way for their voices to be heard. They peacefully appealed for the same justice and freedom that You and our forefathers proudly enshrined in South Sudan’s laws and constitution, and asked for the authorities to implement the amnesty decree. We applaud Your Excellency for his graceful and peaceful resolution of the incident, and the nation now waits for the detainees to be granted fair and due process in accordance with the law.
As concerned citizens of this country, and for the sake of Mr. Wol, we kindly request Your Excellency to intervene, pardon, and release Mr. Wol in the spirit of our nation’s guiding principles – ‘liberty, justice and prosperity for all’ – and to continue with the momentum of establishing a lasting and fruitful peace in South Sudan.
We will be grateful for Your Excellency’s humble attention on this matter.
May God bless Your Excellency. May God bless the Republic of South Sudan.
Sincerely and Faithfully Yours,
Peace Coalition of South Sudan
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