---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "Eric Reeves" <[email protected]>
Date: 8 Jul 2013 15:30
Subject: A letter of concern to President Salva Kiir and the Government of
South Sudan, from several long-time friends of South Sudan
To: "Eric Reeves" <[email protected]>
*A letter of concern to President Salva Kiir and the Government of South
Sudan, from several long-time friends of South Sudan (public release July
8, 2013):*
Mr. Roger Winter
Mr. Eric Reeves
Mr. John Prendergast
Mr. Ted Dagne
Washington, D.C. June 24, 2013
USA
His Excellency Salva Kiir Mayardit,
President of the Republic of South Sudan
Office of the President
Juba, South Sudan
Dear President Kiir:
We write to you, individually and collectively, as friends of South
Sudan—longstanding friends who have committed more than two decades of our
lives to the great cause of a just peace for the people of South Sudan. We
have lobbied government officials, student organizations, media and
nongovernmental groups to build a strong constituency for South Sudan in
the United States. We have done our best to highlight the suffering of the
people of South Sudan during the long civil war, and to offer our
perspectives on the difficult road to completing a true peace.
Some of us have communicated our concerns with you individually and
confidentially in the past, always as friends. At this moment, our
friendship dictates that we express our concerns about the increasingly
perilous fate of South Sudan. From our various vantages, we have all come
to conclude that without significant changes and reform, your country may
slide toward instability, conflict and a protracted governance crisis. As
friends, it is our responsibility to express our serious concerns directly
and to offer constructive suggestions for the way forward.
We must first state that over the past several years—but the last six
months in particular—South Sudan government security forces have engaged in
a campaign of violence again civilians simply because they belonged to a
different ethnic group or they are viewed as opponents of the current
government.
This violence is shocking and has included rape, murder, theft, and
destruction of property. We are particularly concerned about the evidence
emerging of abuses by government forces in Jonglei. These terrible crimes
occur because government forces believe they have the power to act with
impunity.
We joined you in your fight against these very abuses by the Khartoum
regime for many years. We cannot turn a blind eye when yesterday's victims
become today's perpetrators. We were deeply encouraged by the statement by
President Kiir on May 17, 2013:
It is a sad day for South Sudan to see and receive reports about abuses
carried out by ill-disciplined elements of our own armed forces. Many of
our comrades fought and died to achieve freedom and justice for our
people. It is important that we honor that sacrifice.
At the same time, these atrocities are not isolated incidents but among
many deliberate measures taken by soldiers on the instruction of senior
commanders and government officials. Some may argue that the failure here
lies in the chain of command, but the evidence makes clear that these
orders are indeed coming from senior commanders. We urge you to take swift
and decisive action against not only those who carried out these heinous
acts, but those who gave the orders.
And there must be justice. Crimes by government officials often go
unpunished. Many attacks against civilians, including the killing of
foreign businessmen, a teacher from Kenya, South Sudanese journalists, and
many others, have gone unpunished. We have authoritative reports that
government security forces have abused those who allow themselves and their
cars to be searched. Many people, including government officials, have
faced harassment and have been beaten up by security forces. Again, no one
has been held accountable. This inevitably creates a climate of impunity.
There are also many South Sudanese and some foreign nationals languishing
in prison, a large number of them facing death sentences. Many of these
did not receive a fair trial because the justice system is riddled with
incompetence. We strongly urge that the government immediately issue a
moratorium on all executions until these cases are reviewed and those
convicted given a fair and transparent trial. We further urge you to
abolish the death penalty in South Sudan, as more and more countries are
doing.
None of this will happen unless the Government of the Republic of South
Sudan engages in profound reform. After almost nine years of self-rule,
the government is still failing to meet the basic needs of its people.
Despite claims that vast sums have been expended on investment in
infrastructure, there is very little to show in the way of roads, medical
services, and education for millions of South Sudanese who greeted the
prospect of independence with eagerness and hope.
Those who have benefitted—who have become wealthy by misappropriating
government funds—have often sent their families outside South Sudan, their
children to private schools abroad, and have obtained the best medical
services available in the world. This occurs while ordinary citizens who
remain in South Sudan cannot afford even basic health services or modest
educations for their children.
Corruption is at the heart of the many problems facing South Sudan. In a
remarkably short period of time, the name of your country has become
synonymous with corruption. As President Kiir declared in a letter to his
ministers and senior officials:
The people of South Sudan and the international community are alarmed at
the level of corruption in South Sudan. Many people in South Sudan are
suffering, yet government officials seem to care only about themselves.
And yet to date, not a single government official has been tried on
corruption charges. Again, the absence of justice encourages a climate of
impunity, and makes halting corruption all the more difficult. This is the
light in which we have examined the findings of the World Bank, which after
a long investigation presented to the Ministry of Justice—almost a year
ago—presents clear evidence of massive corruption. And yet the Ministry of
Justice has not yet prosecuted a single individual.
The Office of the President in the past several months has ordered two
important investigations and has suspended senior officials, including two
Federal Ministers, from office pending the completion of the investigation.
Widespread outrage at the extraordinary levels of corruption and at those
who are benefitting from that corruption is very high and continues to
grow. This is the source of potentially serious civil unrest, just as it
was in the Middle East and North Africa over the past few years.
* *
*OUR RECOMMENDATIONS*
These problems cannot be resolved overnight, but an immediate commitment
can be made to re-shape what now seems a dangerous and crisis-filled future
for South Sudan.
• The Ministry of Justice must be revamped and key personnel who have
enabled corruption and crimes against civilians to go unpunished must be
removed.
• All senior army officials should be put on notice that attacks on
civilians are completely unacceptable and will be severely punished up the
entire chain of command.
• Existing alleged human rights abuses should be fully investigated and
prosecuted.
• Clear oil infrastructure priorities should be set, especially now in
light of a financial picture that is extremely grim. The fact that there
are no refineries in the South, no oil storage facilities, and nothing in
the way of progress towards a southern oil export route reflects an absence
of planning and has left oil revenues at the mercy of the National Congress
Party regime. As evidence from the past two years has made clear, the
regime in Khartoum is perfectly willing to engage in duplicitous
negotiations, commit to agreements in bad faith, and simply renege on
agreements whenever it wishes, even if it punishes its own failing
economy. All this could have been predicted from past behavior, and must
certainly guide thinking going forward.
• Schools, medical services, clean water, and roads must top the list of
priorities of internal spending. Until the people of South Sudan have
ready access to education and health services—services that will need a
transport infrastructure—they will be exceedingly vulnerable to disease,
and will have little chance to contribute to a modern economy. And without
a functional agricultural sector, South Sudan will always be dependent on
others.
• South Sudan confronts serious external security threats, and will
almost certainly do so as long as the current regime controls Sudan.
Nevertheless, the army must begin to make plans to be trimmed
substantially, made more efficient, and receive training in international
human rights law. Security is paramount, but that security will be
squandered if the army does not become more responsive to the needs of its
people and to its broader obligations to protect the rights of civilian.
The demands here are great, we well understand. But unless you begin to
address them now, the tasks will only grow greater. Again, as friends of
South Sudan, we urge you to confront these challenges on an urgent basis,
and with all possible resolve.
Sincerely,
*Roger Winter*, *Eric Reeves*, *John Prendergast, *and* Ted Dagne*
Friends of South Sudan
CC: The Honorable Riek Machar Teny, Vice President
The Honorable James Wani Igga, Speaker
--
Eric Reeves
Smith College
Northampton, MA 01063
413-585-3326
[email protected]
*Eric Reeves'* new book-length study of greater Sudan (*Compromising With
Evil: An archival history of greater Sudan, 2007 - 2012*) is available in
eBook format, at no cost:
www.CompromisingWithEvil.org<http://www.compromisingwithevil.org/>
Websites: www.sudanreeves.org
<http://www.sudanreeves.org/> www.sudanbombing.org
www.CompromisingWithEvil.org<http://www.compromisingwithevil.org/>
Skype: ReevesSudan
Twitter: @SudanReeves
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