By J. Nguen
December 14, 2015 (SSNA) — Tomorrow marks the 2nd anniversary of Dec. 15th, when 20,000 innocent Nuer civilians including women, elderly and children were summarily executed by their President, in cold blood. My own mother died too in this conflict. She was innocently and had to die because she was denied access to medical attention. My uncles and nephews summarily executed simply because they were Nuer.
They were considered enemy of the State because of their ethnicity. The African Union’s Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan’s Conflict Report rightly put it that the massacre of 20,000 Nuer civilians was a “state policy” sanctioned to erase one ethnic group the map of South Sudan.
Because of this poorly thought out policy, my people, people of South Sudan were ruthlessly murdered in their houses on a door –to –door search killing sphere in Juba and across South Sudan. They died bravely and with humility because they were not armed and did no provocation or had no political agenda but had to be executed because they were Nuer.
Their killers foolishly thought destroying their souls was an affliction on the Nuer Nation. Yes, immediately it was and as a result I will never see my uncles, nephews and mother again. However, because of this twisted foresight thinking and exhortation of righteousness, South Sudan went in flame. Across this young nation, almost everyone is in anguish of sort.
As a result, the foundation of our nation is now challenged, wobbly to the core risking free fall at any time. On a personal note, at the onset of this conflict, I promised my nation and my people that “I’ m alive not dead.” I promised I will use my talents to reverse the course of these horrific crimes.
I promised my dead mother that I will write about your innocent demise to ensure that your blood and spirits will not go in vain. My goal was to expose and hold those who committed these crimes to account and do away with impunity. Others and I took this noble task with humility. We have written articles to inform the world that you were innocently murdered, with no apparent cause.
To some extent, we have made a head way given the African Union’s Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan’s Conflict Report, but I must state that there is must more to be done, which still required our collective actions.
President Salva Kiir and his thugs, militia allies from Bul Nuer, Darfur and SPLA -North rebels have committed horrific atrocities across Nuer Nation against innocent civilians. Crimes punishable by death when one is found alive or dead!
Therefore, I need not to remind you that Nuer women, young girls and elderly women were raped and burned alive after rape. I need not to mention that young Nuer boys were castrated and young Nuer girls had their breasts cut off and left for dead. And I need not to say to you that elderly men in Unity State and Juba were forced to eat and drink the blood of their dead relatives and killed afterward. Finally, with gruesome brutalities, Nuer women were subjected to jump on fire for show and gang raped with sharp objects and allowed to blood to death. These are heinous crimes committed by South Sudanese against their own fellow citizens.
It’s true that the scene of everlasting tragedy is set. To ease this tragic precedent, I call on all South Sudanese both at home and in Diaspora to commemorate December 15th of the Nuer massacre together as one people and condemn the wrong and those who took part committing these heinous crimes against our nation and our fellow countrymen and men.
J. Nguen is a South Sudanese concerned citizen living in Canada. He can be reached [email protected].