Subject: the Government of South Sudan should end the discriminatory and bias against the Ruweng people in Biemnom County in Unity State
The Ruweng Biemnom Community in Diaspora would like to take a minute of silence in memory of our fallen heroes in liberation struggle, and in memory of our civilians who were massacred in 1983 in Unity State’s Biemnom County. We pay attribute to our hero Chief, Camilo Kuot Kur Kuot who was beheaded by the Arab on the same above mentioned year.
We members of the Ruweng Biemnom Community are outraged by the discriminatory and bias support to Abyei utter by the SPLM and Government of South Sudan to annexed Ngol Ruweng in Biemnom (Abiemnom) County, Unity State, to Abyei. The following are the evidences which portray the SPLM and Government of South Sudan’s discriminatory and bias support to Abyei.
Mistakes in Naivasha peace talked
Dinka Ngok’s intent to annex Ngol Biemnom areas to Abyei started during the Naivasha peace talked between the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement and the National Congress Party (NCP). Dinka Ngok was given a chance to only demarcate their border with Arab Messyria through help of International Community who are expert in border demarcation. However, Ngok politicians used Abyei boundary demarcation as a tool to gain a blind support from the Government of South Sudan and to intentionally annexed Ngol Biemnom (Abiemnom) territories into their disputes areas. Dinka Ruweng Biemnom is not prejudice to Dinka Ngok of Abyei, however, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) elucidate and gave Abyei a different status apart from South Sudan territories.
Discriminatory and blind support
The SPLM did not stop Abyei politicians not to claim Biemnom territories in Unity State. The Government of South Sudan was well aware that, Abyei is a dispute area recognized by International Community as a part of North Sudan. It is clear that the CPA stipulated Abyei status. However, Dinka Ngok politicians extended their border deeply inside Unity State and claimed all Ngol Ruweng areas in Biemnom County. Ngol Biemnom areas annexed to Abyei are as follow: Rubajuch, Ding Thon, Ajach, Tor Aliny, Aniin, Parudeng, Abangwuot, Thuba, Lor Ajaac included part of Panrieng areas of Aliny (Hegilig), Kellek and Karassana were officially annexed into Abyei map by the CPA signed in 2005. The two Communities, Biemnom and Panrieng have written several letters to alert the Government of South Sudan to stop Abyei from claiming our areas until the Court of Arbitration delineated Abyei border with Arab Missyria. The International Court of Arbitration’s decision considered all Biemnom and Panrieng areas claimed by Dinka Ngok of Abyei during the CPA as part of the North. As a Community, we view a reluctant of South Sudan Government to stop Abyei politicians from claiming other ethnic areas as a sign of treating Ruweng Biemnom as second class citizens
Signs of being second class citizens in the country
The signs of being second class citizens are when the Gov. favored certain community and reluctant to address other citizens’ claim, it bear a resemblanceto what happened between Abyei and Dinka in Unity State, particularly in Biemnom (Abiemnom) County in Unity State. Abyei wiped out Ngol Ruweng and owned it through help of our Government. The alibi was let Abyei dispute over and border would be demarcated after, but there was no clear explanation of why the Unity State areas have to be claimed under Abyei? Both Panthou and Ngol Biemnom areas shown in the map were part of Abyei. Now, the Government of South Sudan is handling the case of Panthou but Ngol Biemnom areas which are actually border with Abyei remained within Abyei border. We know that the government is the only supreme power of the land; it has the right and power to claim part of its territories from other country. Panrieng areas on 1956 border are known to the world that they belong to South Sudan but Biemnom areas located on border are still considered as part of South Kordofan and Abyei.
We fought the Khartoum Gov. to liberate ourselves from being treated as second class citizens. But through the way our Government claiming other ethnics’ territories in South Sudan under the dispute area which was given a different status by the International community portrayed the unfairness. As a Community, the issue of claiming Ngol Biemnom areas under Abyei is not clear. We doubt if the government of South Sudan would emulate the discrimination faced by South Sudanese from the Arab government in Sudan against its own citizens or is the government of South Sudan would implement the equality, justice and liberty of which we were fighting for?
How did Heglig and Ngol Biemnom areas end up in Hague?
It is irrefutable that the SPLM and Government of South Sudan support Dinka Ngok blindly without recognizing the rights of ethnic groups bordering with Abyei. The Ruweng Biemnom Community in Diaspora have been alerting the SPLM to delineate the Unity State’s Biemnom County border with Abyei and South Kordofan since the beginning of Naivashapeace talked and before Abyei border demarcation took a place. However, our claimed have been denied on basis that, SPLM want to return Abyei back to South and internal borders would be demarcated after the settlement of Abyei dispute. This misleading alibi from Dinka Ngok politicians succeeded and ended up with loss of Unity State’s strategic areas of Rubajuch, Ding Thon, Ajach, Tor Aliny, Aniin, Parudeng, Abangwuot, Panyang Payam, Aliny (Hegilig), Kellek and Karassana. Abyei sons are controlling the Government of South Sudan; they claim their rights at the expenses of voiceless Community in the Government of South Sudan.
Why SPLM had to claim Unity State’s Biemnom County territories under Abyei?
To elucidate, Abyei has no border with Panrieng, the only county bordering with Abyei in Unity State is Biemnom (Abiemnom) County. Biemnom has border with Abyei in the North West, South Kordofan in the North, Panrieng and Rubkona County in the North East, Mayom County in the South and Twic County in the West. Dinka Ngok of Abyei has been technically using the Government of South Sudan to marginalize their neighboring Counties. After the Court of Arbitration drew Abyei border in Hague, South Sudanese knew that their territories were falsely claim by Abyei and Dinka Ngok denied truth that they previously claimed Heglig. Currently, the new map of South Sudan which highlights the dispute areas annexed Ngol Ruweng areas in Biemnom County to Abyei and south Kordofan. The Government of south Sudan should learn from the previous mistake.
We lost our beloved sons in Heglig and we failed diplomatically to get a support from the UN, IGAD, USA and previous CPA partners due to the facts that we put South Sudan territories in jeopardy during the CPA. We could have got a support from the International Community if Ngol Biemnom areas and Heglig were not claimed under Abyei. Dinka Ngok are still not certified with many lives lost in the battle of Heglig through their false claimed of South Sudan’s Unity State territories. They moved their feet from Heglig and placed their feet again in Ngol Biemnom areas in Unity State. South Sudan should be vigilant and look behind the curtain at this time. The Government of south Sudan is repeating the Naivasha mistake which placed Unity State areas under dispute. Ruweng Biemnom share Ngol with Ngok in the North West. Biemnom County areas and Payam bodering Abyei in North West are as follow:
1. Rub-Ajuch
2. Ding Thon
3. Manajonga Payam
4. Lor Ajaac
5. Pawel
6. Bach Amel
7. Kolchuoi etc
Biemnom County areas bordering with panrieng in the East are: Ajach, Aniin, Parudeng, Abangwuot, Panyang Payam, these areas located in Tor Aliny. The sections of Ruweng Biemnom who have border with Kuok section in Panrieng are: Mijuan and Abang. Ajach has a border with South Kordofan in the North and Kellek in the North East. Claiming of Biemnom areas in Unity State under Abyei’s administrative revealed not only, discrimination against the Ruweng people in Biemnom County, it infringed the liberty and equality, because justice has not been revered.
South Sudanese were hopping during the time of struggled to see a future Government of the people, by the people and for the people of South Sudan through fairness and equal rights to all citizens of South Sudan. However, annexation of Ngol Biemnom areas and Heglig to Abyei contrary with the objectives of liberation; the people in Biemnom and Panrieng whose areas have been intentionally claimed under Abyei administrative may view the government as supporting certain community with high ranking officials and part of decision making bodies in the government of South Sudan. Annexation of Ngol Biemnom and Heglig are the concrete evidences which revealed that, Abyei is technically claiming South Sudan’s territories to Arab in the North Sudan, and South Sudan Parliament turned a blind face to intervene.
Supposedly role of South Sudan Parliament over Ngol Biemnom areas and Panthou (Heglig) dispute before and after the Court of Arbitration in Hague
The expected role of parliament is to oversee the nation’s interest. As a Community, we felt that South Sudan’s National Assemble has failed to address the issue of Ngol Biemnom and Panthou. The Parliament should have done a preliminary assessment, to explicitly and ensure that Abyei border demarcation would not jeopardize South Sudan’s territories in Unity State: particularly, Abiemnom County border with Abyei should have been elucidated before the Court of Arbitration in Hague. The parliament should have done the following before or after the Court of Arbitration delineated Abyei border:
1. The Parliament should have made it clear that it is only Abyei land with exclusion of a portion of South Sudan land that is going to Hague.
2. Could have not allowed taking of Ngol Biemnom’s areas and Heglig case to Hague when they are not part of Abyei.
3. After the ruling came from Hague, the Parliament should have made it clear that there was a mistake done because Panthou and other areas in Ngol are party of Unity State and therefore, they are excluded in Abyei territories.
4. Parliament should demarcated or asked people of Abiemnom County if there are some areas erroneously annexed to Abyei from Biemnom (Abiemnom) County.
Finally, we, the Ruweng Biemnom Community in Diaspora demand the following recommendations as part of solutions to Biemnom areas annexed to Abyei and to enhance the Government of South Sudan’s position on border dispute areas:
1. Advise Dinka Ngok to stick with their boundary defined by the International Court of Arbitration.
2. Delineate the Unity State’s Biemnom (Abiemnom) County border with Abyei.
3. Add Ngol Biemnom areas which were erroneously annexed to Abyei and South Kordofan into map of South Sudan.
4. Represent Biemnom (Abiemnom) County in South Sudan’s Border Commission.
5. Biemnom Representatives to border Commission should be nominated by the Ruweng people in Biemnom County and in Diaspora.
6. Suggested, two people from Diaspora and two from Ruweng’s Indigenous people who have lived in Ngol and know Ngol Biemnom (Abiemnom) areas.
7. We requested the Government of South Sudan to represent our people in Border Commission because lack of Biemnom’s representation in the SPLM/SPLA since the beginning of the movement till South Sudan became a Nation has fueled the discrimination of the Ruweng people in the Government of south Sudan.
8. Biemnom was a first Town devastated by the Arab in the South, in 1980s.
9. Despite our early contribution in the SPLA, our Movement has neglected us. As a result, Abyei has an open window to claim Ngol Ruweng areas because they are part of decision making bodies in the Government of South Sudan.
Signed by the Chairmen of the Ruweng Biemnom Community in Diaspora:
1. Lal Miabil Achuil, Chairman of the Ruweng Biemnom Community in North America, Canada and USA
2. Chol Gedi, Chairman of the Ruweng Biemnom Community in Australia
3. Contact [email protected] or [email protected] or 403 554 3558