The Atar Diaspora Community would like to seize this opportunity to strongly condemn the atrocities committed by Lt. General Athor in Atar (Pigi County) of Jonglei state. The crimes committed are against human rights and humanity. First, we would like to acknowledge the press release by the Fangak Youth Union entitle “Fangak Youth Union Expresses Solidarity” and another press released by the members of Atar community in Juba.
We would also like to take this opportunity to pass our deepest condolences to all the families of Atar community who have lost their love ones. It is at this situational bereavement where we should fully stand together as a community stroked by the atrocities committed against our innocent civilians.
However, this is not the first time such atrocities have been committed against innocent civilians. The same premeditated attack happened in Fangak County in February this year. The February attacked by forces loyal to George Athor in Fangak County resulted in the killing of over 300 people mostly helpless children, women and senior citizens. The premeditated attack launched in Fangak would have been one of the instances that should have been condemned by the ICC and should have been declared by the Government of South Sudan as an act of terror.
On the same note, on November 12th 2011, a civilian-passenger boat, which was travelling from Phom el Zeraf, the County headquarter to Old Fangak, was attacked by armed men –who belong to Lt. General Athor’s rebels. The attack claimed lives of five people as per the press released by the Fangak Youth Union entitle “Fangak Youth Union Condemn Attack on Civillians”. The attack of a civilian-passenger boat was an arranged tandem of premeditated attacks to November 16th 2011 launched by Lt. General Athor’s rebels in Atar areas.
On November 16th 2011, the same rebel forces of Athor attacked three locations in Atar (Diel, Aghak and Nyithar). All the three villages were burned down to ashes. This brutal attack has claimed the lives of 15 people that include:
• One crippled child,
• A one-year old child
• An elderly 90 years old woman
• A handicapped ten years young man
• Eleven physically abled people
The attackers destroyed livelihoods of over 45,000 people–who are currently displaced from their home-states. They also rustled over 8000 livestock and wounded nine people.
We, the Atar community in diaspora strongly condemned the killings of innocent civilians and plundering of civilians properties as tantamount and testimony to extermination of human lives, subjection to hardship, and inhumane dignity. We also have all the reasons to condemn Athor Deng’s act of terror because it is barbaric, inhumane and destabilizing to the regions of South Sudan. The picture below shows the presentation of all atrocities and extortions of our innocent civilians in Atar.
Skull of a child among the ashes
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The severity and continuity of Athor’s rebellion has reached a peak where it has hurt civilians economically, militarily, terrorizingly and humanitarianly. Athor’s rebellious movement is very destructive and disastrous to civilians’ stability, development, peace and governance. His demands are incessantly grounded to his personal self-interests.
Athor Deng at his personal capacity met secretly with the President of South Sudan –a secret he revealed after he failed to seize sizable demands with the President. The fruition of the President’s secret meeting with Athor would have been disastrous amnesty to the people who have lost their love ones and are now in the state of lamentations and bereavements. Hence, members of Atar community expressed their regrettable sympathies and apathetic feelings to the President of South Sudan for holding a secret talk with renegade Athor Deng in Nairobi, Kenya though the meeting did not come to fruition.
After the meeting with the President, Athor issued a news release at a press conference stating that “people must die so we have peace, we can have democracy” published as “South Sudan rebel leader vows more war after talks fail”. This statement is very disturbing and is an indication of terror in his rebellion. Some of the demands put forward by the renegade include two or three ministers in the cabinets of South Sudan government, calling for fresh election and financial compensations.
All these demands inclusively and exclusively explained to the public that Athor’s movement is a movement that is not fighting for democracy but opportunism for power and wealth to come after seizing the power he wanted. As a result, Athor Deng’s movement is aimless, visionless and autocratic movement. Therefore, the people of South Sudan should not be mesmerized and allured to gratification by an insatiable individual who have become oblivious of the past because of his quest for power and political self-interest.
In the event of resolving this issue, we the people of Atar community would like the government of South Sudan to bring Athor to justice. Athor is accountable to the lives of innocent civilians who died just because he failed to win the gubernatorial position. Furthermore, if the renegade insists to continue launching barbaric attacks on the civilians of Atar, the community of Atar will prevail to defend its vulnerable populations and livelihoods.
We, the Atar community would like to iterate that the renegade will jeopardize and endanger his followers if he does not refrain from attacking the civilians. His non-compliance with the demand of the Government of South Sudan to accept amnesty, peaceful reintegration of his armed men, and continuous annihilations of civilians’ livelihoods will lead to consequential impacts to his movement being totally eradicated in South Sudan militarily.
We all recommend that the government of South Sudan and Jonglei State government to provide security in areas affected by Athor’s rebels. The internally displaced persons in Atar should be given same humanitarian aid that is now being administered by the Catholic Relief Agency in Jonglei state’s four counties.
Signed by
Atar Diaspora Community members and
Leadership in Canada, USA and Australia