South Sudan on Monday lodged a strongly worded complaint to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) over the killing of Abyei tribal leader Kuol Deng Kuol, warning that until the perpetuators are identified and brought to justice, it is no longer “business as usual”.
South Sudan’s minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, Nhial Deng Nhial, said his country takes the death of the paramount chief of the Dinka Ngok “more seriously” and will not tolerate the case being taken lightly by the international community.
“We have started with clear procedures, legal steps. We have now officially filed and deposited our complaint about this brutal act which violates not only the international law but also humanitarian law.
Chief Kuol Deng Kuol was not in combat; He was not carrying a gun; not in possession of any weapon.
He was purely [an] unarmed civilian killed in the hands of the United Nations. His security and safety was in the hands of the United Nations”, Nhial said, while addressing thousands of mourners who turned out for Kuol’s burial on Monday in Abyei town.
South Sudan’s top diplomat said that in the course of the past week, his country has observed a higher number of atrocities being committed in the area by armed groups under the control of the Sudanese government, in what he said was not only a clear violation of the UNSC resolution 2046 but an act that must be condemned and confronted.
“The killing of [the] chief was not just an incident. It was preceded by reports of regular killings in the area.
The list of those who have been killed has been filed and the United Nations has the details and we believe the killing of the chief will not be taken lightly nor [do] we expect the international community to consider [Kuol’s death] a normal thing or usual business … We hold the government of Sudan responsible because those who killed the chief are under the control of the government of Sudan. They are no stranger to Sudan”, he added.
Speaking at the same gathering, Pagan Amum, Secretary Feneral of the governing Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), accused Sudan of “doing it again”, explaining that his country had immediately responded and pulled out all armed forces from border areas as required by the UNSC resolution 2046 and the African Union communiqué, but Sudan had failed to comply.
“This brutal act defines the behavior of the government of Sudan. They have done it again. The killing of the paramount chief of this community will have a lot of repercussions, especially on the relations between the Ngok Dinka and the Misseriya. It will have [an] effect on peaceful coexistence.
The Misseriya seems [to] not know where their interest lies”, Amum told reporters in Abyei after flying in from Juba on Monday.
“The people of Abyei have suffered a lot in the hands of the government in Khartoum but they will one day be free whether those in Khartoum like it or not. Or whether it will rain blood and fire, they will exercise their right to decide their own destiny. I am confident they will be free. It is just a matter of time”, he added.
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