LOU NUER PEACE COUNCIL PRESS RELEASE

LOU COMMUNITY PEACE COUNCIL

Date 2/01/09

PRESS RELEASE

MURLE ARMED MILITIA ATTACKED LOU NUER VILLAGES KILLING 28 PEOPLE WOUNDING MANY OTHERS AND STEALING 5,600 CATTLE


1. On January 28th and 30th, armed Murle Militia launched three consecutive armed raids against Lou Nuer villages of Nyan-ngic, Pieri and Tiam in Jonglei State. Thirty (30) people were killed, many more wounded and 5,600 cattle stolen by the attackers who were in full military uniform.

2. Prior to these raids, in December 2008, the Murle had attacked two villages of Akobo County killing four (4) people and stealing 400 herds of cattle. This happened even at the time when the Vice President of the Government of Southern Sudan H.E Dr. Riek Machar, together with Presidential Peace Advisor Major-General Ismail Konyi and the Speaker of Jonglei State Assembly Hon. Jude Jonglei were celebrating Christmas in Pibor, the administrative HQ of the Murle.

3. In 2006, the Lou community was disarmed by the Government and lives and property were lost in the process. This happened in Uror and Nyirol Counties; while in Akobo County the citizens voluntarily handed in their guns to the SPLA in compliance with GoSS policy. Disarmament of the civilian population was undertaken then as the only effective means of restoring peace and security of the people and their property in their state. It still remains the only viable means of ensuring security among the communities in the South.

4. The Murle Community which is notorious for raiding and abduction of children and women of other communities in the state were not disarmed. They have therefore continued to be the primary cause of insecurity in Jonglei State. They are heavily armed in such a way that the SPLA forces in the state cannot dare to confront them!!

5. Voluntary disarmament in the state has failed to guarantee security for the citizens of state. The only viable option now is mandatory disarmament of all the communities to be carried out by the SPLA as a general policy.

6. If GoSS does not take steps to disarm the Murle, then the only option is for all the communities to acquire guns for their defence and of course there will be no need to have a state government anymore.

OUR APPEAL TO GOSS AND THE STATE GOVERNMENT

a. There should be mandatory disarmament of all Citizens in the State. This should start with the Murle who are committing atrocities against other communities and abducting children with utmost impunity.

b. More SPLA forces should be deployed in the state to carry out mandatory disarmament of the civil population. If this is not done quickly Jonglei will certainly descend into total chaos.

c. The SPLA Division 8 in the State lacks effective and committed command. There is need to deploy a more responsive and conscious command that can address the problem of insecurity.

d. The Law enforcement agencies in state should be strengthened. The Police in the State needs training and armament.

e. The presence of the Judiciary in State is very thin. There is need to post qualified judicial person to the different Counties of the State.

f. Work on the two security roads in the State i.e. Bor – Pibor – Pochalla and Ayod – Waat – Akobo should be expedited and complete before the coming of the rainy season. This will help the movement of security forces in the State.

g. All the children and women abducted and cattle looted should be accounted for by those involved.

h. Provision of emergency food relief to Uror, Nyirol and Akobo Counties to rescue the people from imminent starvation as they have lost most of their cattle.

Signed by:
Gabriel Yoal Dok
Chairman, Lou Community Council
Member of the Council of State representing Jonglei State
Tel:

Thank you GatWech for the information. We really appreciate your work bro. I will put it on the home page by tomorrow.

Yrs.

Yuldit

Dear Gatwech

First of all, I would like to thank you on behalf of your hard work you have made. Your great contribution made you more flexible to all of our people. We have been missing you due to valuable responses that you would been given to us. We are now happy to hear your voice here in Lou Great website. Yul Dit good job brother, Peter Reat says hi to you and every body here in LOu Great Website.

Thank
Ker Biel Ruey
Toronto

First I want to thank all of you for keeping our discussion board alive. As we all know Lou Nuer community need all of us without singling anyone out. To the point of Murle we need to reach out to ours leaders with strong message and one voice which will be heard around the world we can use any necessary sources to spread out the message to the leaders. If we wait for nothing we will get nothing, we need to act now because if we think ours county commissioners will do something about it they will never do anything
Thank you
Nhial Dak Duop
Omaha Nebraska.

Dear lou nuer citizens.
let we put our voices in that incident in to government of southsudan why they foreget our people who they died always like fish in the river whil is a one who taken the riples a way from our civilians .
Chiem on the goverment of southern sudan.
thank you all lou nuer sons.
donge d.



thank to God who gave us this name

The Murle raids plus Nyirol county wildlife officials murdered by Duk county police indicated an urgent and uniform action by both Lou at home and those of us here in Diaspora.
Our homeland Lou Area typically is in danger by all surrounded pre enemies who are taking advantages of illegal disarmament of our people and leave the rest with their weapons.
Disarmament should be a milestone toward our society's stability if at least was done properly without bias. But it seems like it aims was to put our community Lou Nuer, in danger.

I do encourage our politicians to take this issue seriously to push for other communities to be disarmed no later than March, 2009, so that to prevent future tragedy happening.

Peter Wiyual Dak

Dear Dickson, Donge, Yul, Gtwech and Wichyual

I have admired your words brothers, and participations which you guys contributed fully to every situation happened in Lou Land. Our problem would be going to solve by united each other as every one of you referred to. We have no time to get evolved and place to meet and do what we need exactly as the way that we wish or belief to bring us change. A change could be something that makes sense to public that why we are always focused and building our way to get success.

Now, our problem is increasing deeply without excuse from grassroots to the top GOSS of South Sudan. In that point, we need to be mindful to know why our GOSS needs us to be the victims of South while we are the people who have good history about the South Sudan. Why is that works against us? As I said above that there is no time or place to put these things in action, we must act in the same time while know that our GOSS of South Sudan will succeed as we will wait CPA.

Please your commitment and strong relationship makes us to become real people. Unity without supporting the family brings the people together. Let us keeping this cooperation positively, to any one of our people. There is no brothers, or friends, we all one in Lou community. Dinkas are our people who are doing the wrong things to us, what we have to do is just to contact GOSS to disarm all Dinka or to change the city Bor to Yuay or Ayod.

Thank
Ker Biel
Toronto