The genesis of recent ethnic cleansing in South Sudan

Ethnic cleansing

It all started that fateful night, Dec 15 2013, when “our dear leader” issued an arrest warrant to all his political opponents, who had earlier on walked out of the meeting room. For several months, things had been brewing within the SPLM party with national convention put off times and times again by "our dear leader".

A week before that fateful night, things had reached a boiling point within the highest hierarchy of the SPLM political Bureau. A number of the SPLM decedents lead by the former Vice President convened an urgent media conference, which was attended by the local and international media. At the conclusion of the conference, came an announcement of a planned public demonstration to be held the following weekend. The news of a public demonstration sent huge shock-waves through the highest hierarchy of the SPLM political bureau.

Fearing the planned Saturday demonstration would result in chaos,  the members of the religious communities convened urgently a reconciliation meeting which was attended by both parties. Unfortunately, the meeting ended the same way it began. A few days late came the long awaited party meeting which everyone felt was long overdue. When the meeting started, the president took the occasion hurling barrage of demeaning tongue-lashing mudslinging at his former Vice President. It's not clear how many references he made about the '1991' coup, about the betrayal of the SPLA, about his loyalty to the party. Every hour, minute and second that had passed during the talk down speech must have been the most excruciating moments for the former president of South Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar. Throughout the meeting, Dr. Machar set very uncomfortably with his chin resting wearily against his right hand fist while listening to everything including war songs in "Dinka" coming out of the mouth of his former boss.

The next Sunday, when the meeting reconvened, Dr. Machar and his factional group had enough. They walked out of the meeting venue after listening wearily to the same demeaning rhetoric. That upset "our dear leader" to the core. He took it personally. He felt he had been disrespected to the core. And with his emotions running wildly out of control, "our dear leader" felt the time had come for him to settle the matter squarely once and for all. That fateful night - Dec 15 2013, "our dear leader" issued an arrest warrant to his rivals, not knowing that such decision would turn the nation inside out, and usher in the beginning of negative gearing.

That evening a word of the arrest warrant went out in parallel with an order to disarm only those presidential guards from the Nuer tribe. Boom! The first bullet started. The members of the presidential guards exchanged fire for the first time not knowing that they were starting a "world war three" for South Sudan.

With extrajudicial killing on the rampage, targeting only the members of the Nuer community, Dr. Machar was forcefully sneaked out to safety by members of his bodyguards, who threatened to kill him if he wouldn't comply than to be killed by the marauding presidential guards. When the night had worn out, it became clear that thousands of innocent civilians from Nuer had been killed. Dr. Riek's home had been reduced to rubble by the tanks and shelling. Disarmed bodyguards plus women and children living in the compound were among the dead.

Majority of South Sudanese at home and in diaspora were in shock after discovering the atrocities that had been committed. Social media was flooded with condemnations by members of the Dinka and the Nuer communities.
Over-shaken by the sheer level of atrocities, many South Sudanese poured their support at Dr. Riek Machar, who was in hiding. But his supports from the Dinka community soon disappeared after Dr. Riek said he was in charge of the rebels. Many had argued that Dr. Riek should have given himself up to the authorities so he could be arrested and the matter could have been solved politically. This would have evaded war, most argued.

The critical questions are:

1. being hunted down accused of attempted coup, could they have spared his life had he given himself in?
2. with his home reduced to rubble by tanks and shelling believing that he was in the premises, could they have spared his life had he given himself in?
3. With his unarmed bodyguards and relatives (including women and children) killed sprayed with tanks shells, could they have spared his life had he given himself in?

If you could be honest with yourself and answer the above questions with an absolute yes, then you would come to realize why Dr. Riek took the path he had taken.