Response to Response by Emmanuel Gai on Greater Crimes committed by Gen George Athor Deng

By Atok Dan Baguoot

While responding to Brother Emmanuel Gai on this crucial national issue, I would always wish to remain decent in language use so that this topic remains within the kingdom of discussion. Whereas my friend Gai, I would like you to harmonize your senses to the reality that the recent bitter concluded elections are part and parcel of human rights that we fought for with successive Khartoum’s regimes tantamount to societal rights and transcended to individuals rights whose aggregates form a nation thus, if individual rights are brushed aside, we end up protecting none other than the vicious cycle of the human slavery. Without impeding the free passage of truth, we are as free as we say and wish but a hindrance to these free choices of the people amounts to what is exactly taking place in Jonglei today.

 Abraham Lincoln said people who are free to choose, always choose peace. This is what was tempered in the Jonglei state, therefore, judging individuals wrong in this case to me shouldn’t just be the top priority like those who are now high on rooftops echoing or apportioning blames to personalities because they don’t equal access to instruments passing information. 

 Taking you from your own statement where you said “assumption of an effect than the cause itself “in reference to what Chuei Mareng wrote on heinous crimes unfolding in Pigi County in the hand of SPLA forces who are searching for Gen Athor. Perfectly and without even a single doubt, you are right. 

The cause is rigging elections and this is what I called the initial point of the event, there you are. While resting digesting the facts of a robbed victory according to him George Athor in his house, a platoon of SPLA soldiers composed not only native of Jonglei assembled in the backyard of Gen Athor implementing a warrant issued against him. Gen Athor only preempted the incident of arrest and the whole issue remained at the level of the Army. 

The incident change the course when indiscipline SPLA soldiers deviated off the radar taking it as revenge on relatives or clans of Gen George Athor by raping even male human beings leaving alone women because raping women could probably be a practice adorn by some communities in Southern Sudan. Brother Gai, I reiterated the fear of your language by offering an alternative explanation that the magnitude of a crime committed by Athor would be handled but how do you deal with crimes committed by a system in the name of searching denounced culprit? 

President Bashir has never been to the frontline since he left Mayom in Unity State in the late 1980s after he incurred injury from SPLA zonal commander then Dr. Riek Machar Teny but he is charged with war crimes, crimes against humanity besides that genocide not because he attacked outlawed but none party to conflicts the civilians. I fear your language because if the culprit Gen Athor could be smart enough not to attack any civilian base, why not SPLA forces commanded by a system? 

 I thought it here that Gen Athor might be cautious enough not to lose single support from the population of Jonglei by maintaining decency in his war of greed of power to only where the problem came and that is the army. He attacked them because they were oriented to arrest him because he lost elections probably. Brother Gai, feeding you with the first-hand information direct from Governor Kuol Manyang Juuk that Gen Athor even conceded defeat and issued a press statement pertaining to elections. 

 Here what might have indeed offended him surely is the move of the arrest. So, sir Gai, I don’t fear the statement written by Chuei Mareng because innocent civilians who had never shown adherence to Gen Athor are being tortured with impunity by a system that claims to protect them because the Gen hails from that locality, making it difficult to comprehend the motive of judging him wrong. 

 Mr. Gai, a system is never right when it tortures its citizens in the name of sovereignty or protecting the rule of law unless you wish to tell the me that rule of law is meant for ruling persons instead of its wider perspectives. I fear your language because it has elements of even genocidal motives if up to now you need Mr. Chuei to offer you legal justifications for horrible crimes committed to citizens of Pigi County yet we are failing to apprehend the culprit. We might probably be failing to apprehend the rebel Gen because he should either be having the support of the Jonglei people but this does not substantiate the fact of torturing his relative unless you want to tell me that Southerners are people of short memories to have forgotten what they fought for in the last five decades. 

I feared your language in the lands of thousands of miles away because great wars fought under the sun were just through rumors. Not only a single North Korean had crossed the Pacific Ocean to come and slap an American in the face in the United States of America during the Koreans war but the US partially became a party to the conflict. 

 Welcoming me to the world of bias is welcomed given the fact that not even a mad person is none partisan/unbiased in this world even God himself was biased proven that He lifted his only begotten son to heaven yet tens of prophets were persecuted preaching the word of God and He never dared to resurrect one of them. But in my case, am a diehard of truth. “I am a firm believer in the people. 

If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts, said Abraham Lincoln. Your bias with confirmation would make an attractive headline if you had acknowledged the abuse of the people of Pigi County because I know Gen Athor will be brought to justice if not justice brought to him at any time and culprits in Pigi County will go with systematic impunity. 

 Otherwise, turning my weapon in a common know direction is somewhat ambiguous in the sense that oppression as an abstract has no known direction but personal in its application, meaning what you deemed just to you could be unjust to me though for contemporary situation in the Sudan Khartoum oppressors qualified but would not always be enemies until they prove so. It is a matter of common sense which Late Dr. John Garang De Mabior (RIP) used to dispute as not common. 

 For Southern Sudan to be where it is and where it would be in the future is mechanically not attributed to few as those who tortured others in the name of protecting the interest of the South missed. By the way brother, I know we will develop friendship later if we persist in sharing ideas, otherwise, I wish to say something somewhere is hijacked by an unknown direction or if our paralleled views are meandering around truth overshadowed by interest.