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Tuesday, July 20, 2004 |
CONTINUING HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN SOUTHERN SUDAN THREATEN PEACE PROCESS
Hundreds of civilians slaughtered in Akobo, headquarters of the Presbyterian Church of Sudan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 20,2004
Contact: Brad Phillips
1.888.201.5245
1.540.829.5353
AKOBO (ANS) -- Sudan -- Persecution Project Foundation (PPF) president Brad Phillips announced today the release of a partial list detailing the names and ages of 222 Christians who were among 234 civilians killed during Government of Sudan (GoS) sponsored attacks near the town of Akobo in May 2004.
During a recent visit to the region, Phillips met with PCOS representatives, Rev. Both Reath Luang and PCOS health coordinator Rev. Paul Biel, who provided firsthand accounts of atrocities committed by GoS backed forces in May along with a the list of these recent genocide victims.
According to Rev. Both, the GoS sponsored attacks began on May 1, initially killing 204 civilians. Another 30 people were killed in Wunbut near Akobo on May 10.
“Most of the dead are women and children,” Phillips said. “Ninety-three of the victims – nearly half of those murdered – were children 12 years old or younger!”
Another 78 people were wounded, and 58 of the most seriously wounded were evacuated to the Red Cross hospital in Lokichoggio, Kenya.
The raiders looted and burned homes and stole 6,000 cattle.
The Sudan Mirror also reported that GoS backed Murle militia forces destroyed facilities belonging to Medecins Sans Frontieres and the South Sudan Disabled Persons Association.
“Gatluak Goryang Chol was less than a year old,” Phillips said. “His brother was four. This list puts names and ages to impersonal statistics. The U.S. State Department needs to reconsider whether it is at all wise to remove Sudan from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism... I hope they’ll take a hard look at the names of the women and children on this list. These 93 children were not the unfortunate victims of war, or merely innocent bystanders. They were the intended targets. This is not an act of war; this is an act of terrorism, pure and simple.”
“The attack is a campaign by the government,” SPLA spokesman George Garang told Agence France-Presse (AFP), “to control Akobo and other towns near the Ethiopian, Ugandan and Kenyan borders before a (comprehensive) peace agreement is signed.”
At the same time, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) quotes an SPLM/A negotiator who accuses the Bashir regime of deliberately violating the recently-signed protocol on military arrangements.
Khartoum is suddenly insisting that the southern pro-government militias participate in the peace talks, despite the fact that both sides had agreed that SPLA is the only legitimate southern Sudanese army during the transition period.
“We did not expect the government to take such a destructive step,” the negotiator said.
Following a failed attempt at inclusion in negotiations, Major General al-Toam al-Nour Daldoum, leader of the pro-Khartoum National Popular Forces, vowed to increase the attacks.
“The NPF has sent a clear message to [SPLA Commander John] Garang,” Daldoum told AFP, “that it would not yield to his threats and would defy him during the transitional period.”
Last year, Persecution Project Foundation and its partner The Voice of the Martyrs, based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, were the first NGOs to assist the displaced Christian community in Akobo by delivering many tons of Bibles, food, medicine and crisis relief “Life Pack” supplies following Akobo’s return to SPLM control in March 2003.
6:41:45 PM 
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© 2004 Radio Free China
Last Update: 8/10/2004; 4:49:49 PM
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