The Members of the Parliamentary Caucus representing Kajo-Keji County in the Central Equatoria State Revitalized Transitional Assembly have called for the justice process in Kajo- Keji County and are deeply saddened by the tragic manslaughter of innocent civilians.
Milla Amos Peter, the Chair of Parliamentary Caucus Kajo- Keji, Central Equatoria Parliament said that several arbitrary arrests were made after the horrible manslaughter act in the shooting of three innocent civilians. Among whom were two children taken along with the rest for detention by the military to the barrack.
“This is unacceptable as it is difficult to guarantee their safety from torture in the hands of the soldiers whose actions in crime investigation have turned brutal and lethal against civilians. These acts of terror are completely against the spirit of peace and confidence-building for the voluntary return of the refugees from exile in neighbouring northern Districts of Uganda and the IDPs in parts of the country. It instead negatively sends signals that the situation is very far from normality and forces those who have ventured to come to abandon their decision of settling down in fear of their security,” he said.
“We the undersigned members of the Kajo-Keji Parliamentary Caucus in Central Equatoria State Revitalized Transitional Legislative Assembly, therefore, denounce and condemn in the strongest terms possible the manslaughter of the innocent lives in the hands of unruly and unprofessional SSPDF more solid on official command mission to the scene of the crime where a soldier was found dead.
Calls for a speedy and unimpeded justice process for the victims and the families of the murdered civilians in a transparent and fair manner that promotes accountability and reconciliation.
He added that the Caucus demanded a joint investigation comprising of the military, police, civil society representatives and human rights bodies to investigate the circumstance leading to the murder of the three victims to gather facts to aid the justice process and call for the above deplore the continuous killings and arbitrary arrests carried out by the military in contravention of both International Law and South Sudan Transitional Constitution (2011) provisions prohibiting the detention of suspects for a period not more than 48 hours without trial incompetent court. The intimidation and threats employed to silence civil freedoms and rights of expression in Kajo-Keji County.
He revealed that the demand for the unconditional release of the arbitrarily arrested civilians mainly from Nyepo Payam who have been detained for several months without charge in the military barrack, including Mr Bela Benson, Acting Director of Nyepo Payam and the members of KIRI Boma arrested in this recent horrible incident.
“the Caucus calls for calm and restraint from both the civilians and the military to allow due processes of the rule of law to take its course. Call for the deployment of additional Police Forces at the County Head Quartets and the Payam to assist the Administration in handling crime related to Police competency ‘ Urge the Chief of Defence Forces to heed the repeated call for the transfer of the Military Command in Kajo-Keji to restore confidence and trust in the SSPDF on the ground.
