By Mary Poni
The Executive Director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) Mr. Edmund Yakani has appealed to the UN and International Community saying it’s high time they intervene in the Upper Nile conflict for them not to allow the report of Rwanda genocide incidents in Upper Nile.
He called on the UN to take responsibility to issue statement and commission an urgent investigation on what is going on between the various antagonistic forces that are clashing in parts of Upper Nile region.
He noted that civilians are the victims of such clashes and they are being forced to flee, facing sexual violence with starvation being used as weapon of war.
“As an activist, I am taking this opportunity to appeal to UN human rights commission in the country to issue a strong statement leveling the ongoing violence in some parts of Upper Nile as crimes against humanity” activist Yakani said.
In his statement extended to No.1 Citizen Daily Newspaper yesterday, Yakani raised a serious concern to the military leaders specifically Gen. Simon Gatwech and the IO on the clashes happening in the region of Upper Nile.
Yakani said he learned that there are violent clashes going on between the forces of Simon Gatwech and IO around the area of Tonga.
Activist described the fight as a deadly one, very distractive and at the same time, noting that the large population is aware that forces of Johnson Olony are as well attacking civilians in the site of SPLM/A-IO Kitgwang.
Yakani termed the attacks of Agwelek forces of Gen. Olony as crimes against humanity saying civilians are under attack by the forces around the IO Gatwech territories.
“I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the military commanders including the military leaders that the violence you people are carrying out in Upper Nile is deadly and inhuman which will be amounted to crimes against humanity” he stressed.
CEPO’s executive director humbly asked the forces involved in the Upper Nile unrest to cease the ongoing violence whether between the forces of Simon Gatwech and IO in any part of Upper Nile or between the forces of Johnson and the civilians saying they should stop atrocities.
“We cannot sit down seeing civilians been force to evacuate, forced for displacement, we cannot sit to see use of starvation against civilian’s population as a weapon of war and we cannot also sit down seeing ongoing sexual violence happening towards women and girls in Upper Nile region and expected to keep quiet” activist Yakani lamented.