Open letter: Violence Against Women In South Sudan Must Cease
Open letter to General Gabriel Jok Riak | Chief of General Staff,
By: South Sudanese Women’s Coalition for Peace (SSWCP)
Chief of General Staff of the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), Gabriel Jok Riak (File/ photo/SSNN)
Nov 5th, 2019 (SSNN)-Dear General Riak, South Sudanese Women’s Coalition for Peace (SSWCP) is aggrieved by the recent and rather unfortunate incident involving the physical assault of two female journalists who were preparing to cover the 7 military command council conference of the South Sudan Peoples Defense Forces (SSPDF) by a senior male army General at Bilpam in Juba. This incident has already been reported by Eye Radio; a reputable media platform in South Sudan. The highly placed military officer of SSPDF holds a higher responsibility of respecting the law in the SSPDF. His act towards the aforementioned journalists on this occasion is unspeakable and unjustifiable.
- It is against the tenets of the R-ARCSS and South Sudan constitution.
- It is emblematic of persistent hostilities, which compromise the safety of women in work places.
- It also infringes on our constitutional right to be accorded full and equal dignity and participation with men in public life.
We reiterate, “Freedom of the media forms an essential component of the right to freedom of expression”: which is guaranteed under Section 24 in the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan (2011).. As personnel working with the media, these two women were carrying out their duty of receiving, reporting and subsequently disseminate information to the general public, in a bid to guarantee citizens’ right to access information. Should the abuse and assault experienced by them at the hands of a senior military officer be met with impunity, an alarming precedent will have been set for junior officers.
We consider any attack of this nature on any one woman an attack on women’s collective efforts to build South Sudan. We condemn all violations of women’s rights prescribed under national and international law and seek for the promotion and protection of women’s rights in South Going forward under the R-ARCSS dispensation that prohibits parties from acts of hostility, intimidation, violence or attacks against civilian, we exhort the SSPDF under your leadership, to publicly apologize and also hold the officer in question accountable for his actions.
We demand the SSPDF to in fulfillment of a sitting government’s primary responsibility, protect all its citizens, educate all soldiers about the Peace Agreement and all relevant Human Rights Treaties, Conventions and Instruments. The continued violation of women’s rights dwindles our confidence in parties’ commitment to peace and development of our nation, South Sudan.
It goes without saying that peace cannot be achieved when women from all walks of life do not feel safe to serve South Sudan meaningfully alongside our male counterparts.
Women in all spheres of national service must be treated with dignity and respect. Our rights are guaranteed under Section 11 of the Constitution the highest law in the land. The South Sudan Women’s Coalition for Peace is committed and equally pledges to continue contributing to the realisation of a just peace for all South Sudanese as equal citizens without prejudice to gender.
South Sudanese Women’s Coalition for Peace About SSWCP South Sudan Women’s Coalition for Peace (SSWCP) is a coalition of more than 50 diverse organizations, institutions and individual activists committed to promoting gender and women’s rights, good governance, peace building and development in South Studan. SSWCP can be reached through sswomencoalition@gmail.com
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