Last year, Governor Kuol asked Southern Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit to find the means to remove permanently all the remaining arms from civilian hands. Kiir responded on May 22, 2008, with Operational Order 1/2008, affecting all ten states of South Sudan. The Order stated that, if weapons could not be confiscated peacefully, officials could use “appropriate force.”Kopel. Gallant. Eisen. Read.
Kiir’s use of “appropriate force,” in a context wherein most of the civilians were armed and did not intend to surrender their weapons, was tantamount to a shoot-to-kill order. [More]
Tuesday, July 7, 2009