Gsolomon20’s Weblog

The Save Yar Campaign is a coalition of student and community organizations committed to ending child abductions in South Sudan and returning abducted children to their families. We support only nonviolent means to this end. We are guided by international human rights standards, in particular those set forth in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. We oppose racial and ethnic stereotyping, and we support reconciliation between communities as a cornerstone of security and the protection of human rights in South Sudan. Recognizing that child abductions are motivated in part by economic and social conditions, we are committed to researching and working to address these issues.

Hopeful news: One of our Murle contacts (Mary Boyoi, the musician and intellectual) says she and others are trying to gather all Murle leaders in Juba on December 10 for an emergency meeting to discuss child abduction and the case of Yar and Ajak specifically.  We hope that other Murle leaders will agree with this constructive idea.

This campaign has been guilty of over-generalizing about people of Murle ethnicity. As we learn more about them, and as we become acquainted with people like Ms. Boyoi, we are reminded that all people are capable of peace and no one deserves to be stereotyped on the basis of their identity.

So we call on all Dinka reading this blog, although you may be angry over the actions of some Murle people, don’t take out your anger on different people who happen to be of Murle ethnicity.  Ms. Boyoi mentioned that she is grieving the loss of three Murle men who were killed in Juba in recent days, apparently in an act of intertribal retaliation.

Ms. Boyoi has joined a growing number of voices from South Sudan who are calling for an intertribal conference aimed at bringing reconciliation between Murle and Dinka and other ethnic groups in Jonglei state.

Such conferences have been held in the past. We agree that it’s time to try again.

Similarly, participants in a workshop held in May 2007 by UNICEF and the South Sudan Child Protection recommended that “a conference for the chiefs of Murle and Dinka communities to be organized in Jonglei State to create awareness” of child abduction and cattle raiding (Miraya FM).

Putting such a conference together would take some funding.  We will help Ms. Boyoi look for that.

Ms. Boyoi is now composing some peace songs for the proposed Murle gathering.  We hope they ring across the land.

–DLB

We fear that time is running out to rescue the girls before a military confrontation.  We have been moving deeper into South Sudanese politics in an attempt to motivate Ismael Kony to find the armed group holding Yar and Ajak and negotiate for their release.

We have succeeded in getting through to Mr. Kony, albeit indirectly. The South Sudan Minister for Presidential Affairs, Dr. Luka Biong, was quite gracious in carrying our request to Mr. Kony (sometimes spelled Konyi).  Dr. Biong said he met with Mr. Kony on Nov. 20 and handed him a copy of the photo of Yar that adorns this web site.  Dr. Biong said Mr. Kony “promised to do whatever he can and he will feed us back. I know it is not an easy process but let us pray that he will be able to locate Yar and her sister.” A Murle intellectual and musician named Mary Boyoi also said she raised the case of Yar in conversation with Mr. Kony on Nov. 18.

We are still seeking contact information for Ismael Kony so we can speak directly to him.

-DLB

We will discuss this case in a public forum on Monday, November 19 in the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs’ Cowles Auditorium on the University of Minnesota’s West Bank campus in Minneapolis.  (Flyer)

President Salva Kiir has made it clear he is paying attention to the issue of child abduction in Jonglei state. He has indicated that, in his opinion, the Murle are beyond reasoning with.

The hope of a peaceful resolution, in our estimation, now lies with Ismael Kony, once recognized as the leader of the Murle militia(s), now a member of a Kiir’s coalition government.

Mr. Kony: Please talk to the Murle militia leaders and persuade them to cease child abductions. Let us know what you need to make this happen.

Supporters: Please bring this message to Mr. Kony. We are seeking his contact information and will post it here when we get it.

We made this call to Mr. Kony in a press release that we just sent out today: Read it here.

–DLB

We are indebted as well to Minnesota’s Senators, Norm Coleman and Amy Klobuchar. The senators and their staff very swiftly sent a letter to the South Sudanese diplomatic mission raising Yar and Ajak’s case, expressing concern over the wave of child abductions, and supporting our team’s request for a meeting.
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Already indebted to Congresswoman Betty McCollum, D-Minn., for raising the case of Yar and Ajak directly to South Sudan President Salva Kiir, we find ourselves grateful again. Rep. McCollum issued a statement Friday that elaborates on her support and will draw further attention the case.
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The fantastic four are back from Washington, elated from having gotten through to the national and international figures we knew we needed to reach in order to save Yar and Jak and stop child abduction in general.

As the weekend wanes we come to terms with the fact that President Kiir gave us the fatal answer we didn’t want to hear: No negotiations, only guns. We can’t accept that.  We have about three weeks to change his mind. You can e-mail the GOSS mission and ask them to give peace a chance in Jonglei — might as well. But it seems clear that we’re going to have to involve other players.  We’ll keep you posted.  –DLB

A great leap forward:

Gabriel Kou Solomon and Amanda Lyons just got out of a 45-minute meeting with South Sudan President Salva Kiir in D.C. this morning.

Gabriel and Amanda showed great tenacity in getting in there — including hanging out in the lobby of his hotel until close to midnight last night until the Head of the Diplomatic Mission came down and conceded they could meet with Kiir this morning. During the meeting they were “relentless,” Amanda said, in pressing Kiir on the question of whether he will negotiate with the Murle for a peaceful release of the abducted children.

Sad to say that, in a nutshell, President Kiir’s answer was no; that it would be too dangerous to send negotiators into the Murle community; that the Murle will only respond
to force, and suggesting that such force is forthcoming.

Naturally we are disappointed that President Kiir will not consider a peaceful method of persuading the Murle to cease child abductions, given that military action will likely result in the deaths of abducted children.

The Save Yar campaign against child abduction will regroup next week to consider our next step. I believe we will rallying pressure on the S. Sudan government to pursue the peaceful option and seeking aid from the U.S. and the international community for an urgent conflict-management action in Jonglei state.

For the moment we are relishing the progress that our team — Gabriel, Amanda, Robyn Skrebes and James Collins — made in raising the profile of this issue. We thank supportive members of Congress, especially Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn., who raised the case of Yar and Ajak and the broader issue directly to President Kiir on Thursday, and Sen. Amy
Klobuchar for her strong public statement. And we thank you for providing the signatures and postcards that force the government of South Sudan to address this issue.

All four are flying back into MSP airport today, thanks again to a frequent flyer miles donated by Northwest Airlines passengers.

–Daniel Lynx Bernard

Cable subscribers in the Twin Cities can see an interview with Gabriel Solomon and Amanda Lyons about this case and the larger issue. The show is “Our World Today: Child Abduction in Sudan” on public-access television.
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