By William Madouk
Pressure is mounting on human rights groups to hold the Ugandan Chief of Defense Forces (CDF), Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, accountable for his inflammatory statement about the Nasir conflict.
This comes after Museveni’s son, Kainerugaba acknowledged the killing of a section of civilians, including children, the elderly, and women in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a statement extended to this outlet, the Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), appealed to the UN Human Rights Council to conduct a thorough investigation into the killing of civilians by the Ugandan army.
“Such statements confirm that he and his Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) have actively participated in the killing of Nuer civilians in South Sudan in recent years, “partly read the statement.
“CPA urged the UN Human Rights Council, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International should conduct an independent investigation,” he added.
CPA’s Executive Director, Ter Manyang Gatwech [pictured] called on the UN to impose sanctions on Gen. Muhoozi.
“Therefore, we urge the United Nations to impose sanctions on Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba,” he noted.
He stated that Uganda, a neighboring country with almost one million South Sudanese refugees, should participate through diplomatic channels rather than military means.
Ter emphasized that such an approach would undermine the trust and efforts made by South Sudanese leaders in the country throughout the execution of the R-ARCSS.
Furthermore, the CPA urged Uganda to uphold the norms of international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and East African Community treaties.
“UPDF’s bombardment of Upper Nile State, particularly in Nasir and Ulang counties, has prompted a brutal response from the Ugandan military in Nasir. There is increasing evidence of systematic violations of international humanitarian law, including war crimes and potentially other atrocity crimes.,” he claimed.
“It is essential that all violations of international humanitarian law are thoroughly investigated and that any crimes are punished per international law,” Ter continued.
Today, Elijah Alier Kuai, Managing Director of Media Authority said it has noted with great concern the circulating hate speech and incitement of violence in South Sudan, particularly related to the conflict in Nasir County of Unity State.
“At least I’m happy that most of the traditional media or recognized media in the country has been playing that due diligence in their reporting. But that one is not enough,” he said.
“Because what they normally do [media], they report from what the politicians are saying. And, it is now very clear to the media authority to the point of no doubt that the politicians are currently fueling this conflict,” he added.
He noted that there will be repercussions at the end of the day as per section 28 of the Media Authority Act regarding hate speech and incitement to violence.
“So, in this situation, if you are a politician, you have to be mindful. You cannot be in a position and to continue fueling the conflict. We expect you to be able to play a role in promoting peace and stability,” Alier warned.
“But, if you have taken that direction to be promoting conflict and inciting the communities, then you have to be mindful that this is high time for the country to apply the law on such a politician who goes astray from the role that they are expected to maintain peace and stability in the country,” he continued.
He noted that when social media was shut down, Meta was able to remove over 7000 unwanted contents; nevertheless, Alier said the National Communication Authority is working hard to remove those contents.
“So, coming to the issue of incitement or hate speech being promoted by outsiders, you have mentioned a good number of tweets, and in this regard, it falls also under the same content of regulations. So, it’s not exceptional,”
“Even those countries, have laws also that safeguard the public interest. So, if there are cooperation agreements or there are levels of bilateral relations, we are engaged. We should be mindful in this country, some laws prevent the public and anybody to continue fueling the conflict or promote hate speech on ethnic lines,” Alier stressed.