South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Simon Deng
The peace envoy for the South Sudan Council of Churches (SSCC) and Archbishop of Northern Bhar El Ghazal Internal Province, as well as Bishop of the Diocese of Wau, Moses Deng, called upon the South Sudanese to embrace peace and forgive one another for the atrocities committed during past wars.
“As faith-based leaders, we urge our people to adopt a spirit of forgiveness. Without forgiveness, our country cannot progress; there is no future without it,” Deng said on Thursday at the Imperial Plaza Hotel during the closing of a two-day workshop on transitional justice.
“As South Sudanese communities, one of the challenges we face is a lack of forgiveness. Most intercommunal violence is rooted in revenge and counter-revenge,” he added.
Joseph Luka Akuar, the former chairperson of the Western Bahr El Ghazal State Civil Society Network, stated that the upcoming establishment of the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing (CTRH) and the Compensation and Reparation Authority (CRA) will benefit survivors of past violations.
“When we discuss the CTRH and the CRA, which are part of the transitional justice framework, the first people to feel their impact will be the survivors—those who have suffered, lost everything, and experienced trauma,” said Akuar.
Malala John Mojwok, a member of the South Sudan Civil Society Forum, emphasized that full implementation of Chapter 5 of the 2018 revitalized peace agreement, which focuses on transitional justice, will help address past violations.
“We know very well that without transitional justice and without addressing the cases of past violations, a country will never achieve stability; it will continue on the path of revenge based on past atrocities,” said Mojwok.
“The government needs to critically examine transitional justice to address violations against South Sudanese. This is the path to reconciliation and healing that our people are seeking,” he added.
Chapter 5 of the 2018 peace agreement, which focuses on transitional justice, calls for the transitional government to establish three mechanisms: the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing (CTRH), the Compensation and Reparation Authority (CRA), and the Hybrid Court of South Sudan (HCSS).
The workshop was organized by the South Sudan Civil Society Forum and the Transitional Justice Working Group, with support from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the International Centre for Transitional Justice, and the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).
