Two Catholic Nuns Killed in South Sudan

Image Christian Aid

Two South Sudanese Catholic nuns were among five people killed in an ambush on the highway linking the capital, Juba, with Uganda on Monday. They are the latest civilian casualties in a conflict which has claimed an estimated 400,000 lives since the world's newest nation gained independence from Sudan in 2011. Although no militia has claimed responsibility, opposition politicians warn that insecurity is such that the nuns might have been murdered by government forces or rival ethnic groups.

The Secretary General of South Sudan's Juba Archdiocese confirmed the deaths of Sr Mary Daniel Abut and Sr Regina Roba in a statement. Separately, Sr Christine John Amaa, a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, said the two Sisters were "killed in cold blood."

"Former Superior General Sr Mary Daniel Abut who served our Congregation of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus from 2006-2018, and Sr Regina Roba who was twice in the General Council, were killed in cold blood today as they were returning from Centenary Celebrations of Assumption of Our Lady Parish," Sr Amaa said in her August 16 email message. Nine Catholic Sisters were in the bus that came under attack by unknown gunmen.

Suzanne Jambo, a leading opposition politician and advocate of peaceful political means, said, "The tragic killing of the two nuns is another manifestation of the lawlessness in the Republic of South Sudan."

The government of President Kiir swiftly announced that members of specific armed groups opposed to the government had been arrested, but Jambo suggested "it could well be individuals from the South Sudan Defence Force which is becoming increasingly lawless" because soldiers have not been paid for months. Jambo, who founded the STEPS political party and the John Garang Peace Institute for Women, said there was an implicit message of "do as you wish and fend for yourselves in lieu of salaries," from the government.

Many armed groups operate along the road from Juba to the Ugandan border because it carries goods being imported from South Sudan's southern neighbour. It has been the site of armed attacks on civilians for several years. Jambo is a former official of the ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement, but she has called for both Kiir and his rival, the former Vice-President, Riek Machar to depart the political scene in South Sudan for the good of the country. In May she urged the visiting US envoy, Donald Booth, to scrutinize the human rights abuses and intimidation of journalists and peace activists allegedly carried out by the government intelligence service.

For decades, the Catholic Church in South Sudan has tried to amplify the voices of civil society at community level, calling for peace and reconciliation. However, human rights groups accuse the rival leaders, Kiir and Machar, of stoking and manipulating ethnic tensions to advance their personal interests. Donor nations, including the UK and USA, have expressed their frustration with the corruption and gross human rights abuses associated with both Machar and Kiir and their armed supporters.

Rebecca Tinsley's novel about Sudan, When the Stars Fall to Earth, is available on Amazon. See: www.amazon.co.uk/When-Stars-Fall-Earth-Africa/dp/0984512950