JUBA VIOLENCE AFTERMATH: RUMORS OF SAF PRISONER

C O N F I D E N T I A L KHARTOUM 002667

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR AF/SPG

E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/14/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM SOCI PGOV UN SU
SUBJECT: JUBA VIOLENCE AFTERMATH: RUMORS OF SAF PRISONER
DEATH

REF: KHARTOUM 02572

Classified By: P/E Chief E. Whitaker, Reason: Section 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Attacks attributed to the Lord's Resistance
Army (LRA) around Juba have slowed within the last week, but
still continue. The LRA has denied responsibility for these
incidents of violence, and Government of Southern Sudan
(GoSS) officials still maintain that the Sudanese Armed
forces (SAF) are behind at least some of the raids. There
are also credible but unconfirmed rumors that one of the SAF
soldiers arrested for previous raids (reftel) has died in
Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) custody.

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More Attacks, Rumors of SAF Death
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2. (C) A UN security official told CG Juba officials that
there was an attack by unknown gunmen November 10 on the road
between Juba and Bor. Two SPLA soldiers were said to have
been injured in the incident. One of the two reportedly
stated that the attackers were "LRA." Another incident was
reported November 9 on the road between Juba and Torit,
resulting in one death. The same UN official reported that a
15-year old attacker in one recent incident east of Juba was
injured in the attack, and subsequently hospitalized and
questioned. The youth allegedly confirmed that he was part
of an LRA group. He died the following day.


3. (SBU) SPLA leadership and UN security officials have
pointed to several potential culprits in the 13-14 attacks
east and south of Juba over the last three weeks, which have
caused over 70 deaths. Both military and political leaders
in southern Sudan have accused the Sudan Armed Forces --
particularly its military intelligence apparatus -- of
fomenting the violence. Even SPLA leaders making the
accusations, however, admit that they have little concrete
proof of SAF complicity.


4. (C) GoSS officials have not charged the 15 SAF personnel
arrested on or about October 19 in the village of Gumbo, just
across the Nile from Juba (reftel); furthermore, the GoSS has
failed to deliver on early statements that the evidence
against the detainees would be made public. The senior SPLA
officer in the Joint Integrated Units, Maj. Gen. Thomas
Cirillo, told ConGen Staff that "the order had been given"
for the JIUs to conduct a joint investigation, which he
expected to commence as early as October 14. Both CIRILLO
and SPLA Maj. Gen. Bior Deng Ajak confirmed that another SAF
suspect was also in custody. Bior said the individual was a
"commander" of recent attacks on the road between Juba and
Bor.


5. (C) Subsequent to these statements, two other sources -- a
UN security official and an experienced NGO worker with
access to the SPLA -- said they were following up on reports
that a SAF soldier died on November 10 in SPLA custody. The
individual, said to be named "Abbas Siliman," reportedly was
arrested by the SPLA on November 4. The rumored cause of
death was a broken neck. It is not clear whether the
detainee was accused of complicity in any of the recent
attacks, and all details of this incident should be treated
as unconfirmed. Both the UN source and the NGO worker said
relations between the SPLA and SAF had grown tenser in the
aftermath of the reported death.
HUME