AU commission dismisses leaked draft on S. Sudan crimes

March 16, 2015 (JUBA) - The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma has expressed concerns over the recent circulation of what is purported to be the draft report of the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, (C) pictured with a delegation of Sudanese rebels in Addis Ababa on 7 March 2014 (Photo courtesy of rebel delegation)

Zuma, in a statement issued on Tuesday, said the so-called ‘report’ which has been leaked is “not that of the Commission of Inquiry”.

“The Chairperson further wishes to reassure the public, especially, the South Sudanese citizens, that the report of the Commission of Inquiry has not been publicly released to anyone,” reads the statement.

Earlier on, however, the AU Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) deferred the consideration of the report to a later date, during the 24th AU Summit of Heads of State and Government, the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) held on 29 January 2015 at which the final Commission of Inquiry report was submitted.

“The Chairperson, therefore, wishes to emphasise that as soon as the AUPSC considers the report and makes a decision on its release to the public the report of the Commission of Inquiry will be realised accordingly,” stressed the AU Commission chairperson.

The draft AU report, which has been published by various media outlets, generated fury among those mentioned in the document, with some petitioning the continental body over its contents.

For instance, in an open letter to Zuma, South Sudan’s former chief justice, Mou Ambrose Riny Thiik questioned what he described as serious security issues and unethical reporting on individuals by the African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan (AUCISS).

According to Thiik, some aspects of the leaked AU draft showed breaches and violations of human dignity and rights, rendering the exercise futile and modality used in the reporting questionable.

He cited a section of the report, which quoted a certain Major General of Military Intelligence by the name Mac Paul who believes that justice Thiik chaired and organized the mobilization for the killing in Juba between December16 and 18, 2014, and that this mobilisation started in November, 2013.

“This, madam chairperson, is pure character assassination of Shakespearean pedigree and a fake testimony of illicit nature by Mac Paul who knows exactly how the gates of hell were opened loose against the innocent people of South Sudan in general and the Nuer brothers and sisters in particular,” Thiik wrote in his letter to the AU chair.

“In contrast to Justice Ambrose Riny Thiik, Mac Paul has no clear track of contribution to the welbeing of this nation,” he added.

There have been several calls from activists for the AU to release the findings of its inquiry into a conflict that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions since December 2013.

(ST).