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Sudan Tribune

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Aweil West community accuses commissioner of “abusing power”

April 13, 2013 (JUBA) – Aweil West county commissioner, Garang Kuac Ariath, has come under sharp and increased criticism from community leaders who are calling on governor Paul Malong Awan to remove him from the post.

250px-northern_bahr_el_ghazal_map.svg.pngIn series of interviews with Sudan Tribune over the few days, officials claimed that commissioner Ariath is not only arbitrarily arresting critics but also interfering with law enforcement institutions.

Malou Wek Mabuoc, a prisoner service officer told Sudan Tribune on Saturday from Nyamelel, an administrative headquarters of Aweil West County that he was hit twice in the face and kicked unconscious in public by commissioner Ariath on April 3 after a prisoner on his custody escaped the previous day.

The prisoner officer said that commissioner had prevented him receiving treatment at Aweil hospital.

“I feel pain on my back, especially on kidney and also chest. I feel two ribs have been broken. This is why my relatives want to take me to Aweil town for assessment so that I know exactly what happened but he had refused completely. He wanted the security agents here to take me to Aweil to the person they know so that he can produce result which will not show any damage”, said Mabuoc.

He accused the commissioner of abusing the office by arbitrarily arresting and beating anyone who does not agree with him on how govern the area.

“I did not fight because I respect the office he is in not because I cannot fight him but he did not know that. He hit me in the face twice and kicked down unconscious”, the officer said.

“The reason commissioner did all this to me is that I have allowed the prisoner to escaped. He said I have been bribed by the prisoner and I said no. The prisoner asked for permission from the authorities to be taken to the market and I was just called to escort him. When we reached the market, I told him to sit down to wait for me because I wanted to get water to drink from a nearby shop. So it was during this short time that his brother came on motorbike and run away with him. I tried to reach but could not manage because they were already riding at high speed and I was only running on foot. I returned to the prison and reported what happened to the director who immediately ordered my arrest”, he explained.

The prisoner who escaped was serving a six month sentence for stealing 13,000 South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) from an Indian business man in Nyamelel market.

Sudan Tribune has been unable to reach the commissioner for his response to the allegations but an official who works at the county headquarters admitted that Ariath had slapped the officer “out of anger”.

“It is true commissioner slapped the officer. I was there myself. Commissioner acted out of anger because he felt irritated by how the officer was explaining how the inmate ran away”, said the official who did not want to be named.

The official said he understands the anger caused by the incident but he does not support voices calling for demonstrations and Ariath’s removal. He accused critics of the commissioner of capitalising on the incident to settle their own political scores.

“I have seen some people holding meetings about this incident. I have also heard similar meetings were called and held in Aweil and Juba by politicians. Those in the Diaspora are calling and writing against commissioner on the internet. They are seriously calling for his removal. This is not the right way to handle such matters as a community. We need to sit down together and resolve it peacefully.”

He said that he was not saying all this because he works for the county administration but for the sake of harmony and tolerance in the Aweil community .

However, critics of the commissioner claimed the arrest and abuse of the prisoner officer was not the first time for that Ariath has acted unlawfully.

Another county official, who did not want to be identified, described Ariath as “one of the worst commissioners this county has ever had”. He claimed that Ariath “does not accept different opinions however beneficial they are to the community. He is not only running the county with an iron fist but is an autocratic.”

The commissioner, the official claimed, “is openly abusing the power. He beats people unnecessarily. Can you image commissioner hitting and kicking law enforcement officers before the public. What impression will it give the system, an official asked Saturday? ”

The official also accused Ariath of nepotism, corruption and arrogance.

South Sudan Minister of Justice John Luk Jok last year expressed disappointment with way some senior government officials are running their offices, especially those at state level.

Jok said, at a governors’ forum held in Juba in November 2012, that arbitrary arrest was becoming a big problem in the country, generating criticism from the international community and the local population.

(ST)

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