Sad!!Kenyan Peace Monitor detained,tortured in S.Sudan

A Kenya Defence Forces soldier was allegedly detained, stripped and tortured by South Sudan People’s Defence Forces while in the course of duty.

The officer who could only be identified as Major Chemjor is among the South Sudan peace monitors and was captured on Tuesday, as he and his colleagues attempted to access a military training centre, to investigate an alleged violation of the peace deal in the country.

The Kenya Defence Forces officer was in the company of a Colonel in the Sudan Armed Forces and another in the Ethiopian army, all being international peace monitors with Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMVM). A driver who was with the three was also detained.

During their four hour detention, the team was blindfolded, handcuffed, stripped down to their clothing and physically assaulted.

On Thursday, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau expressed that he was deeply upset by the incident.

“We are shocked and appalled at the reports that we are getting. We are still investigating the matter to determine the integrity of the information that we have received,” he stated.

He continued “Should this information be found to be true, we shall take the necessary and resolute action commensurate with the nature of the occurrence.”

In a protest letter to Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, the chairperson of Igad Council of Ministers who is also Ethiopian minister of foreign affairs, the team’schairman Maj. Gen. Desta Abiche Ageno called on Igad to “publicly condemn the incident.

He further demanded the Transitional Government of National Unity (TgoNU) to immediately investigate the crime and hold the perpetrators to account.

The agency is a Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (MVM) set-up by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (Igad) to monitor the implementation of the cessation of hostilities and peace agreements President Salva Kiir and several opposition groups have recently signed.

The Mechanism reports to the Igad Council of Ministers and the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the latter headed by another Kenyan, Lt. Gen.

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