Kiir leadership has been devastating to South Sudanese, prominent South Sudanese activist, Dr. Peter Biar Ajak told the U.S Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Wednesday.
He said “Kiir and Machar must exit” South Sudan’s political scene with no delay.
Ajak told the U.S government that Kiir “was not elected but appointed; therefore, he doesn’t deserve to be a leader for the young nation.
In a speech live on major U.S media networks, the US. House Committee on Foreign Relations finally heard the “tell it all” Ajak’s testimony.
He calls upon the U.S to hold South Sudanese leaders accountable for the war atrocities.
Ajak thanks International Human Rights organizations for standing with him while the government of South Sudan was hunting him.
He thanks the U.S government for saving his life.
“Chairman Menendez, Ranking Member Risch, and Members of the Committee: I am greatly honored to testify today. This topic is close to my heart. For eighteen months, I endured brutal, illegal detention at the notorious “Blue House” prison, operated by South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS). My crime was criticizing President Salva Kiir and his failed leadership of South Sudan, which has turned the promise of our hard-won independence into a decade-long horror. “
He talked about elections and accuses president Kiir and Lt. Gen. AkoL Koor Kuac of war crimes, and corruption in the country and allegedly stealing millions of dollars.
“In the meantime, he has built a repressive security state in the form of the NSS whose powers are concentrated in the hands of his kinsman, Gen. Akol Koor Kuc, who personally oversees the planning and the commission of gross human rights violations through Special Forces headquartered in his office. A four-person task force housed inside Kuc’s office identifies targets for extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance, and arbitrary arrest. Once the targets are approved by Kuc, the Special Forces carry out the acts. Kuc has attended many executions and personally pulled the trigger on several occasions. As we speak, there are over 1,000 detained in secret NSS detention facilities across the country.”
“I survived this imprisonment and Kiir’s later attempt to either kill or abduct me from Nairobi, Kenya because of the support of many defenders of human rights around the world, including several members of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representative (many of whom are seated on this Committee). I am extremely grateful to each and every one of you and the United States’ government for speaking out for me when my voice was silenced, and for acting quickly to save my life and that of my family.”