Sudan’s Warrap state asks committee to investigate death of over 300 people
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August 16, 2011 (JUBA) - The legislative assembly of Warrap, one of
South Sudan’s ten states, on Tuesday said it has tasked a special
committee with looking into reports and allegations that 358 people
have died, possibly of hunger in the area.
JPEG - 50 kb
Nyandeng Malek, governor of Warrap State (Gurtong.net)
This comes following reports that the state is facing severe food
shortages. The most affected groups are women and elderly people as
well as those who have just returned from the north following Sudan’s
official breakup last month.
Local and national officials have blamed Warrap’s state government for
allowing people to die of malnutrition.
However, Nyandeng Malek, governor of Warrap State, while confirming
the deaths on Tuesday, denied reports linking the cause to hunger. She
attributed it to other factors including diseases.
“In South Sudan, many people, especially women have [a bigger] chance
of dying of diseases than hunger. There are no adequate medical
services. [This means] that a simple, very simple and curable disease,
like malaria, can kill”, said, Governor Malek.
Governor Malek told Sudan Tribune by phone from Kuacjok, the capital
of Warrap State, that the cause could be associated to “an outbreak of
disease”.
Reverend Amet Kuol, a member of Warrap State Legislative Assembly, who
chairs a committee on Peace and Reconciliation, also confirmed the
deaths but said the cause remains unknown adding that he had also
received reports testifying that it was hunger.
Kuol said because of the sensitivity of the issue in the area, the
house was obliged to form a fact-finding parliamentary committee whose
membership was drawn from other existing committees.
“Yes it is true some people have died. I was this morning at the site
were those who returned from the north are camped," Kuol Sudan Tribune
by phone from Kuacjok, on Tuesday.
He said representatives of Warrap state’s committees for peace and
reconciliation, human rights, gender, security were sent to an area
where they were shown more than 35 graves of people reported to have
died. The dead are reported to have been returnees from north Sudan
who were staying in a nearby camp.
“Our aim of going there was to go and find out whether [there] were
deaths and the actual cause of it”, he said.
The legislator said chiefs and other representatives with whom they
held meetings plainly told them that the cause of death was hunger and
that they saw for themselves graves of people reported to have died of
hunger.
“The chief said 358 have died and showed us more than 35 graves. They
also told us of another place where some other people reported to have
died of hunger were buried. We could not go because it was a little
bit far and we were walking on foot. The chiefs wanted to take us so
we see it for ourselves”, he explained.
The Member of Parliament said the committee has asked the chiefs and
the immediate family members of the deceased to make a list of all
those who have died and submit it to the investigative committee by
Wednesday.
(ST)
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