![South Sudan's then newly removed FVP Dr. Riek Machar Teny speaks during a meeting of the SPLM-IO political bureau in Khartoum, Sudan. [Photo by SUNA]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Riek_Machar.jpg?resize=1024%2C512&quality=89&ssl=1)
The SPLA-IO condemned the detention of Duop Lam, who also serves as a deputy chief of defence forces for the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), accusing SSPDF Chief of Defence Forces General Paul Nang of orchestrating the arrest in violation of the 2018 peace agreement.
In a statement extended to Sudans Post on Tuesday night, the main armed opposition group expressed “grave concern” over the security deployment near Machar’s residence.
“We are also gravely concerned about the heavy deployment of SSPDF around the residence of H.E. Dr. Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, the First Vice President and Chairman and Commander-in-Chief of the SPLM/A (IO),” the statement said.
The group argues that the deployment is not only a breach of trust but also a direct threat to ongoing efforts to de-escalate violence in Upper Nile State.
“These actions erode confidence and trust among the parties and jeopardize efforts to de-escalate the current violence that erupted in Nasir County of Upper Nile State,” the statement signed by SPLM-IO spokesman and minister of water resources and irrigation Pal Mai Deng reads in part.
The SPLA-IO also condemned the detention of General Duop Lam, accusing SSPDF Chief of Defence Forces General Paul Nang of violating the 2018 Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
“This morning, Lt. Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam, the Deputy Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) of the SSPDF, the Acting Chief of Staff of the SPLA (IO), and Co-Chair of the Joint Defence Board (JDB) was arrested by Gen. Paul Nang, the Chief of Defence Forces of the SSPDF,” it said.
“This action violates the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) and cripples the Joint Defence Board, a vital institution of the Agreement responsible for the command and control of all forces. This act puts the entire agreement at risk,” it added.
The opposition group called for the immediate withdrawal of the security forces from around Machar’s residence and the release of General Duop Lam. They also urged international guarantors of the peace agreement to intervene.
“The SPLM (IO) urges the release of Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam and calls upon all parties to continue exerting joint efforts to ensure an end to the violence in Upper Nile State. We take this opportunity to call upon the guarantors of the Agreement and partners to intervene in order to avoid a return to full-scale violence,” it said.
The statement concluded by reiterating the SPLM-IO’s “full commitment to the implementation of the Agreement in letter and spirit.”
There was no immediate comment from the South Sudanese government or the SSPDF regarding the deployment of forces or the detainment.
We had been telling, his excellency Dr. Riek Mahar, that, the revitalized peace resolution in South Sudan 2018 was killed by Salva Kiir and his elite of Dinka senior officials illegally as the coup. Hence we have blamed IGAD, AU, and United Nations for failure to protected this peace from hands of the corrupt Salva Kiir and his Dinka elements. Because they don not have political willing to implement for sake their corruptions.