Kitgum Resident District Commissioner, William Komakech, said it’s the responsibility of the South Sudan government to ensure that the suspects are prosecuted but reiterated that handing over guns intercepted in a sovereign state is illegal. “We have done our part in capturing; detaining and now we have handed over the culprits back to you. It’s up to you to prosecute them or let them go free,” said Komakech.
Uganda
People’s Defense Forces-UPDF has turned down a request by the South Sudan
government officials to hand over guns and ammunition captured from suspected
South Sudan bandits.
During a bilateral security meeting held in Orom
sub-county headquarters in Kitgum District on Tuesday, the South Sudan
officials asked for the return of the weapons to help them pin the suspected
bandits captured inside Uganda territory by UPDF.
They made the request shortly after 15 of their nationals intercepted between
October and December last year in border areas of Lamwo and Kitgum districts
were released from detention. The youthful suspects were intercepted in
possession of four SMGs, three Mark five guns, one stick grenade, two grenades
and 23 rounds of live ammunition. They were accused of terrorizing locals,
theft of cattle and simsim.
The former Torit state Governor, Alberio Tobilio Oromo who accompanied the
South Sudanese delegation during the meeting noted that releasing the suspects
without evidence of the guns would affect their prosecution in court. Oromo
asked UPDF to handover the guns and ammunition so that they are used as
exhibits in courts of law to prosecute the suspects for criminal trespass with
illicit weapons into a sovereign country.
He noted that there is likelihood
that once the suspects are taken back to Eastern Equatorial state, they will be
held briefly but released back to the community for lack of evidence.
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Auxilio Odum, the Deputy Secretary-General of Eastern Equatorial State, said
his government is committed to ensure that the suspects are prosecuted but noted
that they can only go behind bars with proof of the guns. He assured the UPDF
and leaders of Kitgum district that once the guns are handed over, they won’t
be returned into the hands of the suspects but rather used in prosecuting them.
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But their plea fell on deaf ears as the Fifth Infantry Division Commander; Brig
William Bainomugisha maintained that the guns won’t be returned to South Sudan
for security reasons. He also noted that the guns are still under
investigation by ballistic experts, adding that once the forensic
investigations are complete, they will be destroyed.
Kitgum Resident District Commissioner, William Komakech, said it’s the
responsibility of the South Sudan government to ensure that the suspects are
prosecuted but reiterated that handing over guns intercepted in a sovereign state
is illegal. “We have done our part in capturing; detaining and now we have
handed over the culprits back to you. It’s up to you to prosecute them or let
them go free,” said Komakech.
In October last year, the UPDF handed over three SMGs belonging to South Sudan
People Defense Forces-SSDF soldiers that had been captured following a clash
between its personnel and SSDF soldiers at the contentious border in Lamwo
District. Two SSDF soldiers were killed in the border skirmishes.
