CEPO Condemns Olony’s Remarks as Hate Speech, Warns of Genocidal Incitement

CEPO Condemns Olony’s Remarks as Hate Speech, Warns of Genocidal Incitement
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#PeaceAndSecurityA senior South Sudanese military official has instructed forces advancing to front lines in Jonglei State to “spare no lives,” including the elderly, remarks that have triggered alarm among civil society groups and observers.

Gen. Johnson Olony, Assistant Chief of Defence Forces for Mobilisation and Disarmament and commander of the Agwelek militia, made the comments while addressing his fighters in Duk County, Jonglei State.

“This time round, I told the Chief of Defence Forces yesterday this will mark the end of problems in the Upper Nile region,” Olony said. “When we arrive there, don’t spare an elderly, don’t spare a chicken, don’t spare a house or anything. We are tired of problems every year until we have gotten old in problems.”

The remarks were later condemned by the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), which described the speech as hate speech and incitement to genocide, warning of grave risks to civilian populations.

Deployment amid regional tensions

The Agwelek militia, which has been partially integrated into the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), has recently been deployed to multiple locations, including the Heglig oilfields near the Sudan border. The deployment follows a tripartite agreement between President Salva Kiir’s government and rival parties in Sudan aimed at protecting oil infrastructure.

Olony was appointed Assistant Chief of Defence Forces in January 2025, despite a controversial history marked by repeated defections, armed clashes, and allegations of serious human rights abuses.

South Sudan’s Greater Upper Nile region—comprising Jonglei, Upper Nile, and Unity states—has a long history of ethnically driven violence, with civilians, particularly women, children, and the elderly, frequently bearing the brunt of military operations.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and international monitors have repeatedly warned that inflammatory rhetoric by military commanders often precedes spikes in killings, sexual violence, forced displacement, and looting.

“We are defending the nation”

Addressing Agwelek fighters preparing to confront SPLA-IO forces and the White Army, which recently overran SSPDF positions in parts of Duk County, Olony framed the operation as a national duty rather than a fight motivated by financial gain.

“We are not fighting for salaries, we are defending the nation,” he said. “It is our time and we are up to the task.”

Olony said he had recently travelled to Bentiu and Malakal as part of a broader mobilisation and reorganisation effort.

Logistical constraints and threats to halt advance

Olony acknowledged significant logistical challenges facing his forces, including shortages of vehicles, heavy weapons, and basic equipment such as boots.

“The boots I brought with me will not be enough for all of you,” he told the fighters.

He warned that if the government failed to provide vehicles and weapons, his forces would refuse to advance, demanding at least 30 pickup trucks mounted with heavy guns.

“If the forces who already have vehicles and guns don’t want to go to the frontline, we will take those things from them,” he said.

Integration failures and political influence

Olony also revealed that most Agwelek fighters deployed to Jonglei have not been formally integrated into the SSPDF, despite provisions in the 2018 revitalised peace agreement.

“But it is us who have to absorb ourselves,” he said. “We are not going to wait for someone to come and integrate us into the army.”

He further informed his troops of the appointment of Gen. James Obur Aywok Kur, an Agwelek commander, as commissioner of Panyikang County in Upper Nile State, highlighting the group’s growing political influence.

A controversial past

Human rights organisations, including UNICEF, have previously accused Olony’s forces of recruiting and using child soldiers during the 2014–2015 phase of South Sudan’s civil war.

Olony has shifted allegiances multiple times, fighting under the government, later defecting to the SPLM/A-IO led by Riek Machar, and subsequently joining the SPLA-IO Kit-Gwang faction. Although he signed a peace deal with the government in 2022, implementation has faltered amid renewed tensions.

Civil society groups warn that unchecked rhetoric and unresolved command structures continue to pose serious risks to civilians in conflict-affected areas.