JK at farewell for fallen soldiers

                

 

Posted  Monday, July 22  2013 at  09:47

In Summary

The Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) acting spokesperson, Major Joseph Masanja, said yesterday that the event will start at 9am.

Dar es Salaam. The Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, President Jakaya Kikwete, will today lead mourners in paying last respects to Tanzania’s seven soldiers who were killed on July 13 in Darfur while on a UN peacekeeping mission.

The Tanzania People’s Defence Forces (TPDF) acting spokesperson, Major Joseph Masanja, said yesterday that the event will start at 9am.

The seven TPDF men were killed when their contingent, part of the United Nations-Africa Peacekeeping Mission (Unamid), was ambushed by heavily armed assailants in southern Darfur, Sudan. Seventeen of their colleagues escaped with serious injuries.

Major Masanja said the last respects to the fallen heroes will be conducted at the ministry of Defence and National Service grounds in Upanga.

“The ceremony will commence at 9am, through 1pm, after which the bodies of our colleagues will be transported to their respective home areas for burial,” he said.

The bodies arrived in Dar es Salaam on Saturday aboard a UN aircraft and were received by the Vice President Dr Mohamed Gharib Bilal, Chief of Defence Forces General Davis Mwamunyange, First Lady Salma Kikwete and other senior public figures.

The fallen soldiers are: Sargent Shaibu Othman, Corporal Oswald Chaula from 42KJ, Corporal Mohammed Juma Ally from 94KJ, Corporal Mohammed Chokizo of 41 KJ, Private Rodney Ndunguru, Private Fortunatus Msofe from 36KJ and Private Peter Muhiri Werema of the 44KJ.

Last week, President Kikwete called on President Omar Al-Bashir of Sudan to take urgent measures to track down and arrest all those involved in the killings of the Tanzanian troops. A statement issued by the State House in Dar es Salaam said in a telephone interview that the President urged his Sudan counterpart to ensure the law takes its course so that those behind the senseless killings are brought to justice.

At the same time, President Al-Bashir expressed deep shock on the killings and wounding of Tanzanian peacekeepers and pledged that he would act swiftly to ensure the killers are apprehended and prosecuted.

In the wake of the latest attack on Unamid forces, International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda condemned the killings, saying the incident constituted a war crime.

The ambush, carried out by a large unidentified group and which drew condemnation from UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council, has been described as one of the most serious attacks against Unamid since its deployment in early 2008, and the third in the past few weeks.
 “The ICC prosecutor reminds all parties to the conflict that the International Criminal Court has jurisdiction in Darfur and that any intentional directing of attacks against peacekeepers may constitute war crimes,” says a statement issued by the prosecutor’s office. “The office will not hesitate to investigate and prosecute those alleged to have committed such crimes should the national authorities fail to,” it adds:

“The prosecutor calls on the government of Sudan to carry out a prompt and full investigation and to hold all those responsible to account.”

Located in The Hague, in the Netherlands, the ICC is an independent, permanent court that tries persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern – namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes – if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely.

The Darfur Region of Sudan is one of eight situations currently under investigation by the ICC. The others are northern Uganda, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Libya, Mali and Côte d’Ivoire.

source: The citizen