Dr. Martin Elia, cabinet affairs minister | File photo

The government has warned members of the organized forces against harassing civilians and causing insecurity.

The Minister of Cabinet Affairs, Dr. Martin Elia Lomoro, said the President has instructed the organized forces not to violate the law.

Dr. Elia said soldiers, police officers and other organized forces should protect civilians without discrimination.

He told the Dawn Show that any officer found committing crimes will face the law.

“There is no security for those who have run away from their houses. I am repeating this again and again: please listen to what the President said. If you are out there committing crimes to enrich yourself and you say you are doing it to help the President, the President himself has said you are not helping him. He wants you to help him by behaving and doing the right thing. Two, I want to warn you: if you are in the army, national security, police or any organized force and you are using the weapons given to you to harass others, believe me, if we catch you, you will regret it because you are not above the law,” he said.

Dr. Elia Lomoro, who is also the Secretary of Crisis Management Committee, said that the government will help people who have been directly affected by the six-week conflict resume their normal lives.

He said the Committee will assist people in dire need of support on a case-by-case basis.

“It depends on what happened and how they are affected. Obviously the country has been submerged by widespread disasters which affected many people in many ways. The government may not be able to do everything the citizens expect. This is an admission one must make,” he said.

“But the government can rehabilitate by ensuring that people have certain important services that they get, and where necessary the government may help those to return home, particularly in capitals like Juba or Malakal, people may be helped one way or another to return to their houses, because I know that they have been looted and have lost all the properties, and they have nothing to go back to. These kinds of things must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, it cannot be blanket nationwide support,” he added.

The Crisis Management Committee was set up to respond to humanitarian and security needs created by the crisis.