Statement on the assassination of George Athor

Lt. Gen. George AthorOn Saturday, December, 17, 2011, a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter arrived at SSDM/A headquarters, approximately at 9:00 am to pick up Athor. Thomas Duoth Makuach accompanied him to board the helicopter, which took off at 9:55 am. At 2:00 pm, George Athor called James Nuot Puot and told him that they arrived safely in Kampala. He called again at 6:38pm to tell James Nuot that they were accommodated by President Museveni in a villa at the suburbs of Kampala. That was the last call from George Athor although he promised James Nuot that he would call him on Sunday evening after meeting President Museveni. Sources within Ugandan intelligent community, who were in contact with members of SSDM/A after the death of Athor, revealed that President Museveni gave order to military officers to assassinate him at 10:20pm on Saturday. The Ugandan military intelligent officers, who were ordered to carry out the plot, waited until George Athor and Thomas Duoth went to bed. Approximately at 1:45 am, on December, 18, armed units busted into the rooms and shot each one of them on the head. After the assassinations were complete, they collected their bodies and took them to a military barrack outside Kampala. On Monday, December, 19, 2011, the bodies of Athor and Thomas Duoth were put in one pickup Toyota and taken to border near Morobo County of South Sudan. The Ugandan military intelligent officers handed them over to the SPLA military intelligent officer, Maj. Gen. Mach Paul. The Ugandans instructed the SPLA to announce in the media that Athor was captured while trying to recruit people in Morobo so that nobody would accuse Uganda of being behind his assassination.