Africa.com on Nostr: South Sudan: ‘Disappeared’ Critic Resurfaces ========== A former critic who had ...
South Sudan: ‘Disappeared’ Critic Resurfaces
==========
A former critic who had been forcibly disappeared more than a year ago in South Sudan has reappeared in court, highlighting the need for reform of the National Security Service (NSS). Human Rights Watch has documented three other cases of forced disappearances in recent months, including the arbitrary detention of a former Juba City Council leader and a youth activist. The NSS operates with broad and unqualified powers, contributing to the shrinking space for civil society. The NSS brought charges of criminal defamation against the critic, Morris Mabior Awikjok Bak, who had been forcibly disappeared in Kenya and returned to South Sudan. The NSS is implicated in other enforced disappearances, including the kidnapping and apparent extrajudicial execution of a lawyer and human rights activist, as well as the enforced disappearances of two United Nations staff and an airline employee. Amendments to the 2014 National Security Service Act, aimed at reforming the agency, have stalled in parliament. Human Rights Watch calls on the government to investigate all cases of enforced disappearances and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.
#SouthSudan #NationalSecurityService #HumanRightsWatch #ForcedDisappearances #Reform
https://www.africa.com/south-sudan-disappeared-critic-resurfaces-2/
==========
A former critic who had been forcibly disappeared more than a year ago in South Sudan has reappeared in court, highlighting the need for reform of the National Security Service (NSS). Human Rights Watch has documented three other cases of forced disappearances in recent months, including the arbitrary detention of a former Juba City Council leader and a youth activist. The NSS operates with broad and unqualified powers, contributing to the shrinking space for civil society. The NSS brought charges of criminal defamation against the critic, Morris Mabior Awikjok Bak, who had been forcibly disappeared in Kenya and returned to South Sudan. The NSS is implicated in other enforced disappearances, including the kidnapping and apparent extrajudicial execution of a lawyer and human rights activist, as well as the enforced disappearances of two United Nations staff and an airline employee. Amendments to the 2014 National Security Service Act, aimed at reforming the agency, have stalled in parliament. Human Rights Watch calls on the government to investigate all cases of enforced disappearances and ratify the International Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.
#SouthSudan #NationalSecurityService #HumanRightsWatch #ForcedDisappearances #Reform
https://www.africa.com/south-sudan-disappeared-critic-resurfaces-2/