A human rights advocate, Reech Malual, who doubles as the Executive Director of Screen of Rights, a Juba-based human rights and peacebuilding organization, has urged South Sudanese to rejuvenate their fight for human rights and freedoms.
Reech, who was speaking yesterday as the world marked this year's Human Rights Day, also called upon the government to respect human rights and bring violators to book.
“It is time for South Sudanese to look at each other and see how far they have gone concerning executing or being able to at least walk in the spirit of the bill of rights according to the constitution of the Republic of South Sudan 2011 as amended. We are very happy that the law is very clear about what should be done. But similarly, what is left is for the government to be able to reinforce, which we have seen of late the government is reinforcing," Reech said.
He added, “We have also seen that some of the violations of human rights are committed by government officials, who are not held to account at the end of the day.”
Reech said South Sudanese need to rejuvenate a spirit towards each that can be able to adhere to human rights respect.
“The theme of this year is stand up and ‘Recover better-stand up for human rights’. Who stands up for these rights? It is you, I, and the government,” Reech said.
Yesterday, 10th December 2020 was Human Rights Day. It is observed every year and was adopted in 1948, as a Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a milestone document that proclaims the absolute rights to which everyone is entitled to as a human being – regardless of race, color, religion, sex, language, political or other opinions, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.
This year’s Human Rights Day theme relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to build back better by ensuring Human Rights are central to recovery efforts.
According to a UN fact-based report on the state of respect for human rights around the world, the US has documented human rights violations in South Sudan. These include arbitrary deprivation of life and other unlawful or politically motivated killings, the disappearance of individuals, torture, and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of people.
The report also documented the conditions of prison and detention centers in South Sudan, arrest procedures and treatment of detainees, denial of a fair public trial, and many more.