The Peace and Security Council of the African Union (AU) has asked for the release of the four political prisoners in Juba whom the South Sudanese government on Tuesday said it would prosecute for an alleged coup attempt.
The detainees are Pag’an Amum, Majak D’Agoot, Oyai Deng Ajak and Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, four politicians and ex-officials hailing from the states of Upper Nile and Jonglei.
Meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government on Wednesday, the AU Security Council issued a communiqué underlining the importance of the detainees’ participation in upcoming political talks in Addis Ababa.
“We’re happy that most of the members of the Peace and Security Council were represented by the head of state, which shows the importance they attach to the conflicts,” said Alpha Condé, President of Guinea, who chaired the meeting.
President Condé pointed to the recent Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities and Agreement on the Status of Detainees signed by the Government of South Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition. “We encourage our brothers to respect the agreements just signed in Addis Ababa,” he said.
Likewise, Ambassador Smail Chergui, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, affirmed that the Heads of State have called on Juba to release the four remaining prisoners.
Pointing to the recent accords on the ceasefire and status of detainees, Chergui stated, “Our meeting demanded that these agreements be totally implemented. We were informed already this afternoon of the release of seven detainees out of the eleven.”
“And our position is that we wish that extra effort will be made so that also the four who remain in detention can be quickly released and we hope maybe also they can participate in the dialogue that will be initiated among all the different parties in South Sudan,” he affirmed.
The communiqué itself highlights the same point, referring also to “earlier AU pronouncements” on the matter – an apparent reference to the Banjul declaration of 30 December, in which African leaders “requested the Government of the Republic of South Sudan to release all political leaders currently detained.”
According to the communiqué, the Council calls for a dialogue “with the participation of all stakeholders, both armed belligerents and those who did not take up arms, including other political actors, civil society, traditional and religious leaders, youth and women.”
“In this respect, Council welcomes the release of some of the detainees to the custody of President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, and looks forward to the resolution of the cases of the remaining ones,” reads the statement.
On the other hand, the Guinean president also affirmed that the Council rejects any attempt to overthrow President Salva Kiir by force. “We have maintained from the start that we they reject any unconstitutional change of power,” he said.
Furthermore, he expressed no opposition to the presence of Ugandan forces in the territory of South Sudan saying, “The cessation of hostilities agreement does not mean that that the matter of presence of foreign forces in South Sudan has become a secondary issue.”
“South Sudan and Uganda are both sovereign countries which can decide this in a way they judge best,” he said. Condé was responding to a question on the Ugandan troops.
The ceasefire deal signed last week requires the South Sudanese government to “progressively withdraw” allied forces from the “theatre of operations” of the conflict in South Sudan but not necessarily from the whole country (Article 1.2.e).
Photo: President of Guinea Alpha Condé speaking at an event in New York, 2011 (Columbia University)
Related coverage:
Factbox: Understanding the detainees question in South Sudan (29 Jan.)
4 of 11 detained SPLM leaders to face charges, not released (28 Jan.)