A South Sudanese rights entity has urged the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to probe into the disappearance of Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Idri in Kenya.
Dong Samuel, a prominent South Sudanese lawyer and human rights activist went missing in Nairobi on 23 January 2017. Aggrey Idri, a member of the opposition allied to rebel leader Riek Machar went missing on 24 January 2017. The current whereabouts and fate of the two men remain unknown.
In a statement extended to Radio Tamazuj today, the Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ) said that the investigation should be carried out in South Sudan and Kenya.
CPJ's Executive Director Tito Anthony accused Kenyan authorities of failing to provide protection to the two South Sudanese men who disappeared mysteriously in Nairobi.
“Any government has an obligation to fulfill, respect and protect rights of any individual within its jurisdiction,” Tito said.
“Because both of them were in Kenya, the Kenyan government must produce them, and if they were deported to South Sudan, we urge the Kenyan government to bring them back to Kenya,” he added.
The South Sudanese right defender called on the African Commission on Human and peoples’ Rights to immediately initiate a fact-finding commission to investigate the disappearance of Dong Samuel and Aggrey Idri.
James Gatdet, the former spokesman of the exiled rebel leader Riek Machar, was deported and handed over to South Sudan government by Kenyan authorities in November 2016. In December 2017, an armed group abducted the rebel-appointed governor of Kapoeta Mark Lokidor from Kenya.