South Sudan’s Presidential Press Secretary on Wednesday demanded an apology and withdrawal of a report by The Sentry released late last year that claims to have uncovered massive corruption in the South Sudan National Security Service (NSS).
Addressing a press conference at the Office of the President, Lily Adhiew Martin Manyiel, said the government demands the immediate withdrawal of the report from circulation and apologies to every individual, company, or entity that has been named in the report.
In the report released in early December, The Sentry accused the NSS of being ruthless, secretive, and well-funded and its personnel involved in widespread grave human rights abuses, including kidnapping, torture, and illegal detention.
Adhiew said the report purports to be a fact-based document with commentary that has been widely disseminated internationally with false and or misleading allegations.
“The intended recipient of the false and or misleading information published by the Sentry is international agencies such as United Nations and its satellite organizations. The Sentry is a US-based organization that seeks targeted sanctions, seizure of assets, and notice of financial risk amongst many other measures, to cause harm to the sustainability and economic development of the Republic of South Sudan,” Adhiew said.
She noted that The Sentry has misrepresented South Sudan’s laws for companies and misled its readers by citing dormant companies as actively trading.
“The report is based upon flawed methodology, using second-hand hearsay including click-bait and newspaper articles, generic references to document collections, self-referential material, and anonymous sources, all of which prevent further proper scrutiny of the serious allegations made against both individuals and the National Security Service,” she said. “The Sentry’s Report reveals a lack of investigative rigor, the recycling of information without independent research, and misjudgment in making the most serious of allegations of wrongdoing based on false, misleading, and incomplete information that was either deliberate or reckless.
Adheiu continues to cite examples: “In one instance, for example, no substantive information was cited to underpin the most serious of recommendations, namely the sanctioning of a named individual, Mr. Jalpan Obyce, whose reputation has now been tarnished. In another instance, the Report recycles a so-called “well-exemplified” case cited by the United Nations Panel of Experts that is flawed and misrepresents the true facts concerning Brigadier General Malual Dhal Muorwel and 25 others.”
She stressed that the government is aware that a significant number of individuals named in the report have issued letters of complaint to The Sentry, providing corrective information.