South Sudanese authorities have arbitrarily detained two government critics since mid-2021 on dubious charges, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said today.
The rights group said the government should free the two critics, Abraham Chol Akech and Kuel Aguer Kuel, and put an end to arbitrary arrests and detentions and added that lawyers for both men filed court petitions in February 2022 because they have been detained for months without being taken before a judge, as required by law.
“Given the authorities’ failure to ensure fair and prompt trials or respect fundamental rights, they should also drop the dubious criminal charges against the two men,” the HRW statement read in part.
Nyagoah Tut Pur, South Sudan researcher at HRW, said extrajudicial detentions violate citizens’ rights and urged the authorities to open up civic space.
“These extrajudicial detentions not only violate the fundamental rights of South Sudan’s citizens but compromise the integrity of the entire criminal justice system,” Tut said. “Instead of throwing critics in jail, the authorities should enhance civic space and advance the rule of law including respect for due process rights.”
Akech was arrested in July for proclaiming that the South Sudanese government would be overthrown that month. Kuel was arrested in August for co-founding an alleged “anti-government movement.” Neither has been presented before the court to be formally charged or to have their detention reviewed pending trial.
“Their detentions are typical of a longstanding pattern of unlawful detentions and expose persistent weaknesses in the criminal justice system,” HRW said.
Akech, a self-proclaimed prophet and leader of Kush International Ministries, a religious group headquartered in Juba, issued a prediction on June 25 that President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar would be removed from power by July 9. The public prosecutor issued an arrest warrant on July 8, and armed police arrested Akech that night for offenses including subverting a constitutional government, insulting or inciting contempt of religious creed, and causing disaffection among police forces or defense forces.
Kuel’s lawyers filed a petition in early February with the Court of Appeals challenging his continued detention and seeking an order for the prosecution office to arraign him in court. Under Section 64(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code of 2008, when a prisoner is detained pending an investigation, a high court judge must give weekly approval for any continued detention, and the Court of Appeals’ approval must be sought for any detentions that exceed three months.
According to HRW, the Court of Appeals instructed the prosecution to present the case in court, but it has not.
“We are unsure whether the prosecution wants to take this to court at all,” one of Kuel’s lawyers said. “Is the executive afraid of the court?”