The Embassy of the United States of America in Juba, South Sudan, on Wednesday condemned the 30 March arrest of former Juba City Council Mayor Kalisto Ladu, citing a lack of transparency and due process.
South Sudanese security agents arrested the former Juba City mayor last Saturday night, according to his wife and family.
Kalisto’s wife, Joana Andrea, told Radio Tamazuj Sunday morning that he was violently picked up from his home by a combined force of armed men in uniform and plain clothes on Saturday at around 11:57 p.m. She said the reason for her husband’s arrest remains unclear.
The U.S. Embassy in a statement on Wednesday joined several human rights groups, civil society organizations, political groups, associations, and individuals among others, in condemning Ladu’s arbitrary arrest.
“The U.S. Embassy condemns the utter lack of transparency and due process in the March 30 arrest of former Juba mayor Kalisto Ladu by security personnel in South Sudan,” the statement read in part. “His detention is yet another example of the South Sudanese transitional government’s failure to open civic and political space for its citizens.”
“We call on transitional government authorities to respect the rule of law and provide a public accounting of Mr. Ladu’s detention,” the U.S. Embassy statement concluded.
The former mayor has been vocal against land grabbing and has in the past often called out senior government officials and military officers for abetting the vice.
The government has not yet come out to state what charges have been brought against Ladu or when he will be arraigned in court.