South Sudan government should comply with its legal obligations by informing all detainees of all charges against them in a timely fashion or releasing the detainees if there are no charges, the United States Embassy in Juba said.
In a statement issued on Sunday, the embassy urged the government of South Sudan to implement the provisions of the peace agreement by releasing political prisoners.
This came a year after prominent political activist Peter Biar Ajak was detained in Juba.
On June 11, the high court sentenced Biar on charges of inciting violence and disturbing the peace over interviews he gave to the media during a stand-off between inmates and guards at the National Security Service (NSS) headquarters on October 7, 2018.
“Under South Sudanese law, the government has an obligation to charge defendants in a timely fashion and start judicial proceedings expeditiously; yet when detainees in the National Security Service’s “Blue House” detention facility seized control of the jail in protest, most of them, including Peter Biar, had never been brought before a judge,” the statement reads in part.
The embassy further said although the Transitional Constitution says that “no person shall be subjected to arrest, detention, deprivation or restriction of his or her liberty except for specified reasons and in accordance with procedures prescribed by law,” others have also been subject to arbitrary arrest and prolonged detention without charge in South Sudan.
“The September 2018 peace agreement is an important step forward towards peace in this country. However, for the promise of peace to be realized, South Sudan must be a nation of laws,” it noted.