The United States has imposed sanctions on five South Sudanese individuals, who it says are responsible for the abductions and likely murders in 2017.
In a statement on Tuesday, the US Treasury said South Sudan’s government repeatedly used “extrajudicial” killings to silence dissent, limit freedom of speech, press and enforce the political status quo.
“Its refusal to create political space for dissenting voices – be they from opposition parties, civil society, or media, is a major factor in the country’s inability to implement its peace deal and form a national unity government,” partly reads the statement.
According to the US Treasury, Aggrey Idri, a member of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – In Opposition (SPLM-IO), and Dong Samuel Luak, a South Sudanese human rights lawyer, disappeared from Nairobi, Kenya, on January 23 and 24, 2017, respectively, according to a UN Panel of Experts report and multiple press articles.
The two activists, it said, were kidnapped in Kenya by members of the South Sudanese security services and brought back to South Sudan, where they were held for a short period of time in National Security Service’s headquarters, known as the “Blue House.”
“According to reports, after that short period of internment, Dong and Aggrey were moved to a different detention center within South Sudan, where they were reportedly killed upon the orders of, and by, members of the South Sudanese government,” notes the statement.
In April, a United Nations panel of experts report said that it was likely that the two activists were executed by Internal Security Bureau agents on 30 January 2017, on orders from the commander of South Sudan’s National Security Service training and detention facilities.
The US imposed sanctions on five “foreign persons”, who include Abud Stephen Thiongkol, Malual Dhal Muorwel, Michael Kuajien, John Top Lam and Angelo Kuot Garang, for their role in the two activists’ death.
“Despite two years elapsing since the death of Dong and Aggrey, the Government of South Sudan has shown no indications of holding the five individuals or any others to account, and has not taken any corrective measures since the publication in April of the UN Panel of Experts report,” stressed the US Treasury’s statement.
It said South Sudan’s leadership continues to undermine the stability and security of the country at the expense of lives, dignity and prosperity of the citizens.
“The United States will not tolerate torture, kidnapping, sexual violence, murder, or brutality against innocent civilians,” said Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.
“America is the world leader in combatting human rights abuse and we will hold perpetrators and enablers accountable wherever they operate,” he added.
South Sudan government officials could not immediately be reached to comment on the sanctions.
Similar sanctions were also imposed in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Libya, Pakistan and Burma over human rights abuses.