South Sudan: Opposition Leaders, Others, Detained
South Sudanese authorities have arrested at least 22 political and military personnel in the wake of violent clashes that started in mid-February 2025 between government and armed groups in Upper Nile, Human Rights Watch said today. These recent developments have plunged the country into political crisis.
'The lack of transparency and legitimate concerns about the legality of the arrests and detention of opposition leaders and others fuel instability in an already fragile security context,' said Nyagoah Tut Pur, South Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch. 'Authorities should immediately reveal the fate and whereabouts of detainees and ensure their due process rights, including by bringing them before a properly constituted and impartial court.'
The people arrested since March 4, are aligned with First Vice President Riek Machar, head of the Sudan People's Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO). The timing of these detentions coincides with a political crisis in Nasir, Upper Nile, where clashes between government forces and armed youth militia, also known as the White Army, displaced thousands of civilians. The area is a stronghold for supporters of Machar who has long been in opposition to President Kiir.
The South Sudanese government should immediately end the enforced disappearance or incommunicado detention of everyone linked to the opposition who has been detained since the first week of March and ensure full and strict respect for their due process rights, Human Rights Watch said.
On March 4, military authorities arrested and detained Lieutenant General Gabriel Duop Lam, deputy chief of staff of the unified army structures, who also serves as acting chief of Staff for SPLA-IO. Officials also disarmed and detained five of his bodyguards, a credible source said. The whereabouts of the six men is unknown. The detention or other deprivation of liberty of an individual, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the detention or to reveal the fate or whereabouts of the person deprived of their liberty, constitutes an enforced disappearance under international law, a crime subject to an absolute prohibition in all circumstances.
On March 5, at 2 a.m., armed National Security Service (NSS) officers took Puot Kang Chol, the petroleum minister, from his house in Juba, along with at least seven others, without explanation and drove them away, a credible witness said. The seven include: a friend, Camilo Gatmach; bodyguards Nelson Malou, Kun Tut, Peter Magong; and three family members Koang Puk, Biluny Puk, and Buay Thiechuong. The NSS officers had initially arrested Chol with one of his bodyguards at around 11 p.m. on March 4 but brought him back, a credible witness said.
The eight men were initially held at the NSS Riverside (Operations) facility then transferred to the NSS headquarters, also known as Blue House, credible sources say.
On March 6, the NSS arrested Thomas Jal Thomas, deputy inspector general of the police, and James Duop Gatleak, his deputy, in their offices and took them to the Riverside detention site but released them after a few hours, according to a credible source.
That same day, 11 armed NSS officers took Stephen Par Kuol, the peacebuilding minister, from his office along with three staff members, a witness said. They bundled them into two Landcruiser pickup trucks with other armed officers and drove away. The four men were released on early morning of March 7.
Also on March 6, NSS officers arrested and detained Mam Pal Dhuor, a member of SPLA-IO, at Juba International Airport as he attempted to board a flight to Kampala, a credible source said.
Meanwhile the situation in Nasir deteriorated. On March 7, armed men attacked a UN helicopter on a mission to rescue wounded soldiers in Nasir, killing a crew member and injuring two others. President Kiir also announced that a well-known army general, Majur Dak along with 27 other soldiers who were to be evacuated, were also killed during the attack.
The same day, the army issued a circular, seen by Human Rights Watch, deploying forces in six major road junctions leading to and from the capital, Juba. Heavy deployment at the residence of Riek Machar in the evenings is apparently ongoing.
Puok Both Baluang, the spokesperson for Riek Machar, told Human Rights Watch that as of March 10 they knew of 22 men affiliated with the SPLA-IO – including party members, staff, family, and bodyguards – detained by NSS and Military Intelligence, many of whose fate or whereabouts is unknown.
Media reported that Gatwech Lam Puoch, an SPLA-IO member of parliament for Nasir county, was arrested on March 11 and is detained at the Blue House.
Spokespeople for the NSS and the army did not respond to requests for comment. At a news conference on March 5, Information Minister Michael Makuei Lueth, said that, 'If anybody is arrested, it is for a reason.' And on March 8, the NSS spokesperson announced that it had arrested people with 'verified links to the situation in Nasir, Ulang, and surrounding areas' following extensive 'intelligence' and promised more arrests.
The National Security Service operates with limited legal and judicial oversight and de facto impunity. The service is responsible for enforced disappearances as well as the incommunicado detention and torture and ill-treatment of detainees. It has also unlawfully conducted surveillance.
The government should revise the definition of 'crimes against the state' and remove the security service authority to arrest and detain people, limit its authority for search, seizure, and surveillance, and bring it in line with the constitution and international human rights standards, Human Rights Watch said.
The government has in the past used trumped up charges of crimes against the state such as treason, publishing false information, and insulting the president, to restrict freedom of expression, assembly and association, such as peaceful exercise of political opposition, or public criticism of state policy and actions. Prosecutions and trials have been marred by human rights abuses and political interference.
The government should immediately make public the grounds for and evidence to justify the recent arrests. All detainees should immediately be brought before an independent judge to scrutinize the legality of the arrests, and to determine if they should be released or if they can continue to be lawfully detained.
The international community, including the United Nations, the African Union, and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) should press the South Sudanese authorities to uphold human rights, including the immediate end to any and all enforced disappearance and bringing the detainees before a court, Human Rights Watch said.
'South Sudanese authorities should cease arbitrary detention of opposition members and other actions that amount to harassment and not use the security institutions as a tool of oppression,' Pur said. 'International and regional actors like the African Union should insist that authorities uphold human rights obligations as they seek to de-escalate political tensions.'
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW).
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