South Sudan Rebels Go Missing in Kenya

Tension is high as two senior officials allied to former South Sudan Vice President, Riek Machar, went missing in Nairobi under mysterious circumstances.

Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey IdriIzbon worked in senior capacities in the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) and have been missing for over 48 hours, leaving their families worried.

SPLM-IO spokesperson in Nairobi, Pouk Both Baluang, divulged that: "On Monday night, Comrade Dong Samuel left the town and went towards his home in South C around 9:00 pm, but in the morning, we were informed by his family that he didn’t reach home."

"Also on Tuesday, Comrade Aggrey Idri went outdoors in the morning, he went to do some exercise in the morning, unfortunately, he didn’t return back home up to now," Pouk said.

Confirming the incident, Aggrey's wife stated: "Every morning he goes outdoors to do some exercise early in the morning for about one hour, so he went to visit his sister in Adams area, he reached home and greeted them, and then he left but he didn’t return back home up to now."

Mr Pouk further mentioned that the Kenyan authorities had denied any connection to the disappearance of the two rebels.

Speculations surrounding the disappearance indicate that the Kenyan Government could be holding the two in custody awaiting deportation back to South Sudan.

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) heavily condemned this possibility noting that it would be illegal for Kenya to deport the two, as they were facing a possible torture, inhuman & degrading treatment and arbitrary detention in their country.

Speaking on the issue, the rebels' lawyer Eddy Orinda urged the Kenyan Authorities to protect his clients under the international law whose protocols uphold the protection of refugees.

"If they are alleged of committing certain offences, let them be formally charged and brought to the court of law. So that the public may be aware of the grounds of deportation," Orinda said in an interview.

In November 2016, Machar’s former spokesman James Gatdet Dak was deported back to Juba by Kenyan officials over issues related to a Facebook post in which he expressed support for the removal of Lt. Gen. Johnson Mogoa Kimani Ondieki, who was the Kenyan top officer in the UN mission in South Sudan.