Daniel Mumbere Content provided by AGENCIES
South Sudan’s information minister Michael Chiengjiek said a standoff at a notorious detention center in the capital Juba had been resolved peacefully.
More than a dozen inmates had disarmed prison guards and seized part of the National Security Service (NSS) headquarters on Sunday.
The hostage situation was orchestrated by a detained NSS officer, Keribino Wol, who is in administrative detention awaiting trial, according to a statement released by NSS.
What happened?
The NSS statement added that Wol overpowered a guard at the entrance of the Blue House compound and disarmed him.
After opening the prison gate by firing shots at the locks, Captain Keribino Wol then “mobilised” 15 detainees and with 32 seized guns and knives, “took over one part of the prison”.
“We’re fed up and we’re protesting systematic injustice and oppression. All political prisoners and detainees need to be released or given fair trial. The lack of trials is illegal,” Wol told Reuters via phone from inside the prison.
Chiengjiek told South Sudan TV that Wol had been compelled by his relatives to give up his arms, effectively resolving the standoff.
“We reached an agreement with the government to lay down our weapons…we are asking for access to lawyers and to fair trials. We are afraid now we will be tortured,” Wol said.
He said he was detained in April and had been held without charge ever since.
Human rights violation center?
The jail is part of the headquarters of the NSS. The prison has repeatedly drawn condemnation from human rights organisation over the alleged illegal detention of prisoners, torture and suspicious deaths.
South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, broke away from Sudan in 2011 after a long and bloody independence struggle.
But just two years later, fresh conflict broke out when President Salva Kiir accused rebel leader Riek Machar of plotting a coup.
The civil war has killed more than 380,000 people and triggered one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
Last month, Kiir and Machar signed a peace deal in an attempt to end the unrest, which is often fought along tribal lines and characterised by massacres of civilians, rape and looting.
But international observers remain sceptical of the agreement, saying that entrenched distrust between the two men was likely to hamper peace efforts.
ALSO READ: South Sudan peace deal is permanent: VP Deng tells UN[1]References
- ^ ALSO READ: South Sudan peace deal is permanent: VP Deng tells UN (www.africanews.com)
Newer articles:
- South Sudan national team coach Ahcene Aït Abdelmale resigns - 09/10/2018 10:16
- South Sudan: International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) available to facilitate release of detainees - 09/10/2018 07:25
- War-weary South Sudan puts faith in another peace deal - 08/10/2018 15:56
- South Sudan Front says Malong is not affected by the split - 08/10/2018 14:10
- Opinion: Will the Hybird Court for South Sudan Work at the moment? - 08/10/2018 04:20
Older news items
- Temple: Local church working to provide clean water in South Sudan - 07/10/2018 16:37
- Egypt sends medical aid shipment to South Sudan: Ministry - 07/10/2018 12:53
- Juba prison revolt underscores deep problems in justice system - 07/10/2018 08:45
- South Sudan 'coup plotter' in jail break drama - 07/10/2018 08:33
- Prisoners riot, seize weapons at South Sudan detention centre - 07/10/2018 02:43
Latest news items (all categories):
- UNDP and the Office of the Vice President Launches the Women and Youth Leadership Program in South Sudan - 14/02/2025 11:37
- The Grave Blunders And The Paradoxical Ways In Leadership Sector - 14/02/2025 11:32
- ADF approves $153.66 million for Uganda-South Sudan electricity interconnection project - 13/02/2025 20:48
- Rwandan peacekeepers in South Sudan get UN service medals for their service - 13/02/2025 20:44
- Afreximbank seeks to claw back US$657mn debt from South Sudan - 13/02/2025 20:30
Random articles (all categories):
- South Sudan violence tops African Union summit agenda - 17/07/2016 09:03
- In South Sudan, survival is daily struggle for ordinary citizens - 23/01/2017 17:59
- Kenyan Former Plumber in South Sudan Minting Millions From Selling Mutura in US - 16/01/2022 00:58
- With help from Manchester, Sudanese towns have water - NewHampshire.com - 03/04/2012 06:00
- South Sudan must do more to protect civilians in Jonglei, UN says - UN News Centre - 05/04/2013 21:34
Popular articles:
- Who is the darkest person in the world, according to Guinness World Record? - 25/10/2022 02:34 - Read 71821 times
- No oil in troubled waters - 25/03/2014 15:02 - Read 22388 times
- School exam results in South Sudan show decline - 01/04/2012 17:58 - Read 21600 times
- Top 10 weakest currency exchange rates in Africa in 2023 - 19/07/2023 00:24 - Read 19415 times
- NDSU student from South Sudan receives scholarship - In-Forum - 29/09/2012 01:44 - Read 19248 times