South Sudan reneging on release of all political prisoners, opposition says

South Sudan President Salva Kiir

South Sudan is reneging on its commitment to release all political prisoners as per the September Agreement signed in the Sudanese capital Khartoum and this could threaten national reconciliation, the opposition has said. 

President Salva Kiir issued a decree in September that all political detainees would be released with immediate effect.

Juba recently released opposition leader Dr Riek Machar’s spokesperson, James Gatdet Dak, as well as former South African military man, William Endley, who was in the country to train opposition forces. 

Both were sentenced to death earlier in the year on treason charges.

But the whereabouts of other prominent prisoners remain unknown, the East African reported. They include Peter Biar Ajak, Kerbino Wol, Samuel Dong Luak and Aggrey Idri Izbon. It is not known if they are still incarcerated or are dead.

Ajak was detained on charges of “inciting communities to fight each other” while Wol was accused of insubordination.

The former chairperson of the parliamentary committee on information Thomas Wani Kundu has remained under house arrest in Juba since 2016. He is not allowed to go to church or even attend funerals.

James Oryema, the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement in Opposition’s (SPLM-IO) representative in Kenya warned that the continued detention of perceived opponents would derail the implementation of the peace deal.

“This is a clear indication that the government remains intransigent, because signing the peace agreement meant reconciliation and forgiveness. If some of those people are dead, it would be good for the government to come clean so that their families can accept and move on,” Oryema said.

He said the SPLM-IO had kept its part of the bargain and released prisoners of war through the International Committee of the Red Cross.

However, South Sudan Permanent Representative to the African Union, James Morgan, claims that his government has released all political detainees connected with the war and those that are remaining are criminals that are not covered by the by political agreements.

Amnesty International claims that arbitrary arrests and torture, where the detainees are held for months or years without being charged and not allowed access to their families and lawyers is an ongoing phenomenon.