Detention of South Sudan’s 1st vice president raises fears

By Benjamin Takpiny

JUBA, South Sudan (AA) – The house arrest of South Sudan's First Vice-President Riek Machar has raised fears among the public and the international community.

Ter Manyang Gatwech, the executive director of the Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA) and a human rights activist, said the actions taken by the government pose a dangerous threat and could lead the country back to a state of instability.

“As a citizen and human rights activist, I am deeply concerned about last night's developments, which have left citizens unable to sleep in the country and also urge President (Salva) Kiir to reverse actions that undermine the trust and confidence established by previous leaders in the country,” he said.

Oyet Nathaniel Perieno, South Sudan's first deputy speaker and deputy chairperson of the main opposition party SPLM-IO, called for the release of Machar.

“In yet another negative twist of events at around 9.46 p.m. Wednesday, senior security personnel from the National Security Services, Tiger Division and the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF), acting under the directives of President Salva Kiir Mayardit, breached the residence of H.E Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the First Vice President of the Republic of South Sudan and Chairman and Commander in Chief of the SPLM/SPLA-IO, and put him and his wife Hon. Angelina Teny, the Minister of Interior of the Republic of South Sudan, under house arrest in Juba,” he said.

He said that all the protocol and close protection of the first vice president have also been arrested and moved to separate locations.

The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has sounded the alarm over the country’s rapidly escalating crisis, calling for urgent, coordinated action to protect civilians and preserve the Revitalized Peace Agreement, the cornerstone of South Sudan’s fragile stability.

“At the heart of South Sudan’s crisis is a failure to protect civilians and uphold the commitments of the Revitalized Peace Agreement,” said Yasmin Sooka, the chair of the commission.

Machar’s arrest alongside mounting military clashes and reported attacks on civilian populations signals a severe unraveling of the peace process and a direct threat to millions of lives, she said.

“At the heart of South Sudan’s crisis is a failure to protect civilians and uphold the commitments of the Revitalized Peace Agreement.

“The deliberate targeting of opposition leaders and civilians represents a reckless disregard for international law and the country’s future,” she added.

The chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, expressed deep concern over Machar’s detention.

He urged all concerned parties to exercise maximum restraint, refrain from any actions that could exacerbate tensions, and engage in constructive dialogue to resolve any outstanding issues through peaceful and legal means.

South Sudan's multiparty unity government has been shaken by the arrest of several leaders from the main opposition party, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO).

After four years of armed conflict between 2013 and 2016, all parties in the country agreed to form a unity government in 2018.

South Sudan formed the Revitalized Transitional Government of National Unity, or unity government, on Feb. 22, 2020, as part of an agreement signed by all parties on Sept. 12, 2018 in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.

No reason has been given by the government for Machar’s arrest.