South Sudan allows visits to detained members of opposition party
Dr James Okuk, the detained SPLM-DC’s member
By Ngor Arol Garang
October 25, 2011 (JUBA) – The government of South Sudan on Tuesday gave full access to family members of the opposition member who was arrested last week, allegedly for writing against President Salva Kiir on the internet.
On Sunday, Onyoti Adigo, the leader of South Sudan’s largest opposition party told Sudan Tribune that three diplomats aligned to his party were picked up by security elements while leaving the ministry of foreign affairs on Friday last week.
Two members were immediately released but one remains under detention prompting his party the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement for Democratic Change (SPLM-DC) to claim they were targeted. He named James Okuk as their member who remains under detention in an undisclosed location on Monday.
However, Adigo on Tuesday said in a follow up interview with Sudan Tribune that the government agents had handed over the detainee to the police service where a statement was taken from him.
He was also allowed to talk to some relative members and friends at police station.
“At least it is okay today. James Okuk has been handed to the police where he can now be visited. A statement was also taken from him by one of the senior judges in the town and is accessible to family members and friends. He is at Juba main prison,” Adigo told Sudan Tribune. The senior member of the opposition explained that the case will now be filled by an attorney general to the minister of justice because it is a political issue.
http://www.sudantribune.com/South-Sudan-allows-visits-to,40534
South Sudan, darling of the West, faces charges of political repression
The Sudan People’s Liberation Movement dominates South Sudan’s political arena, and its reticence to allow political opposition to develop could hurt its image among Western donors.
By Alex Thurston, Guest blogger / October 25, 2011
After the referendum vote in January 2011 that gave South Sudan its independence, International Crisis Group’s Zack Vertin pointed to some of the challenges that lay ahead for the new country. One of the most important was the issue of internal political pluralism:
The rebel movement turned governing party – the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) – dominates the political arena. Since the end of the war, opposition voices have suppressed grievances and taken a back seat to the SPLM so as to preserve the goal shared by all southerners – self-determination. But now that the vote has been cast, that common denominator is gone. When the jubilation of last week’s vote subsides, the political environment will slowly begin to transform. The current leadership must respond accordingly, recognizing that a genuine opening of political space is both necessary and in their long-term interest. They must find a way to equitably manage the South’s own diversity, lest they simply duplicate the sort of autocratic regime they’ve finally managed to escape.
Nine months later, the issue remains. Over the weekend, the South Sudanese opposition spoke out, alleging that the ruling party was harassing its members:
A major South Sudanese opposition party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement for Democratic Change (SPLM-DC) on Sunday protested against the “targeted” arrest of its members.
Onyoti Adigo, who leads the largest opposition party in the National Legislative Assembly, told Sudan Tribune on Sunday said that three diplomats aligned to his party were picked up at gunpoint on Friday while leaving the ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation.
He named James Okuk as one of the members being held in undisclosed location by South Sudan’s security services for allegedly for writing against president on the internet. Some other SPLM-DC members including Sabino Tom who were arrested with James have been freed.
As the head of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan said in September, the world will be watching to see how the new country performs on pluralism and other issues. I doubt that autocratic behavior by the ruling party would jeopardize funding from donors immediately, but in the long run outside observers may grow increasingly frustrated if the ruling party proves unwilling to open the political space to a greater degree. Internally, moreover, unmet political demands may give rise to violence; the country is already dealing with several rebel movements.
The region surrounding South Sudan is flush with former rebels, revolutionaries, and military leaders who are still in power – President Idriss Deby of Chad, President Omar al Bashir of (North) Sudan, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, to name a few – but there is a lot of pressure on the SPLM in South Sudan to take a different path.
– Alex Thurston is a PhD student studying Islam in Africa at Northwestern University and blogs at Sahel Blog.
South Sudan opposition member remains in detention
Middle East North Africa Financial Network
The leader of the South Sudan opposition at the Legislative Assembly, Onyoti Adigo, announced on Sunday that three of its members were arrested on Friday by the security services. Two were released immediately but one remains under detention prompting …
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