The Government should pay damages to Governor Joseph Bakasoro
4 min readCongress of South Sudanese Patriots
For Immediate Release
28TH April, 2016, Nairobi, Kenya
Re: High Court should award damages to Governor Joseph Bakasoro for unlawful detention
April 29, 2016 (SSB) — We welcome the rumors circulating on social media that Western Equatoria Governor Joseph Bakasoro has been release from prison yesterday. He was detained incommunicado without charges since last year 22nd 12, 2015. His detention without trial infringed on is right to fair tail under South Sudan transitional constitution.
His unlawful arrest and the kind of mistreatment we heard he was subjected to was regrettable. Insiders from credible sources revealed earlier that he was severely torture; and that his captors held him in solitary confinement, harass and beaten him constantly. This is contrary to the International law that bans torture completely. Any form of cruel and degrading treatment is outlawed under section 74 of the international convention on civil and political rights.
This is grievous attempt by the ruling SPLM government in Juba to intimidate and curb our freedoms, an attempt to censor our thoughts and to forcefully contain our ideas. Unbeknown to them is that we are free people. And thus, no amount of intimidations will let them achieve their traitorous objective. They want us to be accepting their deceits by instilling passive culture of fanaticism.
We shall remain defiant; we shall not allow them to trample on our inalienable freedoms that we fought and aspire for. If our country must exist or if we want our people to coexist harmoniously, than this prevalent and pervasive culture of violating human rights with impunity must too be withdrawn.
The handlers of SPLM regime in Juba must now heed the call to retract and do that which is expected of them in this so-call transitional government; failure to do so, it mean we are headed for further disharmony in the country.
Governor Bakasoro does not deserve to be jail without trail. What they did to him was not known to law. No one should be jail unlawfully and deny access to justice for such long period whether s/he acted in contravention of law or not.
This archaic behavior has made us become worried and highly alarm always. Imagine if someone of Bakasoro stature can be degraded, dehumanized and subject to mental and physical anguish without breaching any law, it shows other ordinary or common citizens are just dead men walking. It means we are treading on sinking ship waiting to slide into abyss.
Governor Bakasoro’s detention without trial tells us clearly that we are rule by autocratic regime that portrays total disregard for the rule of law and constitutionalism. With this regard, the South Sudanese citizenry must join hands and say enough is enough otherwise we shall soon be in for a rude shock.
Those torturers who find lust in encroaching on fellow citizens’ fundamental rights must not be allowed to advance further. We must raise our voices louder and change our complacency into combativeness in defense of our country glory.
In show of solidarity, we say sorry to the Governor Joseph Bakasoro, his family, citizens of greater Equatoria and the country at large. It was very uncouth to subject a very senior and elected national leader to torture for no legitimate reason at all. We know he did not commit an offence that could lead to this humiliation, and therefore his arrest was illegal worth condemning. Governor Joseph Bakasoro was arrested simply because he refused to be conscripted to Government shenanigans and to conspire against the downtrodden. He was arrested for remaining steadfast and for staying true to the cause of the people of South Sudan.
We are not naïve to congratulate his captors and torturers if it’s true that he was released yesterday. Releasing Joseph Bakasoro per se is not a victory but mere relief to us. We ask Governor Bakasoro to file law suit against the state seeking compensation. We hope the High court will find it in its wisdom to order the South Sudan Government to pay him damages for the ill-treatment he incurred while in prison.
We believe all inmates in South Sudan are innocent, and they should all be released with immediate effect. The offenders whom they caught red handed committing offences are either kill on spot or executed forthright in their torture chamber.
We call on all patriotic South Sudanese who were arrested unlawfully in Juba to narrate their ordeals in writing after they are release from Prison. Later when the judicial institutions are reformed, you will all be awarded compensation either by hybrid court or South Sudan high court.
Yours affectionately
Dak Buoth- Chairman
Congress of South Sudanese Patriots
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