Why is the Governor of Gok State detaining innocent youth without trial?
5 min readIt Takes a Great Man to Give Sound Advice Tactfully, But a Greater to Accept It Graciously: Advice to Hon. Governor of Gok State
By Daniel Juol Nhomngek, Kampala, Uganda
April 17, 2017 (SSB) — I would like to take this opportunity to thank Gok Youth for the love of their State. I have education they have received is important as they are assets to Gok State. With such good education, Gok youth are going to contribute to development to Gok State in the near future and even now.
However, I have received the information from credible source that there some young people among the youth who have turned themselves into spies or informants against their brothers and sisters in the State, which has resulted into arrest of several youth whose names I shall mention shortly.
But first, I would like to warn those informants or spies who are prosecuting some Gok Members for their own benefits. Hence, giving away very strong youth to authorities who arrested them on unsubstantiated allegations and because of that, many youth are now relinquishing behind filthy bars in Gok State.
I would further like to warn them that as they carry their pens secretly recording what people of Gok State who are exercising their freedom of speech and expression in their ordinary course of conversation, we are watching at them as we know them all one by one and we shall punish them in future unless they change their attitudes.
For that reason, I would like to tell them the saying that what you do as if you have done it to another person you have done it to yourself. If they do not stop the repugnant and miscreant behaviour they will regret in future.
In fact, it is because of them now youth are arbitrarily arrested. Among those who are arrested and have been under detention without any charge for some months now are Acuoth Keer, Mathen Thook, Mathiang Manguak, and today I saw a post, posted by Luelke De Alop on facebook cited two additional youth who are arrested by the Commissioner of Abiriu County.
The two additional youth Luelke De Alop mentioned in his post to have been arrested are John Kuac Kon and James Matur Manthiem. Whether this information is true or not is not yet corroborated from another independent source. Nonetheless, it may not be far from the truth.
As seen above, all those arrested have one thing in common, that is, they are educated which confirms the statement that I posted on facebook sometime back made by someone that “University Graduates are the problems of Gok State”.
They are not the problem but the problem is what made them talk in the first place and if the authorities of Gok State need them to stop talking then they must do what they talk against. They are educated and know what is bad and what is good so they cannot keep quiet when things are not going on well.
Whoever thinks that they do not have a role in Gok State is mistaken, the future of Gok State lies in their hands and whether we like it or not educated people will have to be allowed to take part in running of the State if Gok state is to develop and progress.
Otherwise, if the authorities and their informants keep on prosecuting youth then they are wasting time as they are fighting against unbeatable war because South Sudan needs development and since it needs development Gok State like any other States in South Sudan needs some people who are trained in management in order to manage the state resources well.
In that respect, I would like to advise Hon. Governor of Gok State to order the commissioners who have arrested the youth mentioned above to produce them before the Court immediately or if there are no charges against them then they must be released without any delay.
If they are not released or brought before the Court within a reasonable time, I will publish a report on Newspaper so that the President of South Sudan will have knowledge of what is going on ion Gok State and I will also give a copy to Human Rights Council in Geneva.
This is because interning human beings without charges or without any strong reason and at the same time subject to torture while under internment is a violation of their fundamental rights as provided for under the South Sudan Constitution and all the international human rights law.
NB// the author is Human Rights Lawyer and can be reached through: juoldaniel@yahoo.com
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