Amnesty International [advocacy website] on Tuesday accused [report, PDF] South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS) and Military Intelligence Directorate of continued arbitrary detention and torture of individuals accused of supporting opposition forces in the country.

A cessation of hostilities agreement was signed by the government of South Sudan and opposition forces on December 21, 2017, that required the release of all political detainees. The government of South Sudan also committed to releasing political detainees in an agreement signed in June 2018.

However, Amnesty accuses South Sudan of continuing to torture and hold political detainees without charges. Detainees are typically men who are believed to be politically or ethnically aligned with the opposition. Former detainees have given details of physical and sexual abuses that were experienced while being detained. Four detainees died while in government custody between February 2017 and July 2017. Access to medical care is rare and usually only occurs after considerable deterioration in health.

South Sudan is also accused committing enforced disappearances. Several men are believed to have been taken from detention facilities or taken by security agents and then never heard from again. The government is also accused of working with Kenyan authorities to forcibly deport individuals to South Sudan where the detainees then disappear.

Amnesty has called upon the government of South Sudan to release or charge all remaining detainees and provide medical and psycho-social rehabilitation to former detainees. They have also called on the government to open criminal investigations into NSS practices and remove the ability of NSS to arrest, detain, conduct searches, seize property and use force.

In February, a UN report stated that lasting peace [JURIST report] in South Sudan can only be achieved if both sides have freedom of expression. The Human Rights Division of the UN Mission in South Sudan [official website] published a report in May 2017 that found extensive human rights violations [JURIST report] in South Sudan. In July 2018 the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights [official website] stated that the human rights violations in the country may be considered war crimes [JURIST report].