Office of South Sudan activist’s raided in Juba

September 6, 2012 (JUBA) – The office of a human rights and civil society organisation in South Sudan’s capital Juba were raided and looted by unknown gunmen, activists said on Wednesday.

Biel Boutros Biel, the executive director of the South Susan Human Rights Society For Advocacy (SSHURSA), said the office was broken into early on Wednesday. Police have so far failed to make any arrests.

“We issued a statement yesterday and we call all our members in the country, all our staff in the country that they should not be scared because of this act and we are used to this intimidation and we will not give up, we will not leave our work of human rights,” Boutros is quoted by UN radio, Miraya FM, as saying.

In July the Chairperson of South Sudan’s Civil Society Alliance, Deng Athuai Mawiir, who has played a high profile role in campaigning against South Sudan’s rampant corruption, was kidnapped and tortured by unknown assailants.

Human rights activists suspect that South Sudan’s security services may have been involved in the attacks, although this has been denied by the government.

Reports by international human rights groups have been highly critical of South Sudan’s human rights record since the country separated from Sudan in July 2011.

South Sudan’s ruling party – the political wing of the former rebels that fought the Khartoum government for over two-decades – have been criticised for failing to live up to the values it says it fought for during the civil war.

(ST)