Rights body concerned over missing UN staff in S. Sudan

December 14, 2016 (NAIROBI) – Amnesty International has called for urgent action over two staffs of the United Nation Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

The two, the campaign group said, have not meet with their family members since January and their whereabouts have not been revealed. They are detained along the bank of Nile River in Juba.

“Amnesty International is calling on the South Sudan authorities to reveal the whereabouts of Anthony Nyero and James Lual and ensure unrestricted access to their family members, lawyers of their own choosing, adequate medical care and ensure they are not subjected to torture or ill-treatment,” the statement read.

The right body has calls on the government to end arbitrary detentions by the NSS, particularly in the Jebel headquarters and the riverside detention facilities. It wants prompt, effective and impartial investigations into NSS detention practices initiated by the state.

Amnesty International accused government of failing to notify UNMISS to show credible evidence of a crime committed by either, prior to taking legal action against Nyero and Lual.

The arrest of the duo, it stressed, is a violation of Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the UN and South Sudan government.

South Sudanese authorities have not yet responded to the appeal.

(ST)