By William Madouk
Despite the release of eight officials on Tuesday, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A-IO) says 21 of its members are still being held in detention.
“Well, until yesterday (Wednesday), before 2 p.m., the total number of the SPLM-IO detainees, there are 28, eight (8) of them were released,” Puok Both Baluang, acting Press Secretary in the Office of the First Vice President, disclosed in an interview.
Baluang stated that three of the released officials are ministerial staff members, three are relatives, and the remaining two are SPLM-IO party members.
He cited that the overall number of detainees was twenty-eight until the recent arrest of an SPLM-IO MP, Mr Gatwech Lam.
“The remaining 20, including the minister of petroleum, the deputy chief of staff, Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam and Mr. Camilo Gatmai, the former office manager in the office of the first vice president, and 17 others, they’re still detained,” he revealed.
“As we speak. At 2 p.m. yesterday [Tuesday], a member of parliament and a member of SPLM-IO representing Nasir County in Upper Nile State was arrested en route the parliament from his residence in Thongping. That will make the total number of detainees now of the SPLM/A-IO officials is 21,” Baluang continued.
Dr. Machar’s acting spokesman denied any SPLM/A-IO involvement in the Nasir incident. He stated the party was attempting to de-escalate the situation and had no connection to the events.
“We’ve been trying to de-escalate the situation, so these accusations, we believe that they are baseless. The SPLM/A-IO has no forces in Nasir, we have only a containment site, or assembly area, five kilometres out of Nasir,” he explained.
Baluang believed that at the onset, the national security violated the constitution by arresting a constitutional post holder without stripping their immunity, which he terms as a ‘violation to the law.’
“First of all, they [NSS] should have taken the right procedures. Secondly, we believe, as I mentioned earlier, our members, they have no link, directly or indirectly, with the incidents that occurred in Nasir,” he echoed.
He praised the release of the eight members and called for the freedom of the remaining ones.
“We are calling for the release of the remaining SPLM, SPLM-IO detainees, whether from those who have been detained by the SSPDF or the national security,” he appealed.
He reiterated SPLM/A-IO’s commitment to the full implementation of the peace agreement, citing that it is the only way to attain lasting peace in South Sudan.
“The first vice president has written to the president, calling for and assisting in cooperation with his office to evacuate the scattered SSPDF, whether in Akobo, Nassir, or Ulang county,” he said.
“So far, we have listed 108 SSPDF officers, NCOs and officers. Currently, they have been hosted by the UN in the mentioned areas and the locals in these areas. They are being taken care of and they are under the protection of the SPLM-IO forces,” he added.
Early this week, the National Security Service (NSS) internal bureau it detained officials over the escalating military clashes between government forces and the “white army” in Nasir and Ulang counties of Upper Nile State.
David John Kumuri, the NSS spokesperson and Director of Public Relations, stated on Saturday the institution is detaining several individuals with believed to be linked to the clashes in Ulang and Nasir.
He refuted claims that the arrests were “random” or “unlawful,” emphasizing that no one is above the law.
“Undeniably, the NSS has arrested and detained several individuals believed to have verified links to the spiralling military confrontation that just unfolded within the towns of Nasir and Ulang and their surroundings,” he said.
“The arrest ensued after the service operatives conducted extensive intelligent pursuit of appropriate information from any individual within or out of the country that had and has been fueling the ongoing battle in the mentioned areas,” he added.
Also, last week, Minister of Information, Michael Makuei clarified that the officials were arrested because they were “in conflict with the law”
“They were arrested because they are in conflict with the law. There is no joke about that, because what we need is security. And as such if anybody is arrested, you must have been arrested because of a reason,” he said.
“If you are in conflict with the law, it means you are accused, you are in violation of the provision of the law. And once, you are in violation of provision of the law, you are automatically in conflict with the law and if you are in conflict with the law, you are arrested and taken to the court,” he added.
The detentions, however, take place against the backdrop of heightened political and security tensions, particularly in the three SPLM-IO-controlled states of Western Equatoria, Western Bahr el Ghazal, and Upper Nile.
Analysts speculated that the detentions are due to recent unrest in these states, as well as the difficulty in carrying out the 2018 peace agreement.