![Executive Director of the Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA) Ter Manyang Gatwech. [Photo courtesy]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Ter-Manyang-photo.jpg?resize=850%2C480&quality=89&ssl=1)
In an email to Sudans Post on Saturday night, Gatwech detailed receiving two threatening calls, one on Thursday and another on Friday. The callers, he said, demanded he cease his activism and flee the country.
“On Thursday, I received a call from an unknown number around mid-morning. The caller identified me by name and said they wanted to discuss ‘specific issues’ and meet in my office. I explained I was busy and requested details about the issues. They refused to answer and said they had my information and would ‘get me’ soon,” he said.
“On Friday, I received another call from a different number in the afternoon. The caller threatened my life if I didn’t leave the country and stop advocating for the removal of selections 55, 54, and 57. I have reported these calls to international human rights organizations to investigate,” he added.
These threats come amidst rising concerns over the recently passed NSS bill, which grants the agency broad powers to search, arrest, detain, and monitor communications without a warrant.
This has sparked a climate of fear among activists and journalists critical of the legislation.
On Wednesday, activists and journalists were detained by the NSS for about 40 minutes at the parliament building while lawmakers debated the bill.
This incident further highlights the increasingly restrictive environment for free speech and dissent in South Sudan.
Earlier this week, another activist, Edmund Yakani, head of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), also reported receiving death threats.
Last week, a Jonglei-based activist Bol Deng Bol of INTREPID South Sudan went into hiding after the NSS reportedly searched for him and closed his organization’s office.
