JUBA – The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized the suspension of a renowned University professor over an open letter he sent to a US visiting delegation urging the Trump Administration to pressure President Kiir to accept the return of the country to 10 states.
Professor Taban Lo Liyong of the University of Juba urged – in the letter to a US delegation which visited Juba – the American government to pressure the government of South Sudan into accepting the return of the country to the previous 10 states citing ethnic confusion the creation of 32 states in 2015 has created.
“There are people who created this to corner the resources of the country to help them and look up to their political and economic affairs… [But] constitution doesn’t work like that,” Professor Lo Liong in the letter seen Sudans Post.
In a letter dated February 10, the Vice Chancellor of Juba charged and suspended Professor Taban Lo Liyong for inciting what the administration said was an “ethnic hatred” and “bringing the name of the University of Juba into disrepute.”
In an article publish by the HRW this afternoon, the rights group said: “This action is emblematic of the government’s repression of basic freedom of expression, where any form of dissent or criticism of government policy is dangerous.”
“In recent years, South Sudan’s universities have taken steps to limit political freedoms on campus, requiring students and staff to obtain permission from the National Security Service (NSS) for planned activities. Undercover NSS agents are also said to pose as students to keep tabs on critical voices.
“Lo Liyong is not the first academic to be silenced. In January 2017, two academic staff were arrested and detained by the National Security Service (NSS) for leading staff protests and salary negotiations.
“In October 2015, Dr. Luka Biong, Associate Professor of Economics, was suspended from Juba university after organizing a public dialogue on the controversial creation of new states by President Kiir. Threatened by the NSS, he fled the country and remains in exile.
“The same year, the late Dr. Leonzio Angole Onek, former Dean of the College of Applied and Industrial Sciences at the University of Juba, was picked up by armed NSS officers from his faculty residence. He was accused of supporting rebels and held in solitary confinement but released five months later without charges.
The intimidation and harassment have led to self-censorship and have a corrosive effect on research and publication.
Ensuring freedom of expression and the academic freedom to test and contest ideas, however, is essential to building South Sudan’s universities as bastions and safe places for learning and intellectual exchange.”
It further urged the Juba university to “immediately reverse Liyong’s suspension and ensure students and faculty can engage in uninhibited dialog on matters of public importance.”
