Kiir, Machar reach deal to scrap state security power to arrest without warrant

JUBA, FEBRUARY 22^nd 2023 (SUDANS POST) – President Salva Kiir Mayardit and his first deputy Dr. Riek Machar Teny have agreed to scrap a section in the National Security Service (NSS) Act of 2014 giving the government security service a power to arrest without warrant.

The controversial act which was amended in September 2019 gives national security operatives the authority to detain anyone, monitor communications by suspects, and research and seize properties without necessarily a warrant.

Speaking during a press conference in Juba on Tuesday, cabinet affairs minister Martin Elia Lomuro said Kiir has come into an agreement with Machar, who strongly oppose the provision, to scrap the section from the National Security Service Act.

“The national security law where there was disagreement on sections 54 and 55 about the arrest with or without a warrant has now been agreed by the president and first vice president and those will be scrapped,” Lomuro said.

The National Security Service has been accused by citizens and international human rights bodies of arbitrarily carrying out arrests and detaining, and torturing citizens.

In a report last December, The US-based investigative initiative, The Sentry, said South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS) has established control over the country through extensive business operations and the use of surveillance, repression and extreme brutality.

“South Sudan is burdened by a ruthless, secretive, and well-funded security service that is willing to engage in state capture, corruption, and repression to the detriment of the South Sudanese people,” John Prendergast, the Co-Founder of The Sentry said.