![South Sudan National Security Service (NSS) General Headquarters in Jebel [Photo via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.sudanspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/ns.jpg?resize=1024%2C409&ssl=1)
The most concerning aspect of the current National Security Service (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is its provision allowing arrest without a warrant, which legally entrenches arbitrariness and abuse of power by the NSS. This has several negative implications for the security sector as it affects the coherence, cooperation, and collaboration among the components of the National Security Sector. The components of the National Security Sector in South Sudan are:
The South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), formerly known as the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA); the National Security Service (NSS); the South Sudan National Police Service (SSNPS); the National Prisons Service of South Sudan (NPSSS); the South Sudan National Wildlife Service (SSNWS); and the South Sudan National Civil Defence Service (SSCDS), or fire brigade.
All the above-mentioned components of the National Security Sector contribute to the country’s stable security through their cooperation in intelligence sharing, coherence, and collaborative functions. Their functions are facilitated by the NSS, which gathers information, analyzes it, and advises each component accordingly based on their honest views and expertise. The constitution recognizes the collaborative and cooperative role of the NSS, as understood under Article 159(3) of the Transitional Constitution.
However, if the President assents to the bill and it becomes law, it will change the role of the NSS contrary to Articles 1(5), 2, 3, 9 to 34, 35, 36, 45, 46, 51 (on separation of powers), 122, and 159 of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan. The likely consequences of the bill becoming law are that granting the NSS more powers than any other components of the National Security Sector can weaken the Security Sector as a whole in South Sudan. The conflict over roles will worsen.
As a result of this conflict, cooperation, collaboration, and discipline within the security sector will decline, and the failure of information sharing will increase. The civil population will suffer from the Security Sector’s failures. All these issues will arise from upgrading the NSS from a body that collects, analyzes, and advises relevant authorities to a supreme body above the Constitution of South Sudan, contrary to Article 3 of the Transitional Constitution.
For these reasons, we oppose the bill. Supporters of the bill accuse us of being against South Sudan, but our argument, which we maintain, is that we do not oppose for the sake of opposition but based on a critical analysis of what should be the correct path for a sustainable future for South Sudan. If signed into law, the National Security Bill will be a political time bomb, similar to what happened in Sudan after the establishment of a National Security Service with a structure similar to the current South Sudan National Security Service.
In opposing the National Security Bill becoming the National Service Act, 2024 (as amended), we are guided by past experiences within and from neighboring countries, which inform the present and guide our decision-making for a better future for South Sudan. Our decision to oppose any actions or moves by the SPLM-IG comes after proper judgment and analysis. As a party fighting for system reform to benefit the citizens of South Sudan, our position is clear: any law that discriminates against the civil population or the majority of ordinary citizens is a bad law and should not be allowed, as it is contrary to our constitution.
The opposition’s actions should be objectively viewed as a commitment to work together to put South Sudan on the path to sustainable peace and permanent stability. Sustainable peace and stability require authorities’ actions to be in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of South Sudan. When we talk of the Constitution, we mean the values contained in the written document.
The Constitution represents values respected by all authorities and citizens of South Sudan, irrespective of their appearance in documents. The values of South Sudan that define the Constitution are the foundation of South Sudan, which the security sector is established to protect for the benefit of all. The common constitutional values found in Article 1(5) of the Transitional Constitution of the Republic of South Sudan, 2011 (as amended) are justice, equality, respect for human dignity, and the advancement of human rights and fundamental freedoms.
These values are foundational to South Sudan, requiring all citizens, non-citizens, government officials, and civil servants in South Sudan to observe them, as they are the basis of the Constitution’s supremacy, which is the supreme law of the land. Being the supreme document, the Constitution binds all persons, institutions, organs (including the National Security Services), and government agencies throughout the country since they derive their authority from the Constitution at all levels.
The Constitution is the product of the will of the people of South Sudan, who are sovereign. Because of this, the government and its institutions must respect the Constitution unconditionally. Therefore, the mandate of the NSS in South Sudan is to protect the Constitution’s integrity by ensuring that all actions that pose threats against the constitutional establishment, both internally and externally, are detected and controlled early.
The mandate of the NSS is a crucial yardstick for the rule of law and human rights protection in South Sudan. Article 159(3) of the Transitional Constitution supports the fact that the NSS, as a professional security organ, is tasked with the duty to respect the people’s will, the rule of law, civilian authority, democracy, human rights, and fundamental freedoms.
In respecting these constitutional principles, people can trust the NSS’s ability to control crimes in coordination and collaboration with other security organs. The NSS is central to crime control in South Sudan as it is responsible for the internal and external security of South Sudan and its people.
Regarding the foregoing discussions, security sector and security law reforms are considered a priority. The Revitalized Agreement of 2018, in Chapter II, places the Sector Reform at the heart of reform activities, an important milestone in the current transitional period and in the run-up to future general elections as determined by the Parties to the Revitalized Agreement of 2018.
As part of coordination, coherence, uniformity, and collaboration, the Revitalized Agreement requires that the reform of the security sector ensures coordination and collaboration among the security organs listed above under the National Security Council and Committee at both national and state levels, whose composition and functions are determined by the national security law.
The National Security Council, headed by the President, is charged with security sector interagency coordination and collaboration. This implies that all security institutions operating as part of the national security sector must work in coordination through information sharing and referral of such security information for their efficient and effective operation in executing their mandate, which includes:
- Combating all types of crimes, whether against the state or persons
- Upholding the Constitution
- Defending the sovereignty of the country both internally and externally
- Protecting the people of South Sudan, their lives, and property
- Securing the territorial integrity of South Sudan
- Defending South Sudan against external threats and aggression
- Addressing emergencies and participating in reconstruction activities
- Assisting in disaster management and relief in accordance with the Constitution and the law
To operate efficiently and effectively, the Constitution, read together with the national security law, mandates the National Security Council to define the national security strategy to counteract threats to the national security of the Republic of South Sudan after a critical analysis of such threats. The NSS is required by the Constitution and its law to ensure accuracy in their work of information gathering, analysis, and advice to the relevant authority.
The NSS must remember that it is a constitutional body tasked with implementing the Constitution’s provisions in letter and spirit through accurate information gathering, analysis, and advice to the relevant authority. Therefore, the NSS of South Sudan is a professional security organ.
Being a professional security organ is important for the NSS in respecting civilian authority, which can make the civil population trust and cooperate with it. Trust by the civil population is the best strategy for controlling crimes in any country. It is an irreplaceable tool for preventing and identifying threats to national security.
Threats to national security are any activities that violate the law on a large scale and pose a threat to the country’s life as a whole. This is why the national security framework must work regularly and effectively in identifying priorities, operating in coordination, and exchanging information within the security sector.
Collaboration among national security departments contributes to maintaining and improving the security sector’s combat capabilities, ensuring a fast response to challenges in the early stages of threats by developing compatibility with other state institutions involved in overcoming threats, and establishing an effective and flexible system for reserve and mobilization.
The organs under the national security sector, collectively referred to as law enforcement agencies and security services, must succeed through mutual cooperation in maintaining law and order, preventing, combating, and investigating crime, with the ultimate aim of protecting the lives of people and their properties by upholding and enforcing the Transitional Constitution and all laws within South Sudan’s territorial borders.
For effective security control and stable security, coordination and cooperation within the National Security Sector, with collaboration from civil authorities and the civil population at large, are necessary. Where there is coordination and collaboration within the national security sector, the respect of the people’s will, the rule of law and order, civilian authority, democracy, human rights, and fundamental freedoms are ensured and upheld.
In summary, passing the National Security Service Amendment Bill, 2024, with the support of the SPLM-IG, strikes at the heart of public and security sector reforms. It is a setback that returns the country to the pre-Revitalized Agreement of 2018 era, legally entrenching the abuse of power and arbitrary violations of human rights.
The author is a member of the National Parliament (TNLA) representing Cueibet County in Lakes State on the ticket of the SPLM-IO. He is lawyer specializing in the Constitution law and human rights. He can be reached via: nhomngekjuol@gmail.com.
The views expressed in the ‘OPINIONS & ANALYSIS’ section of Sudans Post are solely the opinions of the writers. The veracity of any claims made are the responsibility of the author not this website. If you want to submit an opinion piece or an analysis please email us here.
