The chairperson of Jonglei State civil society network and executive director for INTREPRID South Sudan, Bol Deng Bol, has called for an end to what he calls “forced disappearance and illegal arrest”.
The call comes after Biar Ajak Marol, who works for Junubin Chronicles – a national youth-led origination, went missing on October 4 in Juba and his whereabouts remains unknown.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the young man is being held at a National Security Service detention facility over unknown reasons.
He also said Biar’s workmates, Jacob Bill Kuur and Bafora Santelo who were out looking for him were arrested by the police on the October 10 – 11, respectively but were later released on the 12th. October after interrogations.
Bol says incidents of people mysteriously disappearing have been on the rise in country, and therefore condemns that such actions are ceased.
“The person has disappeared and people that are looking for him are again being arrested and interrogated on why they are looking for Biar and what Biar does,” Deng told Mingkaman FM on Thursday.
“We all need to put our hands together and look for Biar in all places that are suspected and the ones that are not suspected, all places and everybody should be reached.”
Bol mentioned that the civil society network suspects that there are people having hands in the disappearance of Biar Ajak Marol and calls for his immediate release.
Amnesty International has documented numerous arbitrary detentions by the NSS in multiple facilities where detainees are often subjected to torture and other ill-treatment – some held incommunicado without access to a lawyer, or family members.