Presidency scraps NSS power to arrest without warrant

President Salva Kiir and his first vice president have agreed to remove the section in the National Security Act that allows the institution to arrest without any warrant.

Speaking on Tuesday at a press conference on the commencement of the roadmap, the minister of Cabinet Affairs said the Act is among the bills that are under process in the Council of Ministers.

“I want to point out that the National Security Law where there was apparently disagreement on sections 54 and 55 pertaining to arrest with or without a warrant has now been agreed by the President and the First Vice President and those will be scrapped,” Dr Martin Elia Lomuro told reporters.

The National Security Service was empowered by the 2014 laws amended in September 2019 to arrest anyone suspected or presume to be a criminal without a warrant of arrest.

Since the outbreak of South Sudan’s conflict in 2013, the NSS had been harassing, arbitrarily arresting, and detaining scores of people based on their real or perceived political affiliations and views.

These include civil society activists, journalists, human rights defenders, and members of political opposition groups.