JUBA, SEPTEMBER 16, 2023 (SUDANS POST) – South Sudan journalist and former news presenter at SSBC Garang John has accused Vice-President Hussein Abdelbagi of South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA) of owning a torture cell or chamber that he uses to torture SSOA opponents. 

Garang was arrested alongside six other SSBC journalists in January this year over a viral video in which President Salva Kiir could be seen wetting on himself in public during inauguration of a major road project last December. 

He fled South Sudan after he was released from detention in March, where he had been held without charges. It is not yet clear as to where he is currently hiding, but it is being speculated that he is seeking asylum in the United States. 

In a brief social media statement, Garang claimed that Vice-President Hussein Abdelbagi owns a torture cell at the NSS detention facility in Jebel which is used for torture of opponents within the South Sudan Opposition Alliance (SSOA). 

“Vice President Hussein Abdelbagi Ayii has a private holding cell inside the National Security Detention facility allocated to him by the NSS authorities for use against his SSOA political enemies,” the former SSBC journalist wrote.

“When I arrived at the detention facility, my jailers disagreed over whether to hold me briefly in this cell so that my family and friends who might have wanted to come wouldn’t find me. It was also intended to hide me within the holding facility so that officers perceived sympathetic to me wouldn’t easily locate me,” he added. 

The South Sudan National Security Service and Vice-President Hussein’s office have both not yet commented on Garang allegations.

John’s story is just one example of the many ways in which the South Sudanese government is cracking down on its critics.

In recent years, there has been a surge in arbitrary arrests, detention, and torture of journalists, human rights activists, and opposition politicians.

The United States, one of South Sudan’s western friends who have funded peace efforts in the war-torn country, has condemned the government’s crackdown on dissent and has called for the release of all political prisoners to pave way for reconciliation. 

The US has also imposed sanctions on several senior South Sudanese government officials, including Vice President Taban Deng Gai, information minister Michael Makuei and cabinet minister Martin Elia Lomuro, for peace obstruction.

Garang said that his claims is not yet “comprehensive because sensitive parts have been withheld for my future publication.”  Sudans Post