Acting Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Lisa Peterson will travel to Bujumbura, Burundi, March 14-15, and to Kampala, Uganda, March 16-17, to underscore the United States’ commitment to the protection and advancement of human rights and democracy in Africa’s Great Lakes region.

In Bujumbura, Acting Assistant Secretary Peterson will meet with government and civil society leaders to discuss good governance, the protection of human rights, and continued reform efforts by President Ndayishimiye following the termination of the Burundi sanctions program in November 2021. Her visit will demonstrate the United States’ commitment to engage with countries that seek reforms.

In Kampala, Acting Assistant Secretary Peterson will meet with government officials, members of parliament, and civil society leaders to stress the importance of holding accountable those who commit human rights abuses, including enforced disappearances and torture. Her trip will highlight the United States’ support of the Ugandan people and our commitment to working together to advance democracy, protect the freedoms of expression and association, and promote respect for human rights.

For media inquiries, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. - U.S. Department of State

South Sudan's Archbishop of Juba, Stephen Ameyu Martin Mulla, said preparations towards the Pope's visit have started. "As a Conference, we have appointed a four-man committee to begin the work of preparations, and this committee will also work with a government committee," he said.

Pope expected to encourage reconciliation

Archbishop Ameyu disclosed that the Bishops' Conference and the entire nation were delighted with the forthcoming visit. They hope that Pope Francis' presence in their country will promote peace among them.

"As a nation and Church, we feel honoured and exulted by the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis to South Sudan," said Archbishop Ameyu. He continued, "It will be a great moment for all South Sudanese to rally around peace and reconciliation, and we hope the Holy Father will encourage all of us to move the path of dialogue, peace and justice for the consolidation of peace in the county."

Archbishop Ameyu said the Church in South Sudan also appreciates the recent appointment of Bishops as most dioceses in the country had been vacant.

Ecumenical dimension of the visit

The Archbishop of Juba acknowledged the ecumenical aspect of the Pope's visit.

"The visit of his Holiness has an ecumenical dimension. Concurrently, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland will also be present during the apostolic visit in South Sudan," he said.

Pope Francis and the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, in 2019, announced their intention to travel together to South Sudan.

AMECEA region delighted to host the Pope

Speaking on behalf of the regional Bishops' Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA), the association's chairperson, Bishop Charles Sampa Kasonde, expressed the region's joy in hosting Pope Francis again after he visited Kenya and Uganda in 2015.

"We are very happy, and we are looking forward to receiving our Holy Father, Pope Francis, in South Sudan," said Bishop Kasonde of Solwezi Diocese in Zambia. He added "I am very delighted." - Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA – Nairobi, Kenya. / Vatican News

Global watchdog Human Rights Watch has called for the release of a clergyman and a university professor in South Sudan, both detained since last year for criticising the government.

In a statement released on March 1, HRW called for the charges against the two to be dropped, saying the arrests were a “systematic intimidation of civil society and attempt to suppress free speech”.

Both men have been accused of sabotage and undermining South Sudan’sconstitution. They face the death penalty or life imprisonment if convicted, their lawyers say.

Last July, Abraham Chol Akech, a Juba-based leader of Cush International Ministries was arrested at his home by the police.

Days before, the 69-year-old cleric had told his congregation during a Sunday service that both President Salva Kiir and his deputy Rick Machar would be unseated from office on July 9th, the independence anniversary, to make way for new leadership.

Weeks later, Kuel Aguer Kuel, professor of economics at Stratford International University in South Sudan and a former governor of the North Bahr el-Ghazal State was picked up at a petrol station by the secret service.

This was days after the 66-year-old and other members of the People’s Coalition for Civil Action (PCCA), a group of critics, had advocated for government reforms in a memo published online. PCCA also called for peaceful protests nationwide on August 30.

Kuel, a member of the ruling party, the Sudan’s People Liberation Movement, had also called on the government to replace some ministers who have been in the cabinet even before the country’s independence in 2011.

‘An environment for open dialogue’

“The government needs to cease these abuses and foster an environment for open dialogue on matters of public interest and governance,” said Nyagoah Tut Por, South Sudan researcher at HRW.

Kiir and his deputy have been in power since 2005 in the then-partly autonomous south Sudan. Two years after full independence, friction between the two men erupted into a war that killed thousands and displaced millions from their homes. Machar was removed from his position and was only reinstated after signing a peace deal in 2018.

Under their administration, politicians and dissidents have been arrested on charges that human rights activists say are trumped-up. Akech and Kuel are the latest.

The clergyman, who was also arrested in 2020 by a coronavirus task force and jailed for a month for allegedly violating the social distance rules, is currently also being charged with spreading false information.

“We had filed a criminal motion inviting the president of the court of appeal to exercise his power to question the public prosecutor why are they detaining Kuel without trial”, said Kiir Chol Deng, Kuel’s lawyer. “I think the government doesn’t want to put Kuel on trial because there is no sufficient evidence against him one hand and it doesn’t trust its own judiciary [to side with it] on the other hand.”

According to local media, police spokesperson General Justin Daniel said Akech could not be presented in court because he had refused mental health evaluations.

The health of both men has deteriorated in jail, their family and legal representatives say.

Yasmine Ahmed, a lawyer for Akech, said he was beaten by the police when he was arrested, and he went on a hunger strike for more than a month last year to put pressure on the government for a trial.

In a telephone interview, Kuel’s eldest daughter Adhal told Al Jazeera her father needs back surgery for a previous illness but has only been offered a brief check at the prison’s hospital.

“They’ve told us he has issues in his liver,” she said. “We don’t know what they actually did to him. My father only expressed his opinions about the corrupt system in this country; that’s a constitutional right that they should respect.”

Meanwhile, four other PCCA members who co-signed the memo with Kuel have reportedly fled the country.

Adhal said she was told by people in the government that her father would not be released unless the four came back for questioning by the authorities. - Al Jazeera