N. Bahr el Ghazal’s minister summoned over arbitrary arrests ArticleComments (0). Email PrintSave --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
January 18, 2012 (JUBA)- The legislative assembly of South Sudan’s Aweil state in Northern Bahr el Ghazal, on Wednesday said it summoned the Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development over what it described as “continued” arbitrary arrests of the constitutional post holders and citizens. The invitation came days after the house passed a resolution condemning the culture which encourages illegal detention. The house claimed security agents were operating on the directives of individuals in the executive organ and called for it to end immediately. The assembly also called for judicial reform, claiming inheritance of systemic problems from Khartoum’s previous administration in the judiciary. Khartoum’s rule of South Sudan ended with its secession on the 9 July 2011. Andrew Lual Buola, a member of the state parliament said in an interview on Tuesday that the house summoned the Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Development and the Attorney General over the continued and widespread illegal detention of members of parliament and other citizens, often perceived as critics of the state administration. Buola said Madut Santino Deng Teng, minister of legal affairs and constitutional and development, and Awad Osman were called before the house to speak about the arbitrary arrests, but have asked for its suspension to further prepare their cases. Buola said that in many instances individuals are arrested over the weekend and released on Monday or Tuesday, without charge. Garang Majak Bol, a member of Aweil South county of Northern Bahr el Ghazal, says the judiciary in its current form is vulnerable to individual manipulation and that it was high time the government resolved the issue. “The public interest in the judicial system in Northern Bahr el is eroding, because you find judges issuing arrest warrants to individuals without clearly bothering to know status of those they are ordering the arrest,” Bol, who has been subject to an arbitrary arrest, told Sudan Tribune. He explained that there was a need for the judiciary to be an independent body and that in its current form, answerable to the executive arm of the government, it is vulnerable to manipulation. A letter to the state Minister of Legal Affairs, copied to Attorney General, observed that the judiciary needed reform. The house stated that the Judiciary was facing a leadership challenge which should be addressed in order for any meaningful reforms to be undertaken. "We are of the view that the current leadership of the judiciary would find it difficult to embrace and carry out the reforms we will be proposing," read the letter in part, calling for a judiciary of “forward thinking, credible, competent judges and magistrates with integrity”. (ST) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
