Rights group Amnesty International is accusing the South Sudanese government of detaining and torturing hundreds of people.
Amnesty International says these violations were committed during the during the civil war which began in 2013. In a briefing released on Tuesday, the group said many of those detained and tortured died.
Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, Seif Magango says “People in South Sudan have been arrested for their political and ethnic affiliations and are then subjected to unimaginable suffering – sometimes leading to death – at the hands of the government’s security forces.”
The group said its latest briefing titled “A trail of broken promises” revealed how former detainees spoke about drinking “water from the toilet and defecate and urinate in front of each other.”
It said four men “Mike Tyson, Alison Mogga Tadeo, Richard Otti and Andria Baambe – died in detention due to harsh conditions and inadequate medical care.
The four, who were arrested in 2014, were all held without charge, for alleged links to the opposition.”
Amnesty says some former detainees said “They were rarely allowed out of their cells for sunlight or exercise. They were also not allowed to talk to each other.
Some detainees were fed only once a day and, in more extreme cases, just a few times a week.”
A spokesman for President Salva Kiir, Ateng Wek Ateng has however denied the allegations of torture. He said more than 20 political detainees were recently released.
The conflict in South Sudan has resulted in millions fleeing. Several other have died in a conflict caused by clashes between government troops and rebels.
A peace deal was recently agreed to by warring parties to end the conflict.
Source: Africafeeds.com
