UN human rights experts warn that South Sudan’s National Security Service is threatening the country’s democratic transition by harassing media outlets and civil society groups ahead of the 2024 elections.

The UN report, based on extensive investigations in 2023, meticulously documents attacks on journalists and civil society members inside and outside South Sudan. The report found that journalists have been subjected to a wide range of abuses, including surveillance, intimidation, arbitrary detention, and other human rights violations.

Yasmin Sooka, the chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, emphasized the crucial role of independent media and a vibrant civil society in fostering accountable governance and democratic processes essential for peace and human rights.

These revelations come at a delicate juncture for South Sudan, which is undergoing a fragile political transition following the devastating civil war that plagued the nation from 2013 to 2018. A peace agreement was eventually brokered between President Salva Kiir and his former rival Vice President, Riek Machar.

Scheduled for December 2024, the upcoming election hangs in the balance as concerns mount regarding the government’s intolerance towards critics. The report highlights the plight of Woja Emmanuel, a political reporter who, in May 2023, publicly renounced journalism, citing fears for his life.

In response to the report, South Sudan’s information minister, Michael Makuei Lueth, dismissed the findings as mere repetition, labeling them as a “cut and paste” job from previous years. This dismissive stance contrasts sharply with the gravity of the accusations levied against the nation’s security apparatus.

The UN commission expressed profound worry about the prevailing atmosphere of intolerance against government critics in the lead-up to the election. Commission member Carlos Castresana Fernández criticized the government’s procrastination in establishing transitional justice institutions, deeming these delays as deliberate tactics aimed at perpetuating the dominance of ruling elites.

The report urgently called upon South Sudan’s government to cease unlawful media censorship and lift restrictions on civic and political activities.