By Koang Chang

Copyright eyeradio

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Juba, South Sudan (Eye Radio) — Human Rights Watch is urging the government to ensure due process for the leader of SPLM-IO, Dr Riek Machar and other opposition members facing serious charges.

Nyagoah Tut Pur, a researcher with the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, stated that the detainees should receive prompt, fair, and public trials that meet international standards or be released unconditionally if due process is not guaranteed.

She pointed out that the Bill of Rights requires any individual suspected of a crime to be presented before a court within 24 hours, a standard that has not been respected.

She added that international obligations requiring confirmation of charges in court have also not been upheld, and that detainees are being held in harsh conditions under the National Security Service (NSS) without legal basis.

The rights group has urged the government to allow detainees unrestricted and private access to their legal representatives.

Machar was placed under house arrest on March 26, following the arrests of at least two dozen political and military members of his party, the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition (SPLA-IO), by the NSS and Military Intelligence.

On September 11, the Minister of Justice announced that 21 individuals, including Machar, were charged with serious crimes such as murder, treason, and crimes against humanity.

Machar’s house arrest followed weeks of violence between government forces and armed youth known as the White Army in Nasir, Upper Nile state, which is considered a Machar stronghold.