SSHURSA commemorates January 23, in honour of Dong Samuel and Aggrey Idri

January 24, 2020 Newsbeat

Slain opposition officials, Dong Luak and Agrey Idri (Photo: unknown)

January 24th, 2020 (SSNN)—The South Sudan Human Rights Society for Advocacy (SSHURSA) a rights advocacy group, honors January 23, in memory of Samuel Dong Luak and Agrey Idri – two human rights defenders kidnapped in Kenya and murdered in South Sudan by the country’s National Security Service.

“23 January 2020 marks three years when Dong Samuel, a human rights lawyer and former Secretary-General of the South Sudan Law Society was kidnapped in Nairobi, Kenya. Like Dong too, on 24 January 2017, Aggrey Idri, Chairman of the Humanitarian wing of the South Sudan’s main opposition Movement the SPLM/A-IO was abducted. Several indicators show that South Sudan national security officers with the help of their Kenyan security counterpart were behind their disappearances,” the group said in its statement.

SSHURSA said, “In late 2019, a UN human rights report painted a bleak picture that South Sudan security executed the two men on 30 January 2017 at Luri, an army base few kilometres from Capital Juba, just three days after they were spotted at Juba based National Security Blue House, according to the eyewitnesses, most of whom were then held in the same premises. United States has already come out clearly and meted target sanctions on individual South Sudanese.”

The rights group sends a message of condolences to the families and friends of the slain opposition officials for the tragic loss of their loved ones.

“As SSHURSA commemorates this day, it sends condolences to the families of the fallen persons and on this painful day of losing an innocent veteran lawyer and colleague, SSHURSA condemns such inhumanity in the strongest terms.”

The group commends the US Treasury Department for imposing additional sanctions on several officials for their complicity in the killings of Dong and Agrey Idri .

“SSHURSA also welcomes the United States sanctions on individual South Sudanese allegedly implicated in the disappearances of the two South Sudanese veteran activists.”

“SSHURSA calls on South Sudan government to put an end to such barbarity and rein on powerful individuals or groups perpetrating such inhumanity.”

“SSHURSA calls on all those persons and entities working for justice to ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice and face the consequences of their crimes. Like others such as Isaiah Abraham, Julius Moi, Modessa Wiyual among others murdered in Juba, there must be justice for Dong and Aggrey.”