{"id":5050,"date":"2025-05-19T16:34:48","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T14:34:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/?p=5050"},"modified":"2025-05-19T16:34:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-19T14:34:51","slug":"activists-call-for-release-of-opposition-leaders-in-south-sudan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/?p=5050","title":{"rendered":"Activists Call for Release of Opposition Leaders in South Sudan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Juba \u2013 Al-Wadi Newspaper<\/em>
By: Atem Garang<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a strongly worded statement, civil society activists in South Sudan<\/strong> have urged the country\u2019s political leadership to resume dialogue<\/strong> and fully commit to the Revitalized Peace Agreement of 2018<\/strong>, amid ongoing political tensions and growing uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This call comes at a time when violations of the ceasefire<\/strong> between the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Army (SPLA)<\/strong> and allied militias on one side, and the Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement\/Army-In Opposition (SPLM\/A-IO)<\/strong> led by First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar<\/strong> on the other, continue to escalate. Dr. Machar has reportedly been under de facto house arrest<\/strong> imposed by President Salva Kiir<\/strong> since late March.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on Radio Tamazuj\u2019s \u201cPath to Democracy\u201d<\/em> program over the weekend, Edmund Yakani<\/strong>, Executive Director of CEPO (Community Empowerment for Progress Organization)<\/strong>, stated that the country is at a critical crossroads<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe roadmap was extended to allow for key electoral and security reforms. However, the first months of the extended transitional period have passed without any tangible progress \u2014 a deeply worrying sign,\u201d Yakani said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He further emphasized that current developments are “far removed from the provisions of the roadmap,”<\/strong> pointing to the lack of civic education and electoral awareness campaigns<\/strong> as examples of unmet obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yakani called for urgent action on security sector reforms<\/strong>, the creation of free civic and political space<\/strong>, and the allocation of financial resources<\/strong> for pending transitional tasks, stressing that these steps require genuine political will<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expressing concern over the continued detention of opposition leaders<\/strong>, Yakani called for their immediate release<\/strong> as a step toward building trust<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThe threats to democratic transition persist due to the ongoing detention of opposition leaders, which is casting a shadow over the integrity of the upcoming elections,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Yakani warned that the public perception of unfair or manipulated elections<\/strong> would be reinforced by such detentions, which may be used to ensure favorable outcomes<\/strong> for the ruling elites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

\u201cThis lack of trust can be corrected by releasing all political detainees,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He also highlighted that the National Legislative Assembly\u2019s inactivity<\/strong> and the lack of government quorum<\/strong> for over three months have negatively impacted the functionality of governance<\/strong>, especially in relation to election preparations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement from civil society adds to growing pressure on South Sudanese leaders to de-escalate tensions and recommit to a peaceful, democratic transition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Juba \u2013 Al-Wadi NewspaperBy: Atem Garang In a strongly worded statement, civil society activists in South Sudan have urged the country\u2019s political leadership to resume dialogue and fully commit to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5050"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5052,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5050\/revisions\/5052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/derawetmedia.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}