NAIROBI – South Sudan government should uphold due process for opposition leader and First Vice President Riek Machar, other opposition members, and affiliates facing charges, and ensure prompt, fair, and public trials that meet international standards, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
The rights watchdog said if due process and fair trials are not guaranteed, the detainees should be released unconditionally.
Machar was placed under house arrest on March 26, 2025, following a severe political crises sparked by armed clashes between the army and local armed youths in Nasir, Upper Nile State. In Juba, the National Security Service (NSS) and Military Intelligence also arrested over 20 political and military members and affiliates of Machar’s party.
On September 11, the justice minister announced that 21 individuals—8 of whom were under arrest, including Machar—were charged with serious crimes including murder, treason, and crimes against humanity.
“For six months, the South Sudanese authorities have confined key opposition leader Riek Machar without any legal basis and held him and other opposition figures incommunicado,” said Nyagoah Tut Pur, South Sudan researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“Bringing serious charges after arbitrarily detaining and silencing opposition voices does not build confidence that detainees will receive impartial public hearings that fully respect their right to a fair trial.”
Machar’s house arrest followed weeks of violence between armed youth known as the White Army and government forces in Nasir, Upper Nile state, a Machar stronghold.
On March 4, the White Army attacked a government military base and Nasir town and on March 7, armed men attacked a United Nations helicopter, killing a crew member, which the UN said may constitute a war crime.
At a March 28 new conference, the information minister said that Machar was arrested for “encouraging his forces to rebel” and that the restrictions were “pending investigations.”
Fighting between government forces and its allied militias and the White Army, SPLA-IO, and other armed groups has continued to escalate, with the government bombarding populated areas, which Human Rights Watch found may amount to war crimes.
Since Machar’s detention, the government has denied requests for access to Machar from embassies and the African Union, which have called for his immediate and unconditional release.
On September 11, the justice minister warned international actors that judicial proceedings could not be subject to “policy or diplomatic debate.”
On June 8, media reported that security service agents searched Machar’s residence and confiscated the phones, laptop, and internet modem of Machar’s wife, Interior Minister Angelina Teny, effectively cutting her off from external communications, including her ministerial duties.
Teny had not left the residence since Machar’s house arrest. Authorities should immediately return Teny’s devices, allow her unfettered access to Machar, and ensure her safe and free movement, Human Rights Watch said.
Human Rights Watch has previously documented abusive detention practices by both the NSS and Military Intelligence, including torture, ill-treatment, and enforced disappearance.
On September 11, the justice minister announced the “conclusion of investigations into the Nasir incident March 3-7” and that 83 suspects were interrogated, 21 were indicted, 8 were under arrest and charged, 76 were discharged for lack of evidence, and 13 remained at large.
Those charged include Machar, Chol, Duop Lam, Dhuor, Puoch, Gatmai, Mading Riek Yak, and Dominic Gatgok Riak. They are charged with murder, treason, conspiracy and common intention, destruction of public property and military assets, terrorism financing, and crimes against humanity.
President Salva Kiir simultaneously suspended Machar as first vice president and Chol as petroleum minister.
HRW now says authorities should end the incommunicado detentions of other SPLA-IO members and affiliates, including Deputy Governor Isaiah Akhol and Animal Resources Minister Samuel Gai Magok, whom the security service arrested in March in Lakes State after they criticized aerial bombardments in Upper Nile.
Also in detention are Marko Peter Achor, security adviser for Western Bar El Ghazal state, and James Ernest Makuei, Jur River county commissioner, whom security services transferred from their facility in Wau to the Blue House in early March.
“Authorities should also grant independent domestic and international monitors access to all detainees to assess their condition and treatment, and the courts should urgently review the detentions and treatment of the detainees, including how investigations were conducted,” Human Rights Watch said.