Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A South Sudanese civil society entity has renewed calls for removal of Sections 54 and 55 of the National Security Service Act, which mandates security agents to arrest and detain citizens without a warrant.
This comes after the Chairperson of the Information Committee of the National Legislative Assembly, John Agany Deng argued that removing the National Security Service’s authority to arrest and detain citizens without a warrant as per sections 54 and 55 of the Act would leave the country vulnerable to instability.
However, Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) said Agany’s remarks contradict the decision of President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar who both agreed in February last year to have sections 54 and 55 of the NSS Act removed.
He said sections 54 and 55 of the NSS Act clashes with the mandate of the police.
According to Yakani, the NSS gathers and analyzes information while the police are traditionally mandate to issues warrant for persons in conflict with any laws.
“The big problems of having section 54 and 55 in the National Security Services is that it makes abuse of rule of law and respect of human rights easy and some criminal minded individuals in the NSS will take advantage of this section for exercising arrest and detention for personal than state purposes,” he observed.
The activist insists the role of the national security be limited to information gathering and analysis while offering recommendations for other government institutions to implement.
“Without Section 54 and 55, our national security services still have greater role to play in securing the stability of the country through pro-active information gathering and analysis and directing other law enforcement agencies to exercise their recommendations without any delay,” he stressed.
Yakani further expressed concerns over respect for human right and rule of law, saying empowering security agents places basic freedoms and rights at risk.
He appealed to lawmakers to champion the opening of civil and political spaces for the growth of good governance and democratic transformation of society.
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