By Philip Buda Ladu<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sudan People’s Liberation Movement\/Army in Opposition (SPLM\/A-IO) has announced an immediate freeze of its participation in key peace implementation mechanisms, citing the continued “illegal detention” of its members and escalating political tensions.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In a press statement issued by Deputy Chairman Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, the SPLM\/A-IO declared it would suspend its involvement in the Joint Defense Board (JDB), High Level Political Committee (HLPC), Joint Military Ceasefire Committee (JMCC), and Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC) until all political detainees are unconditionally released.<\/p>\n The move comes after Minister of Information, Michael Makuei Lueth, confirmed the detention of prominent SPLM\/A-IO members, including Puot Kang Chol, Gen. Gabriel Duop Lam, Hon. Gatwech Lam Puoch, Camilo Gatmai Kel, and 19 others.<\/p>\n The SPLM\/A-IO also condemned Makuei\u2019s confirmation of the presence of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) in South Sudan and his “relentless ethnic profiling”.<\/p>\n “After a thorough assessment of the credibility and composition of the Mechanisms, Political and Security environment of the Peace Implementation Mechanisms, and after wide consultation, all the participation of the members of the said Security and Political mechanisms is hereby frozen with immediate effect until all the SPLM\/SPLA-IO Political Detainees are unconditionally released,” Oyet stated.<\/p>\n The main opposition party holds the SPLM-IG and security apparatus responsible for the safety of the detainees and condemns the “harassment, arrest and detention of peacemakers, peace mediators, peace messengers, and humanitarian workers.”<\/p>\n The SPLM\/A-IO further accused the government of failing to protect its citizens, leading to the proliferation of community vigilante groups.<\/p>\n The deputy chairman called upon the African Union, United Nations, Troika, European Union, IGAD Partners Forum, and C5 Countries to protect civilians in South Sudan and to reject the “ethnic profiling” by government officials.<\/p>\n He also referenced the African Union Commission Report on South Sudan (The Obasanjo Report) and demanded accountability for those committing atrocities and human rights violations.<\/p>\n The presence of the UPDF in South Sudan was described by the SPLM\/A-IO as a “men’s rea (intention) and preparation for war,” complicating the geopolitical situation and representing a “declaration of War on the peace partners and the people of South Sudan.”<\/p>\n Riek Machar\u2019s party declared that Juba is “increasingly unsafe” for its members and that its Chairman and Commander-in-Chief is under “political witch-hunts and confinement,” further escalating tensions.<\/p>\n Puok Both Balaung, the acting press secretary in the office of first vice president Riek Machar endorsed the statement issued by the SPLM\/A-IO deputy chairman, Oyet Nathaniel Pierino as the official position of the party.<\/p>\n \u201cGiven that the ceasefire has been violated by the SPLM-IG\/SSPDF and that members of the SPLM\/A-IO leadership and its representatives to the peace agreement mechanisms are either arbitrarily detained or unavailable, the mechanisms are effectively paralyzed\u201d Both stated on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n \u201cAs such, the statement made by the Rt. Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, Deputy Chairman of the SPLM\/A-IO, is in order\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Mr. Oyet noted that the SPLM\/A-IO members will only attend RJMEC Plenary Sessions to confirm the release of their colleagues.<\/p>\n Addressing the media on Monday at a press conference in Juba, information minister and government spokesman, Michael Makuei Lueth said the\u00a0immunity of the detained SPLM\/A-IO constitutional post holders had been lifted and that they would face legal proceedings.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the detainees are constitutional post holders, and their immunities are lifted. They will all be investigated and tried according to the law and shall be entitled to all their constitutional and legal rights,\u201d Makuei told reporters.<\/p>\n According to Makuei the officials from the main armed opposition Sudan People\u2019s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) were being detained, over accusation of involvement in recent clashes in Nasir County of Upper Nile State.<\/p>\n It was however unclear whether President Salva Kiir had issued a formal order lifting the immunities of the detained constitutional post holders.<\/p>\n The arrests follow clashes earlier this month between the White Army militia historically associated with the SPLM-IO, and the South Sudan People\u2019s Defense Forces (SSPDF).<\/p>\n The fighting led to killing of the SSPDF area commander\u00a0Lt. Gen. David Majur Dak, among others prompting government retaliation with aerial bombardment that started Sunday night.<\/p>\n Initial reports put the death toll to 20 civilians including women and children under five. This exacerbates the security situation in Upper Nile.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Philip Buda Ladu Sudan People’s Liberation Movement\/Army in Opposition (SPLM\/A-IO) has announced an immediate freeze of its participation in key peace implementation mechanisms, citing the continued “illegal detention” of its members and escalating political tensions. In a press statement issued by Deputy Chairman Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, the SPLM\/A-IO[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":34123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Oyet-Nathaniel-Pierino-the-Deputy-Chairman-of-SPLM-IO-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34124,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34121\/revisions\/34124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}