Aweil Center County Commissioner Alakiir Dut Diing has been accused of illegally detaining two local farmers in an undisclosed location since May 30. Aweil Centre is located in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.
William Ngong Garang, a relative of one of the detained men, told Radio Tamazuj on Wednesday that his 24-year-old relative, Maduok Anguei, and another farmer, Athian Bul, 37, were taken by security forces and have not been seen since May 30.
“I have checked all the police stations in Maper Akot, Aweil and Apada, but there is no trace of them,” Garang said. “Even the National Security Service in Aweil town has tried to contact the commissioner but failed to locate them.”
Garang demanded their immediate release, insisting they should either be formally charged in court or freed, in line with South Sudanese law requiring detainees to appear before a judge within 24 hours.
Garang Dau Kuel, who employed the two men, said they were among 15 farmers working at his agricultural scheme when soldiers from the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) raided the area on May 30. Thirteen escaped, but Anguei and Bul were arrested on Diing’s orders.
Kuel accused the commissioner of attempting to seize his farmland for years.
He said the Aweil High Court ruled in his favor in 2018, but Diing renewed efforts to evict him after becoming commissioner.
“I have witnesses who can confirm I’ve owned this land since 2012,” Kuel said.
Marko Guot Ujieth, chairperson of the Aweil Center County Farmers Union, said authorities formed an investigation committee but provided no further details.
Diing, however, claimed the detained men were actually SSPDF soldiers who had assaulted another farmer and fired live bullets. She said they were being held at a military base in Aweil but did not say when they would face court proceedings or be released.
“They were working as farmers but attacked a neighbor with knives and shot into the air,” she told Radio Tamazuj.
Local officials have not commented further on the case.
Under South Sudan’s laws, all detainees – whether arrested by the police or the security services – are accorded basic rights. The constitution provides that the person should be taken before a court within 24 hours of arrest. South Sudan’s criminal laws say pretrial detention should not exceed six months, unless extended by a court order.
The International Covenant on Civic and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which South Sudan is party, allows pretrial detention only as an exception and says that it should be as short as possible and that defendants should be tried without undue delay.