Thousands of residents from a camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Bentiu, the capital of Unity State, staged a peaceful demonstration on Thursday morning to demand the immediate release of First Vice President Riek Machar and seven other members of his political party who are facing trial.
Machar, the 73-year-old leader of the opposition SPLM-IO, was placed under house arrest in Juba on March 26. He is now suspended and faces charges in a special court over his alleged role in a March attack by a militia group on an army base in Nasir County, Upper Nile state, that officials say killed more than 250 soldiers.
Machar returned to Juba and formed a transitional government with President Salva Kiir after signing a 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war. The conflict, which began in 2013, drove thousands of citizens into U.N.-protected sites, which have since become permanent IDP camps like the one in Bentiu.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj, demonstrators also called on the government to fully implement the 2018 peace agreement and establish a hybrid court to try war crimes committed during the civil wars, arguing that the current special court is illegitimate.
“The peace agreement provides for the establishment of a hybrid court to handle all crimes committed since 2013,” said Gatnyang Tap, a representative of the camp’s high committee. “We are calling on the international community and United Nations to stop this special court, this kangaroo court.”
Another protester, Peter Nhial, called for the full implementation of the 2018 peace agreement and linked Machar’s detention in Juba to broader regional issues, calling for the withdrawal of Ugandan forces from South Sudan.
Sarah Nyabuor, a former camp official, said the detention of the SPLM-IO leaders has stalled the peace process. “We were thinking that we should go back home, but now nobody is going back home because Machar and seven other members are detained in Juba,” she said.
One demonstrator, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, called for President Salva Kiir to step down. “Enough is enough for citizens to suffer under his leadership,” the protester said.
A representative of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) in Bentiu, Ojong Ojong, addressed the crowd and urged the demonstrators to remain peaceful. He confirmed that a protest letter would be passed to the head of the UNMISS field office.
The demonstration followed a week of school closures within the camp, which residents said was a form of protest against the court proceedings in Juba.