January 24, 2018
President of the Republic of South Sudan Silva Kiir Mayardit
c/o Permanent Mission of the Republic of South Sudan to the United Nations
336 East 45th Street, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10017, USA
Minister for National Security in the Office of the President Obuto Mamur Mete
c/o Permanent Mission of the Republic of South Sudan to the United Nations
336 East 45th Street, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10017, USA
President of the Republic of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta
Office of the President
Harambee Avenue, Nairobi
Your Excellency:
Re: Detention and Disappearance of Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Idri
Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) is a committee of lawyers, students and academics who campaign internationally for advocacy rights, advocates in danger, and on rule of law issues. We also engage in legal research and education about international human rights law. I am a lawyer and a partner of a law firm in Canada, Cohen Highley LLP, and I am writing to you to ask that you intervene with respect to proceedings involving the above named individuals.
On June 1, 2017 we wrote to you about Dong Samuel Luak who went missing in January of 2017. Mr. Aggrey Idri also went missing on or about January 24, 2017. Both men were taken to a facility at the National Security Service (NSS) in Juba, South Sudan on January 25, 2017. The whereabouts of both men and their fate remain unknown a year later.
Consistent with our previous correspondence, we urge the authorities of South Sudan to do the following:
- immediately disclose the fate and whereabouts of Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Idri;
- make public the reasons for their continued detention if they are in custody and, unless a legal basis for continued detention can be demonstrated, release them without delay;
- ensure that Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Idri are not subjected to torture and other ill-treatment while in detention;
- grant Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Idri access to adequate medical care, access to lawyers of their own choosing, and allow visits from their family members; and,
- conduct a thorough, impartial and effective investigation into the enforced disappearances of Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Idri and ensure those responsible are held to account.
We demand that the whereabouts of Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Idri be revealed and that they be released immediately.
Yours Very Truly,
Joe Hoffer
Sudan Monitor, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada
Copied to:
His Excellency Garang Diing Akuong
Ambassador for the Republic of South Sudan
1015 31st Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20007, USA
Fax: 1 202 293 7941
Inspector General of Kenyan Police
Joseph Boinnet
Office of the Inspector General
Kenya National Police service
4th Floor, Jogoo House ‘A’, Taifa Road
P O Box 44249-00100
Nairobi, Kenya
Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
Mr. Bernard Duhaime
Mr. Tae-Ung Baik
Ms. Houria Es-Slami
Mr. Henrikas Mickevicius
Mr. Luciano A. Hazan
wgeid@ohchr.org
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
Mr. Michel Forst
defenders@ohchr.org
Special Rapporteur on the independence of the judges and lawyers
Mr. Diego Garcia-Sayan
SRindependenceJL@ohchr.org
