South Sudan - August 2024

Despite international pressure and objections from opposition parties, the controversial law allowing the country’s National Security Service (NSS) to conduct warrantless arrests was enacted by default after President Salva Kiir’s decision not to sign or veto it. On 3 July, South Sudan’s parliament passed the amended National Security Services Act, criticized for granting broad powers to NSS, including arrest and detention without court oversight for ‘crimes against the state’, a vaguely worded provision that critics argue is often used to suppress freedoms of expression, assembly, and association. The bill also grants the government extensive surveillance capabilities, raising fears of further shrinking of civic space.

Sources: International IDEA, Radio Tamazuj, The Associated Press