A UN rights commission accuses South Sudan of violations more than a year before the next election

By DENG MACHOL
Associated Press

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — The U.N. Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has accused the country’s National Security Service of threatening media and civil society and undermining prospects for a democratic transition before next year’s election. A new report based on the U.N. commission’s independent investigations in 2023 was released on Thursday. It gives details about attacks on journalists and members of civil society both within and outside the country. The U.N. report says that journalists have been subjected to surveillance, intimidation and human rights violations including arbitrary detention. South Sudan is going through a political transition period after a lengthy civil war. South Sudan’s information minister on Friday dismissed the report as “cut and paste.”