Concern grows for safety of South Sudan vice president facing treason charges

Amnesty International on Friday called for a public trial of a South Sudanese opposition figure facing treason and other criminal charges, in a case that some worry could deepen political tensions in the east African country.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir announced Thursday that he suspended Riek Machar as the country's first vice president, effectively ending the transitional government of unity that forestalled a return to full-blown war.

In addition to treason, Machar and seven others face charges of murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property and military assets and crimes against humanity.

Authorities have kept Machar and his wife under house arrest since March, and concern for his safety is growing because he has not been seen in public for months.

Authorities did not say when Machar’s trial was due to start. “We remind the authorities of their obligation of the right to a public hearing,” Amnesty's regional office said in a statement. “This means that not only the parties and victims in the case, but also the general public, independent observers and the media have the right to be present during criminal trials.”

The charges stem from a violent incident in March when a militia known as the White Army overran a garrison of government troops, killing its commanding officer and others.

The justice ministry has charged that the attack in Nasir, Upper Nile state, was influenced by Machar and others via ”coordinated military and political structures.”

Machar's group, an opposition faction of the ruling party, said it is concerned for his health and safety.

Pal Mai Deng, a spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-In Opposition, said Machar is isolated with no direct access to legal representatives or independent observers.

“We do not know how safe he is," said Deng, a former minister of water and irrigation. Daniel Akech, a senior analyst for South Sudan with the International Crisis Group, told The Associated Press that the case appeared to be “a pretext for a political power struggle.”

“This action has deepened long-standing ethnic cleavages and might lead to a return to civil war along ethnic contours,” he said.

Pro-government troops have been fighting militias and other armed groups that they say are loyal to Machar, who describes Kiir as a dictator reluctant to leave power.

Elections envisaged under the 2018 peace deal have been repeatedly postponed. Observers warn that bringing criminal charges against Machar risks further destabilizing South Sudan.

Both Kiir and Machar were leaders of the rebel movement that secured South Sudan’s independence from Sudan in 2011. They are from rival ethnic groups:

Kiir is from the Dinka, the largest, and Machar is from the Nuer, the second-largest.