IGAD: Detainees say their release not prerequisite for South Sudan ceasefire

The detainees accused by South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir for an attempted coup have told the mediators of IGAD that their status should not be an obstacle to reaching an agreement on cessation of hostilities.In Addis Ababa, the negotiators on behalf of former Vice President Riek Machar repeated their demand first to release the detainees before signing a ceasefire agreement. But President Salva Kiir has refused their release before finishing a legal process against politicians accused of high treason.On his return from a visit to South Sudan late on Wednesday, the IGAD mediators said that they had a successful meeting with the detainees after holding ‘candid discussions on the crisis’. In this statement the IGAD mediators say: “In light of the ongoing peace talks in Addis Ababa, the detainees expressed their support to the talks on unconditional cessation of hostilities and further stated that their status as detainees should not be an impediment to reaching an agreement on cessation of hostilities.”The Chairman of the IGAD Mediation Team Seyoum Mesfin and IGAD Special Envoys General Lazaro Sumbeiywo regarded their mission to Juba on Monday and Tuesday as ‘fruitful’.President Kiir had suggested to the mediators of IGAD to move the peace talks from Addis Ababa to Juba in order to allow the detained politicians to participate in the peace talks while remaining in custody. During the day they would be allowed to join the meetings, but every evening they been brought back in detention, the presidential spokesman Ateny Wek said Wednesday.He repeated that the president still accuses the detainees for high treason and an attempted coup. “And in a sovereign country the law should prevail”.  He added that his proposal to find a place in the compound of the UN in Juba had been rejected by the group loyal to the former vice-president Riek Machar. “They say they would not be able to come to Juba risking an arrest.  That means that they admit that they were part and parcel of the coup attempt”.Amongst the list of politicians being accused for attempting a coup is the Machar-delegation leader, Taban Deng. The IGAD, USQA and UN have asked for the release of the prisoners considering them political detainees.The Presidential spokesman added today that local newspapers would be prosecuted for publishing stories that describe the killings after December 15 as genocide. He said such opinions constitute a crime.File photo: Detained and dismissed Secretary General of the SPLM, Pagan Amum (Gurtong)