South Sudanese family in distress after kin arrested by alleged policemen
Thursday, 9th February 2023
The family of a South Sudanese political and human rights activist is in distress after their kin was arrested and taken to an unknown location over the weekend, and have not heard from him since.
Maurice Mabior Awik Jok, who has been living in Kenya on asylum for the past two years, was arrested at his Kangundo road residence on Saturday, February 4, by armed people claiming to be police officers.
According to Citizen TV, officers from a nearby police post claimed that Mabior had been arrested by detectives from the Kenya Anti-Terror Police Unit.
The ATPU has however denied the claims.
According to Anjelina Aliyet, Mabior’s wife, his husband was trailed home by five men and a woman and demanded that they open the door.
The armed persons who came in two vehicles ransacked the house without uttering a word.
They then confiscated their phones, laptops and other valuables, before handcuffing Mabior.
Days on, Mabior’s family lives in fear of the unknown, and even suspect he may have been taken back to South Sudan, where his life is at risk.
“As family and friends, nobody has confirmed anything to us. For us now, we are thinking of the worst,” said an unnamed friend.
“Maybe he has fallen like the rest of the people that were taken from here in Kenya and he has been assassinated,” the friend added.
Missing Voices Coalition has taken note of Mabior’s disappearance, and hopes Kenyan security agencies will expedite their investigations to find the perpetrators and charge then in a court of law.
We wish to remind the National Police Service and all national security stakeholders that incidents such as these only serve as a step backwards in the country’s efforts to eliminate enforced disappearances.
As prescribed by the Constitution, any persons under investigations by the police should be accorded their full rights, including access to legal representation.
We hope Mabior’s family will be reunited with their kin as soon as possible.
The Coalition pledges to remain attentive to this case until the end.
