November 20, 2017 (KAMPALA) - A coalition of South Sudanese activists in the diaspora has called for the “unconditional” release of rebel leader Riek Machar, who is currently confined in South Africa.

South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar addresses a news conference in Uganda’s capital Kampala January 26, 2016 (Reuters photo)

The group, in a statement, urged the South African authorities, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), African Union (AU), European Union and United Nations to work towards ensuring the “immediate” release of South Sudan’s former First Vice President.

“The detention of Machar in South Africa is inconsistent with international values, ideals and norms set forth in the declaration of the rights and duties of man and in the Universal Declaration of Human Right which has been reaffirmed and refined as well in the regional scope,” partly reads the statement Sudan Tribune obtained.

The South Sudanese rebel leader was forced into exile in South Africa since October 2016, when he traveled to Pretoria for medical treatment in the wake of renewed violence in the war-torn country.

The decision to confine Machar was reportedly reached by member nations of the regional bloc (IGAD) with involvement of the United States.

In June this year, however, the exiled former South Sudan First Vice President petitioned the United Nations Security Council to help end his forced confinement in the hands of the South African authorities.

Machar, in the petition to the UN, said he was willing to engage in negotiations for a peaceful resolution of the conflict in South Sudan.

Meanwhile, Wani Santino Jada, a South Sudanese lawyer backed calls for immediate release of the rebel leader from his confinement.

He described the move as “terrorist act” and a “violation” of his personal liberty as a human being with fundamental human rights.

According to Jada, the South African government must openly clarify why the South Sudan rebel leader was until now in detention.

“We are calling upon the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights to investigate the South African government regarding the illegal detention of Machar in their country,” he said.

Machar’s forced asylum, observers say, was to keep him away from South Sudan politics in hopes of preventing renewed hostilities his main rival, President Salva Kiir.

(ST)