Arrested By South Sudan's Opposition Camp And Issues Of The Death Of Ex-Vice President's Bodyguard

The opposition camp of the South Sudanese government said it had misidented its supporters Luka Gathok Nyuon who was killed in detention. Nyuon is said to have been caught in a massive arrest operation by the ruling government apparatus.

The opposition previously said Nyuon, who served as a bodyguard of the opposition leader and aide to the former vice president of Sudan, Riek Machar, was arrested by the authorities and killed in detention.

However, the office of Sudan's opposition leader soon clarified this was wrong. The photo, which is proof of Nyuon's death, is not the current situation in question.

"I just realized that this photo was actually taken a few years ago in a Rumbek prison and not ... (showing) our fallen counterpart," said an opposition party spokesman, SPLA-IO, Lam Paul Gabriel, in a statement, quoted from AFP, Monday 22 September.

However, the opposition was reluctant to provide details about the current condition of the guard.

Sudan's current ruling South Sudanese government led by Sudanese President Salva Kiir has jailed dozens of opposition members in recent months for allegations of fomenting violence in the country.

The opposition said Kiir was trying to consolidate power and effectively destroy the power-sharing agreement in South Sudan in 2018. The deal became the beginning of a five-year civil war that has devastated South Sudan and killed some 400,000 people.

Machar, Kiir's longtime rival, who came from the opposition camp, has been removed from office as vice president of Sudan in the unity government and will stand trial starting Monday today on charges of betrayal and crimes against humanity.

Machar is accused of coordinating with the White Army militia group to attack the South Sudan military base. However, the allegations were denied by his party opposition.

Opposition supporters accused the South Sudanese government of imprisoning more than 100 "officers and officers" who are Machar's colleagues. The detention was often accompanied by violence, including torture, hunger, and refusal of medical treatment.

South Sudan, one of the world's poorest countries, has experienced political, legal and security instabilities since independence from Sudan in 2011.