Activists on Saturday called on South Sudanese authorities to clarify the fate and whereabouts of an opposition critic who was allegedly detained in Kenya on February 4 by South Sudanese government actors and forcibly returned to his home country before disappearing into custody.

International human rights organization Amnesty International and legal justice group the Pan-African Lawyers Union have both demanded transparency in the case of Morris Mabior Awikjok Bak amid a reported surge in extraterritorial arrests by South Sudan’s National Security Service (NSS).

Morris Mabior Awikjok Bak is a former civil servant who publicly criticized South Sudan’s democratic institutions and the strength of the rule of law in the country. The official-turned-activist fled to Kenya in 2021 to seek refuge after provoking the ire of powerful local authorities, including NSS leadership, according to PALU. The regional organization alleged in a statement that the activist was unlawfully detained in his Nairobi apartment on February 4, before being forced back to the South Sudanese capital of Juba, where he remains arbitrarily detained and incommunicado, the organization reported.

It is further believed that to date Morris remains arbitrarily detained, incommunicado, at the headquarters of the South Sudan National Security Service (NSS), also known as the ‘Blue House’. All this has made his family, friends and associates extremely concerned that his life may be in danger or that he may be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.

PALU’s advocacy efforts received the backing of Amnesty International, with Deputy Regional Director for East and Southern Africa Flavia Mwangovya saying in a statement:

What happened to Morris Mabior Awikjok Bak matches a broader pattern of abductions and illegal transfers of South Sudanese refugees from neighboring countries by South Sudan’s National Security Service(NSS). This case brings back haunting memories of the enforced disappearance in Kenya and alleged extrajudicial killings in South Sudan of South Sudanese human rights lawyer and activist Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Ezbon Idri, a member of the political opposition.