One-Year Anniversary: Kerbino Wol, the Good Citizen of South Sudan, Deserves His Freedom Now

One-Year Anniversary of the Arrest of Kerbino Wol: The piece describes the ongoing case of Kerbino Wol, who stands on trial in Juba, alongside Peter Biar Ajak and 5 other defendants, for the 7 October protest at the Blue House. Tomorrow, 27 April, marks exactly one year since the unlawful arrest of Kerbino Wol. 

By Dr. Robert A. Portada III, Pennsylvania, USA

South Sudanese businessman, Kerbino Wol Agok, and South Sudanese PhD student, Peter Biar Ajak

Friday, April 26, 2019 (PW) — One year ago, on 27 April 2018, Kerbino Wol, the young, South Sudanese entrepreneur and philanthropist, was arrested without charge and incarcerated at the Blue House, the headquarters of the National Security Service (NSS).

Following his unlawful arrest, Kerbino was subjected to torturous conditions.  He has been accosted in his cell in the dead of night by masked agents threatening his disappearance.  Injuries to his kidneys from these struggles left him urinating blood for several weeks.  He would spend months in solitary confinement, nursing his wounds on his own without access to medical care.  Kerbino’s requests to meet with his family and lawyers were repeatedly denied. 

Kerbino Wol

He frequently went days (often consecutively) without receiving any food, only to learn later on that his relatives had been bringing food to the facility for him, which was instead eaten by officers of the NSS.  Kerbino has suffered from typhoid, ulcers, and malnutrition, leaving him in a frail condition that was only alleviated by an emergency visit to a clinic in February.  

Through all of this, he has lived in fear of being abused and abducted by agents of the NSS.