A/HRC/40/CRP.1 Meanwhile, arrests and detentions by SPLA Military Intelligence, appear, generally, to be less targeted to people’s professions and professional activities and more to their general profiles of being young men perceived to be supporters of the opposition on the basis of their ethnicity, place of origin and age. Many of those taken into custody were farmers, small businessmen, and boda-boda drivers, while a number of people arrested by SPLA Military Intelligence appear to have been rounded up almost at random. Broad sweeps conducted by Military Intelligence appear to have peaked in December 2013 and July 2016 in Juba, but also notably around the times when peace agreements or ceasefires were on the verge of being signed. Nonetheless, the SPLA Military Intelligence has also been involved in the arrest of some people with the same profiles as those described above as being those targeted by the NSS, including journalists and community leaders. Taken together, the profiles of the people detained by the NSS and the reasons for their arrests demonstrate a concerted effort by the NSS to clamp down on public discourse, criticism of the government, and on those whose voices might lend support to the opposition. Meanwhile, the SPLA Military Intelligence has worked as a blunter tool to intercept those who might be expected to join the opposition based their general profiles. Both these undertakings are deeply concerning and must be brought to an end if South Sudan is to develop into an open and free society and to engage in meaningful reconciliation. 3. Lack of Due Process The Transitional Constitution (2011) and the Code of Criminal Procedure Act (2008) provide for essential due process and fair trial rights. The Transitional Constitution provides the essential fair trial rights, including the rights to be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for the arrest and to be promptly informed of any charges; to be released on bond or produced before a court within 24 hours of arrest; to a fair and public hearing by a competent court of law; be tried in his or her presence in any criminal trial without undue delay; to defend himself or herself in person or through a lawyer of his or her own choice or to have legal aid assigned to him or her by the government where he or she cannot afford a lawyer to defend him or her in any serious offence.397 Likewise, the Code of Criminal Procedure Act provides that an arrested person shall always be entitled to contact his or her advocate. 398 These rights are also well established in international human rights law.399 Upon being arrested and detained, hardly any of the victims the Commission spoke to, when detained by the NSS or SPLA Military Intelligence, were informed of the reasons for their arrest at the time of their arrest, or thereafter formally charged, brought before a judge, or given access to a lawyer. Some detainees were reportedly detained for over four years without being charged, tried, or given access to a lawyer. While there are a very few public examples of high-profile detainees being charged and tried, they remain a tiny minority. The two notable examples are James Gatdet Dak, former press secretary to former First Vice President Riek Machar, and South African William Endley, a former adviser to former First Vice President Riek Machar. James Gatdet Dak was unlawfully arrested in Nairobi, Kenya on 2 November 2016 and deported to Juba despite having been granted refugee status by Kenya,400 in violation of the principle of non-refoulement found in the Convention on the Status of Refugees of 1951. He was detained by the NSS for over nine months before being charged and tried for treason, publishing or communicating false statements prejudicial to South Sudan, and undermining authority of or insulting the President.401 James Gatdet Dak was convicted and sentenced to 397 Transitional Constitution (2011), Article 19. Code of Criminal Procedure Act (2008), section 93(2). 399 See e.g. Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment, General Assembly Resolution 43/173 (9 December 1988); African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Principles and guidelines on the right to fair trial and legal assistance in Africa (2003); African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Guidelines on the Conditions of Arrest, Police Custody and Pre-Trial Detention in Africa (2014). 400 UNHCR, News comment by UNHCR’s Spokesperson, Cécile Pouilly, on the return of Mr James Gatdet Dak to South Sudan, 4 November 2016; Convention on the Status of Refugees of 1951 and Protocol 1967, Article 33(1) 401 Penal Code Act (2008), sections 64, 75, 76. 398 57