A/HRC/40/CRP.1 transferred to NSS headquarters in Juba in January 2017, in effect a refoulement.393 The UN Panel of Experts on South Sudan documented information on individuals suspected to be connected to their disappearance.394 In a meeting with the Government of South Sudan, the Commission raised the issue of the transfer and removal of Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Izbon Idris from Kenya, however, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation denied having any knowledge of their whereabouts, stating that the Commission should make inquiries of the Government of Kenya.395 Nonetheless, at least eight witnesses to whom the Commission spoke indicated that they saw Aggrey Izbon Idris and/or Dong Samuel Luak in NSS custody in South Sudan shortly after they disappeared in Nairobi. The Commission has also documented other instances of South Sudanese refugees in Uganda and Kenya being surveilled, detained, and questioned by the Ugandan and Kenyan authorities, as well as seeing South Sudanese security agents operating in these countries. Numerous witnesses told the Commission that they continue to feel insecure in these countries and some report continuously relocating for their safety. 2. Profiles of Detainees and Reasons for Detention The vast majority of those taken into security-related detention are men who are on average in their mid-30s. Almost all cases documented by the Commission involved Nuer or Equatorian detainees, though a number were also of Shilluk and Fertit ethnicities. A few of those detained were also foreign nationals. The Commission has also documented a number of cases of women being arrested and detained by the NSS and SPLA Military Intelligence, including pregnant women. However, there appear to be far fewer cases of women being detained. In most instances, women were reported to have been held separately from the male detainees. Additionally, there have been at least two instances of children reportedly under the age of 15 being held in the NSS Blue House and SPLA Giada military prison. The profiles of people detained by the NSS and SPLA Military Intelligence differ to some degree. Those detained by the NSS have included human rights and civil society activists, community leaders, journalists, academics, political opposition members, and prominent business people, as well as a number of their own NSS officers and members of other security services including the SPLA. Additionally, a number of those detained by the NSS are, or have been, national employees of international organisations including the United Nations and NGOs. Arrests undertaken by the NSS appear to be generally more targeted, as demonstrated by monitoring and surveillance of suspects before their arrest, arresting people at their homes, and verifying their names upon arrest. One detainee told the Commission: We continued our work in human rights advocacy and documentation, but the Government of South Sudan started to crack down on human rights activists. I received threatening messages and phone calls asking whether I was documenting human rights violations […], so I suspected the Government was monitoring my activities. At least twice, unidentified callers tried to intimidate me by saying they would find me and arrest or kill me. I also learned that the National Security Service (NSS) had even sent officers to my house a few times to ask the neighbours about me, but I was not home at the time.396 Although almost none of those arrested and detained by the NSS were charged or informed of the reasons for their arrests, over the course of interrogations some of the reasons for their arrests emerged through questions put to them and comments made by the NSS officers. These reasons included having documented and disseminated information about human rights violations, providing information to the international community, publicly criticizing the government, mobilizing communities, refusing to accept particular official jobs or to support particular government positions, and having contact with, or being perceived to, support opposition groups. UN Security Council, Final report of the Panel of Experts on South Sudan, S/2017/326, 13 April 2017; Radio Tamazuj, “Family urges President Kiir to release Dong Samuel”, 18 November 2018. 394 UN Security Council, Final report of the Panel of Experts on South Sudan, S/2017/326, 13 April 2017. 395 Meeting with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Juba, 7 December 2018. 396 Witness 916, ERN 102112-102125. 393 56