A/HRC/40/CRP.1 The reason given was that Radio Miraya had not acquired a licence to operate in the country, despite the fact that as a part of UNMISS, Radio Miraya falls within the Status of Forces Agreement between the United Nations and South Sudan and therefore does not need to obtain a licence to operate. Despite the Media Authority’s order, Radio Miraya has continued to operate. In May 2018, one of Radio Miraya’s journalists was detained while trying to attend a press briefing by Minister of Information Michael Makuei. He was detained for most of a day by the NSS at its “Blue House” headquarters in Juba and his belongings confiscated during that time. It was reported that his detention had been ordered by the Media Authority as a result of Radio Miraya not having obtained a licence to operate.162 The Media Authority also took over issuing foreign journalist accreditation in February 2017, and over the course of that year confirmed to the UNMISS Human Rights Division that it had denied accreditation to 20 foreign journalists on the basis that it deemed their past reporting to be inaccurate, or the Authority considered them to have disseminated information with the intention of tarnishing the image of South Sudan or inciting violence. 163 The NSS has taken on an increasingly active role in curtailing the freedom of the press. Multiple witnesses reported to the Commission that the NSS has agents in formal and open positions within the Media Authority and it is apparent that the two organizations coordinate operations. This includes transferring detained journalists and their belongings between the two organizations. Further, as early as 2014, there was a designated Director of Information within the NSS who oversaw cases and detention involving media professionals. Multiple witnesses described to the Commission being arrested or detained and having their professional equipment confiscated and searched by NSS agents as a result of their journalistic work in 2018. While the pretext of such detentions was often related to a failure to complete an administrative requirement, in at least one case, it was clear, based on the NSS officer’s line of questioning, that the Media Authority and NSS’s real concern related to the subject matter the journalist was reporting on. In another case, the reason given for a journalist’s arrest by an NSS officer, was: “Your case involved you reporting against the Government… All of your reports on the media were against the Government.”164 In other instances, journalists were threatened by the NSS and other authorities to intimidate them into refraining from publishing particular stories or as a result of having published stories. None of the witnesses the Commission spoke to were given access to a lawyer during their interrogation or detention. Furthermore, in some instances, witnesses were detained in informal locations rather than official offices or detention facilities. Further treatment of issues relating to the arrest and detention of journalists may be found in the section “Securitization of the State: Arbitrary Detention, Forced Disappearance, Torture and Inhuman Treatment”. 6. Political Detainees and “Prisoners of War” Pursuant to the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of 21 December 2017,165 the Khartoum Declaration166 and the R-ARCSS,167 the parties to the conflict are required to immediately release all “prisoners of war”168 and political prisoners. On 9 August 2018, President Kiir issued Republican Order No. 14 of 2018 granting a general amnesty to former First Vice President Riek Machar “and other estranged groups who waged war against the government of the [R]epublic of South Sudan”. Radio Tamazuj, “UN radio journalist released after 5 hours in detention”, 29 May 2018; Eye Radio, “Why Radio Miraya journalist was briefly detained”, 30 May 2018. 163 UNMISS/OHCHR, Report on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression in South Sudan since the July 2016 Crisis, February 2018. 164 Source omitted for protection reasons. 165 Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of 21 December 2017, Article 9 provided that “POWs” were to be released without delay and political detainees were to be released within 14 days. 166 Khartoum Declaration, para. 1. 167 R-ARCSS, para. 2.1.6. 168 The term “prisoners of war” is used to refer to persons detained by the parties, including the SPLA and both factions of the SPLA-IO. 162 28