Advocate Wani Stephen, Deputy Secretary-General of the South Sudan Bar Association, addresses a workshop on enhancing legal and non-legal measures against hate speech on Tuesday, June 17, 2025 - Michael Daniel/Eye Radio

JUBA, South Sudan (Eye Radio) – A legal expert has warned that South Sudan’s current Penal Code does not contain clear provisions to address hate speech based on ethnicity or tribe, despite a worrying rise in such incidents both online and offline.

Wani Stephen, the Deputy Secretary-General of the South Sudan Bar Association, remarked on the occasion of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech.

He spoke during a three-day Stakeholder Consultation and Capacity Building brought together young people, content creators, media and ICT professionals, and ICT Ministry CSOs to promote inclusion, counter, and prevent hate speech.

Stephen highlighted that the country continues to rely on outdated laws enacted in 2008, when South Sudan was still part of Sudan.

This legal gap, he explained, makes it difficult for law enforcement to effectively prosecute individuals who incite violence or discrimination through their speech, particularly prevalent on social media platforms.

“When we look into our Penal Code Act, there is no clear provision that addresses ethnic hate speech,” Wani Stephen stated. He elaborated that while other provisions attempt to regulate hate speech, they fall short of covering ethnic or tribal incitement.

“For example, Section 75 of the Penal Code Act focuses on inciting inaccurate information against the government, and then we have Chapter 15 of the Penal Code Act that talks about hate speech against religious creed…But there is no clear provision that addresses hate speech against ethnicity, tribe or individuals in South Sudan,” Stephen stated.

“It seems like we copy these sections of the law from Sudan, because it seems like when you talk about the issue of religion, it came from Sudan.”

In a related development, Hon. Oliver Mori Benjamin, a Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Information Committee, informed Eye Radio that the crucial Cybercrime and Computer Misuse Bill has been reintroduced.

The bill is currently at its first reading stage in the National Legislative Assembly. Hon. Mori expressed optimism that once lawmakers return from recess, the bill will be debated and passed into law, potentially offering a modern legal framework to address digital forms of hate speech and other cybercrimes.

The absence of comprehensive legislation specifically targeting ethnic and tribal hate speech poses a significant challenge to social cohesion and peacebuilding efforts in South Sudan, particularly as the nation navigates a complex political landscape and prepares for future elections.