Steven Kay, the British lawyer behind the declassified report speaking to media in the Office of the President - credit | Lou Nelson/Eye Radio | April 1, 2022

The British lawyer behind the declassified report has called upon the UN and AU to apologize for denying “coup attempt” in 2013.

Steven Kay disagrees with the African Union report of its commission of enquiry into the South Sudan conflict, stating that there was no evidence of a coup attempt in the country.

In 2014, the AU formed the commission of inquiry headed by the former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, to investigate the abuses.

It indicated that there were organized killings in Juba in mid-December, 2013.

The Obasanjo report detailed the findings of investigators on human rights abuses and war crimes by the parties to the conflict.

Investigators said they found no evidence of a coup attempt, and concluded that the fighting within the Presidential Guards triggered the violence.

It also noted that acts of violence, and gross human rights abuses were orchestrated against civilians in what they say was a ‘state policy’.

However, Steven Kay, the queen’s counsel from the bar of England and Wales, who also has a 25-year experience of international criminal law, says the AU did little to establish facts about the two conflicts in the country.

During a press conference in the Office of the President, Kay said South Sudan deserves an apology from both the UN and the AU.

“The UN institutions, the AU got the facts wrong, they had an opportunity to get the facts right. They were provided with the CD-ROM of these intercepts at the time when they were making their inquiry and obviously didn’t consider them in-depth enough, or listen to them properly,” Kay said.

“So there needs to be an apology there, because that has flavored and colored how people view South Sudan.

“Those conspiring to carry out the coup, they were able to manipulate the international community by allowing them the false impression that there wasn’t a coup attempt.”

The UN, AU and those implicated in the declassified report which was compiled by Steven Kay are yet to comment on the matter.

But at a press conference in Juba early this week, President Kiir assured people who will be found capable of committing atrocities in the two wars of presidential pardon.

He said that the release of the information can allow people to move forward with permanent peace building that will create harmony and prosperity.