Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro, the minister of Cabinet Affairs - Credit: Office of the President Press Unit - August 2022

The weaknesses in the country’s security sector should not be interpreted as a government policy to abuse its citizens, Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro the Minister of Cabinet Affairs has said.

The official said the country with the improper security sector is still building institutions from zero.

He was commenting on the yearly reports by the UN Human Rights Council about the continuous human rights violations in the country where violators go unpublished.

Dr. Martin Elia described South Sudan as a “nascent” country, which is still establishing itself.

“This country is nascent, it is a new country, and doesn’t have a properly established security sector that we are still building even the unified force,” he said.

“We expect certain weaknesses in the system, and those weaknesses should not be construed to be a government policy to abuse its own citizens after a long, long period of liberation,” he added

Last month, the UN Human Rights Council for South Sudan called on the  leaders to end attacks on civilians and prioritize peaceful and just transition.

The commission said it for years documented repeated human rights violations and it is still shocked by the sexual violence and continuing attacks against civilians.

It added that extrajudicial killings also continued, implicating senior State officials, who have enjoyed impunity even where the crimes have been caught on camera.