Executive Summary

This report provides new insights into the surveillance capacity of the Government of South Sudan and the impact of how this is abusively deployed without safeguards. Cumulatively, electronic and physical surveillance –both in practice and perception –have created a pervasive climate of fear and self-censorship. While many human rights defenders continue to courageously work within the limits of this repressive environment, free speech is fraught with danger. Women human rights defenders face the dual challenge of threats and intimidation in public and private spheres and are perceived by most South Sudanese men to have transgressed gendered social norms.

The report is based on 63 interviews conducted in South Sudan, Uganda, Kenyaand remotely between January 2019 to November 2020. Interviewees included South Sudanese civil society members including human rights defenders, journalists and faith-based leaders, as well as lawyers and judges, academics and former detainees. Amnesty International also interviewed former employees of private security and telecommunications companies operating in South Sudan with expert knowledge and first-hand experience of surveillance infrastructure, as well as international non-governmental organizations (NGO) and United Nations (UN) staff, journalists and diplomats. The organization reviewed documentary evidence of surveillance equipment.