{"id":29743,"date":"2026-09-30T10:17:21","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T10:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/?p=29743"},"modified":"2026-09-30T10:17:21","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T10:17:21","slug":"human-rights-watch-says-south-sudanese-critic-remains-detained-in-uae-one-year-after-arrest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/?p=29743","title":{"rendered":"Human Rights Watch Says South Sudanese Critic Remains Detained in UAE One Year After Arrest"},"content":{"rendered":"

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (HRNW)<\/strong> \u2014 Human Rights Watch is calling for the release of South Sudanese political commentator Samuel Peter Oyay, who remains detained in the United Arab Emirates one year after his arrest without publicly disclosed charges.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch said on September 30 that Oyay was arrested in the UAE on September 30, 2025.<\/p>\n

The organization said Emirati authorities have not publicly disclosed the legal basis for his detention.<\/p>\n

According to Human Rights Watch, Oyay’s family has also not been informed of the legal grounds for his continued imprisonment.<\/p>\n

Oyay is a political commentator who has discussed political developments in South Sudan and the wider region.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch said his detention raises concerns about the treatment of political critics and the rights of people held without clear legal proceedings.<\/p>\n

The organization said Oyay’s case is particularly significant because the UAE has previously detained foreign nationals whose political activities were viewed as sensitive.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch called on UAE authorities to immediately clarify the legal basis for the detention.<\/p>\n

If authorities intend to prosecute Oyay, the organization said he should be promptly charged with a recognizable criminal offense and receive a fair trial.<\/p>\n

If there is no lawful basis for holding him, Human Rights Watch called for his immediate release.<\/p>\n

The organization also urged authorities to ensure that detainees are able to communicate with their families and have access to legal representation.<\/p>\n

The case comes amid continuing scrutiny by international rights organizations of restrictions on political expression in the UAE.<\/p>\n

Human Rights Watch said governments should not use detention to silence peaceful political commentary or criticism.<\/p>\n

The organization is also calling for greater transparency concerning Oyay’s whereabouts and legal status.<\/p>\n

One year after his arrest, the case remains unresolved publicly, according to Human Rights Watch.<\/p>\n

Support Appeal<\/h3>\n

HRNW appeals to readers, civil society organizations, governments and human-rights supporters to strengthen independent human-rights journalism and public awareness through the World’s No.1 dedicated Human Rights News Agency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Support HRNW \u2013 World’s No.1 dedicated Human Rights News Agency<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclaimer<\/h3>\n

This article is based on Human Rights Watch’s September 30, 2026 reporting concerning Samuel Peter Oyay. Information regarding his detention and the concerns raised about his legal status are attributed to Human Rights Watch and have not been independently verified by HRNW.<\/p>\n

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<\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (HRNW) \u2014 Human Rights Watch is calling for the release of South Sudanese political commentator Samuel Peter Oyay, who remains detained in the United Arab Emirates one year after his arrest without publicly disclosed charges. Human Rights Watch said on September 30 that Oyay was arrested in the UAE on…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":29744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ngos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29745,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29743\/revisions\/29745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hrnww.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}