NAIROBI: Internet services in South Sudan were disrupted on Monday and security forces were deployed on the streets, which were quieter than usual as residents sheltered inside after activists had called for protests against President Salva Kiir’s government.
With Kiir scheduled to address lawmakers at parliament’s opening session on Monday morning, a coalition of activist groups reiterated their call on Sunday for public rallies demanding he resign. However, there was no sign early on Monday of major street gatherings in the capital Juba. Some activists told Reuters they were in hiding for security reasons.
Police said the activists had not sought permission to protest, and therefore any large demonstration would be illegal.
“We deployed the forces at least to keep order in case of any problem. Those forces are in the streets for your safety,” police spokesperson Daniel Justin Boulogne said.
In televised remarks to an elite unit on Sunday, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Lt Gen. James Pui Yak said authorities would not “harm anybody” to break up demonstrations.
“They are just going to advise people ... to go on with their normal lives, we don’t want any disruption.”
Residents in Juba told Reuters that as of Sunday evening mobile data was unavailable on the network of South African mobile operator MTN Group, and by Monday morning it was also halted on the network of Kuwait-based operator Zain Group.
Alp Toker, director of NetBlocks, a London-based group that monitors Internet disruptions, said it detected “significant disruption to Internet service in South Sudan beginning Sunday evening, including to leading cellular networks.”
Deputy Information Minister Baba Medan told Reuters he could not comment immediately on the reported shutdown, as he was busy attending the opening of parliament. MTN did not immediately respond to a comment request. A spokesperson for Zain said he was checking with the South Sudan office.
Activist Jame David Kolok, whose Foundation for Democracy and Accountable Governance is one of the groups that called for the demonstration, told Reuters that the Internet shutdown was a sign “the authorities are panicking.”
The activists accuse Kiir’s government of corruption and failing to protect the population or provide basic services. Kiir’s government has repeatedly denied allegations from rights and advocacy groups of abuses and corruption.
Internet disrupted, streets quiet in South Sudan after call for protests
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Internet disrupted, streets quiet in South Sudan after call for protests
Obama deplores lack of shame after Trump racist monkey clip
- The video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on February 5 sparked censure across the US political spectrum
- White House initially rejected “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member and taking it down
WASHINGTON: Former US president Barack Obama criticized a lack of shame and decorum in the country’s political discourse, responding Saturday for the first time to a post on Donald Trump’s social media account that depicted him and first lady Michelle as monkeys.
The video shared on Trump’s Truth Social account on February 5 sparked censure across the US political spectrum, with the White House initially rejecting “fake outrage” only to then blame the post on an error by a staff member and taking it down.
Near the end of a one-minute-long video promoting conspiracies about Trump’s 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, the Obamas — the first Black president and first lady in US history — were shown with their faces on the bodies of monkeys for about one second.
Obama responded to the video for the first time in an interview with left-wing political podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen released Saturday.
“The discourse has devolved into a level of cruelty that we haven’t seen before...Just days ago, Donald Trump put a picture of you, your face on an ape’s body,” Cohen said in the interview.
“And so again, we’ve seen the devolution of the discourse. How do we come back from a place that we have fallen into?“
Without naming Trump, Obama responded by saying the majority of Americans “find this behavior deeply troubling.”
“There’s this sort of clown show that’s happening in social media and on television, and what is true is that there doesn’t seem to be any shame about this among people who used to feel like you had to have some sort of decorum and a sense of propriety and respect for the office, right? That’s been lost.”
Obama predicted such messaging will hurt Trump’s Republicans in midterm elections, that “ultimately, the answer is going to come from the American people.”
Trump has told reporters he stood by the thrust of the video’s claims about election fraud, but that he had not seen the offensive clip at the end.
