Utilization of the outcomes of special investigative activities in South Sudan: an analysis between operational reality and european human rights standards

URL: https://dspace.academy.police.md/utilization-of-the-outcomes-of-special-investigative-activities-in-south-sudan-an-analysis-between-operational-reality-and-european-human-rights-standards/

Data: 2026

South Sudan is the last country globally to declare its independence, on July 9, 2011. Constantly situated within the context of interstate civil wars and interethnic and intertribal conflicts, its legislative progress advances slowly, characteristic of a state at the beginning of its journey, with normative gaps and, often, with violations of fundamental human rights. Like any state seeking to protect national security against terrorism, organized crime, espionage, and other such threats, South Sudan established, in 2014, the National Security Service (NSS), granting it extensive powers to conduct special investigative activities for the prevention and combating of offenses against the state. Although the NSS Act authorizes the conduct of such special activities, including undercover investigations, the execution of searches, the monitoring of correspondence, and the gathering of information for the protection of the state, the utilization of their outcomes remains constrained by limited coordination with the National Police Service and other judicial authorities. These institutions, in addition to having insufficient professional training, lack bilateral protocols or other instruments of interinstitutional cooperation, which frequently leads to violations of fundamental human rights and of the right to a fair trial. This research aims to reflect on the convergence between the operational reality regarding the special investigative activities in South Sudan and European jurisprudence on human rights guarantees.