NP’s Role in the Release of Two Minors from Detention
On 11th February 2021, two minors – aged 13 and 14 – were released from their prolonged detention in Mundri Town’s government barracks. The release of these minors is a testament to NP and its Mundri team’s dedication to Unarmed Civilian Protection, the trust the community vested in the organization, and NP’s successful collaboration with the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMVM) in ensuring the implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Act (CoH).
It was in July 2020 when two minors from the Mbara community were abducted. NP was immediately informed of the situation after the uncle of these minors reached out to NP to report the case. A commander from Mundri area – whom NP maintained a good relation with also confirmed the case when he told NP that the minors were going to Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Although the said commander mentioned that he would try and return them to their families, after their movement to DRC the NP team lost contact with him. As the Western Equatorial State is a hotspot for forced recruitment, the NP team was certain that these minors had been forcibly recruited. Despite the challenges in tracking their whereabout, community members and the uncle kept NP informed of any changes in the situation. By the end of 2020, the uncle informed NP that the two minors had returned to Mbara.
On the 18th of January 2021, NP received report that the same two minors were suspected of orchestrating a robbery in the Mbara area. The soldiers’ suspicions about the robbery were compounded by their recent return from DRC and the assumption of them being members of an organized armed group. They were detained in the barracks in Mbara and later moved to the Mundri Town barracks for further interrogation.
By this point, the NP team had informed Juba of the severity of the situation. As a result, on the 22nd of January, NP managed to arrange an in-person meeting with the CTSAMVM office in Juba to report the case. Before NP's referral, CTSAMVM had not heard of this situation, they put the NP team in contact with the CTSAMVM Yambio office and both the NP Juba team and Mundri team communicated with the Yambio team and kept them informed of any developments. The minors were still detained at the barracks when CTSAMVM officials came to Mundri at the beginning of February.
Based on NP's referral, CTSAMVM came to Mundri to assess the situation and had a meeting with the NP team on 4th February to understand the context and get clarity on the sequence of events and plan further. Because the NP team had been in contact with community members and had monitored the case since July 2020, they provided CTSAMVM with a thorough briefing, resulting in immediate action. The following week, on the 11th of February, in the presence of the local Chiefs, the minors were released into the custody of their families as result of joint efforts by NP and partners.
It was predominantly through the communities’ trust in NP that they continued to inform NP of the situation, it was through meetings and community networks that the commander, despite his actions, reported the abducted and movements of the minors to NP.
Due to NP’s continuous engagement with the case and solid understanding of the situation, it was possible to share relevant information to CTSAMVM. This was possible through years of relationship building and community engagement.
Due to the efforts of numerous actors, the two children are now back with their families and receiving the support they need. NP's commitment to the communities, strong relationships, community engagement and collaboration with CTSAMVM played a significant part in achieving this.