The National Security Service (NSS) has come out to deny what it called ‘allegations’ contained in a recent report by The Sentry titled ‘Undercover Activities: Inside the National Security Service’s Profitable Playbook’.

In the report released early this month, The Sentry accused the NSS of being ruthless, secretive, and well-funded and its personnel involved in widespread grave human rights abuses, including kidnapping, torture, and illegal detention.

Reacting to the report, the director of public relations at the NSS Internal Security Bureau, David John Kumuri, denied the allegations as he addressed journalists on Friday in Juba. 

“The report makes false and inaccurate allegations against individuals and the work of the National Security Service,” he said. “It relies upon third-party sources for its information and allegations it makes have not been independently checked and verified by its authors.”

He claimed that the report also fails to acknowledge recent reforms in the security sector and the legal proceedings against individuals alleged to have committed crimes or disciplinary breaches.

According to The Sentry report, the NSS has funded a campaign of surveillance, intimidation, and horrific violence against civilians, activists, and journalists, and has interfered with civil society and the press, suppressed freedom of speech, and illegally detained and permanently silenced those who spoke out against the regime. 

Kumuri described the report as “part of a wider ongoing campaign by The Sentry and its hackers who seek to undermine the peace and security of South Sudan’.