Maj.-Gen. Joseph Mayen Akoon, Jonglei state police commissioner pictured in Bor on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 | Credit | Deng Gai Deng

The secretary-general of Jonglei State has asked the victims of the recent police brutality and humiliation in Bor town to seek redress through the court.

Online pictures of young men stripped naked caused a public outrage early this week after they were shown being escorted by police officers along the streets of Bor town.

In one of the pictures seen by Eye Radio, two policemen appear at the background of a crowd guarding two completely naked men, while the other stands with his private parts loosely covered.

The exact reason for their arrest and subsequent humiliation has not been established, but some speculated that they were rounded up by the police for alleged crimes.

It is also alleged that the officers were acting on orders of the state police commissioner, Maj.-Gen. Mayen Akoon

But when asked by Eye Radio on Wednesday, Gen. Akoon denied the allegations, claiming the pictures were doctored.

“To make it short, nobody was tortured or stripped naked…of course, today’s technology is advanced and anything is be possible,” he said.

However, the pictures circulated online have not been altered as they remain in their original form.

Many observers have described the actions by the police as a violation of the Bill of Rights, which states that “no person shall be subjected to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Reacting to the incident, Jonglei State secretary-general says those who were subjected to such humiliation have the right to sue.

Mabior Atem condemned the actions of the police which he says put the state in a bad light.

“If I do wrong like everybody else, I should be subjected to prosecution and so if that is the way they want to go, I think that is their right,” Atem said on Friday.