South Sudan activists say intimidated for meeting diplomats

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir, left, takes members of the UN Security Council, including U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, right, on a tour outside the presidential compound in the capital Juba, South Sudan, Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016. South Sudan has agreed to the deployment of a 4,000-strong regional protection force approved by the U.N. Security Council after first rejecting the peacekeepers as a violation of its sovereignty. (AP Photo/Justin Lynch)

By Associated Press September 8, 2016 2 min read

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) – South Sudanese activists say they face government intimidation in retaliation for meeting with the visiting U.N. Security Council last weekend.

At least three local organizations have been told by South Sudan’s government they cannot operate. On Wednesday, the U.S. envoy to South Sudan, Donald Booth, told Congress the number of blacklisted groups could be as high as 40.

The U.N. mission in South Sudan said in a statement Thursday it is “deeply concerned” by reports of harassment and intimidation against some civil society members who met with the diplomats in the capital, Juba. The statement does not mention the source of intimidation.

“On Monday, we started receiving information about security threats and to our lives and that we were wanted by the National Security,” said one activist who was at the meeting with the U.N. diplomats.

Some people have fled the country, the activist said.