I Spent 4 Days In Jail In South Sudan. I Won't Stop Reporting On The Crisis There
There is a certain peace that comes with being surrounded by a bunch of men with big guns.
As much as you want to run or fight or scream, there's not much you can do — except whatever they say.
On a Friday afternoon in April, I was sitting in a restaurant in Juba, South Sudan's capital, trying to convince two government officials to issue me press credentials so I could report there. I had tried and failed to do this over the phone from my home base in Nairobi, and so my bosses and I made the decision that an in-person appeal would be best.
I flew to Juba, and this was the moment of truth. The two government officials and I made small talk for a while, and then I sheepishly said, "So..."
One of them grinned.
"We'll give you the credential. You can come pick it up on Monday," he said.
We were mid-celebration, in the middle of our beers, when half-a-dozen men with guns showed up. They were in plain clothes, carrying assault rifles.
"I need you to come with me quietly," one of the men said.
"I'm not coming with you; I don't even know who you are," I protested.
"National security," he said, as the guys with guns stepped closer.
I looked at the government officials still sitting at my table and they looked as shocked as I was. I knew then that I was going with these guys wherever they wanted to take me.
So we walked down a dark hallway, out a back door, into the hot afternoon and an alley crawling with more men with weapons. They were all young, some of them in military uniforms. They looked like teenagers hanging in
