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His friends say that Peter Biar Ajak is supremely intelligent, charismatic and well read, a scholar steeped in complex economic theory who cares deeply about his homeland.
And now he has serious problems.
The 2007 graduate of the University of La Salle was arrested in South Sudan and taken to one of the most famous prisons in this African country. He was detained by the national security forces while boarding a plane in Juba, the capital, and was detained without charge for the past two or three days.
Although largely unknown in the United States, Ajak is considered a prominent political activist, a leader who has called for a new peaceful generation to rule South Sudan, a land convulsed by civil war, poverty and corruption.
"We have always said that Peter would be the president of South Sudan," said his friend Ryan Meisser, a classmate La Salle.
Peter Biar Ajak at the NATO Summit in Warsaw in July 2016 with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
There is no cliché to say Ajak, 34, has climbed from the depths to the heights, eagerly seizing every opportunity that is offered to him.
He was one of the "Lost Boys", the nickname given to some 40,000 children. displaced or orphaned during a previous Sudanese civil war, which ended in 2005. For years, he wandered for hundreds of miles, exchanging one refugee camp for another
Ajak came to the States United States in Philadelphia in 2001 and widely teaching how to speak English.
He graduated from the Central High School in the city, went to La Salle, earned a master's degree at Harvard Kennedy School and, at the time of his arrest, was studying for a PhD at the University of Cambridge in England. He was the first South Sudanese to study at this school
He is currently detained at the headquarters of the National Security Service of South Sudan, a place known as the Blue House because of its tinted windows. Inmates face torture, starvation or death, the Associated Press reported. Amnesty International – who called for the immediate and unconditional release of Ajak – documented cases of prisoners being tortured with knives and beaten with bamboo belts and sticks.
"The charges and the reason for his arrest are unknown," Deng Ajak said in a statement to the Sudan Tribune. "We, the concerned family members, have urged the arresting authorities to respect his rights and freedoms."
Nearly 1,000 people signed a petition of exchange.org that called for the release of Ajak and was addressed to the United Nations, US House of Representatives World Bank and others.
Twitter
Peter Biar Ajak at the NATO summit in Warsaw in 2016
"He was a super-active leader on campus, loved by many of us," said Aaron Spence, who graduated with Ajak in 2007. "Many people on campus are affected by what happens to "
Spence said that he was communicating with Ajak's family, who told him that they had the right to talk to him for 30 minutes. He was not tortured or interrogated, they said.
Ajak lives in Kenya while denouncing the South Sudanese government and working as an activist, Spence said. young sons remain in Nairobi
Ajak is president of the South Sudan Youth Leaders Forum, the Southern Sudan Red Army Foundation and NxGeneration of South Sudan, and was on his way to a meeting with the United Nations. other activists when he was arrested, friends said.
"We must stop thinking that the so-called leaders will bring the x in South Sudan, "said Ajak. "We, the great people of Southern Sudan, must organize to bring the peace we deserve!"
South Sudan became independent of Sudan only in 2011, and remains bogged down in the conflict.
In the past year, according to Amnesty International, the war has spread and new armed opposition groups have emerged. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced by violence and hunger.
Factions fighting the civil war continue to "commit crimes under international law, human rights violations and abuses with impunity". The violence had "a devastating humanitarian impact on the civilian population".
La Salle University tweeted that the thoughts and prayers of the community are with Ajak, and people hope that it will be released safely. Friends mounted a social media awareness campaign under the hashtag #FreePeterBiar.
"It could be the biggest threat to the power established in this country," said Meisser. "Peter is a special person, touching all the lives he's ever met, he's around the elite of the world, but he's still very down-to-earth."
He came in Philadelphia as an unaccompanied minor, taking classes to learn basic English and learning to navigate the city.He entered La Salle through his academic discovery program, which provides support services to students who could benefit from additional academic aid.
He excelled at La Salle, involving himself in the newspaper and the political and economic associations of the University Magazine Profile He credited the values and the Catholic virtues of the school by strengthening its sense of purpose.
"It made something concrete that I could feel, something that I could connect to every day," he said. he declared. "Being a lost boy has taught me to how life could be cruel and difficult. However, at the same time, it taught me what difference the individual could make in the larger system.
Ajak worked as a World Bank economist based in South Sudan, advising the government on economic policy and development, according to the International Growth Center in London, where he was a senior advisor, and also founded South Sudan. Wrestling Entertainment, a company that uses indigenous South Sudanese struggle to promote peace and reconciliation.
"Life is a gift, but I also believe that there is a duty," Ajak said. "Having access to so many opportunities means that you have to be responsible for other things."
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