"It remains unclear whether South Sudan’s government in Juba has detained the men, or what their ultimate fate might be."

"The 13-year-old country is on the brink of a civil war; the State Department has warned against travel there because of the risk of 'crime, kidnapping and armed conflict.' In court on Friday, a Justice Department lawyer read from a diplomatic note that said South Sudan would give the men immigration status to allow them to remain there at least temporarily.... Before coming to the United States, the men came from Vietnam, Mexico, Laos, Cuba and Myanmar. Just one is from South Sudan, a violence-plagued country. All had been convicted of serious crimes in the United States, though many had either finished or were about to finish serving their sentences.... The migrants’ lawyers have contended that if they are sent to South Sudan, they will probably be subjected to torture. The U.S. government has said in its own filings that the South Sudanese government has given diplomatic assurances that this will not happen.... The eight migrants now heading to South Sudan are part of a class-action lawsuit... about the legality of deporting migrants to so-called third countries.... The lawsuit is still continuing...."

From "U.S. Turns Eight Migrants Over to South Sudan, Ending Weeks of Legal Limbo/Courts blocked the handover after lawyers raised concerns of torture. Then the Supreme Court intervened to allow the Trump administration’s plan to move forward" (NYT).

"The details of the worsening violence against children are unspeakable, but we must speak of them."

"As many as 129 children from Unity State were killed during only three weeks in May.  Survivors report that boys have been castrated and left to bleed to death …  Girls as young as 8 have been gang raped and murdered …  Children have been tied together before their attackers slit their throats ...  Others have been thrown into burning buildings.  Children are also being aggressively recruited into armed groups of both sides on an alarming scale – an estimated 13,000 children forced to participate in a conflict not of their making.  Imagine the psychological and physical effects on these children – not only of the violence inflicted on them but also the violence they are forced to inflict on others."

From "the Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake on brutal violence against children in South Sudan," via The New York Times, "As South Sudan Crisis Worsens, 'There Is No More Country.'"

"What passage in the Koran says women can’t wear pants? This is not nice."

Asks Lubna Hussein, who faced whipping in Sudan, but now will only be fined for breaking the law. The law in Sudan is Muslim law. Hussein says: "I am Muslim; I understand Muslim law."

The law in contention here is Article 152 of Sudan’s penal code. Concisely stated, the law says that up to 40 lashes and a fine should be assessed anyone “who commits an indecent act which violates public morality or wears indecent clothing.”

But what exactly is indecent clothing? ... Mrs. Hussein has argued that Article 152 is intentionally vague, in part to punish women.