In recent weeks, clashes in areas of South Sudan’s Unity and Upper Nile states have resulted in fatalities, displacement, attacks on assistance, and other violations. These clashes between government forces led by President Salva Kiir and forces led by First Vice President Riek Machar of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) are a symptom of the opposition’s multiple defections and fragmentation as a result of the failure to enforce the security arrangements in South Sudan’s revitalized peace deal.
To prevent more human rights violations and a worsening of the humanitarian situation, the international community must retain a robust presence.
South Sudan’s warring factions struck a peace agreement in 2018 that reduced bloodshed across the country. The two main competing factions and other groups agreed to form a unity government and share responsibility for the armed forces as part of the deal. The SPLM/A-IO withdrew from the peace deal supervision mechanisms on March 23, citing ongoing attacks on its bases by government forces and militia allies.
The SPLM/A-IO claimed in a March 28 statement that government forces had been deployed at Riek Machar’s home on March 27, before withdrawing the next morning.
The deployment, according to President Kiir, is a crime-prevention strategy.
These cycles of violent skirmishes and provocations, civil society organizations and diplomats have warned, might lead to further bloodshed. Nearly all of the UN’s risk indicators for atrocity crimes are present in South Sudan, according to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (UNCHRSS). The Commission’s importance cannot be overstated. The UN Human Rights Council should renew its mission, which includes investigating, collecting, and preserving evidence for future accountability processes.
Despite their calls for calm, Kiir and Machar should make public instructions to prohibit and end attacks on civilians and civilian property.
Parties to the peace agreement should take rapid efforts to complete force integration and resolve other outstanding security sector reform issues, as well as hold senior officials accountable for their actions.
South Sudan’s international partners, particularly its neighbors, should put pressure on and motivate the country’s leaders to take steps to better safeguard South Sudanese people, who suffer the brunt of the country’s horrific political, economic, and social crises.
This is not the moment to back off on international cooperation. Rather, efforts to maintain South Sudan’s delicate transition must focus on monitoring, reporting, and accountability. APO Group distributed this on behalf of Human Rights Watch (HRW). Audio and video files
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