South Sudan has seen a “surprising regression” as recent weeks of conflict in the country’s northeastern region threatens to rescind longstanding progress towards peace, the UN Commission on Human Rights warns.
A statement from Yasmin Suka, chairman of the United Nations Human Rights Commission in South Sudan, is in a series of violence between President Salva Kir and security forces whose armed groups claimed by his government were overseen by armed groups linked to First Vice President Riek Machar.
This situation puts the pair’s vulnerable power shearing agreements that reached in 2018 to end the five-year civil war. It also caused fear of war in the country’s Upper Nile state.
“We are witnessing an astonishing return that could erase progress over many years of hard work,” Ska said.
“As fusing sectors and conflicts, leaders must urgently focus on the peace process, maintain the human rights of South Sudanian citizens and ensure a smooth transition to democracy,” Suka said.
Musa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Committee, also expressed his “deep concern” on Saturday.
In a statement, he called for “an immediate end to all hostilities.”
The eruption of violence
The latest flare began when a fight broke out between Sudanese troops and a group identified by Human Rights Watch (HRW) as “armed youth militias” in Nile County, Upper Nile Province, in February.
It remains unclear what began the fight, but HRW noted that rumours of forced disarmament may have fueled anxiety. According to the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), several clashes have occurred as fighter jets use “heavy weapons.” The agency also reports the battle in the western province of Exteria, located in the country’s southwest.
Earlier this week, South Sudan’s Information Minister Michael McQuay Leues condemned violence against white people, a Noor armed group operating in the Upper Nile. He denounced the group working in the league as Macher’s party and the opposition to Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM/IO).
Tensions rose even further earlier this week, with Kiel ordered the arrest of two officials who allied with Macher and several senior military officials. The army also surrounded Machar’s house and effectively placed him under house arrest.
Then on Friday, a UN helicopter attempting to rescue state soldiers was attacked, killing one person and wounding two others. The army general was also killed in a failed rescue mission, the UNMISS in South Sudan said on Friday.
At the end of Friday, Kiel gently urged after the incident.
“The government I lead will handle this crisis. We will maintain a solid path of peace,” he said.
“The Reckless Struggle of Power”
South Sudan is the youngest country in the world and gained independence in 2011.
However, the independence movement led by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in Kier quickly split. By 2013, the country had fallen into a full-scale civil war. The battle killed more than 400,000 people and drove away more than 1 million people.
In 2018, both sides signed a revitalization agreement on the resolution of the South Sudan (R-ARCSS) conflict.
The agreement was intended for two fighting factions to unite the troops under a single unit, write new constitutions, prepare for general elections, organize census, and disarm all other armed groups. However, none of the reforms have been enacted.
In a statement released on Saturday, Bernie Afako, another member of South Sudan’s UN Human Rights Commission, warned that observers have witnessed “a return to the reckless power struggle that has devastated the country in the past.”
He said South Sudanese endured “abuse, violations of rights equivalent to serious crimes, economic dismantling and constant aspirational security.”
“They deserve rest and peace, not another cycle of war,” he said.
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