South Sudan has seen an “alarming regression” as clashes in recent weeks in the country’s northeast threaten to undo years of progress towards peace, the United Nations commission on human rights for the country has warned.
The statement on Saturday comes amid a spate of violence between security forces overseen by President Salva Kiir and an armed group his government has alleged is linked to First Vice President Riek Machar.
The situation has put in peril the pair’s fragile power-sharing agreement reached in 2018 to end five years of civil war. It has also sparked fears of war in the country’s Upper Nile state.
“We are witnessing an alarming regression that could erase years of hard-won progress,” the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said.
“Rather than fuelling division and conflict, leaders must urgently refocus on the peace process, uphold the human rights of South Sudanese citizens, and ensure a smooth transition to democracy,” the commission stated.
The chairperson of the African Union Commission also expressed “deep concern” on Saturday
In a statement, he called for an “immediate end to all hostilities.”
Eruption of violence
The latest flare-up began when fighting erupted between the Sudanese armed forces and a group identified as an “armed youth militia” in Nasir County in the Upper Nile state in February.
While it remains unclear what started the fighting, HRW noted rumours of forced disarmament may have fueled the unrest. Several clashes have since taken place, with fighters using “heavy weaponry”, according to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan.
Earlier this week, South Sudan’s information minister blamed the violence, in part, on the White Army, a Nuer armed group operating in Upper Nile. He accused the group of working in league with Machar’s party, the SPLM/IO.
Tensions rose further earlier this week when Kiir ordered the arrests of two officials and several senior military officials allied with Machar. The army also surrounded Machar’s home, effectively putting him under house arrest.
Then on Friday, a UN helicopter attempting to rescue soldiers in the state was attacked, killing one crew member and wounding two others. An army general was also killed in the failed rescue mission, the UN Mission in South Sudan said Friday.
Speaking late Friday, Kiir urged calm following the incident.
“The government I lead will handle this crisis. We will remain steadfast on the path of peace,” he said.
‘Reckless power struggles’
South Sudan is the world’s youngest country, having gained independence in 2011.
However, the independence movement, quickly splintered. By 2013, the country had descended into full-scale civil war. The fighting killed more than 400,000 people and displaced more than a million others.
In 2018, the two sides signed the Revitalised Agreement on Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
The agreement was meant to see the two warring factions unite their armies under a single unit, write a new constitution, prepare for general elections, organise a census and disarm all other armed groups. However, none of the reforms have been instituted.
In the statement released on Saturday, another member of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, warned observers are witnessing “a return to the reckless power struggles that have devastated the country in the past”.
He said that the South Sudanese had endured “atrocities, rights violations which amount to serious crimes, economic mismanagement, and ever-worsening security”.
“They deserve respite and peace, not another cycle of war,” he said.
