South Sudan: UN and rights experts warn against risk of mass violence in Jonglei

UNMISS expressed grave concern following reports that a senior military leader is urging troops to inflict discriminate violence against civilians, with more than 180,000 people fleeing their homes.

“Inflammatory rhetoric calling for violence against civilians, including the most vulnerable, is utterly abhorrent and must stop now,” Graham Maitland, Officer in Charge, said on Sunday.

Ongoing hostilities

South Sudan – the world’s youngest country – gained independence in July 2011 but soon slid into civil war with fighting between forces loyal to either President Salva Kiir or the main opposition leader, First Vice President Riek Machar.

Despite a 2018 peace agreement and the establishment of a transitional unity government, clashes and tensions persist.

UNMISS said communities in Jonglei and other locations are suffering immense harm from the escalating conflict, including direct military confrontations between forces.

Put people first

Although South Sudan’s leaders continue to underline their commitment to peace, hostilities and violations of the ceasefire continue unabated.

The Mission urged leaders to put the interests of the people first by stopping the fighting and upholding their commitments under the peace agreement.

“This includes returning to consensus-based decision-making, adhering to power-sharing arrangements, and agreeing on a path to peacefully end the transitional period through inclusive dialogue,” said Mr. Maitland.

‘Risk of mass violence’

The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan expressed grave alarm over the situation in Jonglei, saying the inflammatory rhetoric by senior military figures and reports of force mobilisation “significantly heighten the risk of mass violence against civilians and further erode the peace agreement.”

Members noted that under international law, military and civilian leaders who incite crimes or who exercise effective control over forces may be held criminally responsible.

Furthermore, those who fail to prevent or punish crimes they knew about – or should have known were being committed – are equally criminally liable.

Dangerous words

“Language that calls for the killing of those who are hors de combat (no longer participating in hostilities) and civilians, including the elderly – with assertions that ‘no one should be spared’ – is not only shocking, it is profoundly dangerous,” said Yasmin Sooka, Chair of the Commission.

“In South Sudan’s past, such rhetoric has preceded mass atrocities. When such language is issued or tolerated by those in positions of command, it signals permission to commit violence and removes any expectation of restraint.”

The current escalation is not an isolated incident, but part of a wider political breakdown, the Commission said. This is being driven by sustained violations of the peace deal and the erosion of command discipline in an already volatile and ethnically fractured environment.

Appeal for de-escalation

“When senior figures issue reckless or violent rhetoric, or fail to counter it decisively, they lower the threshold for abuses and send a signal that restraint no longer applies,” Commissioner Barney Afako said.

“The mobilisation of forces in this context, coupled with ethnicised messaging, risks triggering a spiral of retaliatory violence that could rapidly escalate beyond control.”

The Commission called for all parties to immediately cease inflammatory rhetoric and force mobilisation to de-escalate tensions.

Furthermore, as Commander-in-Chief, President Kiir bears a heightened duty to exercise effective control over forces. Other senior officials such as the Chief of Defence Forces and the Minister of Defence also share in this duty.

Avert a catastrophe

The Commission also called on South Sudan’s regional and international partners to urgently re-engage to preserve the peace deal and press leaders to return to the political path.

Failure to do so risks an all-out ethnic conflict and another preventable tragedy, they said.

“This crisis is not inevitable,” Ms. Sooka insisted. “Leadership, restraint and accountability can still avert catastrophe. But deliberate incitement and the abuse of command authority will have consequences, and the window to act is closing fast.”

United Nations News