South Sudanese parties should direct all efforts to prevent a relapse into war, support the full implementation of the peace agreement, and progress the transition toward the country’s first democratic elections, the United Nations top envoy in the country said on Tuesday, March 18.
Nicholas Haysom, special representative of the UN Secretary-General to South Sudan, said the global body was concerned that the country is on the brink of relapse into civil war, which threatens to erase the hard-won peace gains since the signing of the Revitalized Agreement in 2018.
“The parties must de-escalate the current political tensions now before it is too late. There is only one path out of this cycle of conflict, and that is through the Revitalized Agreement,” Haysom told a virtual meeting of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council Meeting on South Sudan.
Haysom, also head of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), stressed that the peace process and its mechanisms remain the key to the restoration of peace, and they are on the verge of collapse.
“This region cannot afford another conflict,” Haysom said, adding that tensions throughout the country have been extremely high since the takeover of the Nasir barracks in Upper Nile State by the White Army militia group on March 4.
He said some senior military and civilian officials of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army-In Opposition (SPLM/A-IO) have been arrested in the capital Juba, while others have gone into hiding or fled the country.
The UN envoy said air strikes on Nasir have inflicted civilian casualties, adding that with the proliferation of mis/disinformation in the public domain, hate speech is now rampant, raising concerns that the conflict could assume an ethnic dimension.
“While we commend President Salva Kiir for reassuring citizens that there will be no return to war, to actualize this commitment, the parties must take necessary steps and remain steadfast in implementing the Revitalized Agreement — both in letter and spirit,” Haysom said.
He called on the AU Security Council to encourage Kiir and his deputy, Riek Machar, to meet and address their differences constructively while addressing the nation together as a show of unity.
Haysom said the council should call for the release of detained military and civilian officials or their treatment following legal processes and immediately address the Nasir tensions through dialogue rather than military confrontation.
“There must be intensive dialogue to resolve grievances and rebuild trust and confidence between the parties and, between the parties and their supporters,” he added.
Conflict
Sporadic fighting has broken out in South Sudan in recent days as tension threatens to pull Kiir and Machar back into conflict. The pair signed a peace deal to bring a five-year civil war to an end in 2018.
Kiir’s government detained two ministers and several senior military officials allied with Machar at the start of March.
Dozens of soldiers and a general were killed in the northern town of Nasir amid clashes between the South Sudanese army and the White Army militia, which Kiir has linked to Machar.
Kiir has insisted that he will not allow a return to war. However, analysts have warned that there is a threat of renewal of the conflict.