Africa-Press – South-Sudan. The United Nations Human Rights Commission in South Sudan hailed the latest cordial relations between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM/A–IO) that it says have set the country on a positive path.
In August 2022, the transitional government announced a two-year extension of the term of the revitalised peace agreement under the “roadmap,” which is set to end in 2024, before the next election.
However, Barney Afako, a commissioner for the human rights body, said there is a lot more to be done within this period to ensure that the transition is fully actualized.
“It is an improvement from the war between the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM/A–IO),” he said, adding, “there is now a text for a transition that should deliver a more democratic South Sudan.”
However, Afako expressed regret that the security in Juba had not been extended to other parts of the country. He said they were more concerned about “what happens outside Juba.”
He said, “Warrap is not safer this year than it was in previous years, so it is a mixed picture, but it is a gloomy one as well.”
“Even if there is progress in that area, there is still a question of sexual violence, particularly conflict-related.”
He said the cases of violence against women were alarming, especially in areas that faced conflicts. Afako said the country needs to up its game on social change so that women and girls do not bear the heavy burden of war through rape and other forms of sexual violence.
“We are not making progress, and a lot more should be done to deal with it.”
Conflicts outside Juba
Intercommunal fighting has been on the rise across South Sudan in the areas of Upper Nile, Unity, Jonglei, and Warrap, and some parts of Equatoria state.
The UN rights body stated that the pattern shows that the clashes are in South Sudan’s villages, where young people are extremely armed with high-calibre weapons, which raises questions.
“And once you start following the trails, you will quickly notice that there will be individuals who are influencing, have access to weapons, and are competing politically for territory control,” he said.
“There is a chain of supply of weapons that sustains these communal conflicts,” he claims.
In early March 2023, the commission will present its report on the human rights situation in South Sudan to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
President Salva Kiir declared 2023 a year of reconciliation before he lifted the suspension on the Rome peace talks that bring the government into negotiation with the holdout groups. Flashes of insecurity have been prevalent in states such as the Upper Nile, Central and Eastern Equatoria, Unity, Jonglei, and Warrap.
Source: The City Review South Sudan
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