South Sudan's English Daily Newspaper
"We Dare where others fear"
By Awan Achiek
The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan on Friday urged the African Union and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to take action to prevent the collapse of the September 2018 peace accord, which is currently threatened by rising political tensions.
Ms. Yasmin Sooka, Chair of the Commission, called on regional partners to pressure the country’s leaders to de-escalate tensions, return to meaningful dialogue, and fully implement the peace agreement.
“The renewed violence is pushing the Revitalised Peace Agreement to the brink of irrelevance, threatening a total collapse. Such a breakdown risks fragmenting the country even further,” Sooka said in a statement extended to Dawn on Friday.
Sooka noted that the escalating military offensives, political crackdowns, and foreign military presence are fuelling deep fear, instability, and widespread trauma among the people of South Sudan.
Barney Afako, Commissioner of the Commission, called on the country’s leaders, the signatories to the 2018 peace accord, to abandon partisan agendas and act in the interest of the people.
“South Sudanese are living with extreme trauma. They are enduring targeted military attacks that have upended lives and instilled widespread fear,” said Afako.
He stated that the ongoing recruitment drive by the SSPDF directly contradicts the security arrangement, which calls for the training and deployment of the Necessary Unified Forces.
“The world cannot remain a bystander while civilians are bombed and opposition voices are silenced. The time for passive diplomacy is over—these senseless attacks must stop.”
“Salvaging South Sudan’s peace agreement should be of utmost priority in an already turbulent region, as the agreement enables political adversaries to partner towards a transformative transition in this country,”
Carlos Castresana Fernandez, another member of the commission, said.
“Torpedoing the transition is an act of profound folly and recklessness that is already reigniting violence, deepening insecurity, imposing further grave violations on long-suffering citizens, and undermining regional peace architectures,” Fernandez remarked.
He stressed the need to urgently restore a credible transition that will deliver citizens’ aspirations for durable peace and justice.
“Regional partners and peace guarantors must not indulge these damaging machinations; rather, they should resolve to urgently restore a credible transition that will deliver citizens’ aspirations for durable peace and justice.”
