A United Nations investigative body has warned that South Sudan is edging toward a return to full-scale war, citing escalating violence, entrenched impunity and deepening humanitarian suffering in the world’s youngest nation.
The warning came in a new report by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, presented Friday at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. Investigators said civilians face killings, systematic sexual violence, arbitrary detention and forced displacement as political tensions rise.
The commission said urgent preventive action is needed. It called for coordinated pressure from regional and international actors, including sanctions and strict enforcement of the U.N. arms embargo, until there are clear improvements in accountability and human rights protections.
Political rifts strain fragile peace
The report blamed political and military elites for eroding the 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war. Investigators said detentions of opposition figures and efforts to alter the power-sharing deal have placed the transition under severe strain.
The arrest and removal from office of First Vice President Riek Machar last year further weakened the accord’s core guarantees, the commission said. His prosecution on charges including treason and crimes against humanity triggered renewed clashes on a scale not seen in nearly a decade.
Civil war first erupted in 2013, two years after independence, when President Salva Kiir dismissed Machar and accused him of plotting a coup. The conflict, fought largely along ethnic lines, killed an estimated 400,000 people before a 2018 truce brought relative calm.
Recent months have seen a sharp reversal. A coalition of opposition fighters seized several government positions in Jonglei state beginning in December. In response, the army launched a major operation in late January and ordered civilians and aid workers to leave some areas.
The commission said military tactics have grown more aggressive. It cited airstrikes in civilian-populated areas and warned that the deployment of Ugandan forces has strengthened government operations and raised concerns about possible violations of the U.N. arms embargo.
Civilians bear the brunt
Investigators described conflict-related sexual violence as widespread and systematic. Survivor testimony gathered over the past decade points to patterns of rape and abuse by multiple armed actors. Women and girls remain at constant risk, the report said, with sexual violence used to terrorize communities and force displacement.
An estimated 280,000 people have been displaced by fighting and air attacks since late December, according to the United Nations. Aid agencies warn that more than 450,000 children risk acute malnutrition as services collapse in conflict zones.
Nearly 10 million people across the country need humanitarian assistance. Operations have been hampered by insecurity and looting. Both sides have been accused of blocking aid to communities perceived as supporting rivals.
The commission urged authorities to halt violations, release those arbitrarily detained and guarantee freedoms of expression and assembly. It also called for long-delayed transitional justice mechanisms to investigate war crimes committed since 2013.
Without swift action, investigators warned, South Sudan’s fragile transition could collapse, pushing the country back into devastating conflict.
