UN Warns South Sudan on Risk of Escalating Conflict

United Nations Report Warns of Escalating Atrocities in South Sudan

A United Nations investigative body has released a report warning that South Sudan is at risk of “escalating atrocity risks” due to renewed fighting and widespread impunity for abuses. The Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan (CHRSS) report, presented at the Human Rights Council session in Geneva, highlights severe human rights abuses faced by civilians in the country.

The report found that civilians are experiencing killings, systematic sexual violence, arbitrary detention, forced displacement, and deprivation of basic rights. It also notes that “escalating atrocity risks” and the collapse of political safeguards make urgent preventive action necessary. The UN is calling on regional and international actors to engage with diplomatic pressure, sanctions, and enforcing the UN arms embargo until concrete improvements in human rights and accountability are achieved.

The report blames the actions of political and military elites for placing a peace framework under strain and increasing instability. It specifically mentions the arrest and removal from office of First Vice President Riek Machar last year, which undermined power-sharing guarantees and triggered armed clashes on a scale not seen in a decade.

The report also notes that intensifying military operations have been marked by a shift in tactics, including air strikes on civilian-populated areas. The deployment of forces from neighboring Uganda has strengthened government forces militarily and raised concerns about violations of the UN arms embargo.

The CHRSS report highlights conflict-related sexual violence as a persistent feature of the crisis, with widespread and systematic patterns of rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated by all armed forces and groups. It also notes that impunity is entrenched, with senior commanders and political actors rarely held accountable for serious abuses.

The commission urges the government to take concrete steps to address these issues, including enforcing accountability and improving human rights protections. The report emphasizes the need for urgent coordinated national, regional, and international re-engagement to prevent further mass atrocity crimes, institutional collapse, and destruction of South Sudan’s fragile transition.

Source: Al Jazeera