from RAJI BASHIR in Khartoum, Sudan
Sudan Bureau
KHARTOUM, (CAJ News) – THE dismantling of the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan undermines governance and security safeguards, exposing civilians to grave risks of renewed armed conflict, mass atrocities and international human rights law and international law violations.
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan accuses the political and military leaders of systematically dismantling the peace deal.
It has presented its latest investigative report to the Human Rights Council.
Yasmin Sooka, Chair of the Commission, noted that last March, the President Salva Kiir Mayardit had declared South Sudan would not return to war yet to the contrary, there has been an alarming regression.
The official said government forces had since carried out widespread and systematic attacks against civilians, including unlawful killings, indiscriminate, disproportionate aerial bombardment of civilian homes and medical facilities in violation of the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution under international humanitarian law.
The commission also documented incidents of conflict-related sexual violence and the abduction and forcible recruitment of boys.
“Taken together, these acts may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law,” Sooka said.
The commission found that armed forces under ruling party command were now most responsible for attacks against civilians, including patterns of targeting linked to ethnicity and perceived political affiliation.
In March 2025, the ruling SPLM-IG party detained opposition members across the country, including eight opposition leaders, among them the First Vice President, Riek Machar, charging them with serious crimes in September.
The ruling party plans to conduct the first national election in December 2026 but the situation is not conducive.
“Credible electoral processes are unrealistic in a context where civic space is repressed, conflict rages, more than three million people are internally displaced, and key opposition leaders are arbitrarily detained during a politicised trial,” Sooka said.
The 2018 Revitalized Agreement is seen as offering a comprehensive framework for peace, justice and development.
South Sudan, the world’s newest country after attaining independence in 2011, plunged into civil war two years later.
– CAJ News