Intercommunal Violence Continues to Plague South Sudan

ADF STAFF

Violence between rival communities has a long history in South Sudan, but the past year has seen a worrying rise in attacks that observers fear could become a wider crisis.

More than 150 people died and 165 were injured as a string of deadly clashes swept across South Sudan between January 28 and February 6.

The last quarter of 2023 saw a 35% surge in the number of civilians affected by violence compared to the previous quarter, as the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) reported that 862 people were either killed, injured, abducted or “subjected to conflict related violence.”

“Intercommunal conflict continues to cause immense harm to communities across the country,” UNMISS chief Nicholas Haysom said in a statement when the quarterly report was published on March 18.

Intercommunal violence by civil defense groups and community-based militias accounted for 86% of all civilians affected, according to the report.

More than half of the victims — 263 killed and 186 injured — came from retaliatory attacks related to a border dispute between rival factions of the Dinka ethnic group. The Twic Dinka from Warrap State, which is the primary hot spot for conflict, and the Ngok Dinka from the oil-rich region of Abyei, have fought over land and resources for decades.

The spate of violence in late January and early February 2024 consisted of separate conflicts pitting armed youths from Warrap State against rivals from the neighboring Lakes and Western Bar El Ghazal states, as well as the disputed Abyei territory, an administrative area that is jointly run by South Sudan and Sudan.

The Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO), based in the South Sudanese capital, Juba, said the situation is grave.

“It is taking a disturbing shape that can be described as a crime against humanity or genocide,” CEPO Executive Director Edmund Yakani said in a statement, according to Sudan’s Post newspaper.

“Armed communal violence not limited to Twic versus Ngok Dinka is deadly with high records of commitment of human atrocities among the conflicting communities.”

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar met on February 6 and called for an end to sub-national violence. The two are members of the rival Dinka and Nuer pastoralist groups, respectively, and battled each other during the 2013 to 2018 civil war.

“[The Kiir-Machar meeting] is a positive response to the advocacy and lobbying of CEPO,” Yakani said. “It is encouraging if the top political leadership of the country can meet in seeking solutions.”

Meressa K. Dessu, senior researcher and training coordinator with the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said the violence is contributing to growing uncertainty in South Sudan as the country’s complicated and fragile peace process remains incomplete and an important election cycle looms.

“The country is at a crossroads,” Dessu wrote in a March 12 article for ISS. “Elections are planned for December 2024 in a context of intercommunal violence, political infighting and mobilization of armed groups.

“Most South Sudanese want elections in December to choose their leaders and avert the bloated government expenses arising from the large, unwieldy coalition government.”

Dessu said the risk of electoral violence is high due to the slow implementation of the 2018 peace agreement. “Given these difficulties, UNMISS’ mandate should be renewed and the mission reinforced,” she wrote. “The UNSC should also revisit the mission’s current objectives, capacity and resources so that it can support the country’s transition, particularly elections.”

Yakani called on Kiir, Machar and others to make civilian safety and security a priority.

“Insecurity in several parts of the country are really undermining human growth and societal development,” he said.