South Sudan

Abstract

South Sudan's civil war, which began in December 2013, continued in 2015 with serious abuses of civilians by both warring parties. Killings, rape, and destruction and pillage of civilian property were widespread, especially during a massive government offensive in Unity state that began in mid-2015. A tenuous peace agreement signed in late August raised hopes of an end to the fighting, which has displaced some 2.2 million people from their homes and plunged much of the population into humanitarian crisis. The conflict began in December 2013 when soldiers loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, and those loyal to former Vice President Riek Machar, a Nuer and now the rebel leader, fought in the capital, Juba, following months of growing political tensions. Despite widespread atrocity crimes committed by both sides, the peace deal, if implemented, would put the two men in charge of a transitional government for three years, after which national elections will be held. A painful history of unaddressed war crimes and human rights abuses committed during decades of conflict in South Sudan helped fuel the atrocities. No serious efforts have been made by either side to end abuses committed by their forces. The peace deal promises a hybrid court established by the African Union Commission to provide accountability for international crimes committed during the recent conflict. A decline in fighting in early 2015 ended abruptly in April, when the government launched one of the biggest and most abusive offensives of the conflict. Government forces and allied militia fighters killed hundreds of people and burned homes and other civilian property in an offensive in opposition-held areas of Unity state, forcing at least 100,000 people to flee their homes.