Nine years later, South Sudan is still a nation in waiting

The United Nations has documented how, on top of the Covid-19 pandemic, the government’s security forces are violating fundamental rights and freedoms.

“What was the point of independence if we are still destitute and in chaos?” a woman from Duk county in Jonglei state, South Sudan, said in a recent video recording. 

She is one of the thousands of people who have had to flee their homes because of vicious cycles of violence between the Murle and sections of the Nuer and Dinka Bor in Jonglei.

As South Sudan marks its 9th year of independence, the goals of its long-fought independence from Sudan — freedom, social justice, equality, progress, and democracy — are far from being realised. South Sudan instead faces a crisis of persistent low-level conflict, poor governance, entrenched impunity, weak institutions and no rule of law.

Four million people remain displaced from a civil war that has raged since December 2013. Six million depend on humanitarian aid. Across the country, fighting between government and rebel groups continues, with civilians being killed, maimed and forced to leave their homes. 

The United Nations has documented how, on top of the Covid-19 pandemic^[1], the government’s security forces are violating fundamental rights and freedoms.^[2] More than 2 100 people are infected with the Covid-19 virus, putting pressure on the country’s weak health care system, underscoring that the government has not invested in health, education, agriculture and clean water, but in security and defence.

Freedom of speech, opinion and assembly are guaranteed by South Sudan’s Transitional Constitution, yet civic space has continued to shrink. Military and National Security Service personnel have targeted activists and government critics, instilling a climate of fear in which there is no opportunity to question and criticise the government.

 In June, the National Security Service detained an activist, Moses Monday^[3], for putting up billboards demanding financial transparency in government spending. He was released after two weeks of negotiations. Another activist, Kanybil Noon^[4], arrested in unclear circumstances, has been held without charge at the security service headquarters since May 29. 

Many South Sudanese feel that their leaders have betrayed them and subjected the country to struggle and suffering instead of lifting it out of the subjugation, inequality, and degradation that they fought against in their long war of independence. 

What can be done to change this? South Sudanese leaders need to demonstrate that they have plans for reforms and that the future is not just mere power sharing and access to state coffers by the elite. They need to demonstrate that they can address conflicts through political discourse and processes rather than violence.  

The 2018 peace deal, a revitalisation of the 2015 deal that collapsed in 2016, provides an opportunity to serve and protect the South Sudanese people and build a future based on justice, equality, human rights and rule of law. Yet there are still delays in carrying out the peace deal. The parties have yet to unify their opposing forces into a national army and have not reconstituted Parliament since February, preventing key checks and balances on the executive and slowing down legislation to reform the army and the security service and set up a transitional justice system.  

The unity government must prove its commitment to accountability for crimes committed during the war. Truth telling, reconciliation, reparations,and criminal accountability is fundamental for the transformation of South Sudan. It is an opportunity to hold South Sudanese leaders accountable and victims of serious rights violations can start to heal. 

The public will need to participate meaningfully in the transitional justice process and in creating a permanent Constitution. To this end, reforms to limit the role^[5] of the abusive National Security Service to intelligence gathering should be urgently enacted. 

The social contract needs to be repaired and a just and equal society built. 

The new unity government needs to reaffirm its commitment to respecting and promoting rights, in particular delivering on economic and social rights, and follow up with concrete actions. That includes signing an agreement with the African Union to establish the envisioned hybrid court and reconstitute parliament so they can embark on the important tasks of rebuilding the country.

References

1. ^{^} Covid-19 pandemic (www.un.org)
2. ^{^} fundamental rights and freedoms. (www.ohchr.org)
3. ^{^} Moses Monday (eyeradio.org)
4. ^{^} Kanybil Noon (radiotamazuj.org)
5. ^{^} reforms to limit the role (www.hrw.org)