South Sudan: Kith, Kin and Peace Agreements

An important, as yet unanswered, question casts a heavy shadow over the Friday signing of an agreement in Addis Ababa to stop hostilities within South Sudan. Were the two men who signed the agreement - President Salva Kiir Mayendit and rebel leader Riek Machar Teny - given assurances that they will not be held responsible for the past five months of carnage?

The January 23rd Cessation of Hostilities Agreement, which promised an end to the fighting, came and went, entirely ignored by both parties. In the weeks that followed the signing, several of the South's major towns -- Bor, Malakal and Bentiu - were the scenes of gross human rights abuses and mass murder. The towns were looted and sacked until there was nothing left to carry away.

Friday's IGAD-negotiated agreement states that the signatories agree to twelve points. The first is that they "recognize that there is no military solution to the crisis in South Sudan, and that a sustainable peace can be achieved only through inclusive political dialogue."

As has been the case for many years, in matters of South Sudanese reconciliation and peace efforts, the language and terminology used are standard expressions.

It is a kind of international language, the origin of which is far removed from lived realities in South Sudan. It is a language and terminology the likes of which virtually no one living in South Sudan would comprehend, at least not in the way intended.

Several of the agreed points deal with military matters. The two men have committed to "disengage and separate forces and refrain from any provocative action or combat movement until a permanent cease fire [sic] is agreed and signed."

Point eight has the two men agreeing "that a transitional government of national unity will offer the best chance for the people of South Sudan to take the country forward; and that such a government shall oversee government functions during a transitional period, implement critical reforms as negotiated through the peace process, oversee a permanent constitutional process, and guide the country to new elections; and thus direct our respective representatives to the IGAD-led peace process to negotiate the terms of a transitional government of national unity".

The wording of the agreement affirms two important ideas: the first is that there are recognised military forces, the command structures of which follow orders given by a central authority; the second is that Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, regardless of their actions over the past five months, are to take part in the creation of a transitional government of "national unity."