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UN report on South Sudan could “affect peace talks

Wednesday, 01 July 2015 9:16 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 01 July 2015 9:17 PM ]

Coletta Wanjohi

Press TV, Addis Ababa

A report has been released by the United Nations accusing the South Sudanese government of committing atrocities against its own people. That, analysts say, is likely to affect the peace talks between the warring sides in the world’s youngest nation.

The report released by the UN Mission in South Sudan, UNMISS, says people have testified that the South Sudan People’s Liberation Army raped and burned girls alive in the oil-rich Unity State.

The report has been released at a critical time, as the South Sudan peace talks were expected to resume any time soon, with the African Union officially commissioning five other countries to be part of the IGAD-led mediation.

The UN report is just one of the many that have been released on atrocities committed in South Sudan since December 2013. However, now that fingers of blame are being pointed directly at the government only, the report is likely to strongly question the legitimacy of President Salva Kiir’s administration.
Some analysts say that the document may complicate the South Sudan peace talks, since it gives a criminal face to the government and could jeopardize its bargaining power in its face-off with the rebel faction.

Other analysts feel that for the report not to break the expected resumption of the peace talks, it should be treated as a separate entity, but at the same time be addressed by the mediators as an awakening call to the South Sudan warring factions about the worsening situation in their own country.

The details of the UN report still remain shelved from the public. But it has, at the same time, renewed calls on the African Union to do the same and release the report of the AU Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan.

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