The South Sudanese government has decided to deploy a regional force to protect civilians. The decision comes a month after fighting broke out between rival army factions and the release of a critical UN report.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/J. Patinkin
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Mahboub Maalim, head of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), said on Friday that the government had accepted a protection force "without any precondition," speaking in Juba after a meeting of regional heads of state. The force will protect civilians and help implement a peace deal, he said.
Maalim said the timing of the deployment of the force will be determined after regional defense chiefs meet in the coming days, adding that the recently named first vice president, Taban Deng Gai, had agreed to step down if opposition leader Riek Machar returns to Juba.
Machar became first vice president under a peace deal reached in August 2015 but fled Juba after fighting began last month.
Damning UN report
The UN peacekeeping mission to South Sudan failed to protect civilians sheltering at a UN camp in the northern town of Malakal, where interethnic clashes broke out in February, according to a report by a UN board of inquiry released Friday.
The review found that the UN mission failed "at all levels ... to manage the crisis effectively, leading to the negative effects of the incident."
The inquiry also found that it was "highly likely" that the attack was planned or at least supported by the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), which is aligned with the South Sudanese government.
The UN human rights chief said Thursday that South Sudanese security forces had killed and raped civilians in the latest fighting. Maalim, the IGAD chief, told reporters humanitarian corridors would be opened in South Sudan for the delivery of aid and investigations would be carried out to determine what caused the latest fighting.
South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013 and has left tens of thousands dead. A peace deal reached last August has been regularly threatened by fighting.
60 years of war and peace in South Sudan: A photo timeline
South Sudan's rebel leader and vice president-designate, Riek Machar, is finally back in Juba. Many hope that his arrival will bring the country a step closer towards realizing the August 2015 peace agreement.
Image: AFP/Getty Images
South Sudan: Fought over since colonial era
For decades, what is now the Republic of South Sudan was officially part of the Republic of Sudan. The first secession war dates back to 1955, even before British colonialists handed over duties to the new government in Khartoum, with Christian South Sudanese fighting for more independence from the Arab north.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Pendl
Lines get blurred
From 1972 to 1983, South Sudan enjoyed relative peace and autonomy before falling back into civil war. The Sudan People's Liberation Movement and Army (SPLM/A) took up the fight, led by John Garang. The group later splintered, with Salva Kiir and Riek Machar holding leading positions in different factions.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Rosenthal
Free at last
In a January 2011 referendum, the South Sudanese people voted for independence. Salva Kiir and Riek Machar were named president and vice president respectively. The new state was based largely on a peace deal struck in 2005 under the auspices of Garang, who died in a helicopter crash weeks after the deal.
Image: AP
Taking up arms again
The alliance between the enemies-turned-colleagues didn't last long. In July 2013, two years after independence, Kiir dismissed Riek Machar and all other cabinet members. In December, he donned his military uniform for effect when addressing the media, accusing Machar and his allies of attempting a coup. It was the beginning of a civil war that continues to this day.
Image: Reuters
A deadly conflict
At least 50,000 people have died in the conflict, despite various attempts at ending it on different levels. 2.4 million people have been forced from their homes. In May 2014, the 14,000-strong UN mission to South Sudan was restructured to focus on the protection of civilians. Building the state no longer seemed a realistic goal to pursue.
Image: Reuters
Hopes shattered
Also in May 2015, a meeting of Kiir (far left) and Machar (far right) in Addis Ababa resulted in a ceasefire agreement that sparked hope for peace. Those hopes evaporated when new fighting erupted hours later. Subsequent agreements would be just as short-lived. Not only did the two leaders fail to agree, but observers commented they had long ago lost control over their respective fighters.
Image: Reuters
Opponents reunited
The latest peace agreement, signed in August 2015, had a rocky start. President Salva Kiir at first refused to sign but finally gave in to international pressure. Part of the deal was to guarantee Machar's return from his exile in Ethiopia. But there has been quarrelling over the number of fighters and weapons that could accompany him to Juba.
Image: Reuters/G. Tomasevic
The spoils of war
Meanwhile, the conflict has left the country in ruins. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Said Raad al-Hussein, says in a report that both government troops and rebels use rape as a means of terror and warfare. The UN Security Council has decided to put in place a commission to investigate the violence.
