GENEVA – The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, on Friday issued an urgent call for all parties in South Sudan’s conflict to step back from escalating violence, warning that continued hostilities threaten to plunge the nation deeper into a humanitarian and human rights crisis.
Turk stressed that the intensification of fighting since May 3 poses a “real risk” of derailing South Sudan’s fragile peace process and worsening conditions for its already vulnerable population. “The escalating hostilities in South Sudan portend a real risk of further exacerbating the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation,” he said. “All parties must urgently pull back from the brink.”
The UN human rights office (OHCHR) reported a surge in violence involving aerial bombings, riverine assaults, and ground offensives by the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF) against the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) in areas of Fangak in Jonglei State and Tonga County in Upper Nile.
According to the OHCHR, at least 75 civilians were killed and 78 more were injured during the fighting between May 3 and May 20. The conflict has displaced thousands, with attacks reportedly targeting civilian areas, including a medical facility operated by the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders (MSF).
The UN’s plea comes amid growing concern that renewed violence could unravel years of delicate progress toward peace in the world’s youngest nation, which gained independence in 2011 but has been plagued by internal conflict ever since.