April 20-26, 2015

Media Monitoring Report for South Sudan

Posted on May 4, 2015

Compiled by Vincent Marquis

Nuer leaders advocate for homegrown peace deal

Officials, military officers and lawmakers from the Nuer ethnic group in Unity, Jonglei and Upper Nile states met on Sunday to advocate for people-to-people dialogue in an attempt to unite in support of the government’s plans to resolve the country’s ongoing conflict.
Speaker of Parliament Rundial Mangok said that “the meeting emphasized the process of bridge-building between our people and the government and it was agreed that this process must go beyond dialogue and move towards genuine understanding and encounters”.
One of the resolutions supported the creation and appointment of two vice-presidents with equal status, one of which should be occupied by the incumbent vice president, James Wani Igga, and another by a nominee from the Nuer community.

S. Sudan president unveils peace road map, calls for united leadership

President Salva Kiir unveiled a peace plan on Monday, saying he rejects violence and offers a comprehensive political process to end the ongoing civil war in South Sudan.
Kiir called for an immediate end to violence and negotiations with the armed opposition led by his former vice-president Riek Machar, the former political detainees and other stakeholders to form a government of national unity with him as the leader.
Minority leader Onyoti Adigo expressed doubt over Kiir’s new peace plan, saying: “There is nothing new the president said in his speech. He did not give anything to show that he is serious about peace”.

South Sudanese families being pushed to the brink

An Oxfam report published in Tuesday warns that skyrocketing inflation, conflict and collapsed markets are pushing people in South Sudan to breaking point as the political deadlock enters its 16th month and families face a second 'lean season' since fighting began.
Emma Drew, Head of Humanitarian Programs for Oxfam in South Sudan, said that “what we’re seeing now is families that have spent the past year and a half living on the edge – many have exhausted their food stocks, been displaced from their homes, missed opportunities to plant and farm, and now the economy is showing the strain of a year and a half of conflict”.
Already, 2.5 million people are facing severe levels of hunger. By June, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network predicts that more than a million people will join them.

South Sudan seeking strategy to halt use of IDP camps by rebel sympathizers

President Salva Kiir urged the country’s lawmakers to debate and pass a law regulating NGOs assisting thousands of the country’s displaced population.
The strategy seeks to halt the use of camps for internally displaced people by conflict-affected citizens perceived to be sympathetic to the rebels led by the former vice-president Riek Machar.
Activists expressed mixed reactions over the bill, with many saying it would restrict the activities of the relief entities and limit their operational work. However, security organs say it would allow relevant public institutions and departments to provide supervision in a way that safeguards the security and safety of the nation and protect humanitarian workers.

Two soldiers were reportedly killed and many wounded as heavy fighting erupted on Wednesday in Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state.
What triggered the attack remains unclear. Upper Nile’s Information and Broadcasting Minister, Peter Hoth Tuach, claimed that one of the governor’s body guards was denied entry to Malakal civil hospital for treatment by forces under rebel command, causing a scuffle.
The South Sudanese army (SPLA) said it was deploying more troops from those initially dispatched to different positions outside the state capital Malakal to contain the ongoing clashes.
The resumption of fighting on Thursday forced the state government to relocate several officials, who included the deputy governor.

South Sudan: Fighting in Malakal town increases fear and tension in the civilian population in Upper Nile

In a statement issued on Wednesday, MSF calls upon all parties to the conflict to respect and facilitate access of humanitarian assistance to the people affected by the South Sudanese conflict.
The current spark of conflict in Malakal has led to the displacement of about 900 people to the Protection of Civilian (PoC) site. This extra displacement further strains the already high number of people, already living with limited resources in the PoC.
MSF teams have today been forced to suspend some of their outreach activities to remote areas hosting internally displaced people.

Inter-clan clashes between members of the Chieng Majoak and Chieng Tot sub-clans of the Lou Nuer on Tuesday has left two dead from the Chieng Tot clan, wounding another from the Chieng Majoak clan.
On Monday, chiefs and elders from Lou Nuer communities signed a week-long reconciliation agreement document to end inter-clan conflicts in the area that have left a number of deaths in recent weeks.
The incident led to a temporal suspension of food distribution by WFP to over 47,000 IPDs living in Akobo East County that was in progress at the time of the incident.

Montreal Institute for Genocide and
Human Rights Studies