S. Sudan peace monitor urges warring parties to reach deal
May 14, 2018 (JUBA) – South Sudanese parties at the forum should put the interest of the country first and make compromises necessary to achieve resolution of all the outstanding issues, Festus Mogae, the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC) chairman said.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) led peace forum is scheduled to resume in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Thursday.
Mogae said a range of practical measures should be applied on peace saboteurs and make it clear to all concerned that the world will not tolerate any further disruption of efforts to deliver peace.
“I want to appeal directly to the authorities here in Juba, and to all the opposition groups that you are all South Sudanese, and I urge you all to accommodate one another, to end this senseless violence,” he stressed.
Mogae chairs the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission, which was set up to monitor the failed 2015 truce and peace deal implementation. South Sudan has since launched its own national dialogue, while fighting has continued across the country.
The government and rebel groups have, in the past, signed a number of cease-fire agreements, the latest in December last year, but they have been violated, despite commitments from either side.
Since the conflict in South Sudan began in December 2013 between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those allied to former first Vice President Riek Machar, tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than three million displaced as a result of the conflict.
Meanwhile, the head of the peace monitor accused the parties of engaging in human rights violations and urged IGAD to take action.
“The parties continue to wage a campaign of defiance and commit human rights abuses with impunity. This is unacceptable and I call on IGAD to make good its promise to hold spoilers accountable,” he stressed.
(ST)