South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir promised more than once to release political detainees, most recently in June when signing a peace agreement in Khartoum. Yet South Sudanese are still arbitrarily arrested, detained and tortured, according to an Amnesty International report released Tuesday. Most recently, Dr. Peter Biar Ajak, a prominent…
President Paul Biya of Cameroon met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Friday as African heads of state continue to arrive in Beijing ahead of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit. Biya said he stressed Cameroon’s support for China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a global economic strategy at the…
While some observers noted celebration in the streets of Juba following news of a South Sudan peace deal Sunday night, others are more cautiously optimistic on whether this power-sharing agreement will hold. Among them would be opposition leader Riek Machar himself, who acknowledged there was still much work to do…
A report issued Tuesday by the United Nations human rights agency documents grisly attacks on South Sudanese civilians that appeared to be the work of government forces and groups aligned with them. The 14-page report, which records incidents in southern Unity state in April and May of this year, lists…
The opposing factions in South Sudan’s civil war traded accusations on Saturday over violations of a ceasefire agreement that was supposed to be in force beginning at midnight. The spokesman for the SPLA IO said government forces working with militia groups launched an attack against the opposition in Wau state…
The long-awaited meeting between President Salva Kiir of South Sudan and his exiled rival, Riek Machar, appeared to go well on Wednesday but few details have yet been released about the substance of their talks. Kiir and Machar, the former vice president who broke away from the administration and formed the…
In South Africa, exiled South Sudanese opposition leader Riek Machar acknowledged meeting with former Kenyan presidential candidate Raila Odinga, but it remains to be seen if Machar will participate in direct peace negotiations with President Salva Kiir. “I have had a fruitful discussion with Hon. Raila Odinga in the quest…
Opposition leaders in South Sudan have rejected a peace proposal introduced by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the East African regional body that’s so far failed to broker an agreement to end the conflict between President Salva Kiir’s government and rebel group leaders. Mabior Garang, the SPLM-SPLA IO spokesman,…
International NGO Human Rights Watch is calling on South Sudan to investigate the forced disappearances of Dong Samuel Luak and Aggrey Idri, who went missing from the streets of Nairobi in January 2017. Luak, left, a human rights lawyer and critic of President Salva Kiir’s government, held refugee status in…
South Sudan’s Ministry of Mining, Ministry of Petroleum and the state-owned Nile Petroleum Company were among 15 oil-industry entities added to the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List on Thursday, for what officials say is their funding of the country’s ongoing conflict and actions deemed “contrary to the national security…
The United States has announced it will publish Thursday the names of 15 oil-industry entities in South Sudan that U.S. officials say are supporting the country’s ongoing crisis with their revenues. The decision to place the South Sudanese businesses on the U.S. Department of Commerce Entity List means licensing will…
A United Nations report on human rights violations in South Sudan released Friday concludes that some violations against civilian populations may constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes. The Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, established by the Human Rights Council in March 2016, said it has identified at least 40…
Ongoing violations of South Sudan’s ceasefire agreement have prompted the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to speak out in concern, and now the troika governments of the United Kingdom, United States and Norway have joined them. South Sudanese leaders agreed to a ceasefire on December 21 following negotiations with IGAD,…
South Sudanese leaders on both sides of the nation’s civil war say a truce supposed to go into effect on December 24 has been breached. The opposition SPLA-IO said in a press statement that government forces launched a 6 a.m. attack against their fighters in Koch County, with additional reports…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
As South Sudan reaches the four-year mark in its civil war, the regional Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) plans Monday to move forward with talks meant to end the conflict. The High-Level Revitalization Forum (HLRF) in Addis Ababa is designed to re-energize the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict…