South Sudan

UN rights chief calls on South Sudan’s warring parties to end renewed fighting
The UN on Friday warned of further deterioration in the human rights situation in South Sudan amid an uptick in hostilities, arbitrary arrests and hate speech since February. … Escalating hostilities “portend a real risk of further exacerbating the already dire human rights and humanitarian situation,” said Volker Türk, head of the UN human rights office (OHCHR), urging all parties to the conflict to “urgently pull back from the brink.”
 

South Sudan President Salva Kiir sacked three deputies and the secretary-general of the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) late on Tuesday, state media reported, in a party reshuffle that has sparked speculation about his succession plans.

Amnesty International urged the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday to enforce a renewed arms embargo on South Sudan, alleging the recent presence of Ugandan troops was “in clear breach” of the order.

Introduced by the United States and supported by 11 other Council members, the resolution extended the mandate of UNMISS until 30 April next year. This action follows a short nine-day “technical rollover” approved by the Council on 30 April to allow more time for negotiations.

At least seven people have been killed and another 20 injured in an attack on a town in South Sudan, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has said, as fears grow that the world’s youngest nation will relapse into all-out civil war.

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) by nine days, until 9 May, apparently to allow more time for members to discuss the matter amid escalating tensions in the country. The short-term technical rollover was unanimously adopted through resolution 2778 (2025) (to be issued as document S/RES/2778 (2025)).  It authorizes the Mission to continue to “use all necessary means to carry out its tasks” beyond its current mandate’s expiration on 30 April.

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir has dismissed the head of the country’s General Intelligence Bureau (GIB) and replaced his presidential security advisor in a series of high-level reshuffles, state media reported on Wednesday. … Since last October, Kiir has made frequent changes to intelligence leadership, a shift from past reshuffles that primarily targeted cabinet ministers and military officials.

The South Sudanese army recaptured the town of Nasir on 19 April, in a setback for the opposition militia that had seized it in early March, amid the first stirrings of renewed civil war. … It is unclear for now whether the recapture of Nasir will bring an end to the surge in conflict in the Upper Nile, but chances are that more violence is on the way.

A sharp deterioration in South Sudan’s political and security situation threatens to undermine the peace gains achieved so far and plunge the country back into war, the Head of the UN Mission warned the Security Council today, stressing the need for all parties to cease hostilities and honour the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement.

South Sudan's President Salva Kiir has replaced its foreign minister with his deputy, Monday Simaya Kumba, state media reported, following a migration dispute with the United States.