South Sudan

State security forces in South Sudan have been responsible for imposing new and potentially arbitrary restrictions against the country’s most prominent civil society leaders, issuing “credible” death threats that have undermined peace efforts, UN-appointed independent rights experts said on Wednesday. 

More than 18 months into a power-sharing government between South Sudan’s rival leaders, local conflicts still simmer, undermining a fragile peace accord. But in the northern flashpoint town of Malakal, a group of women peacemakers is trying to reverse that narrative by healing ethnic divisions to head off another bout of violence.

At least 36 people were killed in clashes between four communities in South Sudan over the weekend, according to Warrap state officials.

Sudanese security forces have fired tear gas to break up a demonstration in the capital Khartoum held in support of a civilian-led transition to democracy. An attempted coup last week, which officials blamed on soldiers loyal to the previous government of Omar al-Bashir, laid bare divisions between military and civilian groups sharing power during a transition that is meant to run to 2023 and lead to elections.

Authorities in Sudan and South Sudan have agreed to officially open their border crossings on October 1, a South Sudanese official disclosed. … The border between the two countries was closed in 2011 when relations deteriorated after South Sudan seceded.

Massive plundering of South Sudan’s public coffers is undermining human rights in the world’s youngest nation and threatening its already fragile peace process, according to a UN report released on Thursday.

South Sudan has made history with the appointment of two women to senior leadership positions within its Transitional National Legislature, the top United Nations official in the country told the Security Council on Wednesday, as he encouraged parties to build on these gains in efforts to overcome significant political and security headwinds.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) called on military commanders and political leaders Tuesday to end clashes in Western Equatoria state following the deaths of at least five people on Monday. 

South Sudan is witnessing a "new wave of repression", global rights group Amnesty International warned Friday, with many activists now in hiding after a string of arrests in the conflict-wracked country.