South Sudan at risk of return to full-scale war', UN warns

"Civilians were enduring severe abuses including killings and systematic sexual violence, arbitrary detention, forced displacement and deprivation amid a deepening humanitarian crisis in one of the world's most impoverished countries. Escalating atrocity risks and the collapse of political safeguards in the country made urgent preventive action imperative."

"The report blamed the actions of political and military elites in detaining opposition leaders, eroding power sharing and attempting to change the terms of a 2018 peace agreement for placing a peace framework in the country under major strain and increasing instability."

"The arrest and removal from office of First Vice President Riek Machar last year, and his prosecution for murder, treason and crimes against humanity, had undermined the core power-sharing guarantees of the peace agreement, and triggered political uncertainty and armed clashes on a scale not witnessed for a decade."

The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan warns that the country risks returning to full-scale conflict unless impunity and widespread abuses are urgently addressed. Civilians face severe violations including killings, systematic sexual violence, arbitrary detention, forced displacement, and deprivation amid a deepening humanitarian crisis. Political and military elites have detained opposition leaders, eroded power-sharing mechanisms, and attempted to alter the 2018 peace agreement terms, destabilizing the fragile transition. The arrest and removal of First Vice President Riek Machar triggered significant political uncertainty and armed clashes unseen for a decade. The report calls for urgent coordinated national, regional, and international action, including diplomatic pressure, sanctions, and enforcement of the UN arms embargo to prevent mass atrocities and institutional collapse.

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