South Sudan’s former vice president and opposition leader Riek Machar “is in the care” of the authorities in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations has said, several weeks after he withdrew from the capital Juba during fierce fighting with government troops.
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The U.N. chief “urges, once more, the government of South Sudan to investigate these human right violations and to prosecute those involved in these unspeakable acts of violence”, his spokesman said in a statement.
Today in Juba security prevented circulation of the newspapers Al Maugif and Nation Mirror, reportedly because of news about Machar, sources said.
Irrigation Minister Mabior Garang de Mabior said that Dr Machar will later travel to Addis Ababa, where he will wait for countries in the region to intervene, but first “he has to regain his strength after a month in the bush”.
After renewed clashes with President Salva Kiir’s army in the capital, Juba, in early July, Machar and fighters supporting him left the city, putting the country’s peace deal in limbo.
Kiir and Machar had fought a civil war which broke out in December 2013 and left tens of thousands dead.
Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. He has said he would not return to Juba until a regional force is deployed in the capital to help restore calm. And last month Juba was rocked by several days of heavy fighting between Kiir’s forces and those loyal to Machar. Renewed fighting and recruitment in South Sudan risks undermining much of this progress. In April, Mr. Machar, accompanied by some 1,000 troops, returned to the capital Juba to resume his post as vice president, following last August’s signing of the power-sharing accord.
President Salva Kiir later sacked him as vice-president and replaced him with Taban Deng Gai, one of his senior officials in his movement before falling out with him after failing appointment of oil ministry. South Sudan rejected the accusations.
A South Sudan presidential spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, said President Salva Kiir had no reaction to the United Nations helping Machar.
South Sudan has been embroiled in an ethnically charged war since 2013, only two years after it gained independence from Sudan.
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South Sudan’s military and opposition forces have made repeated promises to address allegations of child recruitment, but both sides have continued recruiting since July’s outbreak of violence, according to Justin Forsyth, UNICEF’s deputy executive director.
