By William Madouk
A civil society activist has called on President Salva Kiir Mayardit to deliver a state-of-the-nation address on communal violence that continues to claim the lives of innocent civilians.
On Monday, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan’s (UNMISS) latest quarterly brief on violence affecting civilians stated that violence between communities is still rampant, leading to killing of 299 people.
The report titled, “ called “Communal Violence Continues to Take a Heavy Toll on Civilians” by the UN Peacekeeping Mission’s Human Rights Division stated that abduction cases rose by 132 per cent (from 65 to 151) and CRSV by 33 per cent (from 24 to 32).
“Between July and September 2024, the UN Peacekeeping mission’s Human Rights Division documented 206 incidents affecting 792 civilians, of which 299 were killed, 310 injured, 151 abducted and 32 subjected to conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV),” partly read a statement.
Reacting to the matter, the Executive Director of the Centre for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), Mr. Ter Manyang Gatwech says the President should talk to the nation about the UNMISS report.
“There is no moral justification for the RTGoNU’s silence on the confirmed UNMISS report. As a result, the RTGoNU cannot propose any solutions for protecting its citizens,” he said.
Gatwech added that he is deeply concerned about the unity government’s silence which continues with their usual activities “as if nothing is happening in the country.”
“States that such actions undermine public confidence in the government, leading citizens to feel as though there is no one to protect them,” he noted.
Activist states that “in the common law tradition, legal protection encompasses both the acknowledgement of fundamental rights and the government’s responsibility to enforce these rights.”
He continued “A key example of this is the government’s duty to protect citizens from violence, whether it originates from within the country or from external sources.”
Mr. Gatwech cited that governments need to ensure that their laws conform to international human rights standards, and effectively protect individuals from abuse, violence, and crime.
To him, by bolstering human rights frameworks and institutions, governments can improve oversight and reduce the risk of violations.