By Yiep Joseph
An activist has criticized the Ceasefire & Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring & Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM) for ineffective reporting on violations, citing slow verification and repetitive reports that fail to prevent renewed hostilities.
CTSAMVM, the multinational body monitoring compliance with the 2018 peace agreement, deploys Monitoring and Verification Teams (MVTs) to gather information on potential violations.
The teams report to CTSAMVM headquarters in Juba for further action. Despite the monitoring efforts, parties to the agreement continue to trade accusations of ceasefire violations in several areas.
The criticism comes as CTSAMVM convened its 50th Board Meeting on Tuesday, with discussions focused on previous violations.
Ter Manyang, executive director of the Center for Peace and Advocacy (CPA), told this news outlet that CTSAMVM needs to report violations promptly to ensure accountability.
He stated that the organization has remained silent while various violations continue, with groups engaging in blame games.
“CTSAMVM activities are too silent, which gives citizens worries whether they are still active or inactive due to reasons known to them,” Ter said.
“CTSAMVM is only that body that is supposed to be trustworthy when the violations occur across the country, but they act slowly when such incidents happen, like in Western Equatoria and Western Bahr el Ghazal states between SSPSF and SPLA-IO,” he added.
The activist questions the status of the body, claiming that they do not follow their mandate as stated in the peace agreement that required them to verify and report on time and in a partial manner.
“They (CTSTAMVM) don’t follow their mandate according to R-ARCSS, which is clear in the peace agreement. What could the problem be? It’s funding, or they are under the influence of somebody who drives on what to do in the country, he said.
Ter acknowledged the funding constraint but urged the leadership of the body to change their reports duration.
“CTSAMVM should change the way they report monthly or maybe weekly, depending on the availability of funding from the donors,” he said.
He expressed that the delay in the unification of forces contributes to the insecurity in the country.
Ter appealed to the parties to the peace agreement to express political will and ensure speedy unification of forces.
However, during the opening of the 50th CTSAMVM Board Meeting on Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Yitayal Gelaw Bitew, the Chairperson of CTSAMVM, reiterated the peace monitoring body’s commitment to fulfilling its mandate.
He reported that “the ceasefire between the signatory parties has remained largely effective across most monitored areas by CTSAMVM’s Monitoring and Verification Teams.”
The chairperson, however, noted violations in some parts of the country.
“It is with regret that I must inform you, as I did with the CTSAMVM Technical Committee, that for the first time in my tenure as Chairman, the integrity of the ceasefire is not upheld across all of South Sudan,” he said.
He added that the body is particularly concerned about ongoing armed clashes between two signatory parties along the state boundary between Western Equatoria and Western Bahr El Ghazal.
“Our Monitoring and Verification Teams were alerted to reports of these clashes over the weekend of January 11 and 12,” he said.