Thursday, 20 August 2026 |Joseph Oduha | File Photo |
South Sudan’s planned elections could fuel renewed conflict unless the government and political parties restore key peace and human rights safeguards, the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has warned.
In a new advisory, the commission said the country was moving towards its first national elections since independence while fighting had resumed in parts of the country, political divisions were deepening and civic space was shrinking.
It warned that holding elections without genuine political dialogue, security reforms and protections for political participation could turn the vote into another source of violence rather than a peaceful route out of the country’s long-running crisis.
“South Sudanese have waited 15 years to cast their first ballots as citizens of an independent state,” said Yasmin Sooka, chair of the commission. “They deserve an election that gives them a voice, not one that puts their lives at risk.”
The commission said several risks associated with mass atrocities were now converging, including renewed armed conflict, weakened institutions, impunity, political exclusion, corruption and inflammatory rhetoric.
It said safeguards established under the 2018 peace agreement had also been weakened, while the unification of national security forces remained incomplete.
According to the commission, 46.4% of the provisions of the peace agreement remain outstanding, based on the government’s latest assessment.
The commission said elections could only provide a credible path to democratic transition if citizens were able to vote without fear, political opponents could campaign freely and disputes could be resolved by independent institutions.
It called for an immediate end to hostilities, the restoration of transitional security arrangements and an end to the mobilisation of armed groups.
It also urged the government and political parties to resume inclusive dialogue involving opposition groups, civil society, women and young people.
The commission called for the release of detained opposition leaders, including former Vice-President Riek Machar, unless they are promptly brought before an independent and impartial court in proceedings that meet international human rights standards.
Commissioner Barney Afako warned that the return of armed groups to political competition, while safeguards for peaceful participation were disappearing, represented a “profoundly dangerous trajectory”.
“South Sudan cannot build a democratic future by excluding those with whom it disagrees,” he said.
The UN commission acknowledged that many South Sudanese are frustrated by years of political transition, insecurity and economic hardship and see elections as an opportunity to choose their leaders peacefully.
But it said the government and political parties had a responsibility to ensure that the vote did not become another battleground.
It urged the African Union, IGAD, the United Nations and other international partners to step up preventive diplomacy and push for a return to an inclusive political process.
The commission said the situation could still be reversed, but warned that the window to prevent a return to the scale of violence and displacement seen between 2013 and 2018 was rapidly closing.
“South Sudan does not lack peace agreements, frameworks or roadmaps; it lacks their implementation,” the commission said.
