HART Prize for Human Rights
Fact Sheet – South Sudan
Summary
South Sudan, created in 2011 following a popular referendum, is the world’s youngest nation. However, despite decades of bloody
wars with northern Sudan that ended with a peace agreement in 2005, South Sudan has yet to achieve sustainable peace. Violence
erupted within the country once again in December 2013, as President Salva Kiir accused his former Vice-President Riek Machar of
plotting a coup against him. This political dispute quickly turned into a war fought on personal allegiances that has so far displaced
over 2.3 million people (ReliefWeb, January 2016).
HART’s partner in South Sudan is Marol Academy, Luonyaker, Diocese of Wau and Primary Healthcare Clinics, Yei.
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History
Sudan gained independence from joint Egyptian-British
rule in 1956. The Christian and culturally sub-Saharan
south united with the largely Muslim and culturally
Arabic north. The south was not given the autonomy it
was promised after independence, marking the
beginning of the first civil war.
In 1989, a military coup brought the current Sudanese
president, Omar al-Bashir, to power. Since then he has
systematically persecuted those perceived as different,
or as threatening his power – often on religious or
ethnic grounds.
Decades of civil war, in which an estimated 2 million
people were killed, finally ended with the 2005
North/South Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
As part of the CPA, a referendum was held in 2011, in
which 98.83% of people in the south vote for
independence. South Sudan was formed.
Disputed territories, such as in the oil-rich region of
Abyei, lead to continued fighting and problems. Sudan
then shut the South’s oil export pipelines decreasing the
latter government’s revenues. In September 2012,
trade, oil and security deals were agreed in Ethiopia.
In December 2013, civil war erupted once again as
President Salva Kiir accused his former Vice-President
Riek Machar of plotting to overthrow him.
2013 Conflict: A Man-Made Crisis
The political conflict quickly escalated into a full-blown
civil war that has left thousands of people dead and
millions of people in need of humanitarian aid.
Three ceasefires have been signed, and repeatedly
violated by both sides. The latest agreement was signed
th
on November 8 2014, but was violated within the
following 24 hours.
Both government troops and rebels are known to
commit human rights violations. These include: direct
targeting of civilians based on ethnicity, indiscriminate
targeting of civilians, looting of civilian property, rape
and murder.
Following her visit to South Sudan, the UN Special
Representative on Sexual Violence in Armed Conflict,
Zainab Hawa Bangura, told reporters: “In my 30 years of
e
experience, I’ve never witnessed anything like what I
saw in Bentiu”. Ms Bangura reported that 74% of
victims of sexual violence during conflict were under 18,
with the youngest victim being 2 years old.
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Humanitarian situation
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) 5.1 million people are
in need of humanitarian assistance as of July 2016.
The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees
(UNHCR) estimates that the conflict has created
644,900 refugees.
Despite an ever increasing need for assistance, aid
workers are facing increasing harassment, surveillance
and threats of expulsion according to South Sudan’s
NGO Forum.
Food insecurity
In July, the UN Security Council declared South Sudan’s
food crisis as the worst in the world.
As the war is set to continue throughout the dry season,
5.3 million people are expected to be in crisis and
emergency phases three/four (on a five-point
Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale
where five is famine) in the last months of this year
(FAO).
Nearly 40 percent of the population are in need of
urgent food, nutrition and livelihood assistance.
To learn more, visit or watch:
Amnesty International page on South Sudan:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/region/south-sudan
Human Rights Watch page on South Sudan:
http://www.hrw.org/africa/south-sudan
United
Nations
Mission
in
South
Sudan:
http://www.unocha.org/south-sudan
‘Saving South Sudan’: Documentary, VICE News, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDSu8wlQG6c
For more information, please contact [email protected], or visit www.hart-uk.org/locations/sudan.
To enter the competition, please visit www.hart-uk.org/about-you/humanrightsprize.