The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has warned that the escalation of conflict in Jonglei State could erode the 2018 peace agreement as the country prepares for the first-ever elections in December 2026.
The fresh conflict not only threatens to erode the gains of the peace agreement, officially known as the Revitalised Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS), but places civilians at risk of death, displacement and deprivation.
As the political impasse has continued, over the past few weeks, intensified hostilities in Jonglei State have involved direct and indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations, including repeated aerial bombardments by the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF), clashes with SPLM-IO and the reported mobilisation of armed civilian militias.
The Commission called for the immediate de-escalation and cessation of hostilities in civilian-populated areas, including airstrikes, ground offensives and military operations. It urged the immediate return to the pathways, obligations and guarantees of the peace agreement.
An already dire humanitarian and human rights crisis is compounded by a blatant disregard for the protection afforded to civilians under international law. Humanitarian partners estimate that more than 100,000 people, predominantly women, girls, older persons and persons with disabilities, have been forcibly displaced across the state since late December 2025, many fleeing without shelter, food or access to medical care.
According to Yasmin Sooka, Chair of the Commission, the protection of civilians is not optional — it is a binding legal obligation of the government. “The renewed airstrikes in civilian areas, combined with restrictions on humanitarian access imposed by parties to the conflict, including the SSPDF and SPLM/A-IO, are again placing lives at immediate risk, while systematically eroding the peace agreement and condemning civilians to fear, displacement and death,” said Mr Sooka.
The Commission expressed deep alarm at the reports of repeated airstrikes in parts of Jonglei, including Uror, Ayod and Nyirol counties, which have killed and injured civilians, destroyed homes, markets, and medical facilities, and triggered large-scale displacement.
At the same time, medical facilities have been forced to suspend operations or evacuate staff, leaving critically ill patients stranded without lifesaving care. “What we are witnessing in Jonglei is not an isolated security incident; it is a dangerous escalation which is manifesting in other parts of the country as well, and which could potentially bring far-reaching political and security consequences,” said Commissioner Barney Afako. “As usual, South Sudanese civilians are paying the heaviest price for the political miscalculations of their leaders, and the deliberate unravelling of the peace agreement.
The actions in Jonglei could put the country into another dangerous spiral of violence. Yet, in the face of sustained violation of the peace agreement and human rights violations, regional and international actors have failed to dissuade South Sudan’s leaders from their zero-sum politics.
Without urgent de-escalation and renewed political engagement, another tragic and brutal cycle of war will be inflicted upon the long-suffering people of South Sudan.”
The Commission underscored that all parties to the conflict – state forces, organized armed groups and affiliated militias – are bound by international humanitarian law, including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution, and by international human rights law. Attacks directed against civilians or civilian objects, indiscriminate airstrikes, and the denial of humanitarian access are strictly prohibited.
The Commission reminds the Government of South Sudan that it bears the primary responsibility under international law to protect civilians within its territory, including by exercising effective control over its forces, preventing violations by its armed forces and allied militias, and ensuring safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian access.
Non-state armed groups are equally bound by international humanitarian and human rights law, and all parties must immediately cease hostilities affecting civilians.
The Commission calls upon regional and international partners to intensify coordinated diplomatic engagement to prevent further deterioration, a return to consensus-based politics, and to ensure that civilian protection and humanitarian access are treated as non-negotiable priorities.
“South Sudan’s people cannot continue to pay the price yet again for political and military failure,” Sooka said. “Every violation further dismantles the peace agreement and deepens human suffering. The fighting must stop now; civilians must be protected. The parties must return without delay to the commitments they made to peace.”
