South Sudan: Elections Minus Safeguards Could Fuel Renewed Atrocities, Warns UN Commission

Geneva — Political, security and human rights safeguards required for a peaceful and credible vote are largely absent in South Sudan, a UN commission has warned.

“South Sudan is moving towards its first national elections since independence while the political, security and human rights safeguards required for a peaceful and credible vote that delivers democratic change are largely absent,” the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan warned on Wednesday.

In its Advisory, At the Brink: Preventing Atrocity Crimes and Safeguarding South Sudan’s Transition, the commission finds that multiple risk factors for atrocity crimes are converging.

National elections are due to be held in South Sudan on Dec. 22, the first since independence in 2011.

The UN commission cites the resumption of armed conflict in several parts of the country; inclusive politics being abandoned; civic space and constitutional safeguards being weakened; accountability mechanisms remaining largely absent; and significant sections of the population still excluded from meaningful political participation.

Risk for heightened atrocity crimes

The commission cautioned that elections held without a strategy for democratic consolidation and preventing national schisms could instead fuel renewed conflict and heighten the risk of atrocity crimes.

“South Sudanese have waited 15 years to cast their first ballots as citizens of an independent state. They have the right to choose their government through free, peaceful and democratic elections,” said South African human rights lawyer, Yasmin Sooka, chair of the commission.

“They deserve an election that gives them a voice, not one that puts their lives at risk,” said Sooka.

She explained that a peaceful democracy cannot be built on a foundation of armed conflict, fear and exclusion.

“Yet the very safeguards designed to prevent a return to war are being dismantled as the country moves towards the ballot box.”

The UN commission says its concern is not whether elections should be held, but whether South Sudanese can exercise that right freely, safely and without fear, and in a manner that consolidates the country’s democratic transformation.

South Sudan is the newest internationally recognized country in the world. It gained independence on July 9, 2011, after splitting from Sudan.

By Peter Kenny