CIVICUS speaks about an escalating crisis in South Sudan with Edmund Yakani, Executive Director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) South Sudan. Founded by university students and graduates, CEPO works to promote peace, human rights, the rule of law, democratic governance and sustainable livelihoods in conflict-affected communities.
Fighting between government forces and opposition groups is escalating in South Sudan. On 27 March, Vice President Riek Machar was placed under house arrest over his alleged role in the violence, deepening tensions with President Salva Kiir. This arrest violates the 2018 peace deal that halted a devastating civil war, and Machar’s party has called it a coup. Government forces have reportedly targeted opposition figures and communities from ethnicities other than the biggest ethnic group, the Dinka. Uganda’s military intervention in support of Kiir threatens to draw neighbouring countries into the conflict.
