The authorities says Riek Machar was accountable and has now charged him and 20 others with homicide, conspiracy, terrorism, treason, destruction of public property and crimes towards humanity. File | Photo Credit: AP
A fragile power-sharing settlement between President Salva Kiir and his first Vice-President Machar has been unravelling for months on the earth’s youngest nation.
In early March, a militia from Mr. Machar’s ethnic Nuer group often known as the White Army attacked a army base in Nasir County, Upper Nile State within the northeast of the nation.
The authorities says Mr. Machar was accountable and has now charged him and 20 others with homicide, conspiracy, terrorism, treason, destruction of public property and crimes towards humanity.
“These crimes had been marked by gross violations of the Geneva Conventions and worldwide humanitarian regulation, together with the desecration of corpses, persecution of civilians, and assaults on humanitarian employees,” Justice Minister Joseph Geng Akech mentioned, in keeping with a read-out supplied to reporters in Juba.
Mr. Kiir quickly after issued a presidential decree stripping Mr. Machar of his authorities place, together with one other co-accused, petroleum minister Puot Kang Choi, in keeping with an announcement on state tv.
Deadly assault
The army base in Nasir was overrun by the White Army between March 3 and seven.
Several senior officers together with a common died and a United Nations helicopter got here underneath fireplace whereas making an attempt to rescue troopers on the base, resulting in the loss of life of a pilot.
“This case sends a transparent message: those that commit atrocities towards the individuals of South Sudan, towards our armed forces, and towards humanitarian personnel will probably be held accountable, irrespective of their place or political affect,” the Minister mentioned within the assertion.
The U.N., which operates a serious peace-building mission in South Sudan, mentioned on the time that the nation was “witnessing an alarming regression that might erase years of hard-won progress”.
Mr. Kiir had already been shifting for months to consolidate energy and sideline Mr. Machar, who was positioned underneath home arrest a number of weeks after the assault, whereas lots of his allies have additionally been detained.
South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 however was shortly plunged right into a devastating five-year civil struggle between Mr. Kiir and Mr. Machar that left some 400,000 useless.
The struggle ended with a power-sharing settlement in 2018 however makes an attempt by the worldwide group to make sure a democratic transition have failed.
Elections that had been on account of happen in December 2024 had been as soon as once more postponed for 2 years.
South Sudan has additionally made headlines after the United States deported eight convicted criminals to the nation in July, solely one among whom was South Sudanese.
Published – September 12, 2025 02:34 am IST
