The Tragedy of Inter- and Intra-Communal Violence in South Sudan

By Hon. Juol Nhomngek Daniel, Juba, South Sudan

Saturday, 03 February 2024 (PW) — In South Sudan, there is no single day spent without hearing the killing of a person or persons not by an accident nor by a disease but mostly a human being killing another human being. The high levels of violence that continue to destroy civilians’ lives mostly youth is caused by the inter and intra-communal violence. 

The killings of civilians by civilians are common in different parts of South Sudan as seen in the case of Jonglei States and Greater Pibor Administrative Area, Jonglei State and Eastern Equatoria State, Jonglei State and Upper Nile State, Unity State and Lakes State, Unity State, Warrap State and Lakes State and Warrap State and Abyei Administrative Area.

 The conflicts in the abovementioned areas have caused thousands of lives if not millions of lives among civilians since 2013 to date. Though South Sudan is said to have signed the Revitalized Peace Agreement in 2018 that reduce the intensity of the political conflicts, the inter and intra communal violence are still continuing unabatedly, in many parts of South Sudan.

In particular, the inter and intra communal violence are common in the epicentre of conflicts, which are—Jonglei State versus Greater Pibor Administrative Area, Unity State versus Lakes State, Unity State versus Warrap State versus Lakes State and Warrap State versus Abyei Administrative Area are still experiencing unending violence even now as I am writing this Article.

The conflicts in the abovementioned areas have had spill-over to the neighbouring states or counties. Unfortunately, many people keep on blaming civilians which made the government relax and makes itself appears to have no role in the occurrences in the community violence eats our communities across South Sudan, which is not correct. The government has the duty to protect citizens and it fails to execute such a duty makes all crimes committed in the process to be imputed on it.

As it has been pointed out by some analysts and writers, the argument that the government of South Sudan does not have the role in the violence going on among our communities is wrong. This is because it ignores the fact that conflicts in South Sudan are caused by ethno-political struggle and competition among elites over access to power and financial resources.

In addition to the point in the foregoing paragraph, the blurred line between the military and armed civilians makes it hard to control the flows of small arms to the hands of civilians. As the arms are in the hands of civilians, it becomes easier for the elites to mobilize armed civilians against the oppositions or against the other communities in the attempt of weakening their political opponents on the other side or create a buffer zone where to illegally mind precious minerals freely.

The clear examples in support of the point made above is the recent mobilization of the SSPDF against the SPLM-IO forces in Unity State in which the Governor of Unity State has been directly linked to it as it was published by the Sudan Post media on February 2, 2024. In addition, the report by the UN Security Council in 2021 about conflict between the youth of Greater Pibor Administrative Area and the youth of Jonglei State confirmed the fact that communal violence is caused by elites as part of maintaining power or creating space for free looting of minerals.

The above and other examples not cited in this Article show that the Government uses local armed militias or the army to fight proxy war as the way of weakening the oppositions or makes it hard to implement the Agreement so that the citizens are not able to choose their representatives. It is in other words, a political technique employed to retain and maintain power.

In all the continuing communal violence and ethno-political conflicts across South Sudan, youth are the victims. Youth are continuing to be killed in large numbers as the communal violence has acquired modern character in traditional warfare clothing. There is a clear change in method of warfare from traditional method to modern method of warfare as it is characterised by the use of automatic machine guns.

The use of modern weapons has made the communal violence assume the most dangerous character though it appears to be traditional in outlooks as the actors represent original players. The current deceptive nature of communal violence makes the government and international community underestimate it though it is the most devastating manmade tragedy in the history of South Sudan.

The dangerous nature of the inter and intra communal violence in South Sudan has had negative impact on our communities and the whole country economically, socially and politically.

Economically, it has affected production as it has caused displacement that increases dependence which further increases corruption in the government that in turn affects development and youth empowerment.

It has also affected trade and businesses as has cut off trade and business links in many parts of South Sudan. It causes food shortages as the local production is affected which has contributed to the skyrocketing inflation.

Socially, the inter and intra communal violence has increased poverty as production has reduced and dependence has increased. The cultural values are destroyed as many communities are uprooted from their ancestral homelands and displaced in towns or neighbouring countries where young girls and women have become sex workers.

Respect for social, women and elderly has disappeared as youth have lost social values that require the respect for women, children and elders. Hence, children are targeted, women are raped and elders are killed without any regrets.

The young people kill each other even when one group find others sleeping, which is against traditional values of not killing sleeping or weak persons who are not directly taking parts in conflict. South Sudanese cultures of humanitarian laws are no longer observed.  

The gender gap has increased which affects which more than men due to unequal power balance. Young men and women have developed their sugar daddy and mammy systems in order to survive and to live a dignified life. The practices of witchcrafts and human sacrifices have increased as many young people are struggling to achieve their right to individual self-determination.

Families which are considered by law as the basic units of the society are rampantly breaking up, which has increased the number of street children. Abortions and abandoned children on the streets are common. Sycophancy and falsehood, which are vices in strong communities have increased as individuals use all means to have access to resources.

Politically, the inter and intra communal violence have become the source of political conflict as they occur across political line. The community violence has become the means of elites accessing or maintaining power. The communities have become highly politicised and are now turned into political constituencies that determine the appointment and removal of government officials.

Ministers are appointed and removed on community demands. Political wars are fought on community lines and youth have engaged into forming community associations in form of youth associations. The government has become the organization where the communities directly demand from the president to be represented.

Political appointments on merits are replaced by community appointments and representation irrespective of competency of the appointees. Corruption is compromised as the government resources are shared on community lines which communities encourage their sons and daughters to get as many as resources they lay their hands on and to make sure that they employ their relatives in the government.

Failures of individual government officials in the government are considered as failures of their communities. Government has been turned into avenue where resources are hunted by groups of the communities for establishment. The post of the government has become the issue of the community and tribal symbol of power, which communities view as tribal or clan power being taken away.

The sons and relatives are the university qualifications. The decentralized System of government has assumed federal character as the communities in the system demand that the nationalities from other tribes must now be employed in the state that does not belong to them. The government have become community or tribal organizations as they are driven through tribal spirit.

In summary, the character and destructive nature of inter and intra communal violence make it more devastating though it is underestimated in the history of South Sudan.

The continuing communal violence is the failure of the government to uphold its constitutional duty to protect human life which is the part of the international humanitarian law that imposes on the state a duty to protect its citizens externally and against each other internally.

The government has the duty to come up with the independent community violence law that criminalizes the inter and intra communal violence. The community violence law should incorporate the elements of international humanitarian laws as the youth are employing modern weapons.

The citizens who are affected by the inter and intra community violence may even claim damages against the government in future as the government fails in its duty to protect them. The requirement for the community violence to end in South Sudan is for the government to have political will to protect the citizens. 

The author, Hon. Juol Nhomngek Daniel, is a member of the National Parliament (TNLA) representing Cueibet County in Lakes State on the ticket of the SPLM-IO. He is a lawyer specializing in the Constitution law and human rights and can be reached at his email address: nhomngekjuol@gmail.com.

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