In December 2016, the UN Human Rights Commission issued a statement, warning of ethnic cleansing
in parts of South Sudan, the world’s newest recognized country.
UN officials cited instances of gang rape, starvation, and village burning, comparing
the events to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, which saw as many as one million deaths in just
three months.
So what is behind South Sudan’s ethnic violence, and could the country be on the brink of a
full-blown genocide?
Well, South Sudan broke off from Sudan in 2011, after decades of guerilla warfare between
Sudan’s Muslim north and Christian south.
After independence, the newly formed South Sudan instated former military commander Salva
Kiir as president, representing the largest ethnic group, the Dinkas.
His Vice President, Dr. Riek Machar, was to represent the second largest ethnic group,
called the “Nuers]”.
But tension grew within the government, and in July 2013, President Kiir purged his entire
cabinet, including Vice President Machar.
Then in December of that year, Kiir accused Machar of organizing an attempted coup, and
fighting broke out within the military between those who supported the President and others
who backed the former VP.
This political infighting spread to ethnic Nuer and Dinka militias, and eventually culminated
into a civil war between the two tribes.
The fighting escalated in early 2014, when neighboring Uganda deployed troops to support
Dinka-backed government forces.
As of March 2016, an estimated 50,000 people have died and nearly three million, or about
a quarter of the population, have been forced from their homes.
Much of the fighting has been divided along ethnic lines, with government forces accused
of targeting majority Nuer towns, and anti-government militias allegedly targeting Dinka towns.
In one particularly heinous incident, rebel militias overtook a city, killing more than
400 civilians on the basis of their ethnicity or nationality.
Rebel forces even took over the local radio station, urging men to rape women of specific
ethnicities and calling for rival militias to be purged from the town.
According to the UN, sexual violence as a means of ethnic cleansing is still rife.
In fact, the organization’s November 2016 survey found that 70 percent of women in the
city of Juba had experienced sexual assault since the civil war began.
According to one surveyed woman, rape happens “everyday” and as a result, there is “no
stigma” around it.
In an effort to stop the ethnic violence, the United States has sought to impose sanctions
on government and rebel forces, effectively stifling both sides of the conflict.
But the resolution has yet to see the full support of the UN.
Other attempts at ending the war, including at least seven peace deals or ceasefires,
have been unsuccessful.
For now, there is no foreseeable end to the fighting and according to UN officials, what
started as a political feud could soon become an “outright ethnic war”.
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South Sudan formed as a way out of Sudan’s seemingly never ending war.
Yet, South Sudan itself has been at war for nearly as long as it has existed.
This is far from the only African region at war, so why are there so many wars in Africa?
Find out in this video.
Another region of ongoing conflict is Darfur in Sudan.
Since 2003 anit-government rebel groups attempted a coup d'etat essentially to protect the country's
non-Arab minority.
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