Ceasefire monitors for South Sudan

NAIROBI/JUBA. – A regional bloc, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), yesterday dispatched its first team of observers to the conflict-affected South Sudan to monitor the ceasefire. A ceasefire has theoretically been in place for almost 10 days but multiple violations have been reported.

A statement from IGAD said the 14-member team is expected to meet with state and non-state stakeholders including local and international organisations in Juba and several locations in South Sudan.

“An advance team of the IGAD Joint Technical Committee left for Juba this morning to start the process of establishing the Monitoring and Verification Mechanism for the implementation of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement,” IGAD said in a statement received in Nairobi.

The decision to deploy monitors was made after leaders of IGAD member states held a meeting behind closed doors last Friday on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Ethiopia.

There have been accusations and counter-accusations on non-compliance to the agreements since the signing of the cessation of hostilities and release of political detainees in Addis Ababa.

The Cessation of Hostilities Agreement provides for cessation of all military actions that may undermine the process, standing down of forces, protection of civilians, opening of humanitarian access, cessation of propaganda through media as well as the formation of a Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (MVM).

The Agreement on the Status of Detainees calls for an expedited process in the release of detainees whose contribution in the ownership of the peace process is deemed important.

Regional analysts said the conclusion of the two agreements paved the way for the next phase of negotiations on comprehensive resolution of all outstanding political issues.

The IGAD statement said the team will also assess the situation on the ground before the deployment of the monitoring and verification teams in various parts of the country.

“The team that includes military and civilian experts drawn from IGAD member states, the troika and the partners will also conduct a recce of the areas for possible deployment of the monitors,” IGAD said.

“At the end of the five-day advance mission, the team will report back to the IGAD Special Envoys in Addis Ababa by 7th February 2014 with recommendations on the way forward.”

The team is led by Major General Gebreegzabher Mebrahtu of Ethiopia and deputised by Major-General Mohammed Amin Moustafa Eltinay of Sudan.

Meanwhile, South Sudan government forces have recaptured Leer, the hometown of nominal rebel leader Riek Machar in the northern oil-producing state of Unity, a spokesman for the rebels said yesterday.

Government soldiers and allied militia “advanced on Leer town on February 1, 2014 destroying everything on their path. (President Salva) Kiir’s forces burned down the whole of Leer town and the entire surrounding villages,” a statement from rebel spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said.

There was no independent confirmation that Leer had changed hands. But medical charity Doctors without Borders (MSF, Medecins sans Frontieres) reported on Friday that a team of its local health workers had taken “several dozen of the most seriously ill patients from Leer hospital with them into the bush, fearing for their safety”.

“Other patients who were well enough to leave of their own accord also fled, and there are no longer any patients or staff left at Leer hospital,” MSF said.

Koang accused the government troops of having hunted down and killed women and children and elderly people who had gone to hide in nearby bushes and swampy areas.

“The latest destruction of Leer town . . . has no strategic, operational or tactical importance,” the spokesman said, accusing Kiir of having merely derived “satisfaction” from destroying Machar’s home town.

Since the South Sudan conflict started in mid-December both sides have traded accusations of abuses, with the United Nations and rights groups reporting that both sides have committed atrocities.

Thousands have been killed in the conflict and over 700 000 people have fled their homes in seven weeks of violence. – Xinhua-AFP.