On Point: After 400,000 Dead, South Sudan Seeks Peace

[Valin]

Strategy Page

Austin Bay
February 26, 2020

A Feb. 22 ceremony in South Sudan's capital, Juba, brought two enemies face to face. That's one reason the ceremony may prove to be a major political step toward ending the country's terrible six-year-long internal war.

Terrible doesn't adequately describe South Sudan's war. The conflict, which still flickers, has killed an estimated 400,000 people, though no one knows precisely. Accurate body counts involving forensic analysis of mass graves require peace. However, 400,000 dead and over 3 million displaced are conscience-shocking numbers. They are big enough to demand attention.

The Juba ceremony made senior rebel leader Riek Machar South Sudan's first vice president and fulfilled an incremental but critical condition of a peace agreement. With Machar occupying South Sudan's second-most powerful office, the process of establishing a transitional government of national unity can proceed.

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Over the last three years, Kiir and Machar have had several face-to-face encounters. Perhaps the most relevant to reconciliation occurred in April 2019 in Rome. During a brief spiritual retreat at the Vatican, Pope Francis went to his knees and kissed their shoes, a gesture of humility and compassion.

"I am asking you as a brother to stay in peace," the pope said. "I am asking you with my heart: Let us go forward. There will be many problems, but they will not overcome us. Resolve your problems."

 

Time will tell if Kiir and Machar can cooperate, for there is much to reconcile and a lot to forgive.