This Week in South Sudan – Week 32

Monday 4 August

• An aid worker employed by Norwegian People’s Aid was killed in Maban County.
• The IGAD peace talks resumed.
• The Tonj South (Warrap) Commissioner survived an assassination attempt.
• South Sudanese officials in Canada announced their support for the SPLM/A-in-Opposition.
• South Sudanese internally displaced people expressed doubt in the peace talks’ ability to solve the conflict.

Tuesday 5 August

• The SPLM-in-Opposition did not attend the IGAD peace talks.
• IGAD urged the SPLM/A-in-Opposition to rejoin the current peace talks.
• The SPLM-in-Opposition announced that it is ready to participate in direct negotiations with Juba.
• Five more aid workers was killed in Maban County.
• 500 SPLA deserters have crossed the border to East Darfur.
• Political parties in South Sudan condemned the murder of the civil society chairperson last Friday.
• 500 refugees from the Blue Nile (Sudan) arrived in Jendrasa refugee camp, Upper Nile.
• Clans in Twic East (Jonglei) signed an inter-clan peace accord.
• Salva Kiir gave Riek Machar the blame for the ongoing conflict in South Sudan.
• The parliamentary committee on economy and finance announced that South Sudan has lost billions in tax exemptions.
• The South Sudanese government asked aid agencies not to issue reports on the food security situation without ‘political endorsement’ from the presidency.

Wednesday 6 August

• The UN evacuated staff from the Northeast of South Sudan.
• US Secretary of State John Kerry blamed Riek Machar for the ongoing war in South Sudan.
• Ban Ki-Moon demanded full investigation of the recent killing of aid workers in South Sudan.
• The UN warned that South Sudan is nearing ‘catastrophe’.
• The South Sudanese government accused the SPLA-in-Opposition of attacking a village in the Yirol area (Lakes State).
• The SPLA acknowledged that late salary payment caused desertions in June.
• International oil companies rejected Salva Kiir’s request for an advance on oil earnings.
• Heavy floods displaced more than 200 households in Western Bahr el Ghazal.

Thursday 7 August

• The SPLM/A-in-Opposition refuted the IGAD statement on the opposition’s non-participation in the peace talks.
• The SPLM/A-in-Opposition accused the IGAD of stalling the peace negotiations.
• The SPLM/A-in-Opposition resumed its participation in the IGAD peace talks.
• South Sudanese youths demanded involvement in the peace talks.
• Protesters in the US demanded that Salva Kiir resigns.
• The SPLA placed several officers under arrest.

Friday 8 August

• Human Rights Watch warned that the South Sudan atrocities amount to war crimes
• African Union experts said children are targets in the South Sudan conflict.
• The UN Security Council urged the South Sudan rivals to resolve the conflict.
• The Rumbek East county paramount chief was killed.

Saturday 9 August

• SPLA/M-in-Opposition said that a unity government will not solve the conflict
• IGAD warned that the SPLM/A-in-Opposition may face sanctions for the refusal to participate in the peace talks.
• The UN Protection of Civilians Site in Bentiu hosting 40,000 people was badly affected by floods.
• Jonglei’s deputy governor vowed to attack the SPLA-in-Opposition if the peace talks fail.

Sunday 10 August

• The South Sudanese government said that the IGAD accepted the SPLA/M-in-Opposition’s demand of bilateral talks between the warring parties
• Riek Machar met with Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir.
• Salva Kiir offered to appoint Riek Machar as second vice president.
• An increase in cases of looting was reported in Lakes State.