South Sudan’s fragile peace deal has effectively collapsed after the arrest of First Vice President Riek Machar, his party declared on Thursday, warning that the country risks sliding back into civil war.
“With the arrest and detention of Dr. Riek Machar Teny, the R-ARCSS 2018 has been abrogated,” said Oyet Nathaniel Pierino, deputy chairman of Machar’s SPLM-IO party, referring to the 2018 peace agreement that ended a brutal five-year conflict.
“The prospect for peace and stability in South Sudan has now been put into serious jeopardy,” he added.
The United States called on South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir to release Machar immediately, urging the country’s leaders to prevent further escalation.
“We are concerned by reports South Sudan’s First Vice President Machar is under house arrest,” Washington’s Bureau of African Affairs wrote on X. “We urge President Kiir to reverse this action & prevent further escalation of the situation.”
Arrest Sparks Political Crisis
Machar’s SPLM-IO party said on Wednesday that South Sudan’s defense minister and chief of national security "forcefully entered" Machar’s residence and delivered an arrest warrant.
The opposition leader, along with his wife and two bodyguards, was placed under house arrest, accused of being linked to recent fighting between the military and the White Army militia in Nasir, Upper Nile State, earlier this month. The SPLM-IO has denied any involvement with the militia.
The UN has warned that the recent clashes, along with rising ethnic tensions, could reignite the civil war that ended in 2018.
Under the peace agreement, Kiir and Machar have been sharing power in a fragile coalition government, with Machar serving as first vice president. However, tensions have been mounting, and analysts have long warned that the agreement was unraveling.
Growing International Concern
The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) urged restraint, warning that South Sudan’s leaders were pushing the country toward widespread conflict.
“This will not only devastate South Sudan but also affect the entire region,” UNMISS said in a statement.
The UN commission documenting rights abuses in South Sudan echoed these concerns, warning that failure to uphold the peace accords could trigger a “catastrophic” return to war and threaten millions of lives.
“Failure to uphold the protections enshrined in the Peace Agreement — including freedom of movement, political participation, and the cessation of hostilities — will lead to a catastrophic return to war,” the commission said.
Kiir’s government has also detained several SPLM-IO officials in recent weeks, including the petroleum minister and the deputy head of the army, following clashes in Upper Nile State.
On Wednesday, reports emerged of renewed fighting between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar near the capital, Juba.
The civil war, which lasted from 2013 to 2018, was fought largely along ethnic lines and resulted in the deaths of nearly 400,000 people. The collapse of the peace deal now raises fears that South Sudan could once again plunge into chaos.
