The UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan has called on South Sudan’s government to immediately withdraw what it describes as politicized court trials and release detained opposition figures, including Riek Machar.
The group warned that the prosecutions are deepening ethnic divisions and pushing the country toward renewed conflict.
Presenting its latest investigative report to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the Commission said the detention and prosecution of opposition leaders amount to arbitrary detention and serious violations of due process, undermining judicial independence and the 2018 Revitalized Peace Agreement.
“In our close examination of the detention and prosecution of opposition leaders, we identified serious and extensive violations of due process,” said Commissioner Carlos Castresana Fernández.
“A fundamental issue is their detention without charge or lawyers for over five months. The unlawful deprivation of liberty warrants their immediate release.”
According to the report, opposition figures including the First Vice President were detained during nationwide arrests in March 2025 and later charged with serious crimes in September 2025.
The Commission said the prosecutions were accompanied by prejudicial public statements from senior officials and unexplained dismissals of top judicial figures, indicating executive interference in the judiciary.
Commission Chair Yasmin Sooka warned that the prosecutions cannot be separated from escalating violence on the ground, particularly attacks targeting civilians along ethnic and perceived political lines.
“As attacks on Nuer civilians by government forces continue escalating, particularly in Jonglei, we see that the ethnic dimensions to renewed violence are inseparable from the politicized detentions and prosecutions of opposition leaders,” Sooka said.
The Commission cautioned that credible elections planned for December 2026 are unrealistic under current conditions, citing shrinking civic space, ongoing conflict, mass displacement, and the detention of key opposition leaders.
“Credible electoral processes are unrealistic in a context where civic space is repressed, conflict rages, and key opposition leaders are arbitrarily detained during a politicized trial,” Sooka added.
Beyond the court cases, the report documents widespread violations by government forces, including unlawful killings, indiscriminate aerial bombardments of civilian areas and medical facilities, conflict-related sexual violence, and forced recruitment of boys acts the Commission says may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.
As part of its key recommendations, the Commission urged the government to:
Withdraw politicized charges against SPLM/A-IO leaders,
Release those unlawfully detained,
Cease actions undermining judicial independence, and
Fully restore and implement the Revitalized Peace Agreement.
Without urgent corrective action, the Commission warned, South Sudan risks sliding into full-scale war, state failure, and further mass atrocities, with devastating consequences for civilians and regional stability.
