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The international community and the United Nations welcomed Friday the signing of a peace deal between the government of South Sudan and rebels in the country and called on all warring parties to respect the ceasefire agreement which is part of the peace accord.
In a unanimous statement, the U.N. Security Council called on both parties "to adhere to the permanent cease-fire immediately,” and expressed its “readiness to consider appropriate measures," including "an arms embargo and additional targeted sanctions."
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Fresh peace deal ‘first step’ in resolving months-long #SouthSudan crisis, says #UNSC http://t.co/rJX3Aj4Wbk pic.twitter.com/aVFrQH7LfJ
— UN News Centre (@UN_News_Centre)
August 28, 201
The peace accord was signed by both President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar and will come into effect on Saturday. Kiir had already called on his army to halt all operations against the rebels.
Although Kiir had initially refused to sign the deal, he signed it Wednesday after mounting international pressure, especially from the U.N. and the African Union, who are both sponsoring the deal to end the bloody conflict.
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The conflict began in December 2013 when the president accused Machar, one of his deputies at the time, of planning a coup. The accusations triggered an ethnically-fueled conflict that in 20 months claimed the lives of thousands.
On Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the move is “a critical and necessary step towards ending the 20 month-long conflict that has devastated [the country] and subjected its people to unspeakable suffering.”
The deal gives the rebels the post of first vice president, which means that Machar would likely return to the job from which he was sacked in July 2013, the event that triggered the violence in the country.
Meanwhile, a report by a U.N. panel of experts on Tuesday said both sides in the conflict between government forces and rebels have targeted civilians. It also said "the intensity and brutality of the violence" since April has been the worst in an "exceedingly violent conflict."
I tell #UN SecCo 2.2 mil people have been displaced by #SouthSudan’s conflict, a rise of 200,000 since start of year pic.twitter.com/axWjMtDZWy
— Stephen O'Brien (@UNReliefChief)
August 25, 201
The council said Friday that those atrocities should be investigated and those responsible must face justice.
More than 2 million people have been displaced. The U.N. said that young girls have been raped and burned alive.
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