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UN envoy hails call to halt violence in South Sudan

16 December 2011 22:45 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan has welcomed an appeal by the youngest country’s Vice President Riek Machar to communities in the troubled Jonglei state to refrain from violence and to immediately engage in talks on reconciliation and peaceful co-existence, a UN spokesman told reporters here Friday.

"The secretary-general’s special representative to South Sudan, Hilde F. Johnson, has welcomed the call made by the country’s vice president to end violence in Jonglei and engage in a reconciliatory peace process," Farhan Haq, the UN associate spokesman, said at a daily news briefing here.

She said communities in the area needed to join together to put an end to the cycle of violence.

"The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is also calling on all the actors involved in this crisis to uphold their commitments to stop further escalation of violence and resolve their differences through constructive and peaceful dialogue," Haq said.

The UN Mission has been assisting efforts to prevent and mitigate conflict in Jonglei State. The Mission also continues to support and promote reconciliation between the various communities, and in particular the inclusive peace process led by the Sudan Council of Churches.

On Thursday, in Washington D.C., Johnson attended the International Engagement Conference for South Sudan, and she also welcomed the South Sudanese government’s commitment to join the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, saying it was an important measure to improve governance.

"The mass killings must stop and the people in the area need to join together in putting an end to this merciless and lethal cycle of violence once and for all," she said.

"Too many lives have been lost, not least women, children and the elderly, forced to pay a terrifying price for these terrible actions," she said.

UNMISS has urged the government of South Sudan to continue to discharge its primary responsibility to protect civilians and to encourage communities involved in the cycle on inter-community violence in Jonglei to respect their earlier commitments to stop the bloodletting and to resolve their differences through dialogue.

UNMISS sent patrols to the Jalleh area of Jonglei last week after violence broke out. The mission is coordinating with the government on the deployment of additional forces to areas where tensions remain high.

The mission has in recent months deployed resources to boost efforts to prevent and mitigate conflict between the Lou Nuer and Murle communities in Jonglei. It also continues to promote reconciliation between communities, in particular the inclusive peace process led by the Sudan Council of Churches.