UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan Warns of Possible Violence Ahead of Elections – ASIL

On August 20, 2026, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan issued an advisory titled At the Brink: Preventing Atrocity Crimes and Safeguarding South Sudan’s Transition. The advisory warns that “elections held without a strategy for democratic consolidation and preventing national schisms could fuel renewed conflict and heighten the risk of atrocity crimes.” The planned December 2026 elections in South Sudan will be the country’s first national elections since it gained independence in 2011 and come amid renewed fighting that erupted in March 2025 between the South Sudanese government and the “White Army.”

The Commission, applying the United Nations Framework of Analysis for Atrocity Crimes, found that several risk factors are not only converging but mutually reinforcing in South Sudan, which may spark violence. Some of these risk factors include the resumption of armed conflict in parts of the country, abandonment of inclusive politics, and the deterioration of civic space and constitutional safeguards. Additionally, a lack of accountability mechanisms and the exclusion of substantial portions of the population from meaningful political participation contribute to the risk of further conflict.

In light of these risk factors, the Commission reaffirmed its position that the people of South Sudan “have the right to choose their government” but expressed concern that holding elections without the safeguards previously outlined in the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (RARCSS) may risk the outbreak of renewed violence. To address this issue, the Commission called on the Government and all parties to RARCSS to cease hostilities, end mobilizations of armed actors, restore transitional security arrangements, and engage in inclusive political dialogue to develop a “consensus-based political process.” Lastly, the Commission called on the African Union, IGAD, the United Nations, and other international partners to take an active role in supporting “a return to an inclusive, consensus-based transition.”

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