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Vol 67 No 7

Published 3rd April 2026


South Sudan

Siege mentality pushes politics to brink

Juba looks determined to escalate the fighting by marginalising Riek Machar’s camp and unilaterally rewriting the 2018 peace accord

Impervious to African and international criticism, the government in Juba is pressing ahead with a militarist strategy that has led regional experts to argue that the country has effectively returned to war. At the centre of the crisis is First Vice-President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon who has been under house arrest for a year: he and seven co-accused face charges of murder, treason and crimes against humanity. Their trial at the Special Court for National Crimes in Juba is grinding forward, beset by procedural disputes. By late February the court had adjourned 55 sessions. Machar was back in court on 26 March and the trial continued on 30 March.

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