Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, former SA president

The former President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, says the international community should first help in restoring peace in South Sudan before prioritizing the issue of justice.

The International Crisis Group estimated that between 50,000 to 100,000 people across South Sudan had been killed in the period December 2013 to November 2014. This number increased as fighting continued.

Mr. Mbeki says without stability, efforts to hold accountable those accused of committing human rights abuse in South Sudan since 2013 will be impossible.

The formation of a court to try suspects of atrocities committed during the conflict is one of the key provisions of the 2015 peace agreement.

Chapter Five of the Peace Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan stipulates that during the Transitional Period, there shall be an independent hybrid judicial court for South Sudan established by the African Union.

Several entities including TROIKA member countries and civil society groups have called for the establishment of the court to investigate and prosecute those who have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide or other serious crimes under international laws.

However, Thabo Mbeki who is also the head of the African Union High Implementation Panel on Sudan and South Sudan, says stability will not be realized if the leaders in South Sudan are confronted with accountability before peace.

“There must be an end to the killing to achieve peace. To deal with justice; you must charge those who are responsible for killing people,” Mr. Mbeki said last week during a forum organized by the South African Power FM.

“And you know what it means if you implement that? It means there will be no peace in South Sudan. And if you arrested them, these are the people you need to make peace.

“You need them to say to their fighting forces, ‘stop the fighting and lay down the guns’. Without them, you are not going to achieve that.”

In a joint communiqué with the delegation from the UN Security Council who met President Salva Kiir in Juba in September last year, the government said it would cooperate with the African Union to speed up the establishment of the hybrid court for South Sudan.