First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar. | Charles Wote/File photo

First Vice President Dr. Riek Machar said Monday peace without justice does not last, adding that Chapter Five of the agreement is not being implemented according to its time frame.

Machar said the implementation of the justice and accountability process is crucial to lasting peace.

“Peace without justice always do not last, but peace with justice lasts,” he said while speaking at the conference on transitional justice mechanisms in Juba on Monday.

The conference which was officially launched by President Salva Kiir, is expected to supplement the draft bills for the establishment of the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing (CTRH) as well as the Compensation and Reparation Authority.

It is being attended by government officials and experts from countries emerging from conflicts like South Africa, The Gambia, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Congo, and Ethiopia to share their post-war experience and how their countries transitioned to peace.

Others include senior officials from the African Union, IGAD, the Diplomatic Corps, UN Mission in South Sudan, UNDP, and legal and transitional justice experts.

“This chapter [5] is not trying to come up, we were supposed to have tackled this chapter just three months after the transitional government was established, but because of many difficulties, it took a long time,” Machar said.

Meanwhile, President Kiir said in the same event that “we are not shying away from the establishment of the Hybrid Court” and that South Sudan will form the tribunal when the right time comes.

“When the time comes for the enactment of the bill for the hybrid court for South Sudan, the ministry of justice and constitutional affairs which is charged with the responsibility to trigger the implementation of these mechanisms in collaboration with the African Union as stipulated in the agreement will update us accordingly,” the president said.

The 2018 peace accord obligates the unity government to establish the Commission for Truth, Reconciliation, and Healing, the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, and the Compensation and Reparation Authority.

It is regarded as critical in discovering and revealing the wrongdoings by the government and opposition forces including non-state actors to address the legacy of the over six years of conflict.

Only the technical committee for the establishment of the CTRH was established in March 2022, and the body expected to pave the way for the formation of Hybrid Court is still non-existent.

But President Kiir’s first deputy said “we are now embarking on it” after the 24-month exention of the transitional period.