Conflict episode

South Sudanese civil war, 2013–2018

A conflict between the Government of South Sudan and opposition forces, arising from disputes between the country's political and military leaders, broke out in December 2013 and continued through a succession of cessation-of-hostilities agreements until the 2018 Revitalised Agreement.

What happened

Conflict broke out between the Government of the Republic of South Sudan and opposition forces in December 2013, arising from internal political disputes among the country's political and military leaders, and resulted in significant loss of life and the displacement of two million people by early 2015.[1] An independent account dates the outbreak precisely to 13 December 2013.[2] The Security Council, acting under Chapter VII, imposed targeted sanctions in March 2015 in support of the peace process, endorsing Cessation of Hostilities Agreements signed on 23 January and 6 and 9 May 2014.[1]

The UN Mission in South Sudan's human-rights report of 8 May 2014 found reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial killings, rape and other sexual violence, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, had been committed by both government and opposition forces, and that war crimes had also been committed.[3] By March 2019 the Security Council recorded nearly 4.3 million displaced persons and an estimated 6.2 million people facing severe food insecurity.[4]

Sources for this page

Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.

  1. 1.

    Claim: The Security Council expressed grave alarm regarding the conflict between the Government of the Republic of South Sudan and opposition forces since December 2013, which emanated from internal political disputes among the country's political and military leaders, and which had resulted in significant loss of life and the displacement of two million people by the time of the resolution; the Council endorsed Cessation of Hostilities Agreements signed on 23 January and 6 and 9 May 2014.

    • United Nations Security Council, Security Council resolution 2206 (2015) (United Nations, 3 March 2015) link, preamble and operative para. 1. Source record
  2. 2.

    Claim: An independent conflict-research account dates the outbreak of South Sudan's civil war precisely to 13 December 2013. Attributed to ACCORD

    • African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD), Reviving peace in South Sudan through the Revitalised Peace Agreement (ACCORD) link, article text. Source record
  3. 3.

    Claim: According to the UN Mission in South Sudan's 8 May 2014 report "Conflict in South Sudan: A Human Rights Report," there are reasonable grounds to believe that crimes against humanity, including extrajudicial killings, rape and other acts of sexual violence, enforced disappearances and arbitrary detention, had been committed by both government and opposition forces, and that war crimes had also been committed. Attributed to UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS)

    • United Nations Security Council, Security Council resolution 2206 (2015) (United Nations, 3 March 2015) link, preamble. Source record
  4. 4.

    Claim: As of March 2019 the Security Council recorded nearly 4.3 million displaced persons in South Sudan and an estimated 6.2 million people facing severe food insecurity, according to the February 2019 Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report.

    • United Nations Security Council, Security Council resolution 2459 (2019) (United Nations, 15 March 2019) link, preamble. Source record
  5. 5.

    Claim: Published estimates of the December 2013-August 2015 phase of the post-independence South Sudanese civil war are cited by the Council on Foreign Relations and the UK House of Lords Library at roughly 400,000 deaths, with wider Wikipedia-summarised estimates of 1-2 million dead (mostly civilians, from starvation and disease) across the conflict's longer duration; no single figure is adopted as fact in this bundle.

    • Global Conflict Tracker: Civil War in South Sudan (Council on Foreign Relations) link, Post-independence conflict casualty estimate section. Source record

Source note

Show in the notes list