24 February 2015 - Continuing tensions between South Sudan’s rival factions risked plunging the country into further violence, the top UN peacekeeping official warned in New York today.

24 February 2015 - Continuing tensions between South Sudan’s rival factions risked plunging the country into further violence, the top UN peacekeeping official warned in New York today.

“The volatile security environment is a direct illustration of the parties’ continued lack of political will,” UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Hervé Ladsous told the Security Council.

“The Government and opposition do not seem to take the political negotiations seriously and appear unwilling to make the necessary compromises,” he said, noting that the country also faced a worsening humanitarian situation.

The security situation in South Sudan has deteriorated steadily over the past year since political in-fighting between South Sudan's President Salva Kiir and his former Vice-President, Riek Machar, and their respective factions erupted in December 2013.

Mr. Ladsous described peace talks between both sides as having succumbed to “a serious failure of leadership that remains focused on its pursuit for power rather than care of its people”.

“The likelihood of either side softening its stance remains low,” the UN official said. “In the light of the fragile security environment, the ongoing round of peace talks is not likely to achieve much progress.”

As current Addis Ababa peace talks stalled over power-sharing, security arrangements and constitutional reforms, the humanitarian situation in the country was becoming increasingly grim, he added.

UNMISS bases across South Sudan are currently sheltering over 110,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), with an additional 1.5 million others displaced throughout the country and 500,000 outside the country. The displacement, Mr. Ladsous added, was increasing amid ongoing fighting.

In addition, the number of food-insecure civilians was slated to rise from the current 2.5 million as the country approached its critical lean season.

“There is now an urgent need to reinforce the mediation efforts, as well as to impose consequences on the parties if they fail to show willingness to compromise and continue engaging in a conflict that will result in further loss of innocent lives,” said Mr. Ladsous.

“I urge the Council to consider issuing a strong Presidential Statement calling on the parties to immediately cease all military operations and make the necessary compromises to reach a comprehensive peace agreement during this round of talks, or face the consequences.”

Against that backdrop, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonović, also addressed the Council, detailing a litany of human rights abuses he witnessed first-hand during his recent trip to the country.

Mr. Simonovic painted a bleak picture of South Sudan’s crisis scenario: whole families that were executed based upon their ethnicity, hundreds shot dead in a hospital, child soldiers threatening civilians and women raped.

“Many government officials told me that the people of South Sudan fought for decades for their dignity, independence, and human rights. What I saw on my mission was certainly not what they have been fighting for,” Mr. Šimonović said.

Mr. Šimonović stressed that the peace process, just as any future political arrangement, depended on inclusion of all national stakeholders -- ethnic groups, women, elders, religious leaders, youth, and other civil society actors.

He added that there was “broad acknowledgment – in and out of South Sudan” of the need to break the cycle of impunity with some concrete accountability measures.

“It is of the utmost importance that this Council remains seized of the question of accountability for past and present violations of international human rights and humanitarian law in South Sudan.” he said.