28 January 2014 - Continued violations of the cessation of hostilities agreement signed between teams from the South Sudan government and rival forces were because the accord was defective, the Minister of Information said in Juba today.

“There is no set up system to which we can report instances of violations,” said Michael Makuei Lueth at a press conference.

Mr. Lueth’s comments followed a briefing on the two agreements by the chief negotiator of the government delegation, Nhial Deng Nhial, who said the main aim of his team’s participation in the talks was a cessation of hostilities and an environment conducive to permanently end the conflict.

“Continued fighting indicates importance of expeditiously setting up the monitoring and verification team,” said Mr. Nhial. “We anticipate continued skirmishes because it is not easy to reign in an army of civilians which has no command and control mechanism.”

Following the signing of the agreement which UNMISS Chief Hilde F. Johnson welcomed as “a first step towards a lasting and durable peace in South Sudan”, there have been reports of violations of the agreement by both sides.

Speaking to Radio Miraya yesterday, a member of the Intergovernmental Authority in Development (IGAD) mediating team, Ambassador Dina Mufti, said no cessation of hostilities was ever implemented immediately and that it was normal to have sporadic clashes before such agreements went into full effect.

“Both sides are obliged to observe it and the IGAD and the rest of the International community would expect minimum forms of observing the cessation of hostilities agreement,” he said.

He revealed however that a monitoring and verification team would be on the ground by the end of this month.

“It is not something that should take long because it is very urgent,” he said. “IGAD is working on this and as soon as they finalize (it) … they will disclose the details because there will be different mandates for this monitoring group."

Speaking about the status of 11 political detainees, Mr. Nhial said the issue had gained much attention as a condition for rebels to sign the agreement, but noted that his delegation had had no input on the matter during negotiations.

“It’s an issue not with the president, but with the Ministry of Justice,” he said, adding that the latter had informed an extraordinary cabinet meeting yesterday that investigations were now complete.

“They shall not be held indefinitely; South Sudan is not a police state,” Mr. Nhial added. “We are a young country, but we have institutions and any action against the law requires due legal process including investigation and accountability. For now, there is no imminent release of the detainees.”