Germany has called for de-escalation in South Sudan after First Vice President Riek Machar was placed under house arrest this week, warning that such actions undermine efforts to stabilize the country.
“Putting one’s vice president under house arrest is no way to make peace in South Sudan,” the German foreign ministry said in a statement, urging President Salva Kiir to release Machar and recommit to a 2018 peace agreement that ended a five-year civil war.
The deal established a unity government between Kiir’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and Machar’s Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM/A-IO).
Reports of Machar’s detention on Wednesday drew swift international concern, with neighboring Kenya dispatching former Prime Minister Raila Odinga to mediate.
Machar’s party said the arrest had effectively voided the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS).
“Both must de-escalate, resume dialogue & implement the 2018 peace deal. Their brinkmanship prevents stability & prosperity for the people of South Sudan,” the German Foreign Office wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
On Thursday, the embassies of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the European Union delegation in Juba issued a joint statement expressing “deep concern” over Machar’s detention. They emphasized that his position as first vice president is enshrined in Article 1.7.2 of the R-ARCSS.
“We call on President Kiir to reverse this action and to prevent further escalation,” the statement said. “We further call on President Kiir and all leaders with control or influence over armed groups to order an immediate ceasefire.”
Government spokesperson Michael Makuei, the information minister, said in a statement on Friday that Machar and SPLM/A-IO members “under arrest will be investigated and brought to book accordingly.”
He accused Machar of contacting supporters to “agitate them to rebel against the government with the aim of disrupting peace so that elections are not held and South Sudan goes back to war.”