Background

Under the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) signed on 9 January 2005 by the government of Sudan and the southern-based rebel Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), a referendum on self-determination for the south was held in January 2011. The final result of the referendum, announced by the South Sudan Referendum Commission on 7 February 2011, was a near-unanimous vote for the South’s secession from northern Sudan. The Republic of South Sudan became an independent state on 9 July 2011.

Policy

The Republic of South Sudan has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. The 2005 CPA incorporated previous agreements between the government of Sudan and the SPLM/A that explicitly prohibit use of all landmines.[1]

In June 2011, the chair of the Southern Sudan Mine Action Authority, Brigadier Jurkuch Barach, said that once the government of South Sudan is established “we fully intend to join ‘Ottawa’ as soon as we are able and will endeavour to adhere to its principals and obligations.”[2] At the same time, a UN official informed the CMC that the Mine Ban Treaty has been identified by the Southern Sudan Mine Action Authority as a priority for the new government of South Sudan to join.[3]

Production, Transfer, Stockpiling

The SPLM/A stockpiled and used antipersonnel landmines in the past.[4] It is not believed to have produced the weapon and no information is available on past transfers.

Use

While the Monitor has not been able to do an independent investigation, it appears that new mine-laying has occurred in South Sudan during the reporting period. However, it is difficult to determine who is responsible for new mine-laying and the extent to which antipersonnel mines, as opposed to antivehicle mines, were being laid. A variety of actors in different locations have been accused of mine-laying, including in the states of Jonglei, Unity, and Upper Nile. There have also been reports of new landmine use in South Kordofan state in Sudan, which is home to many communities from South Sudan.[5]

In June 2011, Brigadier Jurkuch Barach expressed concern at new civilian deaths from what he stated were newly-laid antipersonnel mines and antivehicle mines. Barach said that the government of South Sudan “condemns any use of indiscriminate weapons of war” and accepts “how vital the mine ban is.”[6]

In June 2011, the chief executive of the landmine clearance company Mechem, which is part of Denel, told media, “The border area [between the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan] has become very dangerous. Rebels and breakaway groups are laying landmines around their camps and then moving on, leaving a minefield for local residents.”[7] A UN Mine Action Office in Sudan (UNMAO) officer told media that evidence indicates rebel militia groups are laying mines and said, “We’ve seen an increase in mine incidents and mine accidents over the past six months or so and in many areas we think there are a lot of alleged cases of re-mining. We can’t prove it because we haven’t seen it but anecdotal evidence indicates that these are newly laid, not old mines.”[8]

In March 2011, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) Regional Coordinator for Southern Sudan told media that forces loyal to George Athor, a former deputy chief of staff of the SPLA, had used mines in northern Jonglei state.[9] Athor’s forces launched an armed rebellion against the Government of Southern Sudan in the aftermath of the April 2010 elections. Athor subsequently formed a breakaway movement, the South Sudan Democratic Movement/South Sudan Army (SSDM/A). The SPLA states that several of their soldiers became casualties to antipersonnel mines in the Korwai area between March and May 2011.[10] In February 2011, SPLA spokesperson Philip Aguer told media that Athor’s forces were “planting land mines.”[11] According to the SPLA, “two army trucks were blown up by land mines near the town of Fangak in Jonglei state.”[12]

A UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) security briefing issued in May 2011 noted, “According to UNDSS [UN Department of Safety and Security] reports on 13 May, three commercial vehicles (one fuel and two water tankers) hit landmines along the Bentiu-Tharjat road, close to the Guit junction” in Unity state and “two more people stepped on landmines while trying to rescue the wounded drivers.”[13] The mines were alleged to have been laid by forces loyal to Peter Gadet, a former SPLA general and now head of a new armed group in Unity State, the South Sudan Liberation Army (SSLA).[14] The SSLA denied the use allegation and stated that it did not have any forces in the area and has not used antipersonnel mines since armed conflict started in May “because it is the violation of international laws which outlawed their use.” The SSLA blamed the SPLA for the antipersonnel mine use.[15] In August 2011, at least five civilians were killed and many more injured in two antivehicle mine incidents blamed on rebels.[16]

In Unity state, five people were killed and 21 seriously injured in two separate antivehicle mine incidents on 20–21 August 2011. The governor of Unity state condemned the mine use, which it said was carried out by rebels led by James Gai Yoach, who have broken away from SSLA following Commander Peter Gadet’s acceptance of a cease-fire agreement with the government of South Sudan.[17]

In April 2011, an antipersonnel mine was found in Malakal in Upper Nile state. It is unknown who laid it, but there has been conflict in the area between the SPLA and a Shilluk armed group under Commander Olony, another rebel SPLA officer.[18]

In June 2011, the ICBL expressed concern at “alarming reports” of new landmine use by rebel groups in South Sudan and encouraged Mine Ban Treaty States Parties to “stay vigilant.”[19]