South Sudan’s First Vice President Riek Machar has been formally charged with treason and other serious crimes, local justice authorities said Thursday, a development that risks intensifying tensions in the fragile East African nation and prompting fears of a slide back into civil war.
Machar, who has been under house arrest since March after the transitional government accused him of subversive activities against President Salva Kiir, faces an array of criminal counts brought by prosecutors, the authorities said. It was not immediately clear when he would be brought before a court. His precise whereabouts inside South Sudan were described as unknown, and his political supporters have repeatedly called for his release.
Government forces have clashed with militias and armed groups they say are loyal to Machar in recent months. Those clashes have fueled concern among diplomats and regional leaders that the country could be edging toward a return to large-scale fighting after a fragile cease-fire that followed years of civil war.
Machar, South Sudan’s No. 2 under terms of a 2018 peace agreement intended to end a conflict that erupted in 2013, leads a political faction that formerly engaged in heavy fighting with forces loyal to Kiir. That peace deal, known as the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan, has not been fully implemented, and deadlines for forming permanent institutions and security arrangements have been repeatedly delayed.
Regional leaders and mediators have been pressing Juba to resolve political disputes through talks and to take steps that prevent a return to full-scale war, diplomats said. The criminal charges announced Thursday are likely to complicate those efforts by hardening positions and narrowing space for negotiated political compromise.
Officials provided few details about the specific charges beyond the reference to treason and other serious offenses. South Sudanese legal and security sources said investigators had been collecting evidence related to alleged subversive actions and coordination with armed groups, but those accounts could not be independently verified.
Political allies of Machar have rejected the government’s accusations in recent months, accusing President Kiir’s camp of sidelining rivals and violating elements of the 2018 agreement. International actors that helped broker the peace deal have repeatedly urged both sides to refrain from unilateral moves that could reignite fighting.
Analysts say South Sudan’s security landscape remains fragmented, with a mix of national army units, splintered rebel formations and ethnic militias operating across the country. The transitional unity government, tasked with shepherding the country toward elections and lasting peace, has struggled to integrate forces and implement key security provisions of the 2018 accord.
The charges add to political uncertainty in the oil-rich country, where decades of conflict have displaced millions and undermined state institutions. Observers cautioned that prosecutions of high-profile political figures could either shore up the rule of law if conducted transparently or deepen grievances and trigger retaliatory violence if seen as politically motivated.
There was no immediate comment from Machar or his office on Thursday. Juba-based justice officials who announced the charges did not provide a timeline for court proceedings, and regional mediators said they were working to lower tensions and seek clarity on the legal steps taken by authorities.
The international community continues to monitor developments closely, urging restraint and renewed commitment to implementing the outstanding elements of the 2018 peace agreement to prevent a reversal to the devastating conflict that has marked much of South Sudan’s brief history since independence in 2011.