NAS calls for immediate release of Riek Machar, demands UPDF’s withdrawal from South Sudan
The National Salvation Front (NAS) has called for the immediate and unconditional release of SPLM-IO Chairman Dr Riek Machar and other detainees and demanded that Ugandan forces withdraw immediately from South Sudanese territory. NAS also declared that the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) has been effectively nullified by President Salva Kiir’s actions and urged the international community to acknowledge its collapse.
NAS made these demands in a strong-worded press statement where it called out President Salva Kiir’s regime for intensifying a campaign of suppression and intimidation against opposition leaders, including placing Machar under house arrest and arbitrarily detaining several SPLM-IO political and military figures.
The flawed R-ARCSS agreement is now fully abrogated by President Kiir and can no longer be resuscitated in any form
20250328 NAS Press Release on the Current Security Situation in South Sudan
NAS also stated that the bombardment of Nasir, Ulang, Akobo, and Longchuk counties in Upper Nile and Jonglei states, as well as Magwi County in Eastern Equatoria State and areas surrounding Juba, constituted war crimes against civilians.
“The indiscriminate bombardment of civilian targets by the SSPDF and UPDF, resulting in burning, killing, and displacing innocent people, amounts to war crimes,” the statement read.
Reiterating its position, NAS condemned the continued detention of Machar and others, stressing that their release is a necessary step towards addressing the country’s political crisis. The group also insisted that Uganda’s military presence in South Sudan violates national sovereignty and must end immediately. Furthermore, NAS maintained that President Kiir’s actions have rendered the little left of the R-ARCSS defunct, calling on the international community to support a new framework for peace.
“The flawed R-ARCSS agreement is now fully abrogated by President Kiir and can no longer be resuscitated in any form,” NAS asserted, urging the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the African Union, and the international community to push for a new, inclusive peace process to address the root causes of the conflict.
NAS also called on South Sudanese civil society, political groups, women, and youth organizations to mobilize against what it described as government atrocities while urging the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to fulfil its mandate in protecting civilians.
“President Kiir’s reliance on foreign military aid to suppress South Sudanese citizens underscores the criminal and illegitimate nature of his regime,” NAS stated, adding that the government is on the verge of collapse and must be replaced.
NAS reaffirmed its solidarity with the people affected by the ongoing violence and vowed to continue advocating for justice and peace in South Sudan.
