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             South Sudanese Demand Government Return to Peace Talks

   by Philip Aleu

   South Sudanese civil society groups called on the government and
   opposition Wednesday to engage in meaningful talks to bring peace to
   South Sudan after the government failed to show up for the negotiations
   for a sixth day.

   "Let them think about the children suffering now in IDP camps, how
   women are suffering, giving birth to babies in places that are not
   really healthy for babies," said Angelina Daniel, a member of the End
   Impunity Organization (EIO) that is calling on both sides to return to
   the negotiating table.

   The government delegation has not shown up for peace talks in Addis
   Ababa, brokered by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development
   (IGAD), since last week.

   The government said they want the opposition to agree to a matrix
   outlining how the cessation of hostilities agreement is implemented
   before it joins the latest session of peace talks. The cessation of
   hostilities agreement was signed by both parties in January but
   has been repeatedly violated since then.
   We don't need papers to sign; we need something to be done on the
   ground.
   South Sudan peace activist

   When the conflict began in December, the government insisted it would
   not take part in negotiations if the opposition set pre-conditions for
   the talks.

   Before the January talks got under way, the opposition demanded the
   release of 11 high-ranking politicians who were detained when fighting
   broke out in Juba on Dec. 15. The opposition has since then made other
   demands, including the withdrawal of Ugandan troops who are fighting
   alongside government forces in South Sudan.

   Both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the
   January cessation of hostilities agreement and stalling the peace
   process.

Boycott delays peace process

   Daniel said boycotting the peace talks and insisting that the other
   side should sign yet another paper was an unnecessary waste of time and
   was delaying the peace process.

   "We don't need papers to sign, we need something to be done on the
   ground," she said.

   "We say please, please, our government, feel our pain. Hear our
   voices... our brothers, sisters and dear sons and daughters are
   suffering," she said.

   The priority of all participants at the talks in Addis Ababa, said
   Daniel, should be to try to avoid famine in South Sudan and to improve
   the dire conditions in which hundreds of thousands of displaced persons
   are living.

Frustrated by slow-moving talks

   Catherine Pita, a member of the South Sudan's Women's Platform for
   Peace, said she was hopeful when the current fifth round of
   much-delayed peace talks got under way two weeks ago, but her hope
   turned to disbelief and frustration as the government refuses to take
   part.

   "I think it is a very outrageous thing to hear that the peace talks are
   not going on in Addis," Pita said, "because we know very well how much
   (suffering) this conflict has already caused in the country.

   "We hope and we are praying that the stakeholders go back to the table
   to dialogue for peace."

   Pita recalled that President Salva Kiir promised on his return from the
   U.S.-Africa summit in Washington this month that his government will
   restore peace to South Sudan.

   "I am just asking the government to consider the promise they have
   given to South Sudanese so that they go back to the table and discuss
   this peace," she said.

   "I am urging our government and the opposition and all the stakeholders
   -- the U.N., IGAD -- to do all that is in their power, to sit down and
   make sure that peace comes to South Sudan," for the good of the South
   Sudanese people, she said.

   Some four million South Sudanese are food insecure because of the
   eight-month conflict, and around 1.5 million have been forced from
   their homes by the fighting. U.N. agencies have warned that famine
   could hit the country unless the unrest stops soon.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/south-sudan-civil-society-peace-talks
   -igad/2423671.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/south-sudan-civil-society-peace-talks-igad/2423671.html