Army blocks South Sudan peace monitors

Peace monitors in South Sudan have reported being denied access to Kajo-Keji town in Central Equatorial by government forces.

In a statement issued Thursday, the monitors explained that government soldiers at one checkpoint stopped a team of ceasefire monitors near Rejaf en route to Kajo-Keji on Tuesday.

“They were travelling to Kajo-Keji to monitor the call by the Igad Assembly Heads of State and Government of South Sudan at the 31st Extra-Ordinary Summit on 12 June 2017 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for strict implementation of the ceasefire,” the statement said.

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The Ceasefire Monitoring team committed to pursuing its mandate on the implementation of the Permanent Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements (PCTSA) as laid out in the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS).

ARCSS and several related agreements provide the Ceasefire Monitoring team with total freedom of movement and unhindered access throughout the Republic of South Sudan.

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The team condemned the denial of the access to the troubled Kajo-Keji and urged the government to punish those responsible.

Their statement called on the government to ensure the monitors' freedom of movement to perform duties it has been assigned under ARCSS, the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement of January 23, 2014, and related accords.

Efforts to reach the army for a comment were unsuccessful.

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