[JURIST] United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic [official profile] told reporters on Thursday that the warring parties in the South Sudan conflict are close to signing a peace deal. However, Simonovic confirmed [UN report] that rights violations continue, despite a decrease in fighting. Earlier this week Simonovic met with South Sudanese President Salva Kiir [BBC profile] and his former Vice-President Riek Machar, who concluded a round of talks with a deal on a cease-fire. “They have been assuring me that they are close, but it is not enough to be close. Peace has to be signed,” said Mr. Simonovic. “There is a common message coming from everyone, be they women or men, young or old, Nuer or Dinka. People want peace.” Simonovic also stated that the conflict has destroyed Bentiu and Malakal, leaving the cities empty as people flee to UN protection sites. He warned that with over 50,000 people at sites operated by the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) [official website] in Bentiu, and over 20,000 in Malakal, the situation is not sustainable for long. “We need representatives of all ethnic groups, we need civil society, we need women, we need elders, we need religious leaders,” said Simonovic. “Only if there is broad inclusion in the political process will there be a chance for sustainable peace.”

South Sudan [JURIST backgrounder] has been embroiled in a civil war since December 2013 after President Salva Kiir accused his ex-vice-president, Riek Machar, of plotting to overthrow him. In August in a briefing before the UN Security Council, Assistant Secretary-General for UN Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet [UN News Centre report] discussed the ongoing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan, describing it as a “man-made crisis” [JURIST report], putting South Sudan on the “brink of a humanitarian catastrophe and a protracted internal conflict.” In May UNMISS released a report indicating that both sides in the South Sudan conflict are committing gross human rights violations [JURIST report].