SSYR Condemns SSPDF Atrocities in Greater Mundri, Western Equatoria State
For Immediate Release
October 26, 2025 | Juba
The South Sudan Youth Reforms (SSYR) condemns in the strongest terms the violent actions of the South Sudan People’s Defence Forces (SSPDF, formerly SPLA), whose recent operations in Greater Mundri have displaced hundreds of innocent civilians, looted communities, and burned homes. These atrocities represent yet another chapter in the long record of abuse by a force that claims to defend the nation but instead wages war against its own people.
A State Army Turned Against Civilians
Reports from Mundri East County reveal a horrific reality: women, children, and the elderly forced to flee their homes, with many now sheltering in churches and schools without food, water, or medicine. Others remain trapped in forests, terrified and vulnerable. Rather than protecting citizens, the SSPDF has become a tool for collective punishment, deployed under the guise of local disputes, but leaving behind nothing but destruction.
Looting of cattle and household property, burning of villages, and the indiscriminate targeting of communities are crimes that cannot be excused by claims of “security operations.” These acts are deliberate violations of international humanitarian law and South Sudan’s own constitutional promises to safeguard its people.
Government Denials Cannot Erase the Truth
The denial by local authorities that the SSPDF attacked civilians is both false and insulting. Communities have spoken clearly: the army was directly responsible for the displacement and destruction in Lakamadi, Doso, Wandi, and Kediba. To dismiss their testimonies is to erase the suffering of thousands. More than 30,000 people are now affected, with no humanitarian aid reaching them.
SSYR’s Position
- We condemn the SSPDF’s systematic use of violence, looting, and forced displacement as tools of domination.
- We demand an immediate cessation of military operations against civilians in Western Equatoria and elsewhere.
- We call for an independent investigation into the Mundri atrocities, with accountability for those who ordered and executed attacks on innocent people.
- We urge humanitarian agencies to move swiftly to provide emergency relief to those displaced, and we demand the government guarantee unrestricted access for aid workers.
- We appeal to IGAD, the African Union, and the United Nations to impose targeted sanctions on commanders and political leaders responsible for repeated atrocities against South Sudanese civilians.
Conclusion
The SSPDF has lost its moral and national mandate when it wages war on its own people. A military that loots, burns, and displaces civilians is not a “national defense force” but an enemy of peace. South Sudan cannot move forward while its state army behaves like a militia of repression. SSYR stands with the people of Greater Mundri and all South Sudanese communities who have suffered at the hands of the SSPDF. We demand justice, accountability, and a genuine transformation of the security sector to serve citizens, not terrorize them.
📌 #SSYR #StopAtrocities #JusticeForMundri #ProtectCivilians #PeaceNow