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South Sudan at Risk of Genocide

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Genocide in the world is very much alive and continues to happen; it is estimated that since the year 1900, more than 170 million lives have been lost. If you were to think of that in size, it would be equal to the entire population of Nigeria, gone, wiped out of existence. After the holocaust of World War II, additional steps were taken to ensure history didn’t repeat itself. The Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide was held in 1948, conducted by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) it concluded that, “genocide is a crime under international law, contrary to the spirit and aims of the United Nations (UN) and condemned by the civilian world” (Schabas, n.d.). The Genocide Convention was the first …show more content…

This new country was met with high praise and expectations with the United States (US) playing a key role in their accomplishment. Unfortunately, South Sudan faced hardship from the very beginning; it is one of Africa’s poorest and least developed countries even though it is oil-rich and contains the majority of the oil reserves in Sudan.
The country’s leadership was comprised of the two main tribe’s leaders. The first is President Salva Kiir Mayardit of the Dinka people which accounts for 15 percent of the country’s population. The other is Vice President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon of the Nuer people who makes up 10 percent of the population. Shortly after gaining its independence, President Kiir fired his cabinet and Vice President Machar over allegations of a coup attempt. This led to ethnic and political indifferences between the Dinka and the Nuer. A peace deal was reached between both individuals a month later, but fell apart after a few days. This put South Sudan in a state of alert, with minor sporadic clashes between tribes up until the end of 2013.
In mid-December 2013, gunfire erupted between soldiers supporting Kiir and Machar, putting the country in an almost instant state of civil war, with the Dinka tribe fighting against the Neur tribe. The tension between both groups had evolved into a full

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