South Sudan vice president charged with murder and treason over military base attack

South Sudan’s Vice-President Riek Machar has been charged with murder, treason and crimes against humanity in connection with an assault on a military base that left more than 250 soldiers dead, the justice minister said on Thursday.

The charges mark a sharp escalation in tensions between Machar and President Salva Kiir, whose rival camps fought a devastating civil war from 2013 to 2018 that killed an estimated 400,000 people. A fragile power-sharing agreement between the two men has been fraying for months.

In early March, fighters from the White Army,  a militia largely drawn from Machar’s ethnic Nuer community — attacked a government military base in Nasir County, Upper Nile State. Machar has been under house arrest since March over his alleged role in the assault.

The government announced that Machar and 20 others now face charges including murder, conspiracy, terrorism, treason, destruction of public property and crimes against humanity.

International powers have repeatedly called for Machar’s release, warning that his detention risks pushing the world’s youngest country back into civil war.

“These crimes were marked by gross violations of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law, including the desecration of corpses, persecution of civilians, and attacks on humanitarian workers,” Justice Minister Joseph Geng Akech said, according to a read-out provided to reporters in Juba.

The military base in Nasir was overrun by the White Army between March 3 and 7.

Several senior officers including a general died and a United Nations helicopter also came under fire while attempting to rescue soldiers at the base, leading to the death of a pilot.

“This case sends a clear message: those who commit atrocities against the people of South Sudan, against our armed forces, and against humanitarian personnel will be held accountable, no matter their position or political influence,” the minister said in the statement.

The UN, which operates a major peace-building mission in South Sudan, said at the time that the country was “witnessing an alarming regression that could erase years of hard-won progress”.

Kiir had already been moving for months to consolidate power and sideline Machar, who was placed under house arrest a few weeks after the attack, while many of his allies have also been detained.

South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011 but was quickly plunged into a devastating five-year civil war between Kiir and Machar that left some 400,000 dead.

The war ended with a power-sharing agreement in 2018 but attempts by the international community to ensure a democratic transition have failed.

Elections that were due to take place in December 2024 were once again postponed for two years.

South Sudan has also made headlines after the United States deported eight convicted criminals to the country in July, only one of whom was South Sudanese.

With inputs from agencies