anuary 2, 2014 -- Updated 0926 GMT (1726 HKT)
Juba, South Sudan (CNN) -- South Sudan's president
declared a state of emergency Wednesday ahead of peace talks to stop the
latest violence in the country.
South Sudan's youngest victims
South Sudan on edge
South Sudan's president declared a state of emergency Wednesday ahead of
peace talks to stop the latest violence in the country. FULL STORY
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PEACE TALKS
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S. SUDAN'S YOUNGEST VICTIMS
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S. SUDAN'S YOUNGEST VICTIMS
South Sudan's president declares state of emergency
January 1, 2014 -- Updated 2046 GMT (0446 HKT)
About 180,000 people have been displaced nationwide by more than two weeks of conflict.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- South Sudan president declares a state of emergency in Unity and Jonglei
- Delegates from warring parties to arrive in Ethiopia on Wednesday, U.N. official says
- She urges both parties to end the hostilities that have displaced about 180,000 people
- U.N. mission to South Sudan says it has seen a large number of bodies, evidence of atrocities
President Salva Kiir
issued the declaration for the states of Unity and Jonglei, which
include the rebel-held towns of Bor and Benitu, the scene of recent
fighting and scores of civilian deaths.
State radio also reported
that Kiir ordered the formation of a negotiating team to take part in
the peace talks in Ethiopia. The government delegation includes key
opposition figures, as required in the presidential decree, state radio
reported.
Representatives from the
warring parties in South Sudan will arrive in Ethiopia on Wednesday for
talks aimed at ending the violence wracking the nation, the United
Nations' special representative to South Sudan said.
South Sudan's youngest victims
South Sudan on edge
Hilde Johnson, who heads
the U.N. mission to South Sudan, said she wanted to see both parties
"take a decisive step to cease all hostilities" starting Wednesday.
"We want to make this day the day that the violence stops," she told a news conference in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.
Kiir and the rebels'
leader, former Vice President Riek Machar, agreed Tuesday to send
delegations to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, home of the African
Union, for peace talks after two weeks of violence.
A cessation of hostilities between their forces is expected to top the agenda.
Johnson said it was too early to say if the move was a breakthrough, "but it is a step in the right direction."
The African Union has set up a group to investigate human rights abuses, Johnson said, which met for the first time Tuesday.
She stressed the need
for people to be held accountable for their actions, and for a
community-based reconciliation process to run alongside the peace talks.
"There has been killing
and brutality, we have seen killing on ethnic grounds. We need to do
everything to prevent the cycle of violence," Johnson said. "I condemn
elements on both sides."
The Intergovernmental
Authority on Development, an East African trade bloc that has been
helping to mediate between the battling parties, has said an independent
body is needed to monitor any cease-fire, Johnson said.
Leaders of the bloc
warned Friday that they would "take action" to stop the conflict if
South Sudan's warring factions didn't lay down their arms.
The spiraling violence
has sparked a humanitarian crisis in the world's newest nation. About
180,000 people have been displaced nationwide by more than two weeks of
conflict, Johnson said.
Peacekeepers are working
to protect the camps where tens of thousands of civilians have fled,
but more resources are needed, she said. She appealed for $166 million
in aid to help provide families with food and other emergency relief.
Anti-government forces were not targeting U.N. bases in the country, Johnson added.
Ethnic targeting
The fighting began on
December 15 after Kiir, from South Sudan's Dinka ethnic group, accused
troops loyal to Machar, from the Nuer community, of trying to launch a
coup. The two men have long been political rivals, and Kiir dismissed
Machar, along with the Cabinet, in July.
Kiir told CNN on Monday that African nations should have acted quickly to help quell the rebel forces.
As soon as an attempted
coup took place and violence broke out, "the original leaders and all
African leaders should have come in with military support," so that the
rebels would have been "crushed once and for all," he said.
The two sides clashed
Tuesday in the key town of Bor, capital of oil-rich Jonglei state, which
had already changed hands last week.
However, the situation
was quiet there Wednesday, Johnson said. Fighting has also halted in
Malakal, the capital of Upper Nile state, which may be a positive sign,
she said.
United Nations forces
are patrolling the streets of Juba in order to protect civilians, she
said. More than 160 police officers arrived in the past three days, with
an additional 240 expected Wednesday and more in the next two weeks.
The U.N. Mission to
South Sudan on Tuesday voiced "grave concern over mounting evidence of
gross human rights abuses in the strife-torn country, including
extra-judicial killings of civilians and captured soldiers, massive
displacements and arbitrary detentions, often on ethnic grounds."
Its statement cited the discovery of large numbers of bodies in Juba, as well as in Malakal and Bor.
"Available evidence
indicates that atrocities are continuing to occur in various parts of
South Sudan," it said. "Many of these violations appear to be ethnically
targeted. Most of the more brutal atrocities are reported to have been
carried out by people wearing uniform."
South Sudan formally
split from Sudan in 2011 after a referendum, following decades of
conflict. Numerous armed groups remain active in the oil-rich country.
CNN's Antonia Mortensen reported from Juba
and Laura Smith-Spark wrote and reported in London. CNN's Arwa Damon
contributed to this report.
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