Hybrid court ‘will not solve’ South Sudan problems – Kiir says

JUBA – President Salva Kiir Mayardit has said that the Hybrid Court provided for in the revitalized peace agreement he signed with his first deputy Dr. Riek Machar Teny in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2018 will not solve current South Sudan problems.

Kiir who was speaking during an interview with Kenyan journalist Jeff Koinange said his government prefers a truth and reconciliation process, which is also provided for in the peace agreement, over the hybrid court.

“What we said is that the hybrid court will not solve the problem of South Sudan. For example, in any court you need the criminals so that you put them to justice and in this situation, you cannot bring justice or you cannot bring justice through the hybrid court,” Kiir said.

Kiir said some of the army general s who committed crimes during the conflict may be powerful than the state and may return to the bush to fight once again when threatened with court cases and that is why reconciliation initiative is better than court.

“We prefer the truth and reconciliation process to start because if it is just a matter of punishing those who committed the crimes, if we assumed that these are the people who committed atrocities against other people, those who may have done that may not be found, or they may be very strong and cannot be in any case remain to wait for the trial,” he said.

He said generals who found themselves with lawsuits over the crimes they committed “may just go back to the bush with their forces. These for us we think that the scenario of truth and reconciliation would be the best.”