South Sudan’s religious congregations urged the country’s political leaders to ensure that the latest peace agreement holds, and they condemned the atrocities and violence carried out by both government forces and rebel groups over the past five months. “Too much blood has been shed in this land. Too many lives have been lost. Too much destruction has taken place. We want peace, stability and development for all citizens of our young nation,” the Religious Superiors’ Association of South Sudan said in a statement after its mid-May meeting in the capital, Juba. “As your brothers and sisters, we are all mindful of each child, each woman, each man, each elderly person who has been affected by violence,” it said. “The blood of thousands of innocent people cries for justice.” They urged South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, and the rebel leader Riek Machar, Kiir’s former vice president, to work for peace and reconciliation through dialogue. “Both government and rebel forces must be disciplined and kept under full control,” the association said, noting that the international convention on war and human rights “must be fully observed.”

This article appears in June 9-16 2014.