Religious Leaders Under Threat in Fragile South Sudan

Last updated: 5 October 2026

Photo: South Sudan Independence Day Celebration at Diversey Harbor Grove - Daniel X. O'Neil

In South Sudan, where formal state institutions have been weakened by decades of conflict, Christian churches have become some of the most influential institutions in society. Religious leaders operate schools, clinics, and humanitarian programmes in regions where government services are largely absent. At the same time, clergy who publicly criticise violence, corruption, and abuses committed by both government forces and opposition groups have increasingly faced intimidation, harassment, and violent attacks. Freedom House classifies South Sudan as Not Free. This report examines the role of religious institutions as targets and mediators, the broader human rights context, and the implications for international protection claims involving religious leaders.[1]

Churches as Governance and Peace Infrastructure

The Catholic Church, the Episcopal Church of South Sudan, and various Protestant denominations maintain extensive networks of parishes, schools, and health centres across the country's ten states. In many rural communities these institutions provide the only functioning social infrastructure. Church networks cross ethnic and regional divisions, providing platforms where leaders from communities including Dinka, Nuer, Shilluk, and Bari engage in dialogue. The South Sudan Council of Churches has played an active role in peace negotiations and reconciliation initiatives. Religious leaders have used their public influence to criticise corruption and violence, placing them among the most visible critics of political elites in a country where independent media and civil society face severe constraints.[2]

Violence and Intimidation Against Clergy

Despite their important social role, church leaders have increasingly faced threats and violence. In April 2021, gunmen entered the residence of Bishop Christian Carlassare of the Rumbek Diocese and shot him in the legs shortly after his appointment. Churches have been looted, burned, or occupied by military forces across conflict zones. Armed groups have used church compounds as operational bases or detention facilities, undermining their role as neutral spaces. Civilians seeking refuge in church buildings have been attacked when fighting spread into their communities.[3]

Religious leaders who speak publicly about political issues face a dual threat: from armed groups controlling territory where they operate, and from state security institutions that view public criticism as a challenge to authority. Because clergy members often maintain visible public profiles and their statements are widely known across regional networks, relocation within the country may not eliminate the risk of targeting.[4]

Shrinking Civic Space and Human Rights Context

The broader human rights environment in South Sudan remains severely constrained. Although the 2018 Revitalised Agreement formally ended large-scale civil war, implementation has been incomplete. National elections have been postponed multiple times. Institutions responsible for transitional justice remain weak or inactive. Security services detain journalists, activists, and political opponents without formal charges. In this environment, churches remain among the few institutions capable of publicly addressing sensitive political issues, making religious leaders even more visible and vulnerable.[5]

Migration and International Protection

For religious leaders who have publicly criticised armed actors or government officials, the combination of assassination risk, NSS intimidation, and the absence of effective domestic protection mechanisms creates a credible basis for international protection claims. The Convention grounds of religion and political opinion are directly engaged where clergy face persecution for publicly advocating peace, accountability, or human rights. Because church leaders maintain visible and widely known public profiles, internal relocation within South Sudan is unlikely to provide effective protection.[6]

Organisations Monitoring the Situation

Analytical Assessment

The targeting of religious leaders in South Sudan reflects a broader pattern in which the most visible advocates for peace and accountability become the most exposed to retaliation. Churches have filled the governance vacuum created by state weakness, providing social services, mediating between ethnic communities, and publicly criticising violence and corruption. This role simultaneously increases their social authority and their vulnerability. The attempted assassination of Bishop Carlassare and the documented pattern of NSS intimidation establish that religious leaders face a specific, documented risk that satisfies the Convention grounds of religion and political opinion.[7]

The structural conditions that produce this risk are not temporary. The incomplete implementation of the 2018 peace agreement, the postponement of elections, the absence of transitional justice, and the continued operation of the National Security Service outside effective oversight all indicate that the threat environment for religious leaders is entrenched rather than transitional. For international protection claims, this means that the risk is not contingent on a specific incident but arises from the systemic interaction between the advocacy role of churches and the repressive character of the security environment.[8]

The public visibility of religious leaders, their known statements, and their cross-ethnic mediation activities mean that internal relocation within South Sudan is unlikely to provide effective protection. Their identities and positions are known across regional and national networks, and the reach of the National Security Service extends beyond any single locality. For asylum adjudicators, these factors establish that religious leaders from South Sudan who have engaged in peace advocacy or public criticism of armed actors face a credible, well-documented, and non-relocatable risk of serious harm.