South Sudan Liberation Movement The South Sudan Liberation Movement / Army ( SSLM / A ) is an armed group that operates in the Upper Nile Region of South Sudan . The group ' s creation was announced in November 1999 by people of the Nuer ethnicity who were in both the rebel Sudan People ' s Liberation Army ( SPLA ) and the government - allied South Sudan Defense Force ( SSDF ) gathered in Waat . The SSLM was declared to be unaligned in the Second Sudanese Civil War , then entering its sixteenth year . The name " South Sudan Liberation Movement " was decided upon the next year , borrowing from the earlier Southern Sudan Liberation Movement , which existed in the 1980s . Background . The SSLM was formed in the context of widespread factional fighting among the Western Nuer ethnic group of Unity , South Sudan , who had signed a peace treaty with the government on 21 April 1997 . The pro - government SSDF militia , comprising a large number of Nuer , had divided into warring factions led by Riek Machar and Paulino Matip . As Riek was being defeated , opposing government - aligned militias attacked civilians around the oilfields in South Sudan , causing a stream of Nuer refugees to flee towards SPLA - controlled Bahr al - Ghazal for protection . At least two previously pro - government Nuer militias aligned themselves with the SPLA , while the few Nuer loyal to the politically weakened Riek began to abandon the government ' s cause . The fact that Nuer refugees were being protected by the Dinka - dominated SPLA led to an unusual conference in Wunlit , sponsored by the New Sudan Council of Churches and the safety of which was guaranteed by the SPLA . Groups of Western Nuer and Dinka from Tonj , Rumbek and Yirol took part , leading to a peace agreement in March 1999 to end the ethnic fighting . The creation of the SSLM was accompanied by the announcement that most of the Nuer had formally broken away from the government . Between November 1999 and January 2000 , the group was known as the Upper Nile Provisional Military Command Council ( UMCC ) . Political stance . The SSLM claimed that it followed " two avenues to assert the rights of the people of South Sudan to freedom and self - determination " . The group stated that it was in favor of negotiation with the government of Sudan until an acceptable peace - accord is signed and the government stops its raids in southern Sudan , but the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 9 January 2005 , was seen by the SSLM as promising nothing new differing from past treaties only in its observance by the international community . 2011 resurgence . On 11 April 2011 , when the SSLM / A published a document that it called the Mayom Declaration , calling for a more inclusive government in South Sudan . Violence began with an assault SPLA in Unity State , leaving at least 45 people dead . According to the military , 20 of the victims were southern army soldiers . SSLA ' s spokesperson has said that the movement has declared a ceasefire with the government . 2013 amnesty . On 26 April 2013 the South Sudanese government announced that it had granted an amnesty to SSLA fighters and that 3 , 000 men , comprising the entire force , had taken up the offer , crossed the border from Sudan and brought around 100 vehicles with them ( including 37 technicals armed with machine guns and AA guns ) . President Salva Kiir pardoned all SSLA members who had surrendered their weapons to security forces . The former SSLA members are to be integrated into the South Sudanese army . Two other militia groups also took up the amnesty offer . An SSLA spokesperson said " Our forces have joined the peace process with the South Sudan army " and that " because South Sudan needs development , peace and forgiveness , we have decided to end rebellion in South Sudan " . The surrender took place in Mayom County , Unity State and were led by the SSLA ' s commander , Brigadier General Bapiny Monytuel . SSLA commanders will meet President Kiir in Juba within a week to formalise the surrender arrangements .