Ceasefire agreements are made between different conflicting parties to resolve conflicts and restore peace. But they are broken by one or all the parties involved in the agreements many times. According to multiple sources including the BBC, temporary ceasefire agreements between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces have been violated in recent months. But their violations are not the only violations of ceasefire agreements — which lead to continued conflicts and the loss of lives — in the world. There are many other violations of ceasefires including ceasefires between different conflicting parties in Syria and Yemen and between Israel and Palestine, leading to difficulty in reaching solutions to conflicts and peace.
It is notable that ceasefire agreements provide a foundation for building trust among warring parties and serve as crucial stepping stones toward resolving conflicts and restoring peace and stability in conflict-ridden countries/regions. By establishing a temporary halt in hostilities, ceasefire agreements provide an opportunity for diplomatic negotiations. Many conflicts were resolved following ceasefires. According to multiple sources, the 2014 ceasefires of Mozambique paved the way for a comprehensive peace agreement, the Maputo Accord, in 2019. But many ceasefire agreements, which also provide an opportunity for humanitarian aid to reach affected areas, displaced individuals to return to their homes and the rebuilding of shattered communities, fail to lead to lasting peace driven by factors including the violation of ceasefires and the lack of effective peace negotiations after ceasefire agreements.
There are trust based, monitoring based and other factors that lead to the violation of ceasefires. The lack of commitment of the involved parties, a lack of trust between conflicting parties, disagreements over the terms of the ceasefire agreement and unresolved grievances or the failure to address underlying root causes of the conflict are some of the crucial causes. Additionally, failure to withdraw troops from disputed areas, a lack of strong monitoring and compliance mechanisms and miscommunications between different parties involved contribute to the violation of ceasefire agreements. The violation of ceasefires driven by the lack of trust and commitment, along with several other causes, was evident between the government and opposition groups — despite multiple attempts at establishing ceasefires — in Syria.
Among others, a desire to gain strategic advantages in conflicts and negotiations, intense power struggle between/among parties and the presence of non-state armed groups, who may not be fully committed to peaceful resolutions and instead seek to escalate tensions for their own agenda, are notable. A desire to gain strategic advantages often leads the conflicting parties to continue to attack to strengthen their position in conflicts. The 1999 ceasefire agreement in Kosovo was violated by each of the parties, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Kosovo Liberation Army, to strengthen their position in the armed conflict. Additionally, a complex interplay between geoeconomics and conflicts and geopolitical rivalries sometimes undermines efforts to enforce ceasefires, as geoeconomic and geopolitical actors may have conflicting agendas.
But the violation of ceasefire agreements needs to be addressed to end conflicts and reach peace. For this, it is definitely crucial to implement strong monitoring mechanisms and compliance. By ensuring that all the parties involved adhere to the terms of the agreement, monitoring mechanisms help prevent their violations and minimize the risk of escalation. The 1994 ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which was closely monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, led to a significant reduction in armed conflicts. Additionally, fostering trust and confidence in the ceasefire process and open lines of communication between different parties involved can help reduce the likelihood of ceasefire violations many times.
Among others, the complex nature of armed conflicts, along with the underlying grievances or the root causes of the conflict and geopolitical factors, needs to be addressed for the ceasefire agreements to be successful in reaching peace. Engaging in effective diplomatic negotiations and ensuring the presence of third-party mediators can help increase the chance of addressing underlying grievances and reducing the violation of ceasefire agreements many times. While making and maintaining ceasefire agreements are crucial to ending armed conflicts and creating the scope of lasting peace, it is imperative for peace mediators to work towards reaching a peace resolution — which successfully ends conflicts and ensures lasting peace.
