Advocacy group urges Washington to withhold assistance to South Sudan over rights abuses
July 11, 2013 (WASHINGTON) – Refugees International (RI), a Washington based international advocacy group for lifesaving assistance and protection for displaced people, has urged the American administration to withhold assistance to the government of South Sudan over alleged human rights abuses by its army (SPLA) in Jonglei state.
“The U.S. government should withhold a portion of its foreign assistance to South Sudan until the [US] Secretary of State certifies that the government has made progress toward halting SPLA human rights abuses in Jonglei”, reads a report released on Thursday by Refugees International.
RI points out that ignoring these atrocities would not be helpful for the future of democracy in the two-year-old nation, instead it says Washington, which the largest donor to South Sudan, and the United Nations have the leverage and duty to put pressure on Juba to curb human rights abuses.
The group calls on the US Administration to withhold a portion of its non-emergency foreign assistance until the Secretary of State certifies that Juba government has made progress on halting human rights abuses by its regular army in Jonglei state.
The report, which also calls on the UN Security Council to condemn these abuses, says that “for fiscal year 2014, the Obama Administration is seeking $280 million in Economic Support Funds to South Sudan but Refugee International urges the US government not to give South Sudan the expected level of funding unless the country stops the rights abuses by its army in Jonglei”.
Presenting the outcome of a research conducted last May in Jonglei to assess the humanitarian and human rights situation there, RI says they found that the SPLA was involved in widespread rights abuses ranging from the killing of civilians, burning of homes in Pibor town, looting of property and denying aid group access to the needy.
“The abuses by government forces have been well documented by organisations with operations in Pibor County. On January 27, following a clash with a rebel faction affiliated with David Yau Yau, SPLA soldiers burned down 110 homes in Pibor town. Nearly all of Pibor’s civilian residents fled the violence, and most of the humanitarian agencies operating within the town were evacuated,” says the report.
In a commentary for CNN website the author of the report, Caelin Briggs, asks the US government to be tough on South Sudan now and not wait to be tougher in the future.
“It will be much easier to address these challenges now, rather than waiting until human rights violations have become an accepted practice. The U.S. and the United Nations must step up and begin showing South Sudan the tough love it badly needs”, she writes.
Briggs also recommends that the UN Security Council should take action on South Sudan so it can allow humanitarian organisations to access those displaced by violence in Jonglei.
“U.N. Security Council members, both collectively and independently, must also press South Sudan to give the Red Cross, aid groups, and peacekeepers unimpeded access to Jonglei. They should remind Juba that it is bound not only by the Geneva Conventions, but also a Status of Forces agreement with the U.N. Mission in South Sudan that allows peacekeepers to travel anywhere in the country without government permission or authorization.”
The United Nations Mission for South Sudan (UNMISS) is mandated to protect civilians and strengthen state authority, but Refugee International says even UNMISS has been denied permission to patrol in Pibor county contrary to South Sudan’ s obligations under the Status of Forces agreement with the UN.
Reacting to reports about fresh fighting in Jonglei state this week, US acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations Rosemary A. DiCarlo, who chairs the Security Council for this month, told a reporter on Thursday that Washington is deeply concerned about the the intra-communal violence in Jonglei state.
“We have called on the government of South Sudan to protect civilians. We have said it is the responsibility of the government to protect civilians. We have been very clear on that,” she said.
She added that although UNMISS has a Chapter VII mandate to protect civilians, the primary responsibility lies with the government.
South Sudan celebrated her second independence anniversary on Tuesday. But even as the country celebrated independence reports of tribal violence, corruption, cattle rustling and other forms of violence remain rampant particularly in Jonglei.
While congratulating South Sudan on the second anniversary, the US Secretary of State John Kerry said the country should remain focused and committed to democracy, respect for human rights and accountability.
“The vision that South Sudan laid out for itself two years ago requires a sustained commitment to democracy and good governance, justice and accountability, and respect for the rule of law and the human rights of all of South Sudan’s people”, Kerry said.
Kerry affirmed that the United States remains committed to helping South Sudan build a more prosperous, inclusive, and democratic society – one that is at peace internally and with its neighbours.
(ST)