World bodies reiterate calls for sanctions on South Sudan
May 13, 2015 (ADDIS ABABA) – Concerned about the renewed clashes between South Sudan’s warring parties in Unity state, the African Union (AU) has said it was time to implement sanctions against leaders responsible for atrocities in the country.
“It is equally important to work towards the effective implementation of sanctions against all those undermining the quest for peace, violating international humanitarian law and obstructing the efforts of peacekeepers on the ground, in line with the UN Security Council resolution of 3 March 2015,” partly reads the AUPSC’s statement.
Acknowledging the role played by regional, continental and world leaders in efforts to end the tragedy unfolding in South Sudan, the AU urged the warring parties to bear responsibility in this respect.
“It is high time that they [South Sudan’s warring parties] live-up to their commitments. They have to end the unnecessary suffering they are inflicting on their own people. They have to understand that there is no military solution to the current conflict,” said the AU.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions displaced since violence broke out in the young nation in December 2013. According to the UN humanitarian coordinator, since the beginning of May 2015 alone, military activities in Unity State, have forced up to 100,000 people to flee their homes. Also, more than 2.5 million others are reportedly at risk of hunger and disease as a result of the conflict, and massive violations of human rights and destruction of property continue to take place.
Meanwhile, the continental body renewed its commitment to continue to work with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) leadership with a view to finding a peaceful and lasting way to resolve the conflict in the world’s youngest nation.
Part of its efforts, the AU stressed, was to expedite the operationalisation of the ad hoc committee of heads of state and government established by its Peace and Security Council last December, to enhance Africa’s support and input to the peace process.
The United Nations, in a recent statement, equally condemning the ongoing fighting, saying it was time to consider implementing sanctions against parties in the conflict.
“In early 2014, just a month after war had broken out between South Sudan’s government and the armed opposition led by Riek Machar, the former vice president, government forces tore their southward through Unity state, burning villages and displacing thousands of civilians into swamps and other hard-to-reach areas where over the next month they would struggle to survive,” reads the UN statement.
“Now Unity state may be seeing a repeat of that horrific violence. Once again government forces are on the march to capture territory from opposition forces, presumably before the rainy season restricts troop movement,” it added.
The world body further decried the situation in which government troops allegedly attacked villages, chasing, killing, abducting and raping civilians, while aid workers have been forced to leave the areas, further complicating humanitarian catastrophe.
The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), in a statement, equally expressed concerns over the plight of civilians who fled for days in Unity state as one village after another was attacked amid what it described as the rise on cases of sexual violence, hunger, and extensive looting allegedly by pro-government forces and their allies.
“Now Unity state may be seeing a repeat of that horrific violence. Once again government forces are on the march to capture territory from opposition forces, presumably before the rainy season restricts troop movement,” HRW said Tuesday.
The UN Security Council set up a sanctions regime in February and they should make full use of this now to place travel bans and asset freezes on violators, stressed HRW.
“It should also impose a long overdue arms embargo on both sides”, said the rights body.
“The UN Security Council should also not just condemn violations but take firm steps to help ensure accountability for the war crimes and potential crimes against humanity UNMISS has already documented in South Sudan”, it added.
(ST)