UN to impose first sanctions on South Sudanese rival military commanders
June 26, 2015 (NEW YORK) – United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is expected to impose first wave of sanctions on a number of South Sudanese rival military commanders when the Council sits on Monday, 29 June.
According to Reuters, the proposal targeted commanders on government’s side include Major-General Marial Chanuong Yol Mangok, commander of president Salva Kiir’s guards unit; sector one commander Lieutenant-General Gabriel Jok Riak; and third division commander Major-General Santino Deng Wol.
On the armed opposition’s side, those targeted include Major-General Simon Gatwech Dual, chief of general staff for the opposition forces; Major-General James Koang Chuol, commander of the opposition special division one; and Major-General Peter Gadet, the deputy chief of general staff of operations for the opposition forces.
The six are accused of threatening the peace and stability of the world’s newest state and will likely be sanctioned with a global travel ban and asset freeze. The US proposal is already co-sponsored by the Britain and France, who are powerful nations in the 15-member UN Security Council.
In the sanctions listing proposal, presidential units’ commander Major-General Marial Chanuong was accused of leading the December 2013 “slaughter of Nuer civilians in and around Juba, many who were buried in mass graves.” One grave was purported to contain 200 to 300 civilians. Major-General Santino Deng was accused of perpetuating the war against the rebels in Unity state.
Rebel commander Gadet’s forces were accused of targeting “civilians, including women, in April 2014 during an assault on Bentiu, including targeted killings on the basis of ethnicity.”
The United States and the European Union have already imposed sanctions on some rival commanders, including Chanuong and Gatdet.
No accusations have been made public about the additional one government’s commander, Major-General Gabriel Jok Riak, and the two senior rebel’s commanders including their chief of general staff, Major-General Simon Gatwech Dual and Major-General James Koang Chuol.
The Security Council already passed a sanctions regime to target leaders seen to be undermining security or interfering with the peace process.
South Sudan plunged into civil war in December 2013 when a political crisis within the ruling SPLM party sparked fighting between forces loyal to Kiir and rebels allied with his former deputy Riek Machar. The conflict has reopened ethnic fault lines that pit Kiir’s Dinka people against Machar’s ethnic Nuer forces.
A new IGAD-Plus mechanism is yet to announce a date for resumption of peace talks in Addis Ababa to try to end the war through a political peace agreement between the two warring parties.
(ST)