S. Sudan appeals for global support to end war ahead U.S. Haley visit

October 24, 2017 (JUBA) – South Sudan government on Tuesday appealed global support to end the ravaging war in the country, reiterating sanctions would undermine the peace process.

The South Sudanese cabinet affairs minister told Sudan Tribune on Tuesday that his government was waiting for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley with a simple and clear message of commitment to implementing peace and ending the war in the country.

“The message of the Transitional Government of National Unity is clear and simple. It is a unified message and it is the message we will give to any foreign official visiting the country. The government is committed to full implementation of the peace agreement and to end the war,” Minister Martin Elia Lomuro told Sudan Tribune.

He added that the commitment of the government is seen in significant steps which have been undertaken by the government with regards to implementation of the peace agreement pointing to the declaration of a unilateral ceasefire, and the amnesty granted to all opposition groups, provided that they denounce violence.

Ambassador Haley isis visiting South Sudan and the Central African Republic to assess the political situation in the country but also to deliver a clear message to the leaders that peace should be achieved and war ended.

“While we’ll take a critical look at what the UN is doing on the ground, we’ll also meet DRC and South Sudanese leaders to deliver a strong message that their governments need to stop making the work of aid workers and peacekeepers more difficult,” she wrote in an editorial published on the CNN website on Sunday.

“The United States remains committed to easing the suffering of civilians wherever we can, to engaging with leaders to ease the suffering of their people, and to ensuring the UN is efficient in addressing these crises,” the diplomat further said.

However, the South Sudanese minister enumerated the steps taken by his government in the implementation of the peace agreement and cited the formation of the transitional government, reconstitution and expansion of the parliament, the formation of state governments and reduction of insecurity in some states in the country which had in the past experienced sustained military activities.

“You can see Juba today is secured and peaceful. There is no more fighting Upper Nile, no fighting Equatoria, not even in Bahr el Ghazal. What is happening now in some pockets of the country are acts of criminals, which happen everywhere even in the United States of America and other western countries”, said Lomuro

The leader of the alliance of the pro-government parties in coalition government appealed for global support instead of constantly waiving punitive actions and threats.

“What the transitional government of national unity is unanimously asking for, is working together with the international community to implement peace and help us talk to those estranged groups to join the dialogue process so that war is stopped,” said Lomuro.

“This is how political issues are addressed in the global arena, not with stick waiving punitive actions. If you do that, it means taking side and that undermines peace efforts and the intention, whether genuine can be subject to interpretations,” he added.

The minister stressed they wish that the intentional community first listen to them, see what they are doing and come in with support where there are challenges.Juba rejects imposed solutions he stressed.

“They don’t need to bring the ready-made solutions. It will not work because the context of this solution may not fit in our situation,” he said.

His comments precede the visit of the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, as the report of the five-member panel established by the UN Security Council cited an absence of political will to implement the 2015 peace agreement and to address “the destructive governance practices and historical grievances that continue to drive the conflict in South Sudan”.

The international experts attribute these failures to “the political and military elite of the country, with the primary responsibility for the ongoing violence resting with those in the government, led by Pesident, Salva Kiir, and the First Vice-President, Taban Deng Gai”.

The report notes that Neighbouring nations continue to experience adverse impacts of the nearly four-year-long civil war, yet they are making no effective efforts to negotiate an end to the fighting.

It found that countries in the region like Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia and the four other member-states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) have not generated “a coherent political process backed by genuine pressure on the parties”.

“Each IGAD member is dealing with significant national challenges that, coupled with long-standing and complex regional rivalries, continue to undermine consensus on South Sudan,” the report adds.

An ensuing proliferation of uncoordinated diplomatic initiatives has enabled the warring forces to “forum-shop”.

The panel of experts noted that the government and armed opposition groups “engage selectively in various processes while buying time for military operations, and avoid attempts to enforce a political settlement to the conflict”.

The report, also, criticised the new U.S. administration of under President Donald Trump administration for failing to sustain U.S. attempts to resolve the conflict.

“The leadership of the United States and other nations that previously exerted leverage in the region has also waned considerably in 2017,” they underlined.

The report makes note of complaints concerning U.S. support for the continued exclusion of opposition leader Riek Machar from peace-making efforts. Some opposition groups view this refusal to include Machar in the search for a settlement as an impediment to a neutral mediation approach by outsiders, the panel states.

The experts pointed out that political impasse, along with government military offensives in recent months, has substantially worsened an already dire humanitarian situation in South Sudan.

“The population faces intersecting threats of violence and insecurity, large-scale population displacement, extreme food insecurity and an escalating national economic crisis,” says the report.

“The actions of South Sudanese leaders have done nothing to address these threats, and there is unlikely to be an improvement in the foreseeable future absent a significant change in the national and international approach to the conflict.”

(ST)