Voices on Corruption, Conflict, and South Sudan in Support of the Sentry's Mission and Approach Posted by Enough Team <http://enoughproject.org/blogs/enough-team> on Sep 12, 2016
*Below is a collection in support of expert voices, current media coverage, and other perspectives on corruption, South Sudan, and the Sentry's mission and approach.* “Growing up as a child, my very first encounter with refugees was with people from South Sudan who had fled the war in their country. I was one of the many Africans that were very hopeful and happy when South Sudan became Africa’s newest Republic. That hope and joy was short lived when the country return to war in 2013. It is so sad to see a few selfish leaders dash the hope of many people, especially the women and the youth (who spent almost all of their lives residing in internally displaced or refugee camps and in foreign countries). Until these leaders put their selfish ambition and ethnic politics aside, peace will continue to elude the South Sudanese people. It is my hope that this report will serve as the catalyst for the world to rise up and defend the people of South Sudan from those determined to keep raping and killing in the name of power.” *- Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize recipient from Liberia* "We have long seen the critical link between greed and corruption and violence and conflict. Now, the Enough Project aims to bring new tools to expose the financial underpinnings of South Sudan’s conflict and help build a new response strategy. As perpetrators get richer, we must hurt them in one of the few places they will pay attention: their bank accounts. The Sentry, Enough’s new initiative, is a timely response as civilians continue to bear the brunt of war and greed.” *- Randy Newcomb, President & CEO, Humanity United* “War is a thriving business in South Sudan. At the core of this business is the destruction of lives, families, friendships, dreams and destinies of many in exchange of few profiting from the pains of many. If death, destruction, despair and destitution are the legacies of this war business, corruption is its heartbeat simply because the war, for many, is a vector and a veil to loot public coffers and amass personal wealth. Therefore, unless and until the profits from the war dry up, this war will not stop. The first step to disrupting the war business is unveiling these criminal cliques who profit from killing others and destroying the country. By showing our people and the world who these people truly are – blood thirsty criminals, murderers and thieves - this initiative of Enough Project has dealt a fatal blow to the legitimacy, moral authority and the support base of these stomachticians. Though a very dangerous and hopelessly complex, such an undertaking is extremely potent. With this initiative, the Enough Project has demonstrated, yet again, that South Sudan State is captured by national and international criminal gangs. In addition, it has exposed the real motif for the war and has reawaken, hopefully, the moral consciousness of the world to pay these criminals back in kind. By this initiative, the Enough Project has done what the world knew but was not bold enough to say. This Report demonstrates, yet again, that the non-governmental sector is not a mining field, but a minefield that requires courage, determination and resilience on behalf of the world’s most vulnerable and powerless. I commend this Report to all policy makers to ensure that those implicated directly and indirectly in this Report resign or be made to resign and given a day in a Court of law.” *- Dr. Remember Miamingi, Promoter, Pan-African Centre for Study and Support of Family, South Africa* "Strengthening human rights and ending the conflict in South Sudan must include tackling the widespread corruption and kleptocracy. This new report from the Enough Project and Sentry provides a roadmap to directly address these issues,” Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA) said. “The people of South Sudan have suffered and sacrificed so much to secure their independence. The horrifying violence perpetrated by these kleptocrats must be stopped. The U.S. and the international community must work together to hold the corrupt accountable and ensure that democracy, human rights, and the rule of law are upheld in South Sudan.” *- U.S. Congressman Jim McGovern (D-MA)* "Conflict, and the corruption that always accompanies it, is driven by greed for material gain and power. Until those who enable and profit from this tragic nexus - including the world's weapons dealers and the governments, banks and businesses who support them - are exposed and made accountable for their actions, this vicious circle of death, displacement, graft and immiseration will continue unchecked." *- Andrew Feinstein, author "The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade"* "The atrocity prevention toolbox has had until now a missing ingredient: bringing to light the financial exposure and vulnerabilities of the key individual players. Thanks to The Sentry, that gap has now been filled for the leaders of the warring parties in South Sudan. This hopefully will be the game changer we have been waiting for." *- Gareth Evans, former Foreign Minister of Australia* "South Sudan, Africa's recently born country, is in deep trouble. The people who cried, and danced on Independence day, hoping for a peaceful and prosperous future, are now fleeing into the bush, neighbouring countries, or UN camps. Fleeing the terror unleashed by the warring leaders of the country..fighting for the spoils and the meagre resources of the country. It is time to shine a light and expose those war criminals." *- Mo Ibrahim, Founder and Chair, Mo Ibrahim Foundation* "Corruption fuels conflict. The Sentry's ground-breaking work seeks to better understand how this plays out in some of the world's most challenging contexts, following the money which finances conflict as it makes its way to arms dealers and money laundries around the world. This work is hugely important, providing the insight and evidence that is need to inform policy and action, in the US and in countries that are caught in cycles of corruption, conflict and poverty." *- Alan Hudson, Executive Director, Global Integrity* “Once again we see how our international economic system operates at the expense of the world’s poorest people. But this is not just a story of despotic leaders looting their citizens’ assets; it takes two (often more) to tango! There is an army out there of predatory oil and mining companies, and their facilitators – the lawyers, bean-counters, company formation agents, and secrecy jurisdictions, not to mention the banks without whom none of this would be possible. With this investigation, and others, I call time on this behaviour! Policy makers, you need to act – and perpetrators, we will find you and expose you, wherever you are!” *- Simon Taylor, Co-founder of Global Witness* -- To post to this group, send email to southsudankob@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to southsudankob+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/southsudankob View this message at https://groups.google.com/d/msg/southsudankob/topic-id/message-id For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to southsudankob+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to SouthSudanKob@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob. 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