Warring parties are responsible for South Sudan tragedy : UN
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Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers singing pro-war song
(AFP file photo)
June 21, 2017 (NEW YORK) – The government and the armed opposition
bear the responsibility for South Sudan humanitarian tragedy and
political instability, said the head of UN Peacekeeping Department on
Wednesday.
"We must not lose sight of the fact that this tragedy is man-made"
(...) It is the result of deliberate decisions by the SPLA-in
Government, the SPLA-in-Opposition and various other entities, to
prosecute and sustain armed conflict to achieve political goals," said
Jean-Pierre Lacroix in a briefing on the situation in South Sudan to
the UN Security Council.
The French diplomat told the 15-member body that the government
forces, despite the unilateral ceasefire announced earlier by
President Salva Kiir, dislodged the opposition SPLA-IO forces from
their strongholds on the west bank of the Nile River. In the east, it
has taken towns in northern Greater Jonglei.
"In the west, clashes between Government and Opposition forces around
Wau led to 22,000 people taking refuge with the mission. And fighting
in the south has left towns in the Equatorias with as little as 10% of
their previous populations," he added.
However, Lacroix stressed that the United Nations continues to make
every effort to implement its commitment to the country, adding
that“only a truly inclusive political process and the genuine
political will” of the key protagonists to end the conflict and
implement agreements they reached will bring peace to the war-torn
country.
The over three-year conflict has left more than half of South Sudan’s
population in need of food aid. Furthermore, a third of its population
is displaced and half of those displaced have sought refuge in
neighbouring Uganda, Sudan, Kenya and Ethiopia.
The IGAD leaders recently decided to hold a forum to revitalise the
implementation of a peace agreement it brokered between the warring
parties, but the resumption of hostilities in July 2017 broke the
enforcement of the deal and was followed by the resumption of
hostilities.
The head of UN peacekeeping department informed the Security Council
that in the midst of the fighting, the UN Mission in South Sudan
(UNMISS) is “doing its utmost” to protect civilians.
“Our peacekeepers are persistent in getting through checkpoints to
reach vulnerable populations, even when the patrols are threatened
and, at times, shot at […], giving the populations confidence that we
are there to protect them enables us to report human rights abuses and
helps us to support our humanitarian partners in ensuring that
assistance goes to those who need it most.”
He further pointed that some issues concerning the plot of land
provided by the Government to the Rapid Protection Force (RPF), to
establish its northern basing site, are behind the delay in its
deployment. The RPF is tasked with the security in and around capital
Juba.
Concerning the pledge made by President Kiir to release political
prisoners, Lacroix told the Council that while one UN staff member was
released recently, two others have been held for two years without
charge, and another has recently been detained in Rumbek.
“We must judge the President’s commitments by his actions, not his
words,” he said.
Lacroix, also calling for full freedom of movement for the Ceasefire
Transitional Security Arrangement Monitoring Mechanism (CTSAMM) to
monitor and verify ceasefire violations as well as UNMISS, “which have
faced far too many obstructions to their movements, making their work
extremely challenging, and in some cases, impossible.”
In his remarks before the Security Council, the Chargé d’Affaires of
South Sudanese mission to the UN, Ambassador Joseph Mourn Malok, said
the situation in the country is relatively calm since Kiir’s
declaration of a unilateral ceasefire.
"In order for the unilateral ceasefire to hold, we call upon the
Security Council and the International Community to call on the other
stakeholders to respect the ceasefire so as to allow the humanitarian
actors to pass," he said.
The Council members may issue a press statement after a consultations
meeting but they remain divided on the way forward, as some members
support an arms embargo and more targeted sanctions, measures that
reject some others describing it "counterproductive".
(ST)
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22 June 08:26, by Sunday Junup
Therefore it is known that there is only one SPLA-IO but the world
still not ready to tell truth right?
repondre message
22 June 08:47, by Achuil friedman
Same people funding warlord are same people crying about the
suffering of South Sudan, so if the laws are not respected then the
laws makers should be prisoned or even prosecute so to make away for
generations to pear the laws.
repondre message
22 June 11:48, by Trust Teller
UN, and more other worldly intuitions can not bring peace. For
they are double standard. Just leave us a lone and fights until the
dictatorship is gone or realize the trust, than South Sudanese will
come to their sens. Now still many Dinka brothers are still forging a
false belief the the country was liberated by only Dinka, the whole 21
yrs struggle were only done Dinka denying unforgettable co..
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