The United States of America has said it is very disappointed with the leaders of South Sudan for extending their stay after the expiration of the time of the transitional government of national unity.
Speaking at the United Nations Security today, Richard Mills, the United States Deputy Representative to the United Nations said South Sudanese leaders have failed to deliver on their promises ever since the revitalized peace agreement was signed in 2018.
“The United States is highly disappointed that South Sudan’s leaders extended the transitional period thus again extending their own time in power – despite failing over the past four years to deliver fully on the commitments they made in the 2018 Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan. We regret that the government leaders did not postpone ratification of the extension to allow themselves time to demonstrate – through sustained action and results on the ground – that the new commitment as set out in their roadmap will be different from the last few years. We also regret that the government did not take the opportunity for meaningful engagement with civil society and other agreement stakeholders, which we believe would increase the chances of successful implementation,” said Mills.
Using the same Security Council meeting, Mills also condemned the resumption of fighting in different parts of the country. “We commend UNMISS (United Nations Mission in South Sudan) efforts and dedication to deescalate tensions in Unity, Upper Nile, and Jonglei states over the past month, where thousands of civilians have fled their homes due to fighting between armed factions. The most recent outbreak of violence occurred in Adidiang, Upper Nile State on September 7, resulting in numerous deaths and the destruction of buildings used for humanitarian purposes. Displaced peoples, as we heard, are now fleeing to the Malakal protection of civilian site, where UNMISS is, providing shelter and critical humanitarian assistance,” added Mills.
He added that the United States is also appalled by the trauma, the violence, and inhumane conditions the people of South Sudan are forced to experience on a daily basis. He urged the government of South Sudan to take immediate actions to end hostilities and engage in dialogue to resolve remaining causes of conflict. “UNMISS and OHCHR released a September joint report on human rights abuses committed in southern Unity. The report documented human rights violations and abuses including the killings of 173 civilians, the abduction of civilians, and sexual violence,” said Mills.
He added that the report specifically finds that government and allied forces engaged in scorched-earth tactics against victims, including children: such as shooting, beheading, burning alive, or drowning them in swamps.
The report also documents 131 incidents of conflict-related sexual violence, including rape and gang rape of women, and as we tragically heard, girls as young as eight, reporting that such acts were systematically committed by government and allied forces as a method or strategy of warfare. Mills called upon the leaders of South Sudan to investigate all cases of human violations with the view of bringing to justice the perpetrators.
South Sudan fell into chaos in 2013 after forces aligned to the current 1st vice president Riek Machar were accused of wanting to topple the government of President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
Since then, the country has had on again and off again fighting which has left thousands of people dead while over four million have been uprooted from their homes. The country was also supposed to hold elections; the first after the it became independent in 2011 but the unstable security situation has made such an endeavour an uphill task.
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