SOUTH Sudan is not the only country born of a civil war but it seems to be the only one condemned to live in civil-war like conditions. Things have come to such a pass that a team of UN investigators is reminding the world of what happened to Rwanda in 1994.
Dire warnings about genocide in the world’s youngest nation came after an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday. The decision to hold the session came after 10-day visit to the war-ravaged country by the UN Human Rights Commission.
The special session was requested by 40 states, led by the US whose representative expressed particular alarm at ethnic violence in South Sudan’s southern Equatoria region, a relative haven from violence until recently.
“There is already a steady process of ethnic cleansing under way in several areas of South Sudan using starvation, gang rape and the burning of villages,” Yasmin Louise
Sooka, who heads the three-member UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, told the session.
Actually, the killing started in December 2013 two years after South Sudan won independence from Sudan in 2011 following one of Africa’s longest running conflicts. The new nation sank into civil after President Salva Kiir sacked Riek Machar from his position as vice president. Since the president and his deputy belonged to different tribes (Kiir is a Dinka while Machar is a Nuer), the fighting very soon assumed an ethnic dimension and human rights groups say both sides targeted civilians and committed indescribable atrocities.
There have been numerous attempts to reach a sustainable truce, but all ended in failure. After two years of civil war, Machar arrived in the capital Juba in April to cement a shaky peace agreement that gave his opposition SPLA-IO a stake in a government of national unity and he was reinstated as vice president. But that deal expired in five days of fighting in July. A government of national unity took months to form; the demilitarization of Juba, called for by the accord, did not happen.
There have been ethnic-based killings on all sides and growing demands for vengeance. All sides are actively recruiting new soldiers, including children, and stockpiling weapons. The government is complicit in much of the current violence and threats of ethnic killing.
Last week, US proposed to the UN Security Council an arms embargo on the country and economic sanctions on several key leaders on the government and opposition sides. But some African countries and outside powers like Russia, China and Japan did not support the move. Both US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon may leave office very soon, but that should not restrain them from taking some urgent steps to prevent genocide. One is deploying 4,000 additional UN peacekeeping troops approved by the Security Council. This will help defuse ongoing tensions and provide a sense of security to citizens. UN presence will also strengthen the framework for peace.
There is no need for a new peace plan. African states and Western powers should insist on implementing the peace plan which the various parties have signed. President Kiir has launched a national dialogue that encompasses all rival political parties and groups in South Sudan. Since his government is blamed for some of the ethnic violence and has taken several steps aimed at strengthening his grip on power, his rivals will be suspicious of his moves. So African Union’s Special Envoy for South Sudan, former Malian President Alpha Konare, should pursue an urgent process of reconciliation to lower tensions.
Adama Dieng, the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide said: “Since genocide is a process that takes time to prepare it can be prevented.” Both the world powers and the regional organization, Intergovernmental Association for Development (IGAD) that has been leading the search for a settlement acceptable to all, should remember his warning.
