The threat of sanctions against South Sudan appears
increasing likely.
The United Nations has now directly accused President Salva
Kiir of-noncooperation.
That was the message delivered by to the UN Security Council
by Herve Ladsous, head of the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations in South
Sudan.
Ladsous said President Kiir’s government has defied repeated
requests to cooperate with carrying out the UN mandate where 12,000
peacekeeping troops, police and civilian personnel are involved.
Specifically, Ladsous took aim at the government’s
inability, or unwillingness, to protect its own citizens in what is a conflict
taking on an extremely violent ethnic dimension and the Kiir government’s alleged
refusal to allow the UN to import weapons and equipment needed to carry out its
mandate to protect innocent civilians.
"We needed attack helicopters — request denied. We
needed UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones] — request denied by the
president to me, personally, three times last year,” he told the Security
Council.
Ladsous said the Juba government continues to harass UN
personnel in flagrant violation of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which
the UN signed with the government.
"If you look at the fact that yesterday it was
announced that from now on UN personnel who are taking pictures will be
considered as spies, well, I think this raises a number of concerns.”
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| Herve Ladsous (seen right) in South Sudan |
Juba recently declared Toby Lanzer, the deputy head of
mission and the UN’s humanitarian coordinator in South Sudan, persona non
grata. Juba accused him of being outspoken about the economic and humanitarian
situation in the country, where 4.6 million people face severe food insecurity
and more than 2 million have been displaced from their homes.
The UN passed a resolution last month calling for sanctions
to be imposed on individuals seen to be perpetuating the war and suffering of
the populations in South Sudan.
An investigation team is currently in South Sudan to
designate individuals who should be sanctioned.
Furthermore, powerful US based lobby groups who were
instrumental in helping usher in South Sudan’s independence and secession from
the regime in Khartoum are now adding their collective voices to the growing
chorus of support for sanctions against key individuals in South Sudan.
The groups include American Jewish World Service, United to
End Genocide, Humanity United, Human Rights Watch, The Enough Project and
National Association of Evangelicals.