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7392nd Security Council meeting on Sudan and South Sudan
7392nd Meeting (PM)
Foreseeing little progress in upcoming peace talks on South Sudan due to continued fighting and lack of political will, the United Nations peacekeeping head this afternoon urged the Security Council to impose consequences if the parties did not immediately cease fire and make necessary compromises in negotiation.
“There is now an urgent need to reinforce the mediation efforts, as well as to impose consequences on the parties if they fail to show willingness to compromise, and continue engaging in a conflict that will result in further loss of innocent lives,” Hervé Ladsous, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, said in a briefing that also included Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Šimonović and Permanent Representative of South Sudan Francis Mading Deng.
In that regard, Mr. Ladsous underlined the need for accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the fighting that began with a power struggle between leaders and spread into all out, intercommunity fighting. “For the culture of impunity to end, those responsible for continuing it must be brought to justice,” he said.
Introducing the Secretary-General’s latest report on the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, or UNMISS (document S/2015/118), which covers developments from 18 November 2014 to 10 February 2015, Mr. Ladsous described numerous clashes between Government and opposition forces in various states of the country, reporting that the two camps were also mobilizing for new campaigns, with reports of children being recruited.
Detailing the humanitarian and human rights situation in South Sudan as he witnessed it in early February, Mr. Šimonović said that the number of displaced had continued to grow, reaching 2 million. Thousands more had died and further humanitarian and human rights violations had been committed by both sides. The number of those seeking protection at UNMISS sites, mainly women and children, had surpassed 110,000, with many more outside the sites in extremely vulnerable situations.
In the meantime, to contribute to an atmosphere conducive for reaching a peace, the Council may wish to encourage human-rights-centred, confidence-building measures, including cooperation in the tracing of missing persons and family reunification, and the release of detainees, he suggested.
Mr. Deng, taking the floor last, said the Secretary-General’s report portrayed a disturbing picture that challenged the dignity and value of his country’s independence. It gave the impression that the whole country was in turmoil. In reality, three states were affected by the conflict, while the rest of the country — seven states — was in relative peace and harmony.
The report, he said, also conveyed the impression that the international community, through UNMISS, was virtually managing the situation, with the Government failing to discharge its primary responsibility for protecting and assisting the people. Worse, it was made to look as though the international community cared more about the people of South Sudan then their own leaders.
Remedies could be found to restore a constructive basis for partnership in stabilizing and developing the country, he said. It would be “an ironic double jeopardy” to punish a country that was already suffering from an acute crisis. It was in everyone’s interest to improve communication, cooperation and complementarity in addressing challenges within South Sudan, as well as its relations with Sudan, he maintained.
The meeting began at 3:05 p.m. and ended at 3:45 p.m.
