7846th Security Council Meeting: Reports on Sudan and South Sudan

South Sudan was on the brink of a ‘cataclysmic event’, top United Nations officials warned the Security Council, at 7846th meeting.

• Categories: Meetings & Events / Security Council
• Video Length: 01:05:39
• Production Date: 19 December 2016
• Asset Language: Arabic; Chinese; English; French; Russian; Spanish
• Personal Subject: BAN KI-MOON; STEPHEN O'BRIEN
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS MISSION IN SOUTH SUDAN – UNMISS
• Subject Topical: SEXUAL VIOLENCE; ARMED GROUPS; HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS; SANCTIONS; HUMANITARIAN CRISIS; ARMS CONTROL
• Geographic Subject: SUDAN; SOUTH SUDAN
• MAMS Id: 1801007
• Parent Id: 1799970

Description

The deteriorating situation in South Sudan, one of the world’s most urgent crises, was on the brink of a cataclysmic event, and the responsibility for that tragic state of affairs lay squarely with the leaders of that country, top United Nations officials warned the Security Council today.

“They have betrayed the public trust and continue to show a perverse sense of entitlement, seeking to retain power and wealth at all costs,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, speaking of the South Sudanese Government. He also reiterated his call for the imposition of an arms embargo in order to stem the capacity to wage war on all sides. Those weapons also directly threatened the safety of civilians and humanitarian workers.

Words alone were no longer enough, he emphasized. They should be matched by practical actions that demonstrated a strategic shift to fully cooperate with the United Nations and all partners for peace. The conflict had already assumed an ethnic dimension, he said, underscoring that hate speech from many in leadership positions had been witnessed. In addition, the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) continued to face restrictions on its freedom of movement throughout the country, which was in clear violation of the Status of Forces Agreement.

“South Sudan is on the brink,” cautioned Stephen O’Brien, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, noting that a political solution was needed to avert a humanitarian crisis that was spiralling out of control. Humanitarian assistance had been provided to half of South Sudan’s population in 2016, and that figure was expected to rise an additional 20 to 30 per cent next year. Approximately 3.1 million people had been forced to flee their homes, with children accounting for around half of that number.

He also called for a commitment to protect humanitarian workers, and that those who killed, attacked and raped those workers should be prosecuted. It was vital to stop the current trajectory and, instead, collectively help South Sudan and its people avert a “cataclysmic” event, he said.

The Security Council had not delivered on the requested arms embargo, said the representative of the United States, a fact that should be taken into account in the face of graphic briefings and eyewitness testimony. One account was of a 28-year-old mother and her children who barely escaped death, fleeing after two men came to her door and shot her husband in the head. Accounts such as those, she said, were too numerous to tally.

However, the representative of the Russian Federation stressed that targeted sanctions or an arms embargo would not serve peace in South Sudan. Proponents were ignoring the Africa Union’s stance against such a decision, he said, adding that colleagues should also refrain from interpreting events as a prediction of genocide.

Responding to the characterization of the conflict as an ethnic war, the representative of South Sudan called that description “a bit far-exaggerated” and one that did not reflect reality. The Government was, in fact, demonstrating political will, including the recent acceptance of the deployment of the Regional Protection Force without conditions. Furthermore, the proposed arms embargo and threats for sanctions were indicative of the failure to distinguish between a legitimately-elected Government and an armed rebellion intent on overthrowing that Government, he said, emphasizing the Government’s full commitment to support political dialogue and fully implement the peace agreement.

During the meeting, Council members also expressed their condolences to the Russian Federation, whose Ambassador to Turkey, Andrey G. Karlov, was shot dead in Ankara earlier Monday.

Also speaking were representatives of France and Uruguay.

The meeting began at 4:08 p.m. and ended at 5:14 p.m.