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Arab News
5 hours ago
- Business
- Arab News
Divided UN extends arms embargo on South Sudan as fears of renewed civil war grow
UNITED NATIONS: A divided UN Security Council voted Friday to extend an arms embargo on South Sudan, where escalating political tensions have led the UN to warn that the country could again plunge into civil war. A US-sponsored resolution to extend the embargo and other sanctions was approved by the narrowest margin — the minimum nine 'yes' votes required. Six countries abstained – Russia, China, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Pakistan. The arms embargo, and travel bans and asset freezes on South Sudanese on the UN sanctions blacklist, were extended for a year until May 31, 2026. There were high hopes for peace and stability after oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, becoming the world's newest nation. But the country slid into civil war in December 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, who is from the largest ethnic group in the country, the Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, who is from the second-largest ethnic group, the Nuer. A 2018 peace deal that brought Machar into the government as first vice president has been fragile, and implementation has been slow. A presidential election has been postponed until 2026. Last month, the UN envoy to South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, warned that the escalating rivalry between Kiir and Machar had degenerated into direct military confrontation between their parties and led to Machar's arrest. A campaign of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech is 'fueling political and ethnic tensions — particularly on social media,' he warned. And 'these conditions are darkly reminiscent of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts, which took over 400,000 lives.' US Minister Counselor John Kelley thanked the council after the vote, saying the arms embargo 'remains necessary to stem the unfettered flow of weapons into a region that remains awash with guns.' 'Escalating violence in recent months has brought South Sudan to the brink of civil war,' he said, urging the country's leaders to restore peace. Russia's deputy UN ambassador Anna Evstigneeva countered by saying the easing of Security Council sanctions on South Sudan is long overdue. She said the arms embargo and other sanctions are restricting implementation of the 2018 peace agreement. She accused the resolution's supporters of 'putting a brake on a successful political process unfolding in Sudan, as well as complicating the deployment and proper equipping of the national armed forces.' South Sudan's UN ambassador, Cecilia Adeng, expressed 'deep disappointment' at the extension of the arms embargo and other sanctions. 'The lifting of the sanctions and the arms embargo is not only a matter of national security or sovereignty, but also a matter of economic opportunity and dignity,' she said. 'These measures create barriers to growth, delay development, discourage foreign investment, and leave the state vulnerable to non-state actors and outlaws.'
Associated Press
18 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Divided UN extends arms embargo on South Sudan as fears of renewed civil war grow
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — A divided U.N. Security Council voted Friday to extend an arms embargo on South Sudan, where escalating political tensions have led the U.N. to warn that the country could again plunge into civil war. A U.S.-sponsored resolution to extend the embargo and other sanctions was approved by the narrowest margin — the minimum nine 'yes' votes required. Six countries abstained – Russia, China, Algeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Pakistan. The arms embargo, and travel bans and asset freezes on South Sudanese on the U.N. sanctions blacklist, were extended for a year until May 31, 2026. There were high hopes for peace and stability after oil-rich South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011, becoming the world's newest nation. But the country slid into civil war in December 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, who is from the largest ethnic group in the country, the Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, who is from the second-largest ethnic group, the Nuer. A 2018 peace deal that brought Machar into the government as first vice-president has been fragile, and implementation has been slow. A presidential election has been postponed until 2026. Last month, the U.N. envoy to South Sudan, Nicholas Haysom, warned that the escalating rivalry between Kiir and Machar had degenerated into direct military confrontation between their parties and led to Machar's arrest. A campaign of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech is 'fueling political and ethnic tensions — particularly on social media,' he warned. And 'these conditions are darkly reminiscent of the 2013 and 2016 conflicts, which took over 400,000 lives.' U.S. Minister Counselor John Kelley thanked the council after the vote, saying the arms embargo 'remains necessary to stem the unfettered flow of weapons into a region that remains awash with guns.' 'Escalating violence in recent months has brought South Sudan to the brink of civil war,' he said, urging the country's leaders to restore peace. Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Anna Evstigneeva countered by saying the easing of Security Council sanctions on South Sudan is long overdue. She said the arms embargo and other sanctions are restricting implementation of the 2018 peace agreement. She accused the resolution's supporters of 'putting a brake on a successful political process unfolding in Sudan, as well as complicating the deployment and proper equipping of the national armed forces.' South Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Cecilia Adeng, expressed 'deep disappointment' at the extension of the arms embargo and other sanctions. 'The lifting of the sanctions and the arms embargo is not only a matter of national security or sovereignty, but also a matter of economic opportunity and dignity,' she said. 'These measures create barriers to growth, delay development, discourage foreign investment, and leave the state vulnerable to non-state actors and outlaws.'
Russia Today
3 days ago
- General
- Russia Today
Force will not resolve South Sudan crisis
Escalating violence in South Sudan cannot be solved by military force, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has warned. Clashes between the East African country's government forces and opposition groups have spiralled into a humanitarian and political catastrophe. Zakharova made the statement during a briefing on Tuesday in Makhachkala, the Republic of Dagestan, which focused on regional and international security issues. 'The sharp deterioration of the situation in South Sudan in recent months is a cause for serious concern,' Zakharova said, noting that the armed confrontations have led to rising casualties, including among civilians. Fighting has intensified in Africa's youngest country since early this year, with alarming reports of ethnic-driven violence and breaches of a fragile 2018 peace deal that had once offered a path to unity. The International Committee of the Red Cross announced on Monday that its medical teams have performed over 1,000 surgeries on weapon-wounded patients in less than three months. More than 130,000 people have reportedly been displaced as airstrikes and fighter jet raids forced residents to flee towns, disrupted humanitarian access, and cut off key trade routes linking South Sudan to neighboring Ethiopia. The situation has been further complicated by political upheaval, including the arrest of First Vice President and opposition leader Riek Machar in March. The landlocked country gained independence from war-torn Sudan in 2011, and has remained unstable since the end of a five-year civil war that erupted in 2013 over a feud between its president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and Machar. Machar's party has warned that his arrest effectively nullifies the 2018 peace agreement that brought the civil war to an end. Several Western nations, including the US and the UK, have advised their citizens to leave South Sudan amid growing fears that the country could slide back into full-scale conflict. On Tuesday, Zakharova reaffirmed Russia's support for African-led efforts to resolve the crisis in South Sudan, which she noted adds to the existing challenges in neighboring Sudan, Somalia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She urged South Sudanese parties, with backing from their African partners, to 'demonstrate political wisdom' and prevent further escalation by recommitting to the framework of the 2018 peace agreement. 'We proceed from the fact that a forceful solution to this conflict is impossible,' Zakharova stated.
Al Jazeera
4 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
UN Security Council must renew the arms embargo on South Sudan
In 2015, as a civil war was raging in South Sudan, the United Nations Security Council imposed the first set of sanctions on the country, including asset freezes and travel bans on various senior officials. Three years later, after a ceasefire agreement was repeatedly violated, the UNSC mustered the votes to impose a full arms embargo. Fragile peace eventually settled in, but the embargo was kept in place and was extended every year. The review of the embargo is now coming up on May 29 and there is a push from African members of the UNSC – Sierra Leone, Somalia and Algeria – to lift it. On March 18, the African Union Peace and Security Council (AUPSC) publicly called for this measure to end. But lifting the embargo on South Sudan at this moment would be a mistake. Violence has come back to plague the country, killing at least 180 people between March and mid-April, amid deepening divisions between President Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar, who has been placed under house arrest. Allowing more weapons to enter the country would only escalate the dire situation. This would not be in the interest of neighbouring countries and the African Union as a whole. Under the AU's development plan, Agenda 2063, the continent set itself an ambitious goal of 'Silencing the Guns' by 2020, later extended to 2030. With this, the AU wants to 'end all wars and violent conflicts and promote dialogue-based mechanisms for conflict prevention and resolution'. Yet, the AUPSC's call for lifting the embargo on South Sudan does not fall in line with these goals. The justification for this stance is that free access to more weapons can enable the unification of government and opposition forces and reform the security sector. But this logic ignores the growing fractures in South Sudan amid the renewed tensions between Kiir and Machar. Placing more guns in the hands of warring parties involved in serious human rights violations and crimes under international law would only make the situation worse. South Sudan's security and defence forces have attacked the very people they are tasked to protect: Civilians. The South Sudanese army, National Security Service and armed opposition forces have been implicated in war crimes and human rights violations for well more than a decade, including by the AU's Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan and the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan. Indeed, around the time the AUPSC called for the lifting of the arms embargo, South Sudan's government reportedly used improvised incendiary weapons in aerial attacks, killing at least 58 people and injuring others, including children. To be sure, the existence of the arms embargo is not enough – its enforcement is key. That is already faltering after in early March, Uganda sent troops and military equipment to South Sudan without providing notification or receiving special exemption from the UNSC Sanctions Committee. This is a clear violation of the embargo. South Sudan's Mi-24 helicopters also seem to be on the move, despite the government's fleet reportedly being non-functional and grounded since the arms embargo was imposed in 2018. This suggests spare parts have been sourced in violation of the embargo. On May 4, Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, reported that two helicopter gunships had bombed its medical facility in Old Fangak the day before and fired at the town, killing seven and injuring 20 others. Deliberate attacks on a medical facility performing its humanitarian function violate international humanitarian law and would constitute a war crime. This is yet another indication of why the UNSC must renew the arms embargo and strengthen its enforcement. If properly implemented and enforced, a renewed UNSC arms embargo would not obstruct security sector reform. Instead, it would block the disorderly and destabilising accumulation of arms in South Sudan, which is spurring the current conflict and contributing to violations against civilians. If the AU is serious about silencing the guns, it should back the strict controls prohibiting arms transfers to South Sudan, and the African states in the UNSC should vote to renew the arms embargo. The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera's editorial stance.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
South Sudan crisis: What if the UN lifts its arms embargo?
Global concern is once again shifting to South Sudan, the world's youngest nation. The flare-up of a long-simmering conflict in the East African country has claimed thousands of lives. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now It has also displaced some 2.3 million people and pushed around 60,000 children into malnourishment. International efforts to end the conflict have included aUnited Nations (UN) embargo on arms transfers to the parties to the conflicts, which expires on May 31. members are set to vote on a draft resolution to extend the South Sudan sanctions regime. According to Amnesty International, the lives of civilians are at risk without an extension of the arms embargo. "We urge the [UN] Security Council to renew the embargo, enforce it and protect civilian lives," said Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty's Regional Director for East and Southern Africa. "While the UN arms embargo has not been a panacea, the human rights situation would almost certainly be worse without it," he added. Amnesty describes as an open violation of the embargo the "deployment of armed Ugandan soldiers and military equipment to South Sudan since March 11, 2025." Violations of UN sanctions The UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on South Sudan in 2018, and its sanctions regime on the country dates back to 2015. On May 30, 2024, the Council extended the sanctions for a year. In addition to the arms embargo, it also encompasses asset freezes and travel bans. At the time, the UN said it was open to reviewing the arms embargo through modification, suspension, or progressive lifting. In its estimation, arms shipments violated the UN resolution to end the conflict and further contributed to the instability in the country. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now However, a statement by the International Crisis Group says that while the sanctions "appear to have made it harder for actors to deploy heavy weapons", the country's porous borders make it difficult to enforce a small arms and light weapons ban. In a letter to the UN in early 2024, South Sudan's First Vice President, Riek Machar, accused Uganda of "grave violation" of the arms embargo following the deployment of its troops to South Sudan. Amnesty's Crisis Evidence Lab recently verified two videos featuring Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) personnel and equipment. "The first shows dozens of UPDF soldiers arriving at Juba International Airport on March 11. The second shows armored personnel carriers and military trucks," Amnesty said. Amid the reported violations, there's growing concern over whether the UN can effectively intervene and what a renewal of the arms embargo could even mean. Is UN peacekeeping working? Recently, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) for 12 months, expressing "deep concern" over thedeteriorating situation in the country. Amid these continued efforts, some citizens are questioning the impact of UN peacekeeping efforts. "The UN is here in Juba or in other parts of South Sudan. They are there, they are roaming around the streets, but they cannot take an action," Abraham Maliet Mamer, Secretary General of the South Sudan Investment Authority, told DW. "I don't believe their mandate is clear. You cannot say you are peacekeeping, what peace are you keeping? People are fighting every day and you're not doing anything about it." The UN, however, insists that it is doing all it can to stop the conflict. "This country has suffered two civil wars before its independence and two after its independence. There is no appetite for more suffering in the population. They have suffered a lot due to civil wars. So, we have to stop the civil war at whatever cost," Lieutenant General Mohan Subramanian, UNMISS Force Commander, told DW.
