Latest news with #armsembargo
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.'
Washington Post
18 hours ago
- General
- Washington Post
Divided UN extends arms embargo on South Sudan as fears of renewed civil war grow
UNITED NATIONS — 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.
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.'
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.
Al Jazeera
5 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Why is Israel now facing pressure from some of its Western allies?
The Madrid Group has convened in Spain's capital for a fifth time, in a meeting attended by major European and Arab nations. Pressure on Israel this year has been ramped up, with Spain calling for an arms embargo on Israel and the imposition of sanctions on individuals who obstruct a two-state solution to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. The United Kingdom has paused trade talks and sanctioned a number of Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank. Canada and France have also threatened punitive measures. And the European Union – Israel's biggest trade partner – is reviewing its landmark Association Agreement covering trade and political dialogue. But after 20 months of Israel's destruction of Gaza, why is this happening now? And without changes on the ground for Palestinians, are these actions anything more than diplomatically symbolic? Presenter: Tom McRae Guests: Lynn Boylan – Member of European Parliament, and chair of the delegation of relations with Palestine Mouin Rabbani – Non-resident fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies Saul Takahashi – Former deputy head of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in occupied Palestine
