The US announces unilateral arms restrictions on South Sudan, calls on members of UN Security Council to support arms embargo.
The Trump administration is imposing a U.S. arms embargo on civil war-torn South Sudan while urging the United Nations and other countries to do the same.
The State Department said Friday the U.S. is restricting all sales of defense equipment and services to all parties to South Sudan’s conflict, saying it is “appalled” by the continuing violence that has defied a cease-fire.
It’s mostly symbolic since the U.S. has almost no defense trade with the East African country in the first place.
The United States is also calling on South Sudan’s neighbors to implement similar arms restrictions and urging the U.N. Security Council to support a global embargo on the country. “The message must be clear – the United States, the region, and the international community will not stand idly by as innocent South Sudanese civilians are murdered,” the statement said.
South Sudan government spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny had no immediate comment, telling The Associated Press that the Cabinet was meeting to come up with “an appropriate response.”
Late last month, U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley announced that the United States had given up on South Sudan’s leader after investing more than $11 billion in the country, and she called President Salva Kiir an “unfit partner” in the pursuit of peace.
South Sudan’s leaders aren’t just failing the country, “they are betraying them,” Haley said.
Untold tens of thousands of people have been killed in the civil war that erupted in December 2013 after tensions between supporters of Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and his deputy Riek Machar, an ethnic Nuer. Machar is now in exile. The U.N. and others have warned of ethnic violence, the recruitment of thousands of child soldiers and the widespread use of rape as a weapon of war.
The number of South Sudanese refugees could reach 3 million by the end of this year, Africa’s largest refugee crisis since Rwanda’s genocide in 1994, the U.N. said Thursday.
The United States in the last days of the Obama administration tried and failed to have the U.N. Security Council impose an arms embargo on South Sudan, to the disappointment of arms researchers and rights groups who say the country is awash in weapons.
Haley has urged the council to impose an embargo, but Russia and China remain opposed. Russia has said it would only worsen the situation and China has said the U.N.’s most powerful body should send out more “positive and enthusiastic messages.”
The world’s youngest country won independence from Sudan in 2011, and later that year the U.S. clarified that its arms embargo on Sudan didn’t apply to the new nation. Global optimism for South Sudan eventually faded as its leaders turned against each other.
Frustration with South Sudan’s government and rebels has been rising. The latest cease-fire, which went into effect Dec. 24, was violated within hours. Both sides have been accused of restricting the delivery of aid to millions across the impoverished country, including an estimated 1.5 million people near famine.
South Sudan is considered the world’s most dangerous country for aid workers, with 28 killed last year, a new high.
The U.N. secretary-general last month warned of the imposition of “consequences” over the ongoing fighting. This week the African Union joined the calls for further sanctions on those blocking the path to peace.
A new round of peace talks, brokered by a regional bloc, is set to begin Monday in neighboring Ethiopia with discussions of, among other things, a permanent cease-fire.
U.S. Arms Restrictions on South Sudan
Press Statement
Heather Nauert
Department Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 2, 2018
The Department of State today announces that it is implementing restrictions on the export of defense articles and defense services into South Sudan.
The United States is appalled by the continuing violence in South Sudan that has created one of Africa’s worst humanitarian crises. The government and armed opposition, despite signing the December 21 Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities and ongoing efforts by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to advance peace – and despite the suffering of their own people – have continued the use of military force to seek political advantage.
As a result of the conflict, 1.5 million people are now on the brink of famine, despite enormous efforts by the United States and other donors since the conflict began in 2013 to stave off famine and save lives.
Approximately 2.4 million South Sudanese have fled as refugees to neighboring countries and 1.9 million South Sudanese are internally displaced. The government and armed opposition have continued offensive military actions, and the government obstructs the UN peacekeeping mission from fulfilling its mandate. Aid workers – at least 95 since the current conflict started in December 2013 – continue to be killed trying to help the victims of the warring parties’ actions. In response to this continued violence and brutality against civilians and humanitarian workers, the United States is enacting restrictions on arms transfers with South Sudan.
Specifically, the Department of State will amend the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to update the defense trade policy toward South Sudan by application of a policy of denial, with limited exceptions, on the export of defense articles and defense services to South Sudan, including all parties involved in the conflict.
We urge all countries, including South Sudan’s neighbors, to promote peace and save innocent lives by cutting off the flow of defense articles and defense services to South Sudan and to halt support to actors who are working to destabilize the country. We encourage IGAD and the African Union to consider sanctions measures against those who undermine the peace process.
Additionally, the United States is seeking support for a UN Security Council embargo on all arms flows into South Sudan and we urge all UNSC members to join us in supporting this action. The message must be clear – the United States, the region, and the international community will not stand idly by as innocent South Sudanese civilians are murdered. We will continue to take actions against those who foment violence and obstruct the peace process.
