Enforcement needs to be strengthened in the new battle
As hostilities escalate across South Sudan, the UN Security Council will need to update its domestic arms embargo. Congress should also act to prevent additional weapons from adding to the violations to the parties involved and foreign troops.
Over the past few months, government forces have attacked densely populated areas, often using helicopter gunfights and air-dropped ammunition, putting civilians at serious risk. In March, Human Rights Watch discovered that the government was using improvised incitement bombs that terribly burned and killed dozens of people, including children in Upper Nile, and exacerbated the already devastating humanitarian situation. The use of burnt Cen weapons in densely populated areas can be a war crime.
Tens of thousands of people have fled current hostilities, many have fled to neighbouring countries. Humanitarian access remains difficult and aid organizations face bureaucratic restrictions and attacks, which have been proven by the recent bombing of Frontieres Hospital in Medesin.
South Sudan has been subject to the UN arms embargo since 2018. The restrictions prohibit the transfer of arms and external military support for the country’s war party.
The recent deployment of armed Ugandan soldiers and military equipment in South Sudan has been a brave violation of the embargo, as reported by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.
Leek Machar, the opposition leader of the South Sudan government, and other opposition members, arrest other opposition members who have no legitimate procedures.
The Security Council should call for violations of Uganda’s embargo and ensure that it is extended for an additional year to protect civilians from abusive forces. The council should also push South Sudan’s leaders to ensure that the UN peacekeeping mission, Unmiss, can move freely and safely within the country.
For years, South Sudan’s President Salva Kir has called for lifting the arms embargo and eroding the support of several states for UN sanctions. Last year, the council narrowly approved a resolution renewing the embargo until May 31, 2025.
Rather than lifting up the arms embargo, the Security Council must keep it in place and explain the offenders, as it could burn the parties to the fight and commit further atrocities.
Louis Charbonneau, UN Director
