UNSC SHOULD IMPOSE TARGETED SANCTIONS ON SOUTH SUDANESE LEADERS…NOW!

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) knows by now that South Sudanese warring parties are not going to sign any peace agreement soon unless severe sanctions are imposed on prominent figures on both sides.

On January 23, the two parties signed Cessation of Hostilities agreement. This was violated within hours of its signing and soon after the parties started to trade accusations as to who violated it. Bizarrely, it’s always the other side that violates the agreement.

Then on May 9, the two leaders signed a Ceasefire Agreement and expressed commitment to end this war, calling it ‘senseless’. This agreement too was violated. And then in June the two leaders committed themselves to form a transitional government within 60 days. The deadline, which was August 10, passed without any hope of peace agreement in sight.

This is a clear indication that the warring parties neither care about the people of South Sudan nor do they have any respect for all the Nations and organizations mediating in Addis Ababa. Dr. Riek Machar and President Kiir are clearly taking IGAD and the whole world for fools!

As long as these leaders continue to break their promises as the people of South Sudan suffer without any consequences, they’ll never sign any peace agreement.

Besides, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, sent to South Sudan United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay and Special Advisor on Genocide Prevention, Mr. Adama Dieng, in May of this year.

After coming back from South Sudan, Mr. Dieng presented before the United Nations Security Council the gruesomeness of the situation, the suffering of the people and how the world can’t afford to wait. Ms. Pillay expressed how little compassion and care both leaders showed towards the suffering of South Sudanese citizens.

And on August 12, 2014, the UNSC sent Mr. Mark Grant, the current president of the 15-member UNSC. Mr. Grant’s entourage included US ambassador to the UN, Ms. Samantha Power and Rwandan Ambassador to the UN, Mr. Eugene-Richard Gasana.

After talking to the two leaders, the delegation said that they were ‘disappointed’ by the two leaders as they showed little interest in signing the peace agreement and ending the suffering of South Sudanese people. It was very clear to the UN delegation that these two leaders are not interested in peace and their own people! It’s all about power and top jobs!

So the two leaders are not to be trusted as they’ve broken their promises time and again; they've shown to the world and the UNSC that they don’t care about the people; and they have no interest in ending the war.

It just makes me wonder what other proofs UNSC needs to impose real, affecting sanctions on the two parties.

Should half the population of South Sudan die for UNSC to impose sanctions on the leaders? Is there something of a trust left between South Sudanese leaders and UNSC?

Unless UNSC imposes severe, effective sanctions now, the people of South Sudan will continue to suffer and die. The May sanctions USA imposed on Peter Gatdet Yak and Marial Chanuoong were a mere joke. They were a clear mockery of South Sudanese people. In addition, EU Sanctions, in July, on Peter Gatdet and Santino Deng were the same: pure mockery. I believe they are pure mockery of the suffering South Sudanese civilians because they can never, ever change the dynamic of the war.

I hope the UNSC imposes effective sanctions unlike USA and EU. This is the time for UNSC to show practical care for the people of South Sudan. SANCTIONS NOW! SANCTIONS THAT ACTUALLY WORK!

RIEK MACHAR AND THE ISSUE OF SELF-DETERMINATION FOR SOUTH SUDAN

There’s a big difference between proposing something and making it actually happen. Someone who proposes a given phenomenon and another one who actually makes it happen can both be credited; however, it would be wrong to confuse the correct contribution of each one of them.

Self-determination was first proposed by South Sudanese participants of Juba conference in 1947. Anyone who pretends to be the one, who initiated it, if he or she wasn’t present during that conference, is just abusing history.

Besides, Federal System for South Sudan was first proposed by leaders ofthe Liberal Party in 1953/54 and emphasized by leaders of Southern Federal Party in 1957, a year before the first general election in 1958. In that case, anyone claiming credit now is abusing History!

Dr. Riek Machar has to be very careful or else he’d be seen as taking South Sudanese for fools. We are informed and we know who did what and when!

We have to know that neither Dr. John Garang nor Dr. Riek Machar initiated the idea of Self-determination. It was first initiated when they were either little boys or not born.

Since SPLA doctrinal core was for the total liberation of South Sudan, any talk of Self-determination between 1983 and 1991 landed one in hot water. Those who wanted independence of South Sudan, such as Akuot Atem de Mayen, Abdalla Chuol and Gai Tut, were vilified by Garang and his core supporters. These three men were seen as anti-revolutionary and were vilified in ‘revolutionary songs’ even if they took up arms before John Garang: twice! Independence of the South was their core objective; something John Garang didn’t see as the primary goal of the Southern cause.

Remember, Garang wasn’t actually against South’s independence. He just didn’t think it was the right way to go about things. So self-determination wasn’t first among Garang’s ideological fronts. However, it would become one of the alternative solutions to the Sudanese problem in his famous Vend-Diagrams.

However, it has to be remembered too that Riek’s and Lam’s rebellion brought Self-Determination back into the spotlight and the mainstream political discussion all over Sudan. The duo first proposed it to Khartoumers in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1992 and later forced it through the throats of SPLA-Torit (Mainstream) in Abuja I in 1992.

Dr. John had to instruct his delegation in Abuja to accept Self-Determination to the surprise of not only the Nasir Duo but also, Garang’s allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

While Riek can be credited as having participated in bringing back Self-Determination into the Southern mainstream politics, it wasn’t Riek Machar who made it possible. Riek’s attempts failed with the failure of Nasir programs and his subsequent return to Khartoum where his only success was shameful exit and eventual return to SPLM/A under Dr. John.