FROM: U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT
Samantha Power
U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations
New York, NY
December 15, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
On September 23, 2011, only months after South Sudan gained its independence and joined the United Nations, President Salva Kiir climbed the dais at the UN to address the General Assembly for the first time. He spoke of South Sudan’s commitment to political pluralism and “to fostering world peace and prosperity for the benefit of all humankind.” A year later, in his first speech before the UN General Assembly, then-Vice President Riek Machar reiterated that promise, and asked that South Sudan’s friends around the world continue supporting the country’s political and economic goals. The world stood with South Sudan from the outset. In 2011, the UN Security Council established the UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS) to help the young nation consolidate peace and security and to assist laying the groundwork for future development in the years following its independence.
Despite the international community’s support for South Sudan’s independence, the nation’s political and military leaders have unleashed a conflict that has devastated the country. One year ago today, internal political fighting turned bloody on the streets of Juba in clashes between Dinka and Nuer soldiers. That event quickly metastasized into a broader ethnic and armed conflict, unleashing a wave of targeted attacks on civilians that has produced a political, economic and humanitarian crisis of colossal proportions and that threatens regional stability. In one year of violence, it’s estimated that tens of thousands of people have been killed. There are 1.9 million internally displaced people and nearly 500,000 refugees in neighboring countries. Civilians have been murdered as they sought shelter in churches and mosques, and have been forcibly recruited to fight in militias. The risk of a man-made famine once again hangs over the country.
The United States again condemns in the strongest possible terms the ongoing violence in South Sudan, and we remain deeply concerned by the government and opposition’s persistent failure to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the crisis. When the UN Security Council visited Juba in August of this year, I made very clear during our conversations with both leaders that the United States and the United Nations expected both sides to uphold their previous agreements to end hostilities and negotiate earnestly both peace and a transitional government framework.
The United States urges South Sudan’s leaders to engage more urgently and more seriously in the Inter-governmental Authority on Development-led peace talks in Addis Ababa. We stand ready to work with South Sudan’s leaders if they take concrete steps toward peace. We are equally prepared to work with the international community, including the UN Security Council, to hold political spoilers and human rights abusers accountable.
The United States reaffirms its support for UNMISS and urges those countries that have committed troops and equipment to the mission to deploy them quickly. UNMISS must operate at full strength, and it must protect civilians. With over 102,000 people seeking refuge at UNMISS facilities, we remind all parties that UN sites, facilities, personnel and all sheltering civilians must be protected, and that attacks on those facilities, the forces guarding them, and the civilians sheltering inside could constitute war crimes. We further stress that UN and other humanitarian agencies must have safe, unfettered access to those in need of assistance throughout the country.
The commitment of the United Sates to the people of South Sudan is unwavering. But all the good will and humanitarian assistance in the world are no substitute for the difficult compromises necessary to end man-made violence and begin the process of accountability and reconciliation needed to build a sustainable future. Today, the country is at a crossroads. Its political and military leaders must demonstrate courage and lead the nation out of this horrific, self-inflicted, and pointless cycle of violence. If they do not take the necessary steps for peace, they will own the responsibility for war and mass atrocity – just what they fought to erase when they secured independence for South Sudan.
