11 August 2016•Update: 12 August 2016
By Parach Mach
JUBA, South Sudan
The South Sudanese government has strongly criticized the U.S.' proposal at the UN Security Council to send 4,000 peacekeepers to the civil-war torn country, alleging the move is aimed at instigating a regime change.
Recent clashes in July have left around 300 dead between government forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and ex-rebels led by former Vice President Riek Machar in the capital Juba.
The United States government recently submitted a draft resolution in support of the African trade bloc, Intergovernmental Authority on Development, at the UN Security Council to send in peacekeepers to Juba.
The government claimed the resolution would give the UN the ability to govern the country.
"Previously, the international community intervened in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya with the aim to bring peace and democracy to those states, [however, it only] succeeded in removing the ruling regimes there, but failed to bring peace and security, and no one till now knows when peace will return in those countries," the government said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Minister of Information Michael Makuei also said provisions in the UN resolution allegedly give the head of the UN mission powers of the country’s president. He repeatedly claimed it was part of a plan to create a UN protectorate in South Sudan.
“The UN Secretary-General [Ban Ki Moon] has constantly advanced negative views against the government of the Republic of South Sudan and its leadership, including his recent intrusion in the 27th African Union Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, with the obvious intention of influencing the AU’s decisions in favor of his ‘regime change strategy’," the statement said.
The government also accused Ban of influencing IGAD member states to work in favor of the U.S. administration. The draft proposed by the United States on the revised renewal of the mandate of the United Nations in the country is allegedly “intended to undercut the provisions contained in the IGAD plus heads of state and government communique of August 5, 2016, and undermine IGAD as a regional authority."
The U.S. draft on the renewal of mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) “seriously undermines the sovereignty of the Republic of South Sudan as a UN member state,” the government said, adding the country’s Transitional Government of National Unity strongly objects to such measures.
However, the United States rubbished the government claim, saying it remains committed to bringing peace and development in South Sudan.
“There is no language in the Security Council resolution that substantiates the allegations that the United States or the Security Council are seeking to establish a protectorate here,” U.S. Ambassador to South Sudan Molly Phee told local online Radio Tamazuj Wednesday.
Phee emphasized the American proposal was based on the IGAD communique, and the resolution at the UN was only submitted after the IGAD communique had been finalized.
The United Nations is expected to deliberate on the draft and pass it on Friday that would eventually pave the way for deployment of peacekeepers.
The two-and-a-half years of civil war in South Sudan has so far killed tens of thousands of people and displaced 2.4 million others.
