South Sudan officials deliberately starved millions: UN

ANKARA

UN human rights experts on Thursday accused South Sudan of deliberately starving millions across the country.

In a report, the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan said national revenues had been diverted by the country's politicians and that "corruption and political competition" have fueled human rights abuses and were "major drivers of ethnic conflict."

“Today in South Sudan, civilians are deliberately starved, systematically surveilled and silenced, arbitrarily arrested and detained and denied meaningful access to justice,” commission member Andrew Clapham said at a press conference.

“Redress for these violations and related crimes are a precondition for sustainable peace and security and will remain elusive unless all the parties to the conflict, with the support of the international community, prioritize the needs of civilians,” he said.

Commission Chair Yasmin Sooka noted that “officials in the government of South Sudan are implicated in the pillaging of public funds as well as money laundering, bribery and tax evasion.”

"High-ranking officials have used their official positions to influence decisions on the allocation of state resources and official procurement, diverting public funds for personal gain and advantage.”

The commission welcomed President Salva Kiir's recent decision to return the country to a system of 10 states rather than the current 32, raising hopes for a compromise to end internal clashes.

The number and boundaries of regional states have been a major sticking point in the long drawn-out disagreement between South Sudan’s government and opposition forces on forming a transitional government of national unity slated for Feb. 22.

Beyond the fragile peace at the national level, localized and often ethnically based tensions intensified, leading to a nearly 200% rise in the number of civilian casualties last year over 2018.

Between late February and May 2019, the UN Mission in South Sudan recorded 531 deaths and 317 injuries in 152 incidents of localized violence.

Of grave concern, brutal attacks, often premised on cattle raiding, involved members of the state apparatus or the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition and drove displacement at alarming rates, including in Western Bahr el Ghazal, Unity and Jonglei states.

Another remaining challenge is the question of security arrangements, including the formation of unified forces and protection for senior opposition leaders.

Millions of dollars have been diverted from the National Revenue Authority, depleting resources that could have been used to protect, fulfil and promote the vital economic, social and cultural rights of South Sudanese civilians, the report said.

"South Sudan is at a critical juncture at which its leaders need to make firm choices to move forward the stalled political process of implementing the Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan.

"We urge all the parties to redouble their efforts to resolve the key outstanding issues," said Barney Afako, a member of the commission.

South Sudan slid into crisis when Kiir sacked opposition leader Riek Machar as vice president in December 2013 on suspicion of plotting a coup, followed by a protracted civil war that claimed tens of thousands of lives and forced 4 million people to flee their homes.

Both leaders finally struck a peace deal in 2018 which remains to be implemented.