The government is patiently waiting as the date draws to close when UN Security Council will be expected to decide on the status of arms embargo on South Sudan this week.
The body will meet on Thursday May 27, to vote whether or not to lift the arms embargo and targeted individuals sanctioned following their involvement in crimes.
At the centre of the issue are two opposing sides, where the government wants restrictions lifted but the diplomats and human rights entities root for the status quo.
According to the government, the embargo is hindering the implementation of chapter two of the security arrangements protocols.
“We are waiting for what they will decide on. We cannot comment on that on the media before their decision,” Ateny Wek Ateny, Presidential Press Secretary told City Review on Friday May 21.
In April, President Salva Kiir and other high-ranking government officials travelled to meet South African President Cyril Ramaphosa for bilateral discussions on issues affecting peace implementation, among them the UN arms embargo which the government blames for delaying unification of forces.
“They (joint forces) were supposed to be graduated, so, President (Kiir) assured and was assured by Cyril Ramaphosa that they should work together, that this issue of arms embargo delays the implementation process of the peace deal,” Minster of Presidential Affairs Dr Barnaba Benjamin told media after Kiir returned to the country.
On the day President Kiir travelled to Pretoria, Mr Ateny was quoted by Radio Miraya saying the visit was meant to foster good relations with the international community so that the country could implement the remaining chapters of the deal. The presidential spokesperson hinted at a plan to borrow a script from Pretoria government in graduating the forces, and implementing chapter two.
But his interview did not explicitly touch on the bid to use the bilateral talks to prevail upon the international community to help in persuading the UN to lift the restrictions.
The government has issued various theoretical reasons explaining the delayed graduations- lack of arms being just one of them.
For example, on March 16, the minister of defence and veteran affairs Angelina Teny tabled the concerns in a tell-all interview with SSBC, magnifying state’s willingness for graduation but failing to commit to a timeline.
‘‘…that is a difficult question because it also depends on the economic situation,’’ she responded when asked about the day slotted for the graduation of the soldiers.
She said the government lacked enough financial resources to pay salaries and medical cover but hinted at a possibility of using wooden guns in a pass out parade.
According to the government, sanction has been the reason for delay in forces reunification processes provided for under the chapter two of the revitalised peace agreement.
But for human rights groups and the international community, the argument that lack of arms affects graduation of the army does not hold any weight.
On May 14, Donald Booth, US Special Envoy to South Sudan, said the country did not require more arms to graduate necessary unified forces.
“South Sudan right now from our perspective does not need more weapons coming in and arming more people to create more displacement people, more economic hardships,” the US diplomat said.
Conditions for lifting embargo
Also last week, Amnesty International warned that lifting arms embargo on South Sudan could have dire consequences of human rights violations, urging the Security Council to ensure a range of human rights benchmarks before decisions were made.
According to the Amnesty International, UN Security Council should ensure that South Sudan has mechanisms in place to ensure an end to crimes under international law, reform of the National Security Service (NSS) and the establishment of a Hybrid court to ensure accountability.
“When the Security Council assesses keeping or lifting the arms embargo on South Sudan, it must first, it must, at a minimum, set the bar at halting these violations and ending impunity,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty Intonation’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes.
“If South Sudanese are serious about an end to violations and sustain security, they must establish Hybrid Court for South Sudan and other transitional justice machoism,” Amnesty said in statement last week.
Implication of arms embargo
The arms embargo prohibits South Sudan from buying and selling or importing weaponry including ammunitions, arms’ spare parts or supplying the same to a third party.
On Thursday, the Revitalised Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) decried the grim situation of forces at various training centres across the country, urging partners to ensure their immediate reunification.
“No graduation and redeployment for phase one of the necessary Unified Forces has taken place, Cantonment sites and training cent=res continue to be abandoned due to a chronic lack of food, medicines, shelter facilities and hygiene items for women,”
“The conditions in both cantonment sites and training centres continue to deteriorate and can only get worse with the onset of the rainy season,” said Maj. Gen. Charles Tai Gituai, Chairperson of RJMEC.