The youngest country in the world, South Sudan, is once again attracting international attention. Thousands of people have perished as a consequence of the East African country’s long-simmering fighting exploding. Additionally, it has forced almost 60,000 children into malnutrition and uprooted about 2.3 million people.
The United Nations has imposed an embargo on weaponry deliveries to the conflict parties, which is set to expire on May 31, as part of international efforts to resolve the crisis. Constituents of the UNSC will vote on a draft solution to extend the sanctions levied on South Sudan.
Amnesty International states that civilian lives are endangered unless the arms embargo is extended.
“We urge the UNSC to extend the embargo, enforce it, and safeguard civilian lives,”
stated Tigere Chagutah, the Regional Director for East and Southern Africa at Amnesty.
“While the UN arms prohibition is not a cure-all, he stated that the human rights conditions would likely be more dire in its absence. Amnesty International indicates the “deployment the deployment of Ugandan soldiers and military equipment to South Sudan since March 11 represents a clear violation of the embargo 2025.”
Breach of United Nations sanctions
The UNSC established an arms embargo on South Sudan in 2018, with its sanctions framework originating in 2015. According to a statement from the International Crisis Group, although the sanctions “appear to have created obstacles for actors attempting to deploy heavy weapons”, the government’s permeable borders hinder the enforcement of a prohibition on small weapons and soft arms.
Early in 2024, Riek Machar, the first vice president of South Sudan, wrote to the UN charging Uganda of a serious breach of the arms embargo when Uganda sent troops to South Sudan.
Two films showing members and equipment of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) were recently confirmed by Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab. The first depicts the March 11 arrival of scores of UPDF soldiers at Juba International Airport.
“The second sound service trucks and armored personnel couriers,”
Amnesty stated.
Concerns about the UN’s ability to properly intervene and the potential consequences of a weapons embargo renewal are mounting in light of the documented violations.
The UNSC has voiced deep anxiety regarding the worsening crisis in South Sudan and raised the United Nations Mission in South Sudan’s (UNMISS) declaration for another year. Some individuals are doubting the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping activities in the midst of these ongoing efforts.
