Rights group welcomes renewal of arms embargo on South Sudan
UN Security Council (Photo credit: Unknown)
May 31, 2020 (SSNN) – The Amnesty International has welcomed the renewal of South Sudan arms embargo on South Sudan by the United Nations Security Council, an East African envoy of the watchdog said Sunday.
The AI’s Director for East and Southern Africa, Deprose Muchena, said the decision by the world body to continue the sanction regime on South Sudan was crucial for the protection of lives in the world’s youngest country.
“We welcome the renewal of the arms embargo as it is crucial to curtailing the flow of weapons that have been used to commit war crimes, human rights violations and abuses and call on the Security Council and UN members to diligently enforce it,” Deprose said.
“We also welcome the benchmarks that the Council has put in place against which it will review the arms embargo in December this year, including implementation of all provisions of the peace agreement signed by parties to the conflict in South Sudan in 2018.
“These provisions include establishment of the Hybrid Court for South Sudan, reform of the country’s security and justice sectors, and protection of human rights at all times.
“The human rights situation in South Sudan remains dire as government forces, fighters of armed opposition groups as well as armed youth continue to violate human rights on a daily basis in contravention of the country’s constitution, the 2018 revitalized peace agreement and international law.
Many civilians continue to be killed and displaced from their homes, girls as young as eight have been gang-raped and human rights defenders and journalists continue to be harassed and intimidated.”
Facebook Comments