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The UN's protection of the alleged perpetrator Machar, added to the UN peacekeepers' failure to adequately protect civilians when they had the chance, adds up to a botched UN mission in South Sudan

The United Nations’ Botched Mission in South Sudan



South Sudan, the youngest member state of the United Nations, began its life as an independent country with expressions of hope for a bright future. At the independence ceremony of South Sudan, held in its capital Juba on July 9, 2011, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon proclaimed that, after years of violence, “we open a new chapter: a day when the people of South Sudan claim the freedom and dignity that are their birthright… South Sudan could grow into a prosperous, productive nation capable of meeting the needs of its people.” The Secretary General heralded that “a new United Nations mission begins its work. Our mandate: to help South Sudan establish effective institutions of governance and deliver on the high hopes of its people.”
Five years later, South Sudan is torn by violence, unspeakable atrocities committed against civilians, and a dire humanitarian crisis affecting millions of people. A civil war broke out in December 2013 between forces loyal to South Sudanese President Salva Kiir and forces loyal to deposed Vice President Riek Machar, who are from different ethnic groups. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) has failed to fulfill the most important purpose of any UN peacekeeping mission today – to protect civilians caught in the crossfire from harm. It has even failed to adequately protect civilians seeking refuge in camps set up by UNMISS from armed attacks. Recently, UN peacekeepers have been charged with ignoring desperate calls for help, as government soldiers "shot dead a local journalist while forcing the foreigners to watch, raped several foreign women, singled out Americans, beat and robbed people and carried out mock executions," according to an Associated Press report based on witness accounts. "The accounts highlight, in raw detail, the failure of the UN peacekeeping force to uphold its core mandate of protecting civilians, notably those just a few minutes’ drive away," the Associated Press reported. This was not the first time that UN peacekeepers stationed in South Sudan to protect civilians abandoned them. The Associated Press had previously reported another instance last month when "UN peacekeepers in Juba did not stop the rapes of local women by soldiers outside the UN’s main camp." The UN said that it is investigating the latest incidence of dereliction of duty by its peacekeepers, even as the Security Council passed a resolution extending the UNMISS mandate to June 30, 2017 and authorizing the deployment of a 4,000-strong regional protection force in South Sudan under UNMISS's command.

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Questions remain whether the government of South Sudan, under Kiir's leadership, will consent to the extension of the UNMISS mandate and composition of the additional regional force. The early signs are not encouraging in that regard. The UN representative of South Sudan declared, “The adoption of this resolution goes against the basic principle of United Nations peacekeeping operations, which is the consent of the main parties to the conflict,” adding that it also went against the principles of respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of States enshrined in the United Nations Charter. Now the United Nations has complicated matters further by turning over South Sudan’s deposed Vice President Riek Machar, whom had escaped to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following an apparent failed assassination attempt against him, to DRC authorities. United Nations spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters in New York on Thursday that the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo —known as MONUSCO—had assisted with Machar’s evacuation and transfer to the DRC's government on “humanitarian” grounds, noting that the transfer was done "with his consent." This latest development followed a month of renewed fighting in the civil war. Despite a brokered peace agreement between the two sides, under which Machar had returned to the South Sudanese capital to reprise his position as vice president, fighting resumed in July. Machar left the capital and, after he refused to return, Kiir appointed a new vice president from the main opposition party in South Sudan, known as the Sudan People’s Liberation Army in Opposition. There is understandable concern over Machar's likely fate if he were to be returned to the South Sudanese capital from which he had fled. However, it remains a mystery why the UN simply turned Machar over to DRC authorities even though he evidently had not requested asylum. Machar is said to be planning to travel on to Ethiopia, whose government is reportedly friendly to his cause.

Both Kiir and Machar have plenty of innocent civilian blood on their hands. Tens of thousands of people have died and over two million have been forced from their homes during the civil war between Kiir's and Machar's forces. War crimes, including atrocities committed against civilians, have been committed by both sides, including rapes of women and girls and recruitment of child soldiers. Last month, after renewed violence erupted, Ban Ki-moon denounced Kiir and Machar for failing their people and indicated that both may be responsible for war crimes. “What kind of leadership is it that resorts to deadly weapons and identity politics, time and again? Failed leadership," the Secretary General said. "Let me underscore, again, to all those leading and perpetrating these hostilities that acts of violence perpetrated against civilians and United Nations and humanitarian personnel, assets and premises may constitute a war crime.” Adama Dieng, United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide on the situation in South Sudan, issued a statement last month stressing the urgent need to end impunity in South Sudan and bring to justice all those responsible for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. "It would be a mistake to think that peace, reconciliation and national healing can be achieved in South Sudan without any accountability for the crimes committed,” he commented. “Amnesty is not an option. Those who oppose accountability could be seen as abetting the atrocities committed in South Sudan by protecting the perpetrators.” By allowing Riek Machar to slip through its fingers without any accountability for the violations of international human rights and humanitarian law he is alleged to have committed, the United Nations itself may be complicit in enabling impunity. The UN's protection of the alleged perpetrator Machar, added to the UN peacekeepers' failure to adequately protect civilians when they had the chance, adds up to a botched UN mission in South Sudan.


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Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist -- Bio and Archives

Joseph A. Klein is the author of Global Deception: The UN’s Stealth Assault on America’s Freedom.


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