Impunity Endemic In S. Sudan Ahead of Planned Elections: UN Body

FILE - Military trainees parade during the visit of the defense minister to a military training center in Owiny Ki-Bul, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan on June 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Maura Ajak, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
FILE - Military trainees parade during the visit of the defense minister to a military training center in Owiny Ki-Bul, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan on June 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Maura Ajak, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
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Impunity Endemic In S. Sudan Ahead of Planned Elections: UN Body

FILE - Military trainees parade during the visit of the defense minister to a military training center in Owiny Ki-Bul, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan on June 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Maura Ajak, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
FILE - Military trainees parade during the visit of the defense minister to a military training center in Owiny Ki-Bul, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan on June 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Maura Ajak, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Armed conflict, violence and entrenched impunity persist in South Sudan as it prepares to hold its first elections, the UN commission investigating human rights in the country said Friday.

The world's newest nation has struggled to find its footing since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, battling violence, endemic poverty and natural disasters.

"As South Sudan prepares to end its fragile political transition and to hold its first elections in December 2024, armed conflict and gross human rights violations persist," the commission said in its annual report to the UN Human Rights Council.

"Millions of people have been displaced, deprived, traumatised, and continue to live in fear," said the report covering events in 2023, AFP reported.

As South Sudan's transition neared completion, the risk of further mass violence and accompanying gross human rights violations remained ever-present.

"Patterns of violence, violations and entrenched impunity continue to blight the lives of an extremely vulnerable population. The already-dire humanitarian situation will deteriorate further," the report concluded.

The commission, established by the Rights Council in 2016, is charged with gathering evidence on alleged gross rights violations and related crimes, with a view to ending impunity.

One of the poorest countries on the planet despite large oil reserves, South Sudan has spent almost half of its life as a nation at war, and has also endured persistent natural disasters, hunger, economic meltdown and communal conflict.

The commission saw a risk of further gross violations if the factors behind the conflict were not addressed.

Unchecked mass violence and ongoing repression threaten the prospects of durable peace, and must be urgently addressed, the report said.

"Our investigations again found an absolutely unacceptable situation in South Sudan, whereby families and communities are devastated by human rights violations and abuses by armed forces, militias and state institutions acting with impunity," said commission chair Yasmin Sooka.

"South Sudan's immediate and long-term future hinges on political leaders finally making good on their commitments to bring peace, and reverse cyclical human rights violations."

The report said the country's first elections face severe political and logistical challenges.

It warned that while the vote could be moment of great opportunity, it could also bring danger, as electoral grievances may trigger new violence, or compound existing conflicts.

South Sudan's Justice Minister Ruben Madol Arol told the council the report was "deplorable".

It contains "unverified and unrealistic alleged human rights violations which include discrimination against women, inequality, sexual slavery and displacement of millions", he said.

"This description of events does not match the current improvement of the security situation in the country."



US and Allies Clash with Tehran and Moscow Over Iran Nuclear Program at UN Security Council 

People visit the United Nations Headquarters in New York, US, December 20, 2023. (Reuters)
People visit the United Nations Headquarters in New York, US, December 20, 2023. (Reuters)
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US and Allies Clash with Tehran and Moscow Over Iran Nuclear Program at UN Security Council 

People visit the United Nations Headquarters in New York, US, December 20, 2023. (Reuters)
People visit the United Nations Headquarters in New York, US, December 20, 2023. (Reuters)

The United States and its key European allies clashed with Iran and Russia over Tehran’s expanding nuclear program, with the US vowing “to use all means necessary to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran” in a UN Security Council meeting on Monday.

The US, France, Britain and Germany accused Iran of escalating its nuclear activities far beyond limits it agreed to in a 2015 deal aimed at preventing Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, and of failing to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Iran and Russia accused the US and its allies of continuing to apply economic sanctions that were supposed to be lifted under the deal, and insisted that Tehran’s nuclear program remains under constant oversight by the IAEA.

The clashes came at a semi-annual meeting on implementation the nuclear deal between Iran and six major countries — the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Under the accord, Tehran agreed to limit enrichment of uranium to levels necessary for the peaceful use of nuclear power in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Then-President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal in 2018. Trump said he would negotiate a stronger deal, but that didn’t happen.

The council meeting followed an IAEA report in late May that Iran has more than 142 kilograms (313 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity, a technical step away from weapons-grade level of 90%. The IAEA said this was an increase of over 20 kilograms (45 pounds) from February.

The IAEA also reported on June 13 that its inspectors verified that Iran has started up new cascades of advanced centrifuges more quickly enrich uranium and planned to install more.

US deputy ambassador Robert Wood told the council that the IAEA reports “show that Iran is determined to expand its nuclear program in ways that have no credible civilian purpose.”

Wood said the US is prepared to use all means to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, but said it remains "fully committed to resolving international concerns surrounding Iran’s nuclear program through diplomacy.”

The three Western countries that remain in the JCPOA — France, Germany and the United Kingdom — issued a joint statement after the council meeting also leaving the door open for diplomatic efforts “that ensure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon.”

They said Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium is now 30 times the JCPOA limit, and stressed that Iran committed not to install or operate any centrifuges for enrichment under the JCPOA.

Their joint statement also noted that “Iranian officials have issued statements about its capacity to assemble a nuclear weapon.”

Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani blamed “the unilateral and unlawful US withdrawal from the JCPOA” and the failure of the three European parties to the deal “to honor their commitments,” saying it is “crystal clear” they are responsible for the current non-functioning of the agreement.

In the face of US and European sanctions, he said, Iran has the right to halt its commitments under the JCPOA.

Iravani reiterated Iran’s rejection of nuclear weapons, and insisted its nuclear activities including enrichment are “for peaceful purposes” and are subject to “robust verification and monitoring” by the IAEA.

The Iranian ambassador strongly endorsed the JCPOA, calling it a hard-won diplomatic achievement “that effectively averted an undue crisis.”

“It remains the best option, has no alternative, and its revival is indeed in the interest of all of its participants,” he said. “Our remedial measures are reversible if all sanctions are lifted fully and verifiably."

But France, Germany and the UK said some of Iran’s nuclear advances are irreversible.

Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said US promises “to abandon the policy of maximum pressure on Tehran and to return to the nuclear deal remained empty words.”

He accused some other JCPOA parties, which he didn’t name, of “doing everything possible to continuously rock the boat, jettisoning opportunities for the implementation of the nuclear deal.”

Nebenzia urged the European parties to the agreement and the United States to return to the negotiating table in Vienna and “demonstrate their commitment to the objective of restoration of the nuclear deal.”

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, the coordinator of the JCPOA, said the compromise text he put forward two years ago for the US to return to the JCPOA and for Iran to resume full implementation of the agreement remains on the table.