Rebel leader turns down amnesty
Rebel leader Thomas Cirillo who broke away from the South Sudanese military to form his own opposition front National Salvation Front (NAS) has turned down an offer of amnesty from Salva kiir. He said that offering people amnesty will not end the conflict in South Sudan.
Another aid worker killed
The International Committee of the Red Cross has confirmed that one of its workers called Lukudu Kennedy Emmanuel was killed while on duty. Lukudu died when the truck convoy he was driving in was attacked while returning from Equatoria. In a statement ICRC was dismayed by the attack especially after all the warring parties were duly informed of the Red Cross’s activities in the area. The death of Lukukdu was brought the number of aid workers killed 16. The International Committee of the Red Cross has suspended activities in the Equatoria area for now.
Calls for the release of Riek Macher
The Centre for Peace and Justice (CPJ) has appealed to IGAD to release rebel leader Riek Macher from South Africa so that he can participate in the upcoming IGAD High Revitalization Forum. The coordinator of CPJ Tito Anthony said that without Riek Macher at the forum, will not achieve anything. He further said that the IGAD countries should work towards the secure participation of all the other armed and unarmed opposition groups so that South Sudan can achieve peace.
USA imposes sanctions on three
On 6th September 2017, the United States imposed sanctions, travel bans and asset freeze on three South Sudanese officials, the deputy defense chief Malek Reuben, the information minister Michael Makuei and Paul Malong the former military chief of staff. The sanctions were imposed on these three for their alleged roles in destabilizing the AU and enriching themselves through corruption. The government quickly came out to oppose this move and they summoned the US embassy representative protest against the sanctions.
The Foreign affairs spokesperson Mawien Makol said that there are other ways to revitalize the peace agreement that don’t necessitate sanctions. He mentioned that one of these ways is IGAD and the national dialogue. He expressed the government’s displeasure with the sanctions.
USA can impose arms embargo
Two days after the sanctions were imposed on some officials, the UN Security council and the African Union Peace and Security Council met in Addis Ababa and the American diplomat said the issue of imposing an arms embargo on South Sudan. He said that the National dialogue proposed by Salva Kiir is not a substitute to peace agreement that was signed in August 2015 and that the agreement should be upheld before the country can have elections. The US representative said that if this is not upheld than they will have to impose further targeted sanctions and an arms embargo on South Sudan to get the parties to behave appropriately.
UN approves return of displaced people
David Shearer the head of the UN Mission in South Sudan during the week said that the UN has been working with the WAU state authorities to allow the return of over 40,000 internally displaced people that were settled in the UN protection of civilian sites. Shearer said that the UN will work closely with the state authorities to ensure that the returnees have the favorable conditions as they return. He also said that the relationship between the UNMISS and the South Sudan government has become better in the past weeks and they two will work closely together to ensure that protection forces are deployed in the affected areas.
