S/PV.7322 Security Council

In accordance with rule 37 of the Council’s provisional rules of procedure, I invite the representative of South Sudan to participate in this meeting. The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. Members of the Council have before them document S/2014/844, which contains the text of a draft resolution submitted by Australia, France, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America. I wish to draw the attention of Council members to document S/2014/821, which contains the report of the Secretary-General on South Sudan. It is my understanding that the Council is ready to proceed to the vote on the draft resolution before it. I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 2187 (2014). I now give the floor to the representative of South Sudan.

Let me begin by congratulating you, Sir, on Australia’s assumption of the presidency of the Council for the month of November, and by assuring you of my delegation’s support and cooperation during your tenure. We welcome the Council’s renewal of the the mandate of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), and would like to express our profound appreciation to the troop- and police-contributing countries for their enormous contribution to the peacekeeping force, despite the unfavourable conditions in which they operate. Allow me also to express my gratitude to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his most recent report on South Sudan (S/2014/821), and his constructive engagement with developments in our country. The current conflict in the Republic of South Sudan can be resolved only by the people of South Sudan, albeit with the assistance of the international community. As stated by the Secretary-General, “the primary responsibility for resolving the problems of South Sudan rests squarely with its leaders. The international community can support these efforts, but it cannot deliver a solution from outside” (S/2014/821, para. 75). It is from this premise that the Government has sincerely committed itself to the peace process with the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition since the outbreak of violence in December 2013. Despite repeated ceasefire violations and retaliations, the Government remains optimistic that an amicable peace agreement is possible and indeed imperative. The frustration of the international Community with the pace of talks in Addis Ababa is understandable, but a sustainable solution to the current crisis in South Sudan cannot be achieved by the imposition of sanctions, which is now being talked about and is alluded to in the report. It is a well-known fact that sanctions hardly ever achieve their intended objective. Instead, they tend only to harden positions towards confrontation rather than cooperation. We believe that the international community can play a positive role by engaging both parties constructively to expedite the conclusion of an agreement, as was the case with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement of 2005, which brought an end to the long civil war in the Sudan. As President Kiir has noted, the slow pace in the talks is, at least in part, attributable to the frequent adjournments of the talks by the mediators of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development. In fact, the present adjournment is said to be giving the opposition rebel commanders the opportunity to sort out their differences. On the humanitarian front, the situation in the war-affected areas remains grave. The Government is thankful that a catastrophic famine appears to have been averted. This is largely due to the steadfast efforts of our international partners, non-governmental organizations and the friends of South Sudan. We are most grateful to them all. The situation of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the United Nations camps across the country remains of great concern. The current report documents incidents of violence in the UNMISS camps that are perpetrated against other IDPs, humanitarians and UNMISS personnel, caused by unruly youth under the influence of substances. It is our sincere belief that the UNMISS camps should be only temporary arrangements or a transition to durable solutions. They cannot be an alternative to addressing the root causes of internal displacement and finding durable solutions. We hope that the ongoing discussions and consultations between the Inspector General of Police and humanitarian partners, as well as with the community leaders in the protection sites, aimed at improving the security environment in selected neighbourhoods in Juba to facilitate voluntary returns of IDPs, will soon bear fruit. The reported incidents of rampant violations of human and humanitarian rights, including rape and other acts of sexual violence, allegedly committed by the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA), confront us with a dilemma. On the one hand, as I have often stated, we do not want to be in denial or to appear to condone such outrageous criminal violations. On the other hand, many of the incidents described in the report appear to be just allegations. As in most cases, allegations of such repulsive behaviour are likely to provoke defensiveness. It is therefore important that such allegations be substantiated so that the perpetrators can be apprehended and brought to justice. The Government is genuinely intolerant of these alleged practices, which are a gross violation of our own cultural values. This is evident in the fact that during the visit of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence to South Sudan in October, the President signed with her a joint communiqué on addressing conflict-related sexual violence. As explained in the report, this agreement contains a set of practical and political commitments to ending the use of sexual violence in conflict, and provides for the creation of an action plan for the SPLA and the national police. Its main objective is to ensure the proper investigation of sexual violence crimes, the establishment of accountability mechanisms, the exclusion of perpetrators of sexual violence from amnesty provisions, and the explicit addressing of sexual violence in the peace process, as well as in the monitoring and implementation of cessation of hostilities agreement. The Government has taken serious steps in addressing the issue of the recruitment of children into the army or their use for military purposes. The Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs, in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice, made constructive proposals and amendments to the SPLA Act of 2009. The amendments, which became part of the new SPLA law, set out punitive measures against SPLA officials who recruit children or use schools for military purposes, and commit other violations against children. Furthermore, the Government has been working closely with UNMISS in launching different initiatives and campaigns aimed at bringing to an end the recruitment and military use of children by 2016. The removal of capacity-building from the UNMISS mandate has impacted negatively on the vitally important area of developing the capacity of a new and weak State, especially in the area of law enforcement agencies and institutions. As indicated in the Secretary-General’s report, “[t]he lack of a meaningful judicial system continues to have an impact on due process protections” (ibid., para. 47) in South Sudan. In light of the weakness of institutions in South Sudan, which affects the Government’s capacity to provide essential services in conformity with international standards, it would be advisable for the Council to reconsider and reinstate that crucial element of the UNMISS mandate. We also join the Secretary- General in urging international partners and donors to redouble their efforts towards meeting the humanitarian funding shortfall. In conclusion, we once again reiterate our appreciation for the extension of the UNMISS mandate for another six months, and remain committed to close cooperation with the Mission.

There are no more names inscribed on the list of speakers. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.