Amnesty International called on the UN Security Council today to renew the arms embargo imposed on South Sudan, stressing that the lifting of this ban will endanger the lives of civilians in light of what it described as documented violations by the forces of South Sudan and Uganda.
“The prohibition of weapons is not a magic solution, but it is almost certain that the human rights situation will be much worse without it,” said the regional director of Amnesty International in East and South Africa, adding, “This is not the time of lifting the ban and allowing more weapons to flow. We urge the Security Council to renew the embargo and its application to protect the lives of civilians.”
In an official statement, the organization indicated that pictures of satellites have shown the presence of offensive helicopters of the South Sudan Army, indicating “ongoing violations of the ban.” It also confirmed the existence of “compelling evidence” that Uganda violated the ban imposed by the Security Council by deploying military forces and equipment inside the southern Sudanese territories.
Amnesty International stated that the evidence laboratory of the crisis response program in the organization is investigating two video clip showing forces and equipment of the Ugandan Popular Defense Forces. The first clip showed that dozens arrived at Juba International Airport on March 11, while the second clip documented on March 17, the transfer of tanks through carriers and military trucks carrying the Ugandan army boards in the “Nimoli” area on the southern side of the Sudanese side of the border with Uganda.
The organization emphasized that this Ugandan military presence constitutes a “explicit violation” of Security Council Resolution 2428 of 2018, which provides for the prohibition of providing, selling or transporting weapons and related materials to South Sudan, whether directly or indirectly, except by conditional exceptions and under the supervision of the Security Council sanctions committee.
Amnesty International explained that both the government of South Sudan or Uganda did not make a notice to the sanctions committee on this deployment, as required by international decisions, which makes this military intervention illegal according to international law.
Prohibition
The arms embargo imposed on South Sudan will end on May 31, while the Security Council is expected to vote in the coming days a decision to renew or amend it.
On March 11, Amnesty International described the deployment of Ugandan forces in southern Sudan as a “flagrant violation of the embargo” that comes at a sensitive timing before the upcoming vote in the Security Council on its extension.
In a related context, Amnesty International affirmed the continuation of what it described as a “repeated violation of the ban” through the use of southern Sudan forces, offensive helicopters, which may indicate the receipt of banned parts or banned military equipment.
In a tragic development linked to the military escalation, MSF announced, on May 4, that two offensive helicopters bombed a drug depot in the town of “Old Fangak”, killing 7 civilians and wounding 20 others.
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