Sept 28, 2017(Nyamilepedia) —— The Enough Project, an anti-atrocity policy group that supports peace and an end to mass atrocities in Africa’s deadliest conflict zones, has released a new report that presents a comprehensive new approach to ending the destructive and deadly war in the world’s newest nation, South Sudan.
In their report, the Enough Project, proposes a revised peacemaking architecture and peace approach registering that the August 2015 Peace Agreement has failed and must be resuscitated to end the deadly violent in South Sudan.
“The peace process should be reinvigorated, as the current Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (ARCSS), negotiated by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and signed in August 2015, is clearly not working.” Reads part of the 14-paged long report.
The anti-atrocity policy group proposes that the new Peace Process should not be led only by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development(IGAD) but with the African Union and the United Nations playing a central role.
“The architecture of peacemaking should be revised, with the African Union and United Nations taking a more direct, hands-on role in a process that includes a broad range of South Sudanese constituents.” The report continued.
“IGAD should no longer lead mediation on its own, as that approach has proven to be ineffective. The competing interests among IGAD members that cause the group to work at cross purposes are not going away. The African Union and United Nations should therefore take on much greater responsibility for peacemaking in South Sudan, and they should operate alongside IGAD as part of a peacemaking team if IGAD insists on a continuing role.” Reads part of the report.
The Enough Project proposes that the participation should not just be inclusive but must include the Opposition leader, Dr. Riek Machar Teny, a call that may not settle well with Kiir’s Juba regime.
Juba is not ready for a renegotiation or resuscitation of the peace process since the main opposition leader, Riek Machar, is out of the country; however, the Enough Project reiterates that Machar has an influence that cannot be ignored in restoring peace and stability in South Sudan.
“The peace processs hould not only include a broader range of people but also include a broader range of the issues that matter most to South Sudanese people. The peace process should also include opposition leader Riek Machar, who represents a notable constituency and should not be isolated.” The New reports, released today, reiterates.
The Policy Group recommends that the peace process should include and directly address the grievances and demands of a broad array of South Sudanese people, rather than the narrow interests of the leaders of the government and one rebel group.
They believe that more inclusive peacemaking should include other unarmed groups and the issues they promote:
“Inclusivity should not be reduced solely to inviting unarmed groups to attend negotiations. Both inclusivity of people and inclusivity of issues are important to a more effective peace process. Including unarmed groups—representatives of women’s and youth groups, civil society organizations, traditional authorities, religious leaders, and political parties —is essential.” They say.
” An emphasis on inclusivity also means that all rebel groups, including Riek Machar’s faction of the SPLM-IO, should have the opportunity to participate in a peace process.” The report continued.
The Enough Project also proposes simultaneous engagement of all political and military actors in and outside Juba.
” There should be a parallel, intensified track of international engagement in parts of South Sudan beyond the capital. To start, the international community should increase support to local peace agreements between communities.” The new report recommends.
Calls for More Sanctions on South Sudan Peace Spoilers.
The Enough Project supports the recently announced U.S sanctions and asset freeze on members of Salva Kiir government who are fueling the conflict through government media, and purchasing and stocking of deadly weapons meant for war.
“This is a critical step forward, as is the new advisory from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) alerting financial institutions to the risk of potential movement of assets of South Sudanese Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).” The Enough Project’s reports read.
“These welcome and promising developments are a positive step toward countering conflict financing in South Sudan. But much more should be done.” The report continued.
According to the Policy Group, the International partners should support these U.S. policy measures and take additional steps to build up the leverage required to change calculations made by South Sudanese political and military leaders who are responsible for violence and profit from grand corruption.
Until just recently, the international community had imposed only half-hearted sanctions on a few individual mid-level and upper-level military commanders, with little effort expended to enforce the sanctions or to go after the broader networks that are funding the war and profit from corruption.
The Policy Experts believe that the individuals sanctions are inadequate to end the war and therefore they propose that the International Community should add more financial pressures that targets the pockets of those who are benefiting from the deadly conflict.
“Such individual sanctions by themselves are inadequate in shifting the calculations of abusive leaders and countering the violent kleptocratic system as a whole.” They say.
“Peace efforts for South Sudan are unlikely to succeed, and there should be no expectation that the war will be resolved, until those who profit from state capture face serious financial and political costs.” The Enough Said
More broadly, the Enough Project calls for sanctions to be imposed not only on key leaders but also on their business associates and facilitators, and the companies they own or control.
The Policy groups calls on the International Community and Eastern African Countries to implement sectoral sanctions directed at economic sectors hijacked by elites.
“These sanctions would rely not necessarily on asset freezes of targets but on measures such as limitations on financing available from international institutions for projects in sectors such as oil and construction.” The Enough Project details.
“These sectors are critical to the future economic development of the country, but according to Sentry investigations and other reporting, these sectors are not providing benefits to the population at present because the proceeds they generate have been hijacked and the sectors have become totally corrupted.” Reads part of the report.
