South Sudan decry sanctions, accused U.S. of supporting rebels

April 04, 2014(Nyamilepedia) — The government of South Sudan, through its minister of information, Micheal Makuei Lueth denounced sanctions authorized by the U.S government. The minister believes that his government is committed to Addis Ababa peace process. He strongly emphasizes that the Juba government has not committed any human rights violations and for such, should not be subjected to sanctions.

Makuei believes that the U.S. government has no ground to impose sanctions. He believes that it would be appropriate for the U.S. government to carry out their own investigation rather than depending on “individuals’” reports.

“In the first place, I don’t know what are the criteria used by him (President Obama) to decide whether X or Y has committed human rights violations or abuses,” he said.

“The investigation has not yet started, and based on that investigation, this would have been the most appropriate time for him (Obama) to decide as to who violated and what action should be taken against them,” Makuei continued.

He, however, struggled when pointed to the fact that a lot of people died in the current conflict.  Instead, he brushed off the legitimacy of the reports, referring to them as “misleading individuals’ reports”.

“Yes, a lot of people died, but did you investigate so that you decide as to who committed what, or are you basing your claims on individual reports submitted people who decided to give misleading reports,” Makuei said.

The lawyer believes that his government, leading a sovereign state, should not be subjected to serve interests of non-South Sudanese individuals, while attacking Obama.

“And if president Obama meant to say any government which is in a sovereign states should be subviewed and made to act to serve the interests of individuals out this country, I think that will be unfair”

The minister perceives the foreign intervention as the main obstacle; a big challenge to his government more than the rebels that the Uganda People Defense Force(UPDF) constantly fight off from matching to Bor and to the capital, Juba.

“As to who is whether obstructing peace in the South, to me it is this foreign intervention in the negotiation between the South Sudan government and the rebels. It is this excessive intervention, with the objective of driving peace in the direction “people” want. This is what is causing us problems, not the rebels” the minister believes.

Makuei further elaborated that the “foreign invention” comes from the U.S and they supports rebels. He accused Susan page of justifying rebellion as a “just war” during one of her lectures in the U.S.

“From the side of America, this has been clearly confirmed by Susan Page in a lecture which she gave at one of the universities in America and she confirmed the position of the people and government of America because she clearly stated that they support the rebels, and that the rebels are fighting a just war,” Makuei said.

The minister extracted this conclusion from Susan Page’s interview with the VOA last month, which acknowledged that the conflict cannot be won in the battlefields and instead the South Sudanese should commit to IGAD’s mediation process.

“We reiterate there cannot be a solution militarily to this conflict that is first and foremost political and where demands of people need to be heard,” she said.

Makuei believes that the sanctions will affect the people of South Sudan and the U.S. should leave them alone to solve their problems.

The warring factions started mediation in January but very little has been achieved. The ceasefire agreements that were signed in January have not been implemented and the talks continue to stalk, as the conflict escalate in the Upper Nile and Jonglei state.

The Juba government is seeking support from the IGAD members states to exclude the former detainees from the peace talk and also seeking military help to protect the oil fields, as SudanTribune reports.

The conflict began in December after president Salva Kiir accused his former deputy of a coup, which Machar and his colleagues have denied. More than 10 thousands people died and more than a million displace in the last three months.

Butty interview with Makuei