The United States (US) State Department on Friday said the government has decided to pull out of peace process monitoring systems in South Sudan due to the country’s failure to meet reform milestones, reported The VOA.
There has been political instability in South Sudan even after rival leaders President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar agreed to form a unity government, following deadly clashes that left nearly 400,000 people dead between 2013 and 2018.
The transition period is scheduled to end in February 2023, but some of the key provisions of the deal have not yet been met, including drafting a permanent constitution.
On Friday, the US State Department cited the lack of sustained progress as the reason for withdrawing from two peacekeeping organizations monitoring South Sudan’s path to implement the transition: the Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (RJMEC) and the Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangements Monitoring and Verification Mechanism (CTSAMVM).
In a statement, State Department spokesman Ned Price said South Sudan’s leaders failed to fully avail the support that the monitoring mechanisms provide and have demonstrated a lack of political willingness to implement critical reforms.
The US called out South Sudanese leaders’ failure to establish a unified, professional military to protect civil society members and journalists and to enact necessary financial reforms.
However, the statement said that Washington will continue to provide about $1 billion in humanitarian and development aid and in support to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), among other financial backing.
The UNMISS was renewed for another year in March. The UN has repeatedly criticized South Sudan’s leadership for its role in stoking violence, cracking down on political freedoms and plundering public money. It has also accused the South Sudanese government of rights violations amounting to war crimes over deadly attacks in the southwest last year.
