As US
Sanctions Kiir
& Machar
Proxies, Bor
Unacted On,
IGAD Not In
UNMISS?
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
May 6, updated
with
transcript --
When the
United States
announced South
Sudan
sanctions
on Marial
Chanuong and
Peter Gadet on
May 6 it
seemed
crafted as a
balanced
message, the
targets
proxies for
Salva Kiir and
Riek Machar
respectively.
A
US Senior
Administration
Official, when
asked by Inner
City Press if
thought had
been or will
be given to
sanctioning
the Kiir
government
officials who
took to the
radio waves
prior to the
deadly attack
on
the UN
compound of
UNMISS in Bor,
resisted
discussing
anyone not yet
on the list.
But it would
seem clear
that there
could be at
least one
further
intermediary
step of
sanctions
before
reaching Kiir
and his
former Vice
President.
Gadet
was previously
used by the
government for
disarmament.
Inner City
Press asked
UN envoy Hilde
Johnson about
it on March
15, 2012
and Johnson
replied that
to "us in the
UN" who did
the
disarmament,
including
Gadet, was
"less than
relevant. Now
Gadet is under
US
sanctions.
Beyond
the sanctions,
Inner City
Press asked
the US Senior
Administration
Officials
about
Secretary of
State John
Kerry's
emphasis in
Addis
Ababa on the need
for a
legitimate
force to help
make peace:
in the
US' thinking,
would this
force be part
of UNMISS?
A
second Senior
Administration
Official
replied that
conversations
are
ongoing, that
the regional
force would be
related but,
it seems,
might be
separate.
The Eastern
Congo model,
of a Force
Intervention
Brigade
parallel to
the UN mission
MONUSCO, comes
to mind. The
Senior
Administration
Official
specifically
praised the
role of
Ethiopia and
Kenya as
mediators and
did not in
this response
mention
Uganda. Watch
this site.
Footnote:
When the US
Treasury
Department put
online the
specifics,
it appeared
that Peter
Gadet, now
subject to a
travel ban, has
no passport.
US
Transcript:
MODERATOR:
Our
next question
is from..
Matthew
Russell Lee of
Inner City
Press.
Go ahead.
QUESTION:
Great.
Thanks a lot,
[Moderator]. I
wanted to ask,
there was a –
it
was said that
in Security
Council
consultations
at the UN that
senior
government
officials were
named in a
radio
broadcast
prior to the
attacks in Bor
on the UN
compound in
killing the
civilians. I
just
wonder if you
can say are
these people –
is that the
case? Do you
know the names
of people that
sort of called
for that
attack, and in
which case,
why aren’t
they on this
list?
And
I
also – this
might for
Senior
Administration
Official
Number Two.
Secretary
Kerry was
talking about
a legitimate
force to help
make
peace. And I
just wanted to
know, is the
UN – is the
U.S. thinking
of that as
part of UNMISS
mission or as
the IGAD
force? And if
so,
would it
require a
Security
Council
approval?
Thanks.
SENIOR
ADMINISTRATION
OFFICIAL ONE:
On the first,
I mean, we
typically do
not comment on
actors against
whom we are –
we have not
yet – we
have not yet
acted, a
clunky way of
saying we
don’t comment
on
those who are
not part of
our
designation.
But anyone who
is
contributing
to the
violence,
whether that’s
by directing
violence,
whether that’s
by funding it,
fueling it,
contributing
arms, can be
a subject of
designation in
the future.
And I’ll leave
it to my
State
Department
colleague to
answer the
second
question.
SENIOR
ADMINISTRATION
OFFICIAL TWO:
Yeah. On the
question about
the regional
force and on
UNMISS, we –
it is
something that
conversations
and
discussions
are ongoing
between
countries of
IGAD, with New
York,
with ourselves
and others on
how best to
create this
additional
force
presence that
we are working
very much with
UNMISS and see
this as
part of the
same effort.
But we do
think it’s
very important
that
the regional
forces are
able to join
this effort in
larger numbers
and appreciate
the efforts
of,
particularly,
the
governments of
Ethiopia and
Kenya, who are
leading the
mediation and
who are
seeking
to work with
UNMISS in this
regard.
, 
