Ban Ki-moon warns of S. Sudan genocide unless world acts

General Ban Ki-moon speaks to the media in Juba, South Sudan, in this Feb. 25 file photo. (AP)

UNITED NATIONS: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Monday that South Sudan will be heading toward genocide unless immediate action is taken to impose an arms embargo and pressure leaders of the world’s newest nation to end hate speech, incitement and violence.
The UN chief said instability in South Sudan is threatening the region and he urged the Security Council to impose an arms embargo, which would “diminish the capacity of all sides to wage war.”
“If we fail to act, South Sudan will be on a trajectory toward mass atrocities,” Ban warned.
Meanwhile, three United Nations refugee agency workers who were abducted from Sudan’s strife-torn Darfur region last month have been freed, the UN said Tuesday.
The three, Sarun Pradhan and Ramesh Karki of Nepal and Sudanese national Musa Omer Musa Mohamed, had been snatched by armed men on Nov. 27 in El Geneina, the capital of West Darfur state.
The UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi hailed the men’s release in a statement, with the agency voicing particular gratitude to the Sudanese government and its personnel “who worked to ensure this outcome.”
The UN did not provide any further details on the circumstances of the men’s release.
“At this time our immediate focus is on the health and well-being of our colleagues, as well as that of their loved ones following this ordeal,” UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told reporters.
“We are doing everything possible to ensure they are being well taken care of.”
“UNHCR staff work in some of the most difficult circumstances in the world, helping people in great need, often facing being far away from their families for lengthy periods at a time,” he said.
“Like other humanitarian workers, they should not have to endure the peril of abductions, violence and threats to their lives,” he said.
He urged “all parties, not just in Sudan but everywhere, to respect international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of all civilians, including aid workers whose work is to help refugees and others affected by conflict and persecution.”
There were high hopes that South Sudan would have peace and stability after its independence from neighboring Sudan in 2011. But the country plunged into ethnic violence in December 2013 when forces loyal to President Salva Kiir, a Dinka, started battling those loyal to Riek Machar, his former vice president who is a Nuer.
A peace deal signed in August 2015 has not stopped the fighting, which has killed tens of thousands of people and forced 3.1 million to flee their homes.
UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien told the council Monday that the humanitarian situation “has deteriorated dramatically.” This year 6.1 million people — half of South Sudan’s population — required humanitarian assistance, and the aid community expects this figure to rise by “a staggering” 20 percent to 30 percent in 2017, he said.
“More than one million children under the age of five are now estimated to be acutely malnourished,” O’Brien said.
Ban’s warning of possible “mass atrocities” echoed recent alarms voiced by other UN officials. A UN Human Rights Council investigation team said last week that South Sudan is “on the brink of an all-out ethnic civil war,” and UN special envoy on the prevention of genocide Adama Dieng said after a recent visit that there is an imminent risk of violence escalating along ethnic lines, with the potential for genocide.
“There is no greater urgency than to prevent this from happening,” O’Brien told council members. “Given the clear facts and evidence, how many more clues do you, do we all, need to move from our anxious words to real, preventative action?”