Europe imposes sanctions on S. Sudan leaders

BRUSSELS, Friday

South Sudanese rebel militia chief Peter Gadet and government infantry commander Santino Deng were Friday hit by an EU travel ban and asset freeze for atrocities and obstructing the peace.

Gadet, who has also been sanctioned by the US, is accused of leading an attack on the town of Bentiu in May that broke a ceasefire and left 200 civilians dead.

Deng led the offensive to retake Bentiu from rebel forces in a battle that aid groups have described as particularly ruthless.

The European Union sanctions follow six months of fighting between troops loyal to President Salva Kiir and those backing his rival and former deputy Riek Machar.

Arms embargo
More than 1.5 million people have been displaced and at least 10,000 people killed in the world’s newest country amid what the EU said were “appalling human rights violations and crimes against humanity”.

EU diplomats announced the sanctions earlier but had refused to divulge the identities of the two military leaders before they took effect today.
An existing arms embargo against South Sudan will remain in place.

The EU warned further sanctions were on the table if progress stalled in the coming weeks. The EU said it was “unacceptable” that a ceasefire agreement signed January 23 and renewed May 9 continued to be breached

“Millions more face the risk of famine,” the Council of the European Union said about the crisis in South Sudan. “Appalling human rights violations and crimes against humanity have taken place.”Both sides had failed to make any progress in regionally mediated peace talks, it said.

In May, the US announced sanctions against Gadetand Marial Chanuong, commander of the government’s Presidential Guard.

The two men are “responsible for perpetrating unthinkable violence against civilians,” Secretary of State John Kerry said.

The Obama administration’s action, which bars US companies from doing business with Maj Gen Chanuong and Gen Gadet, serves to heighten pressure on Kenya and other East African countries to impose similar sanctions.

The Obama administration’s action served to heighten pressure on Kenya and other East African countries to impose similar sanctions.

Some South Sudanese responsible for fomenting violence are known to own property in Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia, a US official noted last week.

And even if Kenya does not impose sanctions, financial transactions conducted in another African country by the targeted South Sudanese might involve a US institution and could thus be blocked, a US official noted then. America also warned that sanctions against other prominent figures in South Sudan may be forthcoming.(BBC and AFP)