22.9.2023
The United Nations General Assembly, UNGA
The 78th UN General Assembly
September 18th, 2023
United Nations HQs,
New York
Monday, 18th September, 2023
Dear Esteemed Members of the United Nations General Assembly,
Subject: A Statement by South Sudanese: President Kiir must be indicted
on crimes against humanity, and not to allow him be considered a peace
maker.
Under his presidency, Mr. Salva Kiir Mayaradit and his first vice president Dr. Riek
Machar Teny both are responsible for mass murder of over 400,000 and gang rape of
over 50,000 women and young girls in South Sudan
We write with a heavy heart filled with sorrow and pain. Our nascent nation South Sudan is
under siege by its oppressive rulers. Eighteen years have passed since the glorious
Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the CPA and 12 years since its birth. It was right there at the
United Nations in New York, USA, on 14 July 2011 unanimously at 99% of the United Nations
General Assembly, you graciously endorsed and welcomed the birth of the world’s youngest
nation and conceded the Republic of South Sudan as the 193rd member of the United Nations.
As part of world moral responsibility, it was this very UNGA that entrusted this young nation
unto the liberating ruling party, the Sudan’s People’s Liberation Movement, the SPLM under its
chair Salva Kiir Mayardit who is also the president of the Republic and commander in chief of its
national army till present day. However, barley 2 years of independence, a vicious violent ethnic
war broke out over power wrangles amongst the ranks of the SPLM, and per UN reports, the
killing of 400,000 innocent civilians, gang rape of over 50,000 women, young girls and old women
including pregnant women and over 70 years olds—-the bizarreness of this brutal ugly war
doesn’t seem to end. This is despite generous goodwill from the world community, namely
TROIKA as the USA and Norway as well, regional entities as IGAD and extremely hospitable
neighbors; Uganda, Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya, yet our crooked military generals and politicians
won’t let their arms down. Our people continue to suffer daily, in every unimaginable way! East
African nations have been extremely supportive to our people, yet President Kiir’s government
fails to pay EAC membership fees.
Our population is believed to be between 11 – 12 million (there has not been any census conducted
since our birth in 2011), of which, per the United Nations, tragically, about 7.8 million are facing
imminent hunger and malnourishment from wars and climate change calamities effects, a further
3 million are internally displaced persons in South Sudan, close to one million South Sudanese
are living as refugees in Uganda and Sudan respectively (hundreds of thousands are still trapped
in Sudan’s war as very few could afford to return home when the war broke out in Sudan in April
2023), another almost half a million live in Ethiopia, over 150,000 in Kenya, and more tens of
thousands in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic and beyond. If
we do the maths, it is, heartbreaking that the world’s youngest nation’s almost entire population
are suffering. Sadly, we are statistics more than a population! In addition, gravely too, when it
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comes to the economy, it is simply one huge failure! For economic pressures increase food
insecurity. This is despite high oil prices boosting South Sudan’s GDP but the country still faces
major economic challenges caused by the civil war and endemic systemic corruption. So corrupt
is our young nation that even the kind-willed external humanitarian assistance mainly by the
United Nations continues to be frustrated by poor cooperation from President Kiir’s government
with illicit tariffs imposed in various check points. It is no wonder our people don’t even get to
timely receive humanitarian support, if any.
It is despicable, morally, and utterly corrupt to enjoy power, to blatantly loot public revenues and
our national natural resources when your citizens are majority hungry, internally displaced and
refugees. How does one go about and around the world claiming himself to be a president of
such a broken nation? Only a morally corrupt ruler as President Salva Kiir Mayardit has a
shameful audacity to!
To add salt to injury, President Kiir unilaterally extended his stay in power by renewing the last
peace agreement provisions that expired, he does this regardless he has not delivered any peace
so far and despite UN disapproval. There is no doubt whatsoever, President Kiir and his
colleagues in the government lack the political will to restore peace in our nascent nation.
President Kiir and his first vice president Dr. Riek Machar have kept us South Sudanese hostage
to their whims of “no peace, no war” since COVID19 days of 2020. They reunited and formed a
coalition government then, however, state-sponsored ethnic violence is prevalent in every corner
of South Sudan; worse than we have ever experienced in history. This only adds to people’s
hunger, diseases and homelessness. It is shameful the rulers sit comfortably with no regard to the
suffering masses and yet President Kiir is calling for some sham election in 2024 with the sole
purpose and end result to legitimize and prolong his stay in power. We are forbidden free and
fair elections for we don’t have a conducive environment for any elections. There are no basic
freedoms, no democracy, lack of free multipartism, no constitutional guarantees and a culture of
oppression and torture deeply ingrained in us for fear of Kiir’s notorious national security
services, NSS and its infamous “blue house”. To-date, we have tens of brave human rights and
peace activists either in arbitrary detention or falsely jailed, being kidnapped from neighboring
nations/refugee camps, living in hiding in constant fear or forced into exile. Surely, this is no
president to be allowed to remain in power, let alone win himself into a pre-decided election
result favoring him and his team in crime!
With the above in mind, we call upon the World’s Community gathered today at UNGA with
the following:
(1). To NOT grant President Kiir’s government any external funding be it the world bank or the
IMF or any bilateral/Troika funding—these are grants and loans his government shall loot and
utilize to oppress us more, and debts accrued that will be a burden on our future generations;
(2). To condemn and cancel Kiir’s demands for sham elections in 2024: we urge the world
community to listen to the National Dialogue, ND December 2020 Resolutions that called for free,
fair and credible elections, that both Kiir and Riek Machar must not take part in such elections.
They’re the cause of our suffering and crises, the ND said in their report. It is worth noting that
the ND had grassroots communal representation from South Sudan’s 10 states. To us, this
remains as the most unbiased representation since our nation’s birth.
(3). President Kiir’ is a real security threat to East Africa region and beyond. It is common
knowledge President Kiir’s very close association with Sudan’s US-sanctioned Mohamed
Hamdan Dagalo aka Hemedti leader of Rapid Response Forces, RSF aka Jenjaweed that
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committed the Darfur Genocide in 2003 and currently responsible for mass killings in Sudan’s
April 2023 tragic war. This makes Kiir equally a regional warlord and a real threat to regional
peace security who must stand trials against humanity, not a peace maker;
(4). The United Nations General Assembly gathered here today, must unequivocally make clear
demands which are enforceable, and must give an ultimatum to President Kiir’s government to
deliver peace NOW! We BEG you please do not watch our people dying in silence and ignored.
Our People are diminishing with immense pain and suffering, ACT NOW! We’re reminded by
and applaud the Pope’s visit in February 2023 when he bluntly demanded of Kiir/Riek: “South
Sudan need fathers, not warlords; they need steady steps towards development, not constant
collapses. Get serious about peace.” This is the very Pope who kissed their feet in the Vatican in
2019 to remind them of humility is service.
(5). The UN must call for a care-taker civilian government of transition without Kiir and Riek
Machar.
Such a civilian care taker government of transition to be charged with the following:
(i). A virtuous humanitarian assistance to help all suffering South Sudanese, and shall cooperate
with the world community and regional African bodies as the EAC, IGAD, the AU, the UN,
UNCHR, IOM etc. towards the voluntary return of our people to an “attractive home” to build
this beautiful nation into peace and stability;
(ii). To restore and empower a people’s-centered peace, national healing and reconciliation and
dialogue nationwide toward a peaceful nation in South Sudan;
(iii). To put in place rule of law and order;
(iv). To embark on a permanent constitutional framework and development in a conductive
environment;
(v). To govern with sound systems and efficacy;
(vi). To regulate all organized forces and separate between civilian and military rule as a way to
build true statehood;
(vii). To pave way for free, fair and credible elections.
The world cannot watch in silence the endless silent suffering of our People. It is time to act! We
urge you to be on the right side of history, in solidarity with the People of South Sudan who
vividly still remember the world stood with them in 2005 and in 2011, but can the world hear our
silent cries in 2023?
Thank you,
Graciously signed on behalf of millions suffering South Sudanese,
Suzanne Jambo
A veteran South Sudanese peace activist and practitioner
A civil society activist
A Nelson Mandela “Ubuntu” 2017 Laureatehttp://sudansupport.no/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/UNGA-letter.Sep-2023.pdf
A former SPLM foreign secretary
http://sudansupport.no/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/UNGA-letter.Sep-2023.pdf