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5 November 2014
More than 50 South Sudanese and international human rights and humanitarian organisations, including HART, have called on members of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) to immediately impose an arms embargo on South Sudan. The group is also pressing IGAD to issue a communiqué requesting that the UN Security Council adopt a resolution imposing a comprehensive international arms embargo.
Since the conflict in South Sudan broke out in December 2013, tens of thousands of people, many of them civilians, have been killed and 1.8 million forced to flee their homes.
The petition, released ahead of a meeting of regional leaders in Ethiopia on the 6th November, states that “Parties to the conflict have used small arms and light weapons, and a range of other conventional arms and military equipment, to facilitate and commit war crimes and crimes against humanity. These include targeting individuals, including women and children, based on their ethnicity, and killing civilians seeking refuge in hospitals and places of worship.
Any additional weapons imported into South Sudan are likely to be used to commit further atrocities.”
Download the petition and the press release below.