EU maintains pressure on South Sudan through sanctions

The EU Council has extended its arms embargo against South Sudan and added two individuals to its sanctions list (10 August).

The sanctions reflect the requirements under UN Security Council resolution 2428 (2018). The EU has had an arms embargo in place against South Sudan since 2011, and the two officials concerned have already been sanctioned by the EU autonomously since February 2018 for involvement in serious human rights violations. The UN sanctions have been adopted ‘in view of the ever-deteriorating humanitarian and security situation in South Sudan and considering the lack of commitment by some actors to the ongoing peace process.’

South Sudan has experienced a bloody civil war since 2013, characterised by ongoing violence by both government and armed opposition. Despite a peace agreement brokered in December 2017, millions of people have been displaced and an estimated 300,000 killed.

The EU and UN have stepped up their efforts to find a resolution to the violence in South Sudan as the agreement for the transitional government of national unity (set out in the Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in South Sudan (‘ARCSS’)) expires in 2018.

The EU has sanctioned nine individuals under its South Sudan sanctions regime, of which eight are listed by the UN.