“The US should immediately table a draft resolution imposing a comprehensive arms embargo on South Sudan and do all it can to ensure its passage,” the letter posted on the HRW website read.
The letter added that the arms embargo would help stop the supply of weapons to individuals and groups, aligned with either the South Sudanese government or the opposition, who have committed serious human rights violations in the country, including the systematic killing of civilians.
“Despite criticism by the international community and many threats of sanctions, neither the [South Sudanese] government nor the opposition has provided any meaningful accountability for horrific abuses,” the letter read.
Fighting in South Sudan began in late 2013, when the country’s President Salva Kiir accused former Vice President Riek Machar of plotting a government coup. The hostility led to a civil war. The conflict has forced almost 2 million people to flee their homes, while large areas across the two countries remain at risk of famine and has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises.
