The UNMISS news release also said that the Council delegation will hold meetings with President Kiir and other Transitional Government members, with the aim of reinforcing the various messages contained in a number of Council resolutions on South Sudan.
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U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power speaks to the media in the capital Juba, South Sudan, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2016.
The meeting began late afternoon in the presidential palace in the capital Juba, where clashes between President Salva Kiir’s guards and troops loyal to his former deputy Riek Machar erupted on July 8, shattering a fragile truce that has been breached several times.
“We’ve met with women who described a huge surge in sexual violence against women who leave the camp in order to try to get firewood”, Power said after Security Council members visited the camp where tens of thousands shelter.
South Sudan’s Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Elia Lomoro said that the government is also committed to ensuring the freedom of movement of United Nations forces and supporting troops in their role of protecting civilians.
Machar has since fled the country, raising the spectre of another war.
Meanwhile, SPLM-IO spokesperson Manawa Peter Gatkuoth has welcomed the visit of the delegation of the UN Security Council and the consent of the government to the deployment of regional troops in South Sudan.
The UN mission in South Sudan now has over 13,000 troops but has faced criticism for failing to protect civilians, including dozens of women and girls who were raped near a UN base in Juba after a flareup of violence in the capital in early July.
In the resolution, the council pledged to discuss imposing a possible arms embargo on South Sudan if U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reports back in mid-September that the government was not cooperating on the force and was obstructing the work of peacekeepers on the ground.
However, it’s uncertain the additional force will be able to protect the local populations or bring stability to the war-torn country.
The statement also said that Juba has agreed to implement establishment of a hybrid court to investigate atrocities committed during more than two years of conflict. “Now we have to turn it into steps to improve life for people in great need”.
“They are troubled by the ongoing widespread violence and the dire impact on the humanitarian level”, she said.
Kiir also said his rival, Machar, who fled the country after the July fighting and is now in neighboring Sudan, can’t return to the country until the next election cycle, the United Nations official and diplomat said.
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The visit comes amid tensions between South Sudan and the worldwide community.
