British official: South Sudan violence amounts to tribal genocide

[Elisabeth Janaina]

British official: South Sudan violence amounts to tribal genocide


Photo: UK’s International Development Secretary Priti Patel. (AFP)
Photo: UK’s International Development Secretary Priti Patel. (AFP)

South Sudan’s civil war now amounts to genocide, with abuses
perpetrated along tribal line, according to a senior British official.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel urged African leaders
to take action to end the ongoing war in which tens of thousands of
lives have been lost.

Patel, who visited Juba this week, said there is a “scorched earth
policy”, and described the situation as “absolutely abhorrent and
inhumane.”

During her visit to South Sudan, Patel met with President Salva Kiir,
whose government is accused of blocking food aid.

She further said South Sudanese villages are being reduced to ashes,
women are being raped and food is being used as a weapon of war.

Patel said this in an interview with the Associated Press in Uganda,
where she also visited a refugee camp which accommodates more than
800,000 South Sudanese refugees. “It’s tribal, it’s absolutely tribal,
so on that basis it’s genocide,” said Patel.

She urged the African Union to stand up for its fellow African
brothers and sisters. “This is about international pressure,” Patel
said.

“Where is the voice of the African Union? This is an African Union
that was created to give strength to Africa. “Where is that voice? Why
are they not standing up for the people that are being massacred over
the border who are their fellow African brothers and sisters?”

The British official stressed that regional leaders should make use of
a national dialogue plan to pressure President Kiir to stop the
cleansing and reach a peace deal.