UN Security Council renews arms embargo on South Sudan

 The United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution to renew an arms embargo against #SouthSudan as well as targeted sanctions of travel ban and asset freeze against individuals and entities by one year, until May 31, 2023. 

The resolution was adopted on Thursday with 10 votes in favour and five abstentions. 

China, Gabon, India, Kenya, and Russia abstained from the vote. 

The resolution also extends the mandate of the Panel of Experts, which assists the work of the South Sudan Sanctions Committee, till July 1, 2023. 

It further reiterates the Security Council's readiness to review arms embargo measures, through modification, suspension, or progressive lifting of these measures, in the light of progress achieved on the key benchmarks as set out in last year's resolution and encourages the South Sudan authorities to achieve further progress in this regard. 

The resolution requests the UN Secretary-General, in close consultation with the UN Mission in South Sudan and the Panel of Experts, to conduct, no later than April 15, 2023, an assessment of progress achieved on the key benchmarks. It also requests the South Sudanese authorities to report, by the same date, to the Sanctions Committee on the progress achieved in this regard. 

The South Sudan Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Akuei Bona Malwal, questions the effectiveness of the sanctions, saying they would instead hurt the peace process.