[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 140 (Thursday, August 5, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5924-S5925]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              SOUTH SUDAN

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, after decades of civil war, famine, and 
political instability, after millions were killed and millions more 
became refugees, many hoped that independence and a peace agreement in 
South Sudan would usher in a period of stability and progress.
  Some South Sudanese refugees who had resettled in the United States 
returned to South Sudan to aid in rebuilding. Unfortunately, peace was 
fleeting and the past decade of independence has been marred by 
continued violent ethnic conflict, widespread hunger, and ongoing 
disputes between rival politicians that have cared more about their own 
ambitions than the South Sudanese people. Despite several power sharing 
agreements, promises of unity and reconciliation, and a goal to seat a 
full Parliament in 2020, the rivalry between President Salva Kiir and 
Vice President Riek Machar has stoked tensions between the Dinka and 
Nuer ethnic groups and neglected public infrastructure and basic 
services. On August 2, almost a year past the promised deadline, an 
incomplete Parliament was sworn into office, with 62 members absent due 
to disagreements over the power-sharing arrangement.
  The people of South Sudan cannot wait another decade for progress. 
They cannot wait for politicians to argue over control while their 
children go hungry, while they sink deeper into poverty, while they 
worry that the next outbreak of violent conflict might send them 
fleeing for their lives. Recently, the People's Coalition for Civil 
Action launched an effort to mobilize all South Sudanese people, 
whether living within the country or abroad, and demand political 
change. In a declaration, they said they ``have had enough of war, 
enough of corruption, enough of insecurity, enough of economic 
hardships, enough of public neglect and leadership failure.'' They 
admonished the administration of President Salva Kiir, which has 
completely failed to fulfill its most basic responsibilities to provide 
security and stability for its citizens.
  Just days later, the South Sudanese National Security Service--NSS--
arrested two of the leaders of the movement, Augustino Ting Mayai and a 
former State Governor, Kuel Aguer Kuel, for signing the declaration. 
The NSS shut down the Sudd Institute, a think tank involved in the 
creation of the People's Coalition for Civil Action, and issued arrest 
warrants for Rajab Mohandis and Abraham Awolich, two other signatories 
of the declaration, who have gone into hiding. This suppression of 
dissent is not new in South Sudan. Weak and paranoid new leaders often 
resort to projecting strength by arresting civil society leaders, 
journalists, and political rivals, and over the years, this has become 
President Kiir's trademark. This most recent transparent attempt to 
silence his own citizens for nothing more than demanding that he keep 
his promises and do his duty has not gone unnoticed by the rest of the 
world.
  President Kiir may not know that Abraham Awolich was one of the now-
famous Lost Boys, who as a child survived the civil war that killed 
most of

[[Page S5925]]

his family, endured malnutrition, and escaped attacks by rebel groups 
seeking child soldiers, only to find himself alone in a refugee camp. 
He eventually was resettled in the United States, arriving in Vermont 
in 2001, graduating from the University of Vermont, becoming an 
American citizen, and going on to get his master's degree. He was my 
constituent for many years, and I am very proud of the work he did as a 
member of the South Sudanese diasporic community who returned to his 
native country to help rebuild. President Kiir may not have known that 
Abraham was my constituent or that I will always consider him my 
constituent. So I call upon him now to immediately release Kuel Aguer 
Kuel and Augustino Ting Mayai, to cancel the arrest warrants for Rajab 
Mohandis and Abraham Awolich, and end the repression of civil society 
leaders, journalists, and dissidents.
  I want to read into the Record a quote from Abraham Awolich's 
statement at the launch of their movement. What he said is instructive 
to every citizen of every democracy around the world. He said, ``In the 
last 10 years the people of South Sudan have been dormant, they have 
not been challenging the status quo in the Republic of South Sudan and 
we cannot expect to have a democratic country without active 
citizenship.''
  President Kiir has an opportunity now, with a new Parliament seated 
and the seeds for an active and engaged citizenry sown, to show true 
leadership. He has no time to waste, or he will risk wasting his 
country's future and losing the support of the United States.

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