[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 133 (Saturday, August 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4205-S4206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                              SOUTH SUDAN

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, I have spoken twice this year about the 
despair and insecurity that are a daily reality for the people of South 
Sudan, despite independence 11 years ago that held so much promise and 
hope for that country.
  On January 6 and 31, I noted that the country's independence was a 
result of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement--CPA--which took years of 
negotiations facilitated in part by the United States, Norway, and the 
United Kingdom. It provided a roadmap for political stability, economic 
development, respect for human rights, and justice. I further noted 
that since then, two former warlords, President Kiir and First Vice 
President Machar--who were never elected--have dominated the political 
landscape. It is they, throughout these formative years, who have had 
the executive power and the responsibility to turn the aspirations of 
independence into meaningful improvements in the lives of their people.
  Eleven years later, the country is in a state of political paralysis, 
and its people are coping with a widening humanitarian crisis, brought 
on by violence instigated by government security forces, severe 
flooding, skyrocketing fuel costs, and acute food shortages compounded 
by the war in Ukraine which was a major source of grain imports for 
South Sudan. Millions of people have been displaced from their homes by 
the fighting, flooding, and hunger.
  I will not take time today to recount the litany of failures of the 
Kiir-Machar government which I enumerated in January and which have 
only worsened since then. Rather, I want to call the Senate's attention 
to a Vatican mission of peace, unity, and reconciliation to South Sudan 
in early July. The visit by Cardinal Pietro Parolin came at a time when 
the country's leaders are apparently, though not surprisingly, seeking 
to evade elections and extend their stay in office illegitimately, even 
though the peace agreement mandated that elections be held this 
December.
  Kiir and Machar have now proposed extending their unpopular 
authoritarian rule for 3 years without the consent of the people of 
South Sudan. The parliamentary faction of President Kiir has passed a 
political parties bill in which they have changed political parties' 
registration requirements in order to limit those who could pose a 
serious challenge to their continued hold on power. The text of the 
bill that was negotiated and agreed to by the parties was changed by 
Kiir's parliamentary caucus and rammed through the Parliament despite 
boycott and serious objections from the other parties. All these 
actions provide sufficient evidence to suggest that President Kiir and 
Machar are determined to cling to power by any means necessary.
  It is no secret that President Kiir and his Deputy Machar have made 
the conditions for holding free and fair elections impossible, for all 
the reasons noted earlier. The country's leaders have done nothing to 
prepare for elections, preferring instead to retain power by default. 
By fomenting civil unrest and violence and threatening and arresting 
their critics, they have transformed the peace agreement into a 
meaningless document. Rather than peace and prosperity, it has brought 
dictatorship, corruption, violence, and misery.
  As I said on January 31:

       The sad reality is that while the South Sudanese people won 
     their independence from Sudan, they remain captives of the 
     same ruthless and corrupt warlords who created so much ethnic 
     conflict, bloodshed, and misery during the civil war and who 
     have not been held accountable.
       They simply reinvented themselves as political leaders, 
     with a stamp of legitimacy from the international community, 
     while continuing to act like the warlords they are and always 
     were.
       They have shown no interest in implementing the R-ARCSS or 
     any other peace agreement.
       They have shown no interest in the welfare of their people.
       They have shown no interest in anything except holding onto 
     power, avoiding justice, and enriching themselves.

  Real peace requires justice, and it requires respect for fundamental 
rights regardless of ethnicity, race, or religion. It requires free and 
fair elections and equitable economic development. Cardinal Pietro 
Parolin conveyed a clear message to President Kiir and Vice President 
Machar. Their churches played an indispensable role in the 
international effort that culminated in the 2005 comprehensive peace 
agreement, and they, too, have a stake in its success. Above all, 
President Kiir and Vice President Machar should know that the world is 
watching.
  The ethnic and political violence, displacements, and destruction of 
villages and food stocks perpetrated against South Sudanese civilians 
in different parts of the country, including by forces loyal to them, 
must stop.
  The arbitrary arrests, sexual assaults and rape, forced 
disappearance, and killings of religious, civil society, and political 
leaders must stop and justice done for the victims.
  Those currently detained arbitrarily must be released, including Kuel 
Aguer Kuel, the former governor of Northern Bahr El-Ghazal, and Pastor 
Abraham Chol Maketh.
  The daily corruption in South Sudan, including illegal loans and 
growing debt burden that has impoverished the current and future 
generations, must end, and South Sudan must begin to feed and care for 
its own people from its existing resources, which are sufficient if 
used prudently.
  President Kiir and Riek Machar are responsible for the chronic 
hunger, insecurity, economic, and political crises in the country, and 
they have the power to bring peace and stability to South Sudan, which 
is a matter of urgent priority.
  But the country is certain to disintegrate further if Kiir and Machar 
continue to hold it hostage to their individual interests at the 
expense of the lives and livelihoods of the South Sudanese people. They 
must prepare to step down and allow the country to recover and rebuild 
from the ruins of their policies.
  I commend South Sudanese civil society and pro-democracy movements, 
such as the People's Coalition for Civic Action--PCCA--for their 
efforts in creating awareness about the plight of the people of South 
Sudan and for their nonviolent campaign for freedom and democracy. They 
have our support.
  Finally, I want to again urge the Biden administration to listen to 
the people of South Sudan. I commend recent steps by the State 
Department to recognize the fallacy of continuing to support a failed 
peace agreement that South Sudan's own leaders do not support, and I 
urge the European Union and Intergovernmental Authority for 
Development--IGAD--countries to take similar action. There is no point 
in admonishing two failed leaders to

[[Page S4206]]

implement a peace agreement they have no intention of implementing. 
That is not a policy. It is a dead end.
  Instead, the administration should join with other key governments 
and stakeholders in exploring the possibility of recreating a new 
political forum for South Sudan to address the challenge of the looming 
end of the transitional government and the reality of the 
impracticality of conducting democratic elections in the current 
environment. Given the failure of the leaders of the current 
transitional government, it is unacceptable to extend its mandate. It 
should be brought to an end. I also urge the IGAD governments, 
particularly President Museveni of Uganda and President Uhuru Kenya of 
Kenya, and the other regional leaders, to face the fact that the 
Revitalized Agreement on the Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan--R-
ARCSS--they helped mediate has been sabotaged by South Sudan's leaders. 
The time has come to do what is needed to help the South Sudanese 
people get back on a path to achieve their democratic aspirations and 
freedoms.
  South Sudan needs a new broad-based political dialogue that is 
inclusive of all political forces and civil society. This political 
dialogue, which many political parties and organizations have endorsed, 
should focus on peace and stability in South Sudan beyond the confines 
of power sharing, taking into account key provisions of the R-ARCSS, 
combined with the outcomes of the South Sudan national dialogue. Such a 
broad-based political dialogue should aim at reaffirming a shared 
vision for South Sudan and building consensus on political and 
constitutional matters, ending violence, saving lives, uniting the 
nation, and preparing for elections.
  The dialogue process should culminate in the establishment of an 
interim administration led by persons of consensus, technocrats, and 
individuals not politically aligned with the warring parties and not 
entangled in corruption and political violence. Such an administration 
should have a limited mandate to further political dialogue, rebuild 
public trust in government, strengthen the unified forces, deliver the 
constitution, return the IDPs and refugees, conduct a census, and 
culminate in free and fair elections.
  The Biden administration should articulate a new policy that 
reinvigorates U.S. engagement and supports peace, stability, and 
democracy in South Sudan. No one should be under any illusion that this 
can achieved quickly or easily. But without a competent or credible 
government to engage with, we must shift our focus to providing strong 
support to pro-democracy, nonviolent organizations to create the 
grassroots pressure necessary for a genuine political dialogue to take 
place and build the foundation for a better future.

                          ____________________