US officials who watch South Sudan are sounding an alarm that the country is increasingly at war with itself. South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir recently sacked his entire cabinet, including his main political rival. And South Sudanese soldiers last month attacked their own citizens in a rural area called Jonglei state where some 300 people died in ethnically-motivated fighting. This week authorities arrested an official based in Jonglei, Gen. James Otong, for human right abuses. Anchor Marco Werman talks with Gayle Smith, President Obama’s point person on South Sudan and a senior director at the National Security Council. Read the Transcript The text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to [email protected]. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio. Marco Werman: Just two years ago people in South Sudan were celebrating. After a decade-long bitter civil war, they’d finally broken away from the Khartoum government to the North, and created a new nation, but now many of those who keep a close eye on South Sudan are sounding an alarm. They see signs that the young country is at war with itself. Gayle Smith is President Obama’s point person on South Sudan. Gayle Smith: In a part of South Sudan called Jonglei, which is about the size of Maryland, it’s a pretty big stretch of territory, they are facing a rebellion lead by a man name David Yau Yau and there’s growing evidence that there have been some human rights abuses in Jonglei that are of great concern to us. Werman: And there was a group of US activists, the same people who were for years kind of pushing the secession of South Sudan from Sudan in the North. They were lashing out just last month at the new government in South Sudan for what they called shocking human rights abuses and corruption. I mean should the US be sticking by the side of South Sudan? Smith: You are right, there are a group of people who were very active over many years as that conflict was being waged and very supportive of the referendum, and very happy as I think the entire international community was when there was a peaceful resolution and South Sudan was born. I think they are not alone at being concerned about some human right abuses and reports that are, in fact, quite alarming. And that suggests that it is critical and urgent that the authorities in South Sudan take some very, very, very quick steps to put things on the right path. Werman: You mentioned the reports that the South Sudanese Army is attacking its own people, and the UN peacekeepers have come under attack. Last month the president, Salva Kiir, sacked his entire cabinet. Are we seeing the implosion of Africa’s newest country already, just barely two years into its birth? Smith: We seriously hope not because that would be a huge setback for their people, but also for the subregion and for Africa. There’s obviously a very negative path that is possible and the path, if South Sudan really starts to succeed and take root, is one that is rather extraordinary. I was on the president’s trip to Africa in late June and early July, and not far from South Sudan you’ve got a lot of countries where the leadership, the citizenry, the private sector, others are putting real skin in the game on development. And where the kinds of games that are being seen are extraordinary. We’ve got steady and sustained growth rates in a lot of these countries. We’ve got huge increases in production on the agricultural side. And South Sudan can be a part of that, but the other thing that happens when you’ve got these long running conflicts is countries, both South Sudan and Sudan, basically opt out of regional dynamics, and politics and what goes on in the world. They steer off the path and far focused exclusively on each other in war. So part of this story is about South Sudan as a new country, but also Sudan, if they’re gonna stop fighting with each other, they need to turn to their neighbors and catch up with what’s been going on in the rest of the world. Werman: Gayle Smith, you’ve been involved in the politics of Sudan and South Sudan for decades now, both inside and outside of government. Do you, I mean just personally, do you, since you had seemingly some faith in the new government, do you feel somewhat betrayed or mislead? Smith: The area where that comes up for me is that the people of South Sudan supported an arms struggle for decades because they were so disenfranchised, because they lived in a country and a region with assets, but they were desperately poor because they couldn’t send their kids to school. Well, the had a free and fair referendum that was supported by the international community. They won their independence and they now deserve to get all of those things that they’ve been denied for so long. So I think their primary obligation is to their people, and that’s very much the message that we’re sending as a government, and to the extent that I have personally known any of these people for a long time, that’s my primary message to them. Werman: Gayle Smith, senior director for global development and humanitarian issues at the National Security Council, thanks so much for your time. Smith: Thank you, Marco.
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 21:59:31 +0000