Ban recommends boosting UNMISS to better protect civilians

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday said he will recommend that the Security Council boost the capacity of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and urge the neighbouring countries, including Sudan, to stop fanning the fire of division in the newly independent country. Ban announced during a press conference that he will send a letter later today to the Security Council containing his recommendations for boosting the protection capacity of UNMISS with additional troops, police and logistical assets. He would not elaborate. "We are already approaching countries to help meet the new requirements. We are also looking at other peacekeeping missions, while taking care not to reduce their capacity to respond to threats where they operate," he added. "I am determined to ensure that UNMISS has the means to carry out its central task of protecting civilians," he vowed, adding that he will be spending most of today calling regional leaders and others to bolster military support for UNMISS, as well as political backing for efforts to defuse the crisis. He said he convened earlier today a crisis management meeting, attended by his senior advisers, with the participation by video conference of his Special Envoy for Juba Hilde Johnson and his Special Envoy to the African Union Haile Menkerios. "The situation is of mounting urgency. I am especially worried by reports of ethnically targeted killings," he said, noting that tens of thousands of people are displaced, including some 45,000 seeking protection at UNMISS. "Let me be absolutely clear. The world is watching all sides in South Sudan. Attacks on civilians and the UN peacekeepers deployed to protect them must cease immediately. The United Nations will investigate reports of grave human rights violations and crimes against humanity. Those responsible at the senior level will be held personally accountable and face the consequences - even if they claim they had no knowledge of the attacks," he warned. "I have consistently called on President Salva Kiir and opposition political leaders to come to the table and find a political way out of this crisis. Whatever their differences may be, they cannot justify the violence that has engulfed their young nation. They must do everything in their power to immediately ensure that their followers hear the message - loud and clear - that continued violence, ethnic and otherwise, is completely unacceptable. "Now is the time for South Sudan's leaders to show their people and the world that they are, above all, committed to preserving the unity of the nation that was born out of their long struggle for independence. Let me also stress the need for South Sudan's neighbours, including Sudan, to act constructively and refrain from actions that could spark further divisions," he stressed. "It's very important, very important, that this should not have any further regional implications, which are already very complex," he added. To the South Sudanese people, he said "the United Nations stood with you on your road to independence. We will stay with you now... We will do our utmost to protect you, to provide the humanitarian assistance you need, and most of all to help the country re-gain the path to peace."