Rapings, Beheadings In South Sudan Show U.N. Must Do More Than Respond To Defend Peace

The county of Leer in South Sudan has seen a spike in violence by armed youth groups. The youth groups, who originate from the nearby counties of Koch and Mayendit, have subjected the civilians of Leer County to an array of horrific violence. Their list of human rights violations includes raping, beheading, and burning the people of Leer alive. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (U.N.M.I.S.S.) has reported that 72 civilians were killed and there were 64 cases of some form of sexual violence in the region between February 17th and April 7th. In addition to the human rights abuses mentioned above, an estimated additional 40,000 people have been displaced as they seek refuge from the cruelties that have set upon their neighborhoods.

The youth groups’ crimes would be horrific on their own, but the people of Leer County are facing this persecution while South Sudan as a whole is facing terrible floods and famine. These disasters themselves have required a great deal of attention. With both South Sudan’s government and the international community firmly fixed on doing what they can to mitigate the effects of the country’s natural disasters, the youth groups have been able to terrorize Leer with little fear of being punished for their atrocities.

The U.N. has made a statement condemning the violence. In addition, the body has also authorized U.N.M.I.S.S. to send more peacekeepers in the area to protect residents, a common United Nations response to violent situations like that in Leer. Critics may argue that a group which cannot engage in violence will not have enough leverage to convince the youth groups to stop tormenting their prey and retreat. However, in this case, the peacekeepers’ ability to non-violently protect human rights is a strength. Now that awareness of Leer’s plight is growing throughout the world, sending in non-violent peacekeepers will demonstrate that the youth groups are acting in opposition to the system of human rights which the world has decided is worth upholding. International pressure, as well as, hopefully, pressure from their own government, will curtail these groups if they realize that their crimes are risking great consequences.

More importantly, the peacekeepers have the training and resources necessary to protect citizens and help these innocent people to safety. In addition to the help they can physically offer, the peacekeepers’ presence should also be a good sign for civilians. Their deployment is proof that an established, powerful governing body is paying attention to, and defending, human rights in Leer. Just their proximity should be enough to ease Leer’s tensions and generate the most precious resource of all: hope.

However, it would be the height of foolishness for the U.N. to fly a few thousand troops into South Sudan and expect that their mere presence will be enough to automatically eliminate the threat of violence and bring peace to Leer. Similarly, simply responding to situations like this as they arise will not be enough to prevent human rights abusers from committing similar atrocities in the future. For the sake of the people, South Sudan must have some system of government in place which re-affirms its citizens’ faith in the law’s ability to keep the people who live under its aegis safe from violence and cruelty. The U.N. should consider sending in political advisors who can help South Sudan to create this kind of legal system. A stronger government will not only ensure a safer state for the people but will also be more beneficial for the international community.

Although establishing a squad of non-violent peacekeepers in the region is a good response to the cruelties currently being committed in South Sudan, the U.N. has grown past an institution which purely looks at peacekeeping. The bloc now takes on the mantle of state-building, looking to create a multilateral world in which countries work together, free from war, violence, and cruelty. For the United Nations to achieve this goal and truly protect society, the bloc must go past its role as a response-oriented body and orient itself instead towards prevention, teaching states how to build systems of law and governance which the people who rely on them can respect and which the citizens they serve can believe will protect them.

The people of South Sudan deserve, as much as any human, the right to live without the constant fear of being raped or beheaded the next morning. If the U.N.’s goal to protect South Sudan’s citizens includes protecting them in the future as well as the present, it should take this opportunity to guide the government in conflict prevention. The United Nations should work with South Sudanese leaders to help South Sudan’s government to grow, creating a system of laws which all citizens can respect, and thus which will protect the people from this kind of mass-scale threat.

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