Pressure on international presence in South Sudan is increasing, with plans for a government-organized rally against ‘foreign intervention’ on Monday.
President Salva Kiir will address the demonstrators, who are expected to march Monday morning from the Central Equatoria building by the roundabout near Central Pub, proceeding through the main street toward the Garang Mausoleum.
Besides the United Nations peacekeepers, many UN agencies and international NGOs work in South Sudan. UNMISS, the peacekeepers, work based on an agreement (SOFA) between the government and UN.
On Friday also the government Relief and Rehabilitation Commission has banned the use of NGO flags on their vehicles in all towns including Juba. Aid groups such as Oxfam and MSF sometimes use the flags to be recognized as humanitarian organizations in conflict areas, showing they are neutral and not carrying weapons on board.
Acting Director General of NGO affairs, Thomas Tombe Loro on Friday wrote to the UN coordinating office, “You are strongly advised by the relevant authorities to use your flags only when traveling between towns.”
This circular comes into effect as from Friday immediately. “Any organization that violates this instruction will face the concerned authorities accordingly,” it says.
These latest developments come after international criticisms of gross violations of human rights in South Sudan and release of an interim UN report on human rights. Similar rallies were held in April 2012 in support to the SPLA’s occupation of Heglig oil field and rejecting Ban Ki-moon’s call for withdrawal.
Photo: A protester at the national parliament in Juba, 8 January 2014 (Radio Tamazuj)