The responsibility is on the shoulders of the leaders of South Sudan to halt the bloodshed and bring their country together, National Security Adviser Susan Rice and Secretary of State John Kerry said in an opinion-editorial written on Monday.
"After months of delay and false pledges, both sides must return to negotiations, make necessary compromises and finally end this conflict without further delay," the two wrote. "Barren vows and rosy words are not enough; too many people have died while too many promises have been broken. It is past time for South Sudan's leaders to take responsibility and end the fighting." To move forward, a transitional government with a mandate to create security agencies that protect all of South Sudan's people, regardless of ethnicity or political alignment, is imperative, they wrote.
That government must develop a transparent system for managing the country's resources and agree on an inclusive constitutional drafting process that focuses on improved governance, they wrote. Given the level of past violence, a reconciliation plan must also be established, accompanied by efforts to investigate atrocities and ensure that those involved are held accountable for their crimes, they wrote. Violence that erupted in the capital city of Juba last December spread quickly, claiming the lives of thousands of men, women and children, and reopening bitter ethnic divisions, they wrote. In the time since, almost 2 million people have been displaced from their homes, while residents in some parts of the country face the risk of famine, they noted.