Barack Obama has been urged to call for an international ban on arms sales to all factions involved in South Sudan’s civil war, with the country braced for renewed hostilities as the rainy season ends.



The combatants in the conflict, which started in December 2013 after a power struggle in the ruling party, between president Salva Kiir and vice-president Riek Machar, turned violent, have shown a “complete disregard for international human rights and humanitarian law”, said a group of nearly 30 organisations in an open letter to the US president.

The letter’s signatories, which include 14 South Sudanese human rights groups, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), Global Witness and Humanity United, are pressing Obama to table a UN resolution , arguing that the prospect of renewed warfare in a struggle that has cost at least 50,000 lives and displaced 1.9 million people makes an arms embargo an urgent necessity.

In June, reports emerged that the South Sudan government had purchased $38m (£25.1m) of military hardware from the Chinese firm Norinco. Beijing, which imports about a third of South Sudan’s oil, said in September that it had stopped these arms shipments.

President Obama should do everything to ensure there is no repeat of the horrific past year for the South Sudanese

The organisations wrote in their letter: “The US should immediately table a draft [UN] resolution imposing a comprehensive arms embargo on South Sudan and do all it can to ensure its passage. This is the only way to deny the parties further opportunities to arm themselves and continue to commit serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law while they pursue their political ends.”

An arms ban would “help to halt the supply of weapons to individuals and groups who have committed serious violations of human rights, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and protect civilians at grave risk”, the letter said.

The US has suspended military assistance to the country and repeatedly called for peace. Despite this, Washington has not submitted a resolution to the UN security council calling for an arms embargo.

The US state department was not immediately available for comment.

Skye Wheeler, South Sudan researcher at HRW, said: “The US has this role to begin the process and make it happen … it’s disappointing that we haven’t seen them already take the lead and present a draft resolution calling for an arms embargo.”

Geoffrey Duke, head of the South Sudan Action Network on Small Arms, said Obama must exert his influence at the UN to protect the lives of civilians in South Sudan. “More weapons will mean more fuel to the fire, more attacks on civilians, arbitrary killings, rape, burnings and pillage. President Obama should do everything he can to ensure that this year is not a repeat of the horrific past year for the South Sudanese.”

Both sides are now amassing troops at new military hotspots, according to Edmund Yakani, the executive director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organisation, who warned that fresh fighting is imminent. “We feel that both parties are still likely to settle their differences militarily,” he said.

Kiir and Machar are due to hold talks in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on 18 January. Previous discussions have dragged on while yielding little, but Yakani said imposing an arms embargo on both leaders before they meet would promote meaningful talks.

The African Union said in December that it would release a report this month detailing human rights abuses committed during the conflict. It will be the first credible estimate of the human cost of the conflict, according to HRW.

The letter added: “[An arms embargo] is the only way to deny the parties further opportunities to arm themselves and continue to commit serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law while they pursue their political ends.”

• This article was amended on 12 January 2015. The original said the former vice-president Riek Machar launched a rebellion against president Salva Kiir.