Day: August 27, 2022

South Sudan’s foreign ministry said it has recalled a US-based diplomat after “an alleged rape incident” in New York City, suspending the official until an ongoing investigation is completed.

“It is with regret that our diplomat was involved in an alleged rape incident with… (a) New York City resident,” the ministry said in a statement published on the government’s official Twitter page late Thursday.

“The diplomat in question is now back in South Sudan and has been suspended from his duties, awaiting the outcome of this investigation,” the statement said.

“Sexual misconduct in any shape or form is heinous and wholly unacceptable,” it said, adding that “a specialised committee” was examining the case.

The statement did not elaborate on the allegations, but US media reports said the diplomat was accused of forcibly entering the victim’s Manhattan apartment and raping her on Sunday.

Police initially took him into custody before releasing him hours later after he invoked diplomatic immunity.

The US State Department said Wednesday that it was “aware of the incident… involving a diplomat accredited to the UN.”

“We take these allegations very seriously and are working closely with the New York Police Department and the Mayor’s Office of International Affairs,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said, without offering further details.

In March, the UN accused members of South Sudan’s government of committing human rights violations “amounting to war crimes” in the country’s southwest, urging investigations against dozens of individuals, including for sexual violence and abuses against children.

The world’s newest nation has suffered from chronic instability since independence in 2011, with the UN repeatedly criticising South Sudan’s leadership for its role in stoking violence, cracking down on political freedoms and plundering public coffers.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK

Japan pledged US$30 billion in aid for development in Africa Saturday, saying it wants to work more closely with the continent, with the rules-based international order under threat after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Addressing a Japan-Africa summit in Tunisia, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Tokyo would work to ensure grain shipments to Africa amid a global shortage.

“If we give up on a rules-based society and permit unilateral changes of the status quo by force, the impact of that will extend not only through Africa, but all the world,” Kishida said by videolink after testing positive for Covid-19.

Kishida said the US$30 billion would be delivered over three years, promising smaller sums for food security in coordination with the African Development Bank.

The summit has given Tunisian President Kais Saied his biggest international platform since his 2019 election and comes after he seized broad powers, formally enshrined through a constitutional referendum, a move his critics call a coup.

Speaking Friday at a joint press conference with his Japanese counterpart, Tunisian Foreign Minister Othman Jerandi repeatedly emphasised Tunisia’s commitment to democracy, which has been questioned by Saied’s critics.

The summit has triggered a row between Tunisia and Morocco, which was angered by Saied’s decision to invite the Polisario movement that seeks independence for Western Sahara, a territory Rabat regards as its own.

Morocco and Tunisia have recalled their ambassadors from each other’s countries for consultations.

Rabat said the decision to invite Polisario leader Brahim Ghali was made against Japan’s wishes. Tokyo has yet to comment.

Tunisia is itself in need of financial support as it faces a looming crisis in public finances that has been worsened by the global squeeze on commodities. This week, long queues have formed at petrol stations amid a fuel shortage, while shops have started rationing some goods.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK