South Sudan, after agreeing last year to accept deportees from the United States, sent Washington a list of requests that included U.S. support for the prosecution of opposition leader Riek Machar and sanctions relief for former vice president Benjamin Bol Mel, U.S. diplomatic communications made public this month by the State Department show.
The documents, contained in a pair of diplomatic messages, also sought other benefits. In one communication dated May 12 and marked confidential, South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised eight “matters of concern which the Government of South Sudan believes merit consideration,” including easing visa restrictions for South Sudanese nationals and asking for the construction of a rehabilitation center and “support in addressing the problem of armed civilians.”
One of the most notable requests was for U.S. help tied to Machar’s legal case. The communications asked for Washington’s support for the prosecution of Machar, the now-suspended first vice president of South Sudan who faces treason, murder and other criminal charges in a controversial case, according to the AP report. Machar’s supporters and some activists have described the charges as politically motivated.
The documents also requested sanctions relief related to Bol Mel, who is accused of diverting more than a billion dollars earmarked for infrastructure projects into companies he owns or controls, according to a U.N. report cited by AP. Bol Mel had wielded vast influence in the government and was touted by some as President Salva Kiir’s likely successor until he was dismissed and placed under house arrest in November, the report said. The communications also asked Washington to lift sanctions over South Sudanese oil companies “to encourage direct foreign investments” and to consider investing in other sectors including fossil fuels, minerals and agriculture.
The AP report said the documents do not clarify what, if anything, South Sudan was promised in return for receiving the deportees. When asked whether the U.S. government had provided or promised South Sudan anything in return, a State Department official said, “In keeping with standard diplomatic practice, we do not disclose the details of private discussions.” A spokesman for South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thomas Kenneth Elisapana, declined to comment.
In a separate account of other parts of the deportation negotiations, Human Rights Watch said it saw documents showing the U.S. agreed to pay Rwanda’s government about $7.5 million to take up to 250 deportees, and that Eswatini would receive $5.1 million to take up to 160 deportees. AP also noted that the details of the deal between the U.S. and South Sudan remained murky, with the communications providing a glimpse into what South Sudan sought rather than confirming what it received.
South Sudan became the first African country to receive third-country deportees from the U.S. in July, AP reported. Rwanda, Eswatini, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea have since received deportees. The eight people sent to South Sudan included nationals of Mexico, Cuba, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and South Sudan itself.
AP said the deportees arrived in Juba after spending weeks on a U.S. military base in Djibouti, where they were held following a U.S. court’s temporary block of the deportation. Six of the eight men remained at a residential facility in Juba under the supervision of security personnel, the report said. Dian Peter Domach was later freed, according to South Sudan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Jesus Munoz-Gutierrez, a Mexican national, was repatriated in September, AP reported.
South Sudanese officials have not publicly said what long-term plan is in place for those still in custody, AP said. The third-country deportations have also drawn criticism from rights groups and others who said they feared South Sudan could become a “dumping ground.”
The episode comes as relations between the U.S. and South Sudan have been strained. AP reported that in December the U.S. threatened to reduce aid contributions, accusing South Sudan of imposing fees on aid groups and obstructing their operations. The U.S. has historically been one of the largest donors to South Sudan, providing roughly $9.5 billion in aid since 2011, AP said. Over time, South Sudan’s government has struggled to deliver basic services, and years of conflict left the country heavily reliant on foreign aid, the report added.