The European Union and the United States have instituted economic sanctions and travel bans against three South Sudanese leaders, while threatening more names will be added to the sanctions list.

Yesterday’s Financial Times points out that many of South Sudan’s top leaders “rely on considerable real estate and banking assets outside their own country, in east Africa, the Middle East and Europe.”

EU and US diplomats expect that financial sanctions will impact the leaders of the rebel SPLM-IO and ruling party SPLM-Juba, whom they blame for violating a ceasefire agreement and gross human rights violations.

The three men now under US and/or EU sanctions are:

Marial Chanuong Yol Mangok – SPLA Major General, Commander of the Presidential Guard

Peter Gadet Yaak – SPLA-IO General

Santino Deng Wol – SPLA Major General, Commander of Division 3

The latter two fall under sanctions of both the EU and US, whereas Marial has so far only been named to a US list.

US Ambassador Samantha Power called the sanctions announced in May “only a first step”, while EU Representative Alex Rondos says the new sanctions announced today are “not the last word” but “the first word.”

As quoted by the Financial Times yesterday, Rondos also likened the sanctions to a ‘sword,’ saying they should be held over the heads of the South Sudanese leaders.

Photo: SPLA Major General Marial Chanuong Yol, Juba, 21 December 2013 (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)