I have to say that the arms embargo is one of those things, a subject in itself. I don't profess any particular expertise on arms embargoes.
I personally have some questions about it. I think that sometimes in the past an arms embargo, if not equally applied to all parties to a conflict, has resulted in some parties being disadvantaged in comparison with others, so I'm not sure it's always a solution. It may in fact in some situations make the conflict worse.
Having said that, I think we're at the point with South Sudan that we need to try whatever is possible. If a number of people, perhaps with more expertise on embargoes than I have, believe that it could be a constructive move, then I would have to say, let's try it. That would be my response to that particular question.
As to sanctions, I'm more in favour of them. It's not that I'm against arms embargoes, but I think that targeted sanctions against the right people could make a difference. One problem with the sanctions imposed not just by Canada but by the UN, the EU, or the U.S. is that they have been very limited. They have been against people who may not be that susceptible or vulnerable to sanctions. A travel ban against someone who doesn't have any intention to travel doesn't hurt very much.
We need to be targeting sanctions at more senior levels. Clearly one of the other drivers of not just this conflict but the entire situation in the country is grand corruption—kleptocracy, as some people call it. Clearly many of these people have massive amounts of wealth located outside the country. As you know, there have been a number of reports. The Enough group, the Sentry project, continues to report on that. I think targeted sanctions against the right people, effectively applied, could make a real difference, so I certainly endorse employing them.
I think all of us together, the international community and Canada, have to continue to advocate and bring pressure on the African Union and on the South Sudan government to make the hybrid court a reality. As I said before, it's not that hard to draft a statute. We've now had 25 years of war crimes tribunals, from Bosnia to Cambodia to Sierra Leone, etc. The real question is whether the African Union has the political will to make it happen.