George Clooney is warning the world
that it is better for international leaders to end the civil war raging in
South Sudan now before it gets worse.
Clooney, an outspoken humanitarian
and Democrat along with fellow actor and activist Don Cheadle, in a report
titled “War Crims Shouldn’t Pay details the rampant fleecing, exploitation and
wholesale bloodbath that implicates South Sudan's president and former vice president,
international banks, multinational oil and mineral companies and arms dealers
in Africa.
The findings are a result of the investigative efforts
of The Sentry. Cofounded by Clooney and Africa
humanitarian John Prendergast last summer, The Sentry has tapped former financial forensic investigators to
expose top officials in South Sudan connected to mass atrocities. Cheadle,
meanwhile, is a founding board member of Not on Our Watch, a global human-rights group that collaborated with The Sentry on the report.
"We have the moral obligation and ability to act,"
Clooney told the room full of domestic and international journalists assembled
for the press conference.. He and Cheadle outlined the highlights of the
report, including evidence of complicity in looting and destruction of South
Sudan on five different continents, and outlining measures that could be
employed to end the corruption.
Nearly 122,000 refugees
have fled South Sudan since July 8, according to the UN's refugee agency UNHCR.
South Sudan's government agreed to the deployment of an additional 4,000
peacekeepers on behalf of the United Nations Security Council earlier this
month.
