UN accuses South Sudan troops of fueling violence

The UN says lack of punishment for those fueling violence in South Sudan has contributed to continued violation of human rights and abuse of international humanitarian law.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein told the UN Security Council on Thursday that the killings being witnessed in the country could be prevented if there existed a court to try and punish errant government soldiers.

“The rapes and killings of civilians continue, the impunity remains, and the Hybrid Court and other proposed measures to enhance protection and accountability have not yet been implemented,” he said after providing a written update to the Security Council on the preliminary findings of ongoing UN investigations into the five days of fighting that began in the capital Juba on July 7, and its aftermath.

“The Government says it has established a court martial to try SPLA (South Sudan People’s Liberation Army )soldiers accused of committing crimes against civilians, including ‘looting, murder and other forms of human rights abuses.

“It has made similar promises in the past, but the violations continue unabated,” he said.

The preliminary report shows that South Sudan government security forces carried out killings, rapes, looted and destroyed properties and called on the Security Council to take stronger action.

“Tensions remain very high, and violations continue to take place in Juba and other parts of the country,” Mr Hussein said.

EXECUTED

The UN human rights chief said that information received by UN human rights officers suggests hundreds of fighters and civilians were killed during the initial fighting.

While some civilians were killed in crossfire between the fighting forces, others were reportedly summarily executed by government (SPLA) soldiers, who appear to have specifically targeted people of Nuer origin.

For example, in two separate incidents on July 11, SPLA soldiers reportedly arrested eight Nuer civilians during house-to-house searches in Juba’s Munuki area and took them to two nearby hotels, where they shot four of them.

On the same day, the soldiers broke into another hotel where they shot and killed a Nuer journalist.

At least 73 civilian deaths have been catalogued so far by the UN, but it is believed the civilian death toll may in fact turn out to be much higher.

The UN was denied access to some of the hardest-hit areas in the days following the conflict and a number of restrictions on movement remain in place.

“The fighting also resulted in widespread sexual violence, including rape and gang rape by soldiers in uniform and men in plain clothes,” he said, adding that Nuer, Dinka and women from the three Equatorian states were all targeted, along with foreign nationals. Many victims were minors.

“We have documented at least 217 cases of sexual violence in Juba between 8 and 25 July,” Mr Hassan said.

The High Commissioner urged the Transitional Government of National Unity to restore dialogue and take steps to ensure justice and accountability.

He called on the international community to put real pressure on the government to halt violence and respect the life of all South Sudanese.

“The severity of the recent violence, and the very dangerous ethnic undertone, call for urgent action by the Security Council,” he said.