Violence in South Sudan kills 173 civilians in less than four months in Unity State

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reported Tuesday that they have documented the death of at least 173 civilians as a consequence of the violence in the state of Unity, located in the north of the country, where there is continuous fighting between government forces and their affiliated militias, and members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army in Opposition (SPLM/ A-IO (RM)), loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar.

The joint report covers the period from February 11 to May 31 of this year and also reports serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law, committed by both parties in the context of the clashes.

Impunity

The UN special representative for South Sudan and head of UNMISS, Nicholas Haysom, stated that the human rights were violated with impunity.

“According to international law, the government has a duty to protect civiliansinvestigate allegations of human rights violations and hold alleged perpetrators to account in accordance with fair trial standards,” Haysom stressed.

According to the UN, the hostilities in the state of Unity affected at least 28 villages and settlements during that period, leaving, in addition to a minimum of 173 civilians dead, 12 wounded and 37 women and children kidnapped.

sexual violence

The document indicates that many of those kidnapped suffered sexual violence and that among the victims of this abuse there were girls as young as eightand gives an account of the case of a nine-year-old girl who was gang-raped to death.

In total, UN entities documented a total of 131 rape cases and gang rape.

Also, close to 44,000 civilians were displaced from at least 26 villages.

Responsible for the abuse

Based on its investigations and the information it received, the UN Mission determined that the main perpetrators of human rights violations and abuses were members of the government forces and the allied militias that would have operated under the orders of officials from Koch and Mayendit counties.

As for the SPLM/A-IO (RM), the UN indicates that it also committed abuses in Mirmir, in Koch.

To prepare the report, UNMISS carried out 32 verification missions in three locations: Koch, Leer and Mayendit, as well as in the areas surrounding them.