South Sudan forces killed, raped hundreds: UN

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The United Nations human rights office says mass killings and rape by South Sudan government troops and aligned forces in opposition-held villages earlier this year may amount to war crimes.

The office said at least 232 civilians were killed and 120 women and girls raped in "scorched earth" attacks.

A UN investigation identified three commanders suspected of bearing the "greatest responsibility" in the violence in Unity state between April 16 and May 24 that may amount to war crimes, it said in a report.

Elderly and disabled civilians were burned alive in the attack on 40 villages, which appeared aimed at driving out opposition forces, it said. A further 132 women and girls were abducted in the assault that forced 31,140 people to flee.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein speaks during the opening of the 38th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, June 18, 2018. /VCG Photo

"The perpetrators ... must not be allowed to get away with it," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein.

Reiterating his call on the government and African Union to establish a hybrid court for South Sudan, he said the soldiers and aligned forces slit elderly villagers' throats, hanged women for resisting looting and shot fleeing civilians.

"The brutality and ruthlessness of the attackers as described by the survivors suggests that their intent was to take a 'scorched earth' approach, killing or forcibly displacing people, burning their crops and homes, punishing and terrorizing them to ensure that they never return," said UN human rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani.

The UN report said opposition forces had also carried out armed attacks that caused civilian casualties.

South Sudan rebel leader Riek Machar Kiir attends the signing of a peace agreement with the South Sudan government aimed at ending a war in which tens of thousands of people have been killed, in Khartoum, Sudan, June 27, 2018. /VCG Photo

A spokesman for the South Sudanese army said it would respond once the military leadership had received the report.

"I will look for the report and bring it to the attention of the military leadership so that we give our response," said Brigadier Gen Lul Ruai Koang, SPLA Army spokesperson.

Shamdasani said that the report had been shared with the government, adding: "We understand this has resulted in one of these commanders being removed from his functions for his implication in these violations."

There were also unconfirmed reports of that commander being put under house arrest, she said.

"So there does seem to be some movement, we are encouraged by this and we hope that there will be stronger, more robust and more of such actions," she said.

On Monday, South Sudan rebels rejected a peace plan to reinstate insurgent leader Riek Machar as vice president, under a deal reached at talks in Uganda a day before.

Source(s): Reuters