South Sudan: New Abuse of Civilians by Both Sides | WPN World People News

Government and rebel forces in and around South Sudan’s southern town of Yei have committed serious abuses against civilians in recent months, Human Rights Watch said on Nov22. The abuses include killings, rapes, and arbitrary arrests by government forces and abductions by rebels. The abuses Human Rights Watch documented in Yei are just the latest example of attacks on civilians by both sides in the current conflict.

Fighting between the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) forces and rebels and attacks by both parties on civilians intensified in the country’s southern regions in the wake of clashes in the capital, Juba, in early July 2016. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have fled the Greater Equatoria region in the south as a result.

“A proposal for a United Nations arms embargo is finally on the table after nearly three years of atrocities against civilians by armed groups in South Sudan,” said Daniel Bekele, senior director for Africa advocacy at Human Rights Watch. “Security Council members should urgently support the measure, which could help stem the attacks on civilians.”

In November, the UN special adviser on the prevention of genocide, Adama Dieng, warned of a potential for genocide in South Sudan. On November 17, the United States delegation to the UN circulated a new resolution at the Security Council for an arms embargo on South Sudan and targeted sanctions on individuals named in a confidential annex.

Between October 19 and 26, Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed more than 70 victims and witnesses in Yei, the capital of the newly created Yei River state, in Central Equatoria, about 150 kilometers south of the capital, Juba. Because of ongoing insecurity, researchers were unable to reach and assess areas outside of Yei, including Mugwo, Rubeke, and Mitika, on the road to Lasu, places where there have been further serious allegations of abuses. Researchers also met with government officials in Yei and aid agencies in Juba.

South Sudan’s civil war has been marked by widespread attacks on civilians by government forces and members of the rebel movement, the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (the “IO”), since the conflict began in December 2013. A power-sharing agreement signed by leaders of both sides in August 2015 has been undermined by ongoing clashes and fighting in a number of previously stable areas.

Yei residents told Human Rights Watch that grisly killings of civilians and the fear of arrests and fighting had prompted mass displacement from Yei and surrounding areas starting in July. While Yei remains in government hands, rebels appear to control most surrounding areas.

While the UN refugee agency maintains a presence in the town, the UN peacekeeping mission has only been able to conduct two patrols to Yei since reports of abuses emerged, largely because of government restrictions on UN movements in and out of Juba.

In one reported killing on August 23, unidentified attackers entered a house and killed a mother and her 4-year-old daughter with machetes, then dumped their bodies in a river. The 4-month-old baby was cut on the neck but survived. The killings took place in areas controlled by government forces but in this and some other cases, Human Rights Watch was unable to identify if the attackers were government forces or rebel fighters.

Human Rights Watch documented numerous cases of arbitrary detentions of civilian men by government troops in military facilities in Yei, adding to an ongoing pattern of arbitrary detentions by the military in Juba, Yambio, and Wau. Credible sources in Yei said the detainees were tortured and held in deplorable conditions. At least two people were victims of enforced disappearances, with the authorities denying that they were being held and their whereabouts unknown. Enforced disappearances are strictly prohibited under all circumstances and may constitute a war crime.

Human Rights Watch researchers also found that rebels claiming affiliation with the opposition forces led by former Vice-President Riek Machar ambushed a convoy of cars carrying civilians fleeing Yei, killing mostly Dinka, who are from the same broad ethnic grouping as President Salva Kiir. “They started to shoot and I lay down,” an 11-year-old boy told Human Rights Watch about an October 8 attack on a convoy. “Others fell on top of me. One had been shot to the head.” The rebels then burned the lorry and their occupants, killing dozens inside.

Both government soldiers and rebel fighters have raped women and girls in Yei and areas surrounding the town since the conflict there intensified in mid-2016, according to victims, medical staff, nongovernmental organizations, and government officials. Opposition fighters also attacked Sudanese refugees from the Nuba mountains living in a camp south of Yei, and abducted at least nine women and their children.

Almost everyone Human Rights Watch interviewed described serious restrictions on civilians trying to move from Yei into surrounding areas, including to their farms, because of fear of government or armed opposition forces.

While international law does not prohibit the arrest or apprehension of civilians on broader security grounds in times of conflict, any detention is subject to strict due process, and failure to respect such procedural safeguards makes a detention arbitrary. In particular, anyone arrested should be informed of the reasons for arrest, taken promptly before a judge to be charged or released, and given an opportunity to challenge the lawfulness of the detention.

South Sudan’s government should ensure security and freedom of movement, including for access by aid agencies to civilians in need of assistance in Yei, and the delivery of essential and emergency medicines to Yei City Hospital, including for emergency post- rape care. South Sudan’s government should also support women’s rights groups and others to raise awareness about the importance of emergency post-rape care, including psychosocial support, Human Rights Watch said.

UN Security Council members should support the US proposal for an arms embargo and targeted sanctions. Security Council members should also press for progress on establishing the African Union (AU) hybrid court for South Sudan to investigate and prosecute people responsible for war crimes and other serious violations of the laws of war during the conflict.

“This horrendous conflict has had a devastating impact on South Sudanese civilians and it is worsening in large part because no one has suffered any consequence for committing grave crimes,” Bekele said. “The UN, the African Union, and key governments need to urgently support an arms embargo and other measures, such as individual sanctions and the AU hybrid court, to hold those responsible for international crimes to account.”

Source:Human Rights Watch