A court has opened in South Sudan’s largest camp for internally displaced people in Bentiu to hear cases involving sexual and gender-based violence, drug-related offences and gang violence, the United Nations said on Monday.
The Bentiu IDP Camp Court will operate from Sept. 7 to 26 with support from the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), the Unity State government, the Judiciary of South Sudan and the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
The court was established in response to repeated requests from residents for stronger justice and rule-of-law mechanisms, particularly to address drug use, gang violence and sexual and gender-based violence affecting children and young people, UNMISS said.
It is being deployed in cooperation with the Community High Committee of the Bentiu IDP camp and is part of an initiative led by the Unity State government’s Task Force on Combating Drug Abuse and Gang Violence.
The court is intended to bring formal judicial services closer to camp residents and provide a mechanism for serious offences to be investigated and adjudicated.
The deployment follows the re-establishment of the judiciary in Unity State in May 2026, after 13 years without permanent judicial capacity. UNMISS has also supported seven mobile courts across the state since 2024, including in Southern Unity and Mayom.
Those courts have adjudicated 517 cases, UNMISS said, after no cases were adjudicated through the formal justice system in Unity State in 2023.
The Bentiu IDP Camp Court is funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Juba.
More than 100,000 people live in the Bentiu IDP camp, which was established as a Protection of Civilians site after South Sudan’s civil war began in 2013. It was redesignated as an IDP camp in 2021.
The Unity State government’s Task Force on Combating Drug Abuse and Gang Violence brings together justice, security, health and UNMISS representatives to coordinate investigations, accountability, prevention and community engagement.
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