Armed groups aligned with the Sudan People’s Liberation Army have killed dozens of children, raped at least twelve, and abducted others in a series of attacks in South Sudan’s Unity State over the last two weeks, the UN said citing witness accounts.
“Whole villages were burned to the ground by armed groups, while large numbers of girls and women were taken outside to be raped and killed – including children as young as seven,” the UN child welfare agency UNICEF said, citing dozens of eyewitness testimonies from people who fled the attacks. “At least 19 boys – some as young as 10 years of age – and seven girls were killed. Others were mutilated or recruited to join the fighting and take care of stolen cattle.”
UNICEF noted that the majority of the survivors of the attacks in Unity are women and small children.
“The deliberate targeting of children in these attacks is an outrage,” said UNICEF Representative in South Sudan Jonathan Veitch. “If children are to be protected from further harm, an immediate cessation of hostilities is urgently needed, together with full access for humanitarian workers. An urgent and thorough investigation is also required to identify and hold accountable those responsible for these latest atrocities against children.”
The agency said violations against children are taking place “with frightening regularity” and called on the Government of South Sudan and opposition forces to immediately cease grave violations against children, including sexual violence, and to release all children from armed forces and associated militia.
UNICEF further demanded unconditional access for the UN to areas in Unity and Upper Nile states affected by recent violence. UN humanitarian coordinator for South Sudan Toby Lanzer said thousands of homes have been burnt in the offensive.
According to the spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Rupert Colville, the recent atrocities in Unity state have been committed by SPLA soldiers and mobilized armed youth clad in civilian clothes wielding AK47s.
13,000 children have been recruited and are being used by all sides of the conflict, according to UN figures.
Photo: Troops in Bentiu, January 2014 (Courtesy Photo/Radio Tamazuj)