The human rights situation in Otogo County in South Sudan’s Yei River State has improved, a religious leader said.
The Episcopal religious leader, Moses Modi told Radio Tamazuj the county has, in the past four months, witnessed relative stability and reduced cases of rape, looting, killings and abductions.
“The bad things that used to be at high alarm such as rapes, killings, looting and abductions are changing to be good for the last few months and we thank God for that,” he said on Tuesday.
Modi, however, decried what he described as the limited inclusion of local religious leaders and area chiefs in peace making and promotion of human rights issues at grass root levels.
“What we want is that, the local religious and community leaders should be included in the peace process. Peace is not only for the urban people, but for all of us and for the observation of human rights in the community,” stressed Modi.
He added, “We hope all these wars are coming to an end in Yei”.
Otogo has changed hands several times in fighting between government forces and the various armed opposition groups over the last three years or so.
Since the outbreak of the conflict in 2016, several civilians in the county were reportedly abducted, killed and women and girls raped at gunpoint.