South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir on Wednesday issued an order forming a committee of inquiry on reported rapes in Bentiu.
On November 30, the medical agency, Doctors Without Borders said that its staff in the town of Bentiu had treated 125 women and girls who were raped, beaten, and robbed over a 10-day period between November 19 and 29 alone.
Kiir’s decree gave power to the committee to probe into rape and other sexual violence against women and girls in Bentiu.
The investigation committee will be headed by Deng Chier Rehan from the ministry of justice. Four other senior officials from various government institutions were appointed as members.
They have been tasked to come up with recommendations to prevent such incidents from occurring again. The committee is expected to submit its findings within 21 working days.
It remains unclear whether the findings of the first investigation team that visited Bentiu town have been cancelled or not.
The right group Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called on South Sudan’s government to urgently investigate sexual violence against women and girls in Unity region.
The group said its researchers visited Bentiu between December 7 and 12 and found evidence of a pattern of attacks on women and girls traveling to and from town for food distributions and other errands.
The UN peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix condemned in the strongest terms the prevalence of sexual violence in South Sudan, saying the recent sexual assaults in Unity region are a stark reminder.