More than 100 civilians were killed during a surge in conflict in the Central Equatoria region since the peace deal was signed, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
A new report by the Human Rights Division of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan said civilians had been “deliberately and brutally targeted” in Central Equatoria since the peace deal was signed in September 2018.
At least 104 people had been killed in 30 attacks on villages in Central Equatoria, it said.
A roughly similar number of women and girls were raped or suffered other sexual violence between September 2018 and April 2019, the human rights division said in its report.
According to the new report, about 35 people were wounded and 187 others abducted in the conflict.
The surge in violence, the report said, has forced more than 56 000 civilians to flee their homes, becoming displaced within South Sudan, while another 20,000 have crossed the border into Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The report identified government forces, fighters allied to opposition leader Riek Machar, forces loyal to South Sudan National Movement for Change and other groups who did not sign the revitalised peace deal, as responsible for targeting civilians in the region.
The first phase of fighting, the report said, coincided with the signing of the peace agreement. It noted that at least 61 civilians were killed in deliberate attacks or caught in indiscriminate crossfire.
“At least 150 civilians were also held in captivity by these groups, including women and girls taken as ‘wives’ by commanders or raped and beaten by multiple fighters,” the report said.
The report further said the second phase of violence began in January, when government forces launched military operations to dislodge those believed to be rebel collaborators with “sexual violence as well as looting and destroying homes, churches, schools and health centres”.
Reacting to the new report, South Sudan government said the United Nations report is "completely rubbish".
Information Minister Michael Makuei said the report was ill-intentioned.” The report about killing and raping is nonsense…this is something normal, actually it is a normal report that is repeated every time, so it is a question of cut and paste,” said Makuei.
“It is something which is repeated because these organizations cannot report that there is peace in South Sudan…As a government spokesperson, I say that report is rubbish,” he added.
The United Nations said opposition leader Riek Machar had instructed SPLA-IO commanders to investigate the findings of the report. It added that NAS leader Thomas Cirillo has also engaged with UNMISS about the issues raised in the report.
South Sudan President Salva Kiir, opposition leader Riek Machar and a handful of other opposition groups signed a peace deal in September 2018, the latest in a string of efforts to end the devastating civil war.
However, the implementation of the peace agreement is facing multiple delays.