A committee to investigate the killings of hundreds of civilians in the town of Bentiu in April 2014 has been formed by the SPLA-IO rebel group, 10 months after the massacre took place, a rebel official said.

The UN has accused the SPLA-IO of killing at least 306 civilians, many of them Sudanese traders, in Bentiu last April in one of the worst massacres to take place during South Sudan's civil war.

After the UN's accusations, the SPLA-IO commander in charge of Bentiu at the time of the massacres Major General James Koang told Radio Tamazuj that his soldiers killed unarmed ex-combatants, not civilians.

SPLM-IO head of external relations Dhieu Mathok Diing told Radio Tamazuj that the investigations into the massacre is now underway.

“We have formed an investigation committee, so the committee is now working on the matter,” he said. “The investigations are not in Bentiu town alone because there were reported massacres in different areas in South Sudan."

Bentiu is currently controlled by the SPLA-Juba faction.

Dhieu pointed out that they cannot accuse any side until they release their report. He added that the African Union Commission of Inquiry report will be the final reference for atrocities which took place.

In January, the United Nations said criminal proceedings under South Sudanese and international law could be brought against the perpetrators of the ethnic massacre in Bentiu.

Meanwhile, SPLM-G10 member John Luk Jok has agreed with the African Union to defer the release of a report on the war crimes committed in South Sudan as long as the leaders of the two forces accused of perpetrating them fail to reach a peace deal.

Luk said the delay of the African Union report will give peace a chance. He predicted the release of the African Union report after 5 March, the date when the warring parties have agreed to reach a peace deal.

Related:

S Sudan rebel general admits to killing of unarmed Darfurians (16 Jan.)

Document: UN releases details of April Bentiu massacre (11 Jan.)

UN says evidence on ethnic massacres in S Sudan may be sufficient for criminal prosecutions (11 Jan.)

File photo: Major General James Koang