The United Nations has sounded an alarm over the cases of sexual violence and rape against civilians including minors around UN House and in other areas of South Sudan’s capital Juba.
According to the UN, at least 120 cases have been reported since fighting erupted in Juba three weeks ago between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those supporting Riek Machar.
The actions are said to be committed by uniformed soldiers as well as men in plain clothes. The UN called on all parties to immediately sanction the soldiers responsible for “these unspeakable acts of violence.”
UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Wednesday that the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan continued to receive “deeply disturbing reports of sexual violence including rape and gang rape.”
Haq said UN peacekeepers had stepped up patrols and were also providing “protection at designated times to women when they to go out of the Protection of Civilians sites to collect firewood and procure other non-food items.
Thousands of South Sudanese are currently sheltering in UN sites in Juba, and elsewhere in the country.