Criminal proceedings under South Sudanese and international law could be brought against the perpetrators of ethnic massacres in Bentiu and Bor last April, the United Nations said.
Based on extensive investigations, the UN said it found reasonable grounds to believe that armed actors killed at least 353 civilians in the capitals of Unity and Jonglei states in April.
“Credible information indicates that victims were sought out not as combatants, but as civilians targeted for their ethnicity or perceived support to a party to the conflict. As such, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the perpetrators intentionally targeted civilians, which may amount to a war crime,” the UN said in a report on the investigations.
The evidence, presented in a report released earlier this week and based on 142 interviews, plus site visits by human rights researchers, was “sufficiently high to call for further investigations into the incident or pattern of conduct and, where available, initiation of the consideration of a possible prosecution,” the UN said.
On 15 April in Bentiu, the UN said that at least 306 civilians were killed in Kalibalek Mosque and the Bentiu Civil Hospital by members of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition, at times under supervision of military officers. Two days later, at least 47 civilians were killed by a mob of armed Dinka youth during an attack on the UN base where over 4000 people sought protection. Hundreds of civilians were injured in both attacks and at least a dozen were forcibly abducted.
Besides targeting unarmed civilians, other possible war crimes included attacking a hospital, a religious building, and a UN peacekeeping mission, as well as forcible abduction and conflict-related sexual violence.
The report begins to lay blame on perpetrators.
At the Bentiu hospital, where at least 19 civilians were killed, the UN said that two SPLA-IO commanders with identifiable ranks on their uniforms supervised the killings. One was “a “two-star” officer who, according to a witness, was seen ordering Darfuri men tied up, and forced to “run to save their lives” while soldiers opened fire on them.
In the Kalibalek Mosque, a group of soldiers from the SPLA-IO—which had just taken control of Bentiu–opened fire on people outside the building, killing three. Hundreds of people were inside taking shelter from the violence. Later, SPLA-IO stuck their guns through windows and a doorway of the mosque and mowed down those civilians inside, killing more than 200. According to witnesses, one soldier with a machine gun at the doorway at one point paused to reload his weapon before continuing to kill. In the third incident, Darfuris and members of the Misseriya ethnicity were lined up and shot, killing between 15 and 40.
The UN did not say if the mosque massacre were done under supervision of any officers. At 3 pm, a senior officer arrived on the scene, “expressed dissatisfaction” with the killings, and ordered the removal and burial of the bodies.
In Bor, the UN laid blame on an armed Dinka youth mob which claimed to be peaceful demonstrators. The mob of 100-300 people wielding guns, machetes, sticks, and other weapons marched to the UN base were over 4000 Nuer were sheltering and attacked from multiple sides. The 45 minute massacre left 53 people dead, including at least 47 civilians.
The UN said the mob initiated hostilities and that attack appeared to be well-coordinated and planned in advance.
“The Bor Community Youth Association has publicly claimed responsibility for organizing the demonstration in its signed, stamped letter to UNMISS,” the UN said, adding that the group insists they were peaceful protesters provoked to violence.
No one intervened
Although the UN points to the SPLA-IO forces and the Dinka militia for committing the atrocities in Bentiu and Bor, the UN pointed out that in both cases, SPLA-Juba forces were responsible for failing to protect civilians.
In Bentiu, SPLA-Juba forces prevented civilians from escaping to the Bentiu UNMISS protection site in the days before the SPLA-IO attacked.
Government troops set up checkpoints to block civilians from fleeing to the UNMISS base, forcing the civilians to seek shelter at the ill-fated mosque and hospital. In one instance, a high-ranking Unity State official was seen instructed SPLA soldiers to stop anyone from crossing a bridge toward the UNMISS base.
In Bor, government-allied forces, including the SPLA-Juba, the South Sudan National Police, and the Ugandan military, failed to stop the mob from reaching the base and did not try to stop the massacre once it began, despite being by the base before and during the attack.
“According to Government officials, the SSNPS attempted to stop the march from Bor to UNMISS, but were unsuccessful,” the UN said. “No information indicates that these forces attempted to intervene while the attack was on-going.”
No one has yet been held accountable
The UN noted that despite pledges by both the SPLA-Juba leader Salva Kiir and the SPLA-IO leader Riek Machar, “no one has yet been held accountable for either of these attacks.”
The UN said the Jonglei state and South Sudan national governments claim to have investigated the Bor attack and presented their findings to the Salva Kiir. However, the UN said it has no knowledge of government investigators visiting its base.
“No arrests have been made in connection with the 17 April 2014 attack on the Bor PoC site, despite alleged perpetrators being known to some victims by name,” the UN added.
SPLA-IO leader Riek Machar has claimed ten soldiers were responsible for the Bentiu attacks and were under investigation, but the UN report did not detail the extent of these investigations or confirm if anyone has been arrested.
Though cautioning that the government of South Sudan has the primary responsibility to ensure accountability, the UN urged the international community to bring perpetrators to justice.
“Any peace agreement must provide for appropriate accountability mechanisms and prohibit the granting of amnesties for gross violations and abuses of human rights and serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the UN said.
This weeks’ report was the third UN human rights report released in the past year. However, measures for accountability in South Sudan will be based on recommendations of an African Union Commission of Inquiry. The AU commission has yet to release any reports on human rights violations in South Sudan.
File photo: Victims of the Bentiu massacre, April 2014 (Reuters)